Numerous studies have highlighted the diversity of fish inner ear morphology. However, the function of the shape, size and orientation of the different structures remains poorly understood. The saccule (otolithic endorgan) is considered to be the principal hearing organ in fishes and it has been hypothesized that sagitta (saccular otolith) shape and size affect hearing capacities: large sagitta...

Sagittae otoliths are the most studied because of their morphological variability and size; the sagittae may also have valuable taxonomic use and for D. auratus has not yet been described. In the present study we present a morphological description of the sagitta otolith and an analysis of its correlation with various morphometric parameters. The biological material was captured with a beach se...

Otoliths are biominerals that grow in the endolymphatic fluid of the balance organs of vertebrates, and are composed of calcium carbonates with low amounts of organic matter [1]. In fish they are composed mainly of aragonite, and participate also in the transduction mechanism of hearing [2]. The microstructure of otoliths give information about their own process of growth, as it is possible to ...

The GEM muon system [1] is designed to achieve high momentum resolution by precisely measuring muon trajectories at three equidistant superlayers separated by a long lever arm in a large magnetized volume. In order to retain the desired precision at high momentum (i.e. ∆pt/pt ≈ 5% for the barrel detector at pt = 500 GeV/c), the muon system must determine the net 3-point sagitta of a muon track ...

Long-term variability in zooplankton N/N was investigated in two species of calanoid copepods (Calanus pacificus and Eucalanus californicus) and two chaetognaths (Sagitta bierii and Sagitta euneritica) sampled in the spring of selected years from 1951 to 2001 off the central California coast. No statistically significant trend in N/N was detected for any of the four species, with isotopic ratio...

This report introduces a basic alignment scheme for the GEM muon detector. Optical straightness monitors are described, and their application discussed. Alternative alignment technologies are suggested and techniques are identified that can provide multipoint measurements. The problem of global alignment is posed, and several concepts are presented to attain the required precision. Some Alignme...

Elaborate, sexually dimorphic traits are widely thought to evolve under sexual selection through female preference, male-male competition, or both. The orangethroat darter (Etheostoma spectabile) is a sexually dichromatic fish in which females exhibit no preferences for male size or coloration. We tested whether these traits affect individual reproductive success in E. spectabile when multiple ...

Populations of Etheostoma tallapoosae (Tallapoosa Darter) have previously been shown to be genetically divergent for mitochondrial DNA. In this study, PCR primers were developed to amplify portions of six nuclear genes, and sequences of these genes were assessed in three of the most divergent Tallapoosa Darter populations. This analysis shows that these populations are also highly divergent for...

Wildlife mortality involving bongos, Tragelaphus eurycerus, and other ungulates was investigated in the north of the Congo Republic in 1997. Four bongos, one forest buffalo, Syncerus caffer nanus, and one domestic sheep were examined and sampled. Although an outbreak of rinderpest had been suspected, it was found that the animals, which had been weakened by an Elaeophora sagitta infection and p...