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Gnathiid isopods are common ectoparasites of fish on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. While screening for appropriate markers for phylogenetic studies of gnathiids, we found that primers for 12S and 16S rDNA preferentially amplified the host fish DNA instead of gnathiid DNA. This amplification occurred even when using gnathiids that were not engorged with host blood and adult gnathiids that do not feed on fish blood. This method could be used in host-parasite studies to identify hosts without having to sample parasites directly from the host (which can be costly and requires considerable skill in a marine environment). Target ribosomal DNA sequences can be amplified from total DNA extracted from parasites that are captured in funnel traps or plankton tows. Sequence data from these can be used to identify the hosts that gnathiids were feeding on before capture.

Salmon catfish and tarpon occur in habitats that periodically become deficient in oxygen resulting in high mortalities of other fish species. The water-breathing catfish, Arius leptaspis, and the facultative air-breathing tarpon, Megalops cyprinoides, both have high haemoglobin and haematocrit, and the oxygen carrying capacity in the air-breather is exceptionally high (15.6+/-1.2 vol%). Iso-pH oxygen equilibria of the red blood cells at 25 degrees C revealed high affinity (P(50)=9 mmHg, pH 7.4) and co-operativity (n(50)>2.2, pH 7.4) in the catfish, and contrasted with low affinity (P(50)=32 mmHg, pH 7.4) and co-operativity (n(50) approximately 1) in the air-breathing tarpon. Oxygen binding was further distinguished by relative pH insensitivity (Bohr factor, Ø=Deltalog P(50)/Deltalog pH=-0.22) in the catfish, compared with a significant Bohr effect in the tarpon (Ø=-0.96). The potential for modulation of haemoglobin-oxygen affinity was indicated by a high ratio of GTP to ATP in the erythrocytes of the catfish, whereas regulation in the tarpon appeared due to ATP alone. Differences in blood respiratory functions between the two species are likely to reflect reduced opportunity for activity under extreme hypoxia in the catfish.

Plasma renin activity (PRA) and blood aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone levels were measured in Australian lungfish. Plasma renin activity was depressed after intravenous infusions of iso-osmotic (0-6%) NaCl but not after hypo-osmotic (0-3%) infusions. The presence of PRA in this fish is consistent with prior reports of renal renin activity in other sarcopterygian fishes. The results of the infusion experiments suggest that a fall in plasma osmolality or electrolyte concentrations may oppose the reduction in renin release in response to volume expansion. Aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone were identified in the blood of Neoceratodus. The concentrations of both appeared higher in females than in males. Infusions of [5-valine]-angiotensin II amide for 2-4 h at rates known to increase blood pressure in this species did not alter blood aldosterone concentrations. This negative finding may suggest that the renin/angiotensin system is not involved in aldosterone regulation in Neoceratodus or that angiotensin receptors involved in regulation of steroidogenesis have a greater specificity for endogenous angiotensin than do vascular receptors.

The packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin concentration (g/dl) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) in the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus fosteri, and in one of three Australian osteoglossids, Scleropages schneichardti, were 32.3 and 29.9; 10.5 and 10.0; and 407 and 176 micron 3 respectively. Total acid-soluble phosphates (TPi) from the red blood cells (RBC) of the lungfish and osteoglossid were 35.3 and 18.1 mumol/cm3 RBC respectively. Inorganic phosphate (Pi), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and guanosine triphosphate (GTP) represented 16.4, 39.7 and 17.8% of the cell phosphates in the lungfish respectively. Inositol bisphosphate was not present in extracts of the red cells of N. fosteri, in contrast to the red cells of Lepidosiren paradoxa and Protopterus aethiopicus, in which it was first observed. In the osteoglossid, Pi and ATP represented 37.6 and 46.4% of the erythrocyte phosphate, respectively, with only traces of GTP present. ATP is the predominant organic phosphate in the red cells of both species. The osmotic fragility of erythrocytes of N. fosteri are quite resistant to hemolysis, with hemolysis beginning at 35-30 mM and a complete hemolysis occurring at 20 mM NaCl. The red cells of S. schneichardti begin to hemolyze at 95-90 mM with hemolysis continuing to completion at 60 mM NaCl.

Using capillary GLC we analyzed the plasma fatty acids in a group of full-blood Aborigines in north western Australia before and after 2 wk on a diet in which over 90% of the energy was derived from tropical fish and shellfish. The proportion of saturated fatty acids did not change and all monoenoic and omega 6 fatty acids, except arachidonic, fell significantly. The proportions of arachidonic and all omega 3 PUFA rose significantly on the diet. This striking rise in arachidonic was evident in all lipid fractions (phospholipids, cholesterol esters, and triglycerides). Total triglycerides in fasting plasma fell from 1.32 to 0.61 mM after the diet while total cholesterol, which was low initially, did not fall significantly. Analysis of the fatty acids in lipid extracts from the tropical seafood eaten in the study revealed an arachidonic acid content ranging from 4.8 to 14.3% of the total fatty acids. The seafood contained almost no linoleic acid but was, as expected, a rich source of omega 3 fatty acids (13.6 to 31.0% of the total fatty acids). From these data we are able to conclude that seafood from tropical waters, unlike seafood from colder waters, is a natural source of polyunsaturated fatty acids from both the omega 6 and omega 3 series.