Submerged caves and marine lakes are two iconic and common ecosystems in Ha Long-Cat Ba area. However, their biological characteristics are poorly known since very limited studies have been conducted. The aim of this study was to investigate biodiversity in these ecosystems. Three submerged caves (Hang Sang, Hang Toi and Qua Bang) and three marine lakes (Dau Be, Ang Du and Qua Bang) were chosen for study. The results showed that organism communities in submerged caves were abundant with over 142 species found. The popular groups comprised sponge and soft coral which were distributed along the length of the caves. Several species with high economic value were widespread in the caves, including stone crab Myomenippe hardwickii, flower crab Portunus pelagicus, cone snails Trochus pyramis, shoemaker spinefoot Siganus sutor, snapper Lutjanus russellii. Species that permanently live in caves were not detected. In the lakes where water is well exchanged to the sea, coral reefs were found and they usually formed a narrow band around the lakes. Sandy beaches were often observed around the lakes at the depths of 0.5-2 m, containing specialty species as clam (Sanguinolaria diphos), snout otter clam (Lutraria rhychaena), sea cucumbers with high density (in Dau Be, Qua Bang). There was no coral reef in the enclosed lake (Ang Du) because of low salinity.
Ha Long bay - Cat Ba island located in the Northeast of Vietnam, in the area of Ha Long city (Quang Ninh province) and Cat Hai island district (Hai Phong city) is the largest limestone island in Vietnam. Features of biodiversity include the seven typical ecosystems of tropical limestone islands, namely tropical rainforest ecosystem, cave ecosystem, mangrove ecosystem, tidal ecosystem, coral reef ecosystem, soft-bottom ecosystem. Ha Long - Cat Ba also represents a high level of species diversity with 4,622 species of plants and animals on land and in the sea. In particular, on land there are 2,464 species, accounting for 53.3% and under the sea there are 2158 species, accounting for 46.7%. Up to 16 species and 114 species have been recorded in the Vietnam Red List and in the IUCN List, respectively. Together with hundreds of rare and precious species at national and regional levels, there are species of global conservation value, demonstrating that Ha Long bay - Cat Ba archipelago can possibly be a world heritage site according to the criteria of biodiversity (ix and x criteria).
The MeOH extract of the Vietnamese octocoral Dendronephthya mucronata afforded four bicyclic lactones (1−4), including three new compounds namely dendronephthyones A−C (1−3), after subjecting it on various chromatographic separations. The structures of the isolated compounds were established by spectroscopic experiments including 1D, 2D NMR, CD and HR-QTOF-MS. In addition, compounds 1−4 were found to exhibit selective cytotoxicity against the HeLa human cancer cell line
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