No abstract

The effectiveness of common carp pituitary extract (CPE), luteinizing hormone releasing hormone analogue (LHRH-A 2 ) injections and LHRH-A 2 implants for spawning induction in female sturgeon, Huso huso was examined. In the first trial, fish were injected with 7% physiological saline (control), 50 mg kg À1 CPE or LHRH-A 2 at 3.5, 7, 8 or 10 lg kg À1 . In the second trial, fish were treated with LHRH-A 2 cholesterol pellet implants containing 0, 3.5, 7, 8 and 10 lg kg À1 LHRH-A 2 . Ovulated eggs were removed using a minimally invasive surgical technique and were artificially fertilized. Injection of CPE and LHRH-A 2 at doses of 3.5, 7, 8 and 10 lg kg À1 resulted in the number of ovulated fish more than LHRH-A 2 implants (similar doses) or controls, although there was no significant difference at doses of 8 and 10 lg kg À1 (P ≥ 0.05). The latency period of fish receiving CPE and LHRH-A 2 injections was approximately 20 h, which was significantly lower than in fish receiving LHRH-A 2 implants (P ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, there were no significant differences in rates of fertilization or hatching among the progeny produced in any of the treatment groups (P ≥ 0.05).In conclusion, the data from this study could be useful for artificial propagation of not-fullymatured females of H. huso at sturgeon hatcheries.

The spatial distribution of the macrobenthic community was studied along the Iranian coasts of Bushehr province during January and February 2013. Samples were collected with van Veen grab from intertidal (0 m) and subtidal (5 m and 10 m depths) zones at 16 stations designated in 6 transects, including 4 main harbors (Genaveh, Bandargah, Rostami and Asaluyeh) and 2 creeks (Farakeh and Shif). A total of 17 groups (taxa) of macrobenthos were identified, of which the most dominant assemblages belonged to Mollusca, Annelida and Arthropoda. Abundance and biomass are significantly higher in some stations and depths than others, which could be correlated with combination of factors. The average macrofaunal abundance and biomass ranged from 450 to 4380 indm -2 and its from 9 to 165 gm -2 , respectively. The highest abundance and biomass were observed at 10 m and intertidal depths, respectively.