1. The coast of Fujian Province is a key area for the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), but the characteristics of their preferred habitats are poorly defined. 2. The species distribution model, MaxEnt, was used to predict suitable habitat distributions of humpback dolphins in Fujian, China. The model indicated that the distance to the coastline (63.5% contribution), chlorophyll-a levels (20.2%) and the bathymetry (15.6%) were important predictors of humpback dolphin habitats. 3. The model predicted 2,043.96 km 2 of highly suitable habitat that was concentrated in five areas. Four are known to be within the area of the current distribution of humpback dolphins; Putian was identified as a new area with suitable habitat, however, it is unclear if dolphins are present. 4. The predicted locations of suitable humpback dolphin habitats provided in this study should be the focus of future research and nature reserve designs.

No abstract

The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) is a threatened coastal flagship species in Asian marine ecosystems, but the distribution of its suitable habitat remains unclear. In the present study, we characterized habitat relationships and predicted potential suitable habitats for humpback dolphins in the Beibu Gulf of China and Vietnam. Maximum entropy modeling identified six discontinuous areas in the Beibu Gulf, with a total area of 4396.8 km2, as suitable habitats for humpback dolphins. Of these, three suitable habitats covering 3948.8 km2 were known habitats, and three others covering an area of 448.1 km2 at the border of China and Vietnam or in Vietnamese waters (Beilun River Estuary, Qinghua, and Rongshi) were newly identified. Exploratory line-transect surveys are strongly recommended to determine whether dolphins are present in these three areas. The predicted suitable habitat showed seasonal variation, which increased slightly in the dry season compared with that in the wet season. Bathymetry is the most important predictor for habitat suitability, in line with the known coastal distribution of humpback dolphins. Our research predicted specific suitable habitat distributions, which can be used to develop practical protection measures, such as the establishment of marine protected areas for this species to monitor, mitigate, or prohibit harmful anthropogenic activities.

No abstract

No abstract

Previous studies suggest FGF10, which is expressed in the ventral hypothalamus, plays important roles in axon guidance and in vasculature guidance of the developing hypothalamus. Here, using ex vivo analyses in chick, we show that FGF10 exerts concentration dependent functions in angiogenesis and hypothalamic axon guidance. At lower concentration of 100ng/ml, FGF10 promotes angiogenesis in chorioallantoic membrane endothelial capillaries (CAMs), but FGF10 does not alter the endothelial growth significantly at higher concentration (500ng/ml, P>0.05). Simultaneously, FGF10 exerts a graded action, at lower concentration FGF10 attracts both magnocellular and parvocellular axons; but at higher concentration, FGF10 repels parvocellular TH+ (tyrosine hydroxylase) axons, and attracts magnocelluar vasopressin+ axons in the hypothalamus.