Age validation and comparison of growth rates in behaviourally and geographically distinct population of cunner, Tautogolabrus adspersus

The occurrence of annuli on sagittal otoliths of the cunner, Tautogolabrus adspersus, were validated by injection with oxytetracycline hydrochloride in a field study. Otoliths were then used to compare growth rates of behaviourally and geographically distinct populations. Territorial males exhibited significantly slower growth than non-territorial males from the same pair spawning population. Although group spawning males had similar rates of growth as did males from the pair spawning population, they did exhibit a negative correlation between length at age and gonadosomatic index (GSI), suggesting a tradeoff between gonadal investment and somatic growth. No such relationship existed for males from the pair spawning population. Females from the two populations grew at similar rates and their growth was not correlated with GSI. Newfoundland cunner appear to grow as fast as cunner from farther south where they have a longer growing season and higher temperatures. This suggests that some form of growth compensation occurs in Newfoundland cunner

MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY of THE GENUS KUMANOA (BATRACHOSPERMALES, RHODOPHYTA)

Species belonging to the newly established genus Kumanoa were sampled from locations worldwide. DNA sequence data from the rbcL gene, cox1 barcode region, and universal plastid amplicon (UPA) were collected. The new sequence data for the rbcL were combined with the extensive batrachospermalean rbcL data available in GenBank. Single gene rbcL results showed the genus Kumanoa to be a well-supported clade, and there was high statistical support for many of the terminal nodes. However, with this gene alone, there was very little support for any of the internal nodes. Analysis of the concatenated data set (rbcL, cox1, and UPA) provided higher statistical support across the tree. The taxa K. vittata and K. amazonensis formed a basal grade, and both were on relatively long branches. Three new species are proposed, K. holtonii, K. gudjewga, and K. novaecaledonensis; K. procarpa var. americana is raised to species level. In addition, the synonymy of K. capensis and K. breviarticulata is proposed, with K. capensis having precedence. Five new combinations are made, bringing the total number of accepted species in Kumanoa to 31. The phylogenetic analyses did not reveal any interpretable biogeographic patterns within the genus (e.g., K. spermatiophora from the tropical oceanic island Maui, Hawaii, was sister to K. faroensis from temperate midcontinental Ohio in North America). Previously hypothesized relationships among groups of species were not substantiated in the phylogenetic analyses, and no intrageneric classification is recommended based on current knowledge.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

SYSTEMATICS of THE BATRACHOSPERMALES (RHODOPHYTA)-A SYNTHESIS

Recent molecular and morphological data necessitate a major taxonomic revision of the Batrachospermales, an order of red algae, distributed in freshwater habitats throughout the world. This article is a synthesis of available information with some targeted additional sequence data, resulting in a few relatively conservative taxonomic changes to begin the process of creating a natural taxonomy for the Batrachospermales. To increase the information content of our taxonomic categories, and in particular to reduce paraphyly, we describe one new genus (Kumanoa) and a new section in Batrachospermum (section Macrospora), and we amend the circumscriptions of the family Batrachospermaceae (to include Lemaneaceae and Psilosiphonaceae), the genus Batrachospermum (to exclude the sections Contorta and Hybrida, raised to genus level as Kumanoa), and the sections Aristata, Helminthoidea, and Batrachospermum of Batrachospermum. We also provide a new name, B. montagnei, for the illegitimate B. guyanense, and recognize an informal paraphyletic grouping of taxa within Batrachospermum, the "Australasica Group." This taxonomic synthesis increases the level of monophyly within the Batrachospermales but minimizes taxonomic change where data are still inadequate.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP