Tokio Okino

Identification and estimation of microcystins in freshwater mussels

Accumulation of microcystins mainly produced by cyanobacteria Microcystis was investigated for freshwater mussels and fishes collected from a lake where heavy blooms of Microcystis occurred every year. The identification of microcystins was performed by HPLC equipped with a frit FAB mass spectrometer. Microcystins LR and RR were identified in the mussels Unio douglasiae and Anadonta woodiana, whereas no microcystin was identified by the present method in fishes, such as Cyprinus carpio, Carassius carassius, and Hypomesius transpacificus.

Food source of riparian spiders analyzed by using stable isotope ratios

We analyzed the food source of riparian spiders in a middle reach of the Chikuma River, Japan, by using stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen. The carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of attached algae were higher than those of terrestrial plants, reflecting a large carbon isotope fractionation in terrestrial plants and a difference in nitrogen sources. The carbon isotope ratios of terrestrial insects were similar to those of the terrestrial plants, and the ratios of aquatic insects were scattered between those of the terrestrial plants and the attached algae. The carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of spiders were intermediate between those of the terrestrial and aquatic insects. The two-source mixing model using the carbon isotope ratio showed that the web-building spiders utilized both the terrestrial and aquatic insects, with large contribution by the aquatic insects (54% on average with a maximum of 92% among spider’s taxa collected in each zone), in the riparian area in a middle reach of the Chikuma River. The large contribution of the aquatic insects was often observed for the spiders collected near river channel (<5 m) and for the horizontal web-building spiders collected across the riparian area. The relative contribution of the aquatic insects might be related with food availability (distance from river channel) and spider’s food preference reflected in their web types (horizontal vs. vertical). Our results showed that organic materials produced in the river channel, in the riparian area, and in the terrestrial area surrounding the riparian area were mixed at the carnivorous trophic level of riparian spiders.

Relating body size to the role of aquatic subsidies for the riparian spider Nephila clavata

We examined the relationship between body size of the riparian spider Nephila clavata and the contribution of allochthonous (aquatic insects) and autochthonous (terrestrial insects) sources to its diet using stable isotope analysis. During the study period from July to September, the body size of the females increased remarkably (about 60-fold) but that of males remained small. The biomass of both aquatic and terrestrial insects trapped on the spider webs increased with spider size, with the biomass of the former ranging between 30 and 70% of that of the terrestrial insects. The average relative contribution of aquatic insects to the diet of the spiders, calculated from δ13C values, was 40–50% in spiders in the early juvenile and juvenile stages, 35% in adult males and 4% in adult females. There was a significant negative relationship between the relative contribution of aquatic insects and body size of the female spiders. We conclude that aquatic insects might be an important seasonal dietary subsidy for small spiders and that these allochthonous subsidies may facilitate the growth of riparian spiders, which may in turn enable the spiders to feed on larger prey.

Morphology, physics, chemistry and biology of Lake Rara in West Nepal

A survey of oligotrophic Lake Rara, the biggest lake in Nepal, was carried out from 1982 till 1984. Mean depth is 100 m, and maximum depth is 167 m. The surface area covers 9.8 km2, and the lake contains 0.98 km3 volume of water.Transparency was about 16 m, photoquantum yield decreased exponentially with depth below 5 m, and the extinction coefficient was 8.3 × 10−2. The concentration of Chl.-a was in the range of 0.06–0.46 mg m−3, and total nitrogen was 18–30 μg 1−1. The whole water column was well oxygenated. Primary productivity was extremely low. It has more than 30 inflowing brooks and one outlet. The water quality of the brooks changes drastically with their location. The pH, electrical conductivity, and EDTA hardness in the waters from a landslide area were high. In the waters from a rich pine forest they were extremely low.The zooplankton consisted of two species of protozoa, five species of rotifers, two species of Cladocera, and two species of Copepoda. The zooplankton density range was 6200–16200 individuals m−3. The minimum was on November 11th, 1983 and the maximum on August 19th, 1983.

Changes in the chemical composition of carbohydrates and proteins in surface water during a bloom ofMicrocystis in Lake Suwa

Carbohydrates and proteins in surface water during a bloom ofMictrocystis, which is the dominant summer phytoplankton in Lake Suwa, were analyzed in order to evaluate the function ofMicrocystis in organic matter metabolism. Glucose was the predominant sugar constituent of the cellular carbohydrate fraction and decreased in quantity from inside towards the outside of the cell through the slime layer. Other constituent sugars, on the other hand, were present in larger proportions in the lake water. Although the sugar composition of the cells did not change in July and August, during the first period of theMicrocystis bloom, it changed appreciably in September when the water temperature decreased below 20°C accompanied by the decrease in solar radiation and a marked change in nutrient concentration.It appears that the sugar composition of the cells may change in response to some environmental stresses. In addition, a temporal change in the sugar composition was found, particularly in the fraction containing the slime extracted by shaking. Among the constituent amino acids of the cells, the percentage of arginine, aspartic acid and leucine decreased from inside toward the outside of the cell, while glutamic acid, threonine, serine and glycine showed an opposite trend. In contrast to the carbohydrates, the percentage composition of each amino acid varied little throughout the period of the bloom.

Lake Suwa — Eutrophication and its partial recent recovery

Lake Suwa, located in the center of the largest Japanese island of Honshu was a typical hypertrophic lake with a dense scum Microcystis species in summer during the 1970s. However, due to the introduction of a sewage treatment plant and the awareness of environmental pollution by local residents, a decrease in the concentration of nutrients in lake water since 1981 has been observed (from 1600 μg l−1 and 160 μg l−1 in 1977 to 990 μg l−1 and 110 μg l−1 in 1984 for total nitrogen and phosphorus respectively).

Method for distinguishingLimnodrilus hoffmeisteri andLimnodrilus claparedeianus (Oligochaeta, Tubificidae) and its applicability in Lake Suwa

It is still next to impossible to distinguish species using immature worms of theLimnodrilus genus. A method was developed to separate mixed immature populations ofLimnodrilus hoffmeisteri andLimnodrilus claparedeianus into each species. The ratio of setal upper tooth length to lower tooth length, inL. hoffmeisteri andL. claparedeianus, ranged from 0.9 to 1.6 and from 1.3 to 2.1, respectively. Even if the median value of the frequency overlapped, this indistinguishable portion did not exceed 6% of each population.

Ecological Studies on Dissolved Oxygen and Bloom of Microcystis in Lake Suwa-II

In the season of Microcystis bloom in Lake Suwa, both the horizontal and vertical distributions of dissolved oxygen around a floating net (9×9×1.5m) with about 7000 carps were studied. Oxygen concentration in the upper waters at the edge of the net or inside it was always lower than that at the control stations at a distance of 100 or 200m from the net, and the presence of nets caused the decrease of oxygen concentration up to the distance of about 50m from the net. The decrease in oxygen concentration was more prominent in the layer of 0 to 2m (32% saturation on Sept. 17), especially when the net was set in the windward direction. Oxygen consumption of bottom deposits around the net, up to a distance of about 20m, was much larger than that at the other stations located far away.