A minimally invasive technique to assess several life-history characteristics of the endangered great hammerhead shark Sphyrna mokarran.

A dorsal-fin photo-identification technique paired with a non-invasive parallel laser photogrammetry technique was used to non-invasively identify individual Sphyrna mokarran over time. Based on the data collected over a duration of 59 days, 16 different S. mokarran (mean ± S.D. pre-caudal length: 220·82 ± 13·66 cm; mean ± S.D. cephalofoil width: 71·38 ± 7·94 cm) were identified using dorsal-fin photo-identification, with a mean ± S.D. shark re-sighting frequency of 4·05 ± 3·06 at-sea days. The results illustrate a high S. mokarran sighting rate and therefore, the utilization of parallel laser photogrammetry and dorsal-fin photo-identification may be a plausible multi-year approach to aid in non-invasively determining the growth rate and inter-annual site fidelity of these animals.

Risks and advantages of using surface laser photogrammetry on free-ranging marine organisms: a case study on white sharks Carcharodon carcharias.

This study employed a non-lethal measurement tool, which combined an existing photo-identification technique with a surface, parallel laser photogrammetry technique, to accurately estimate the size of free-ranging white sharks Carcharodon carcharias. Findings confirmed the hypothesis that surface laser photogrammetry is more accurate than crew-based estimations that utilized a shark cage of known size as a reference tool. Furthermore, field implementation also revealed that the photographer's angle of reference and the shark's body curvature could greatly influence technique accuracy, exposing two limitations. The findings showed minor inconsistencies with previous studies that examined pre-caudal to total length ratios of dead specimens. This study suggests that surface laser photogrammetry can successfully increase length estimation accuracy and illustrates the potential utility of this technique for growth and stock assessments on free-ranging marine organisms, which will lead to an improvement of the adaptive management of the species.

Stability constants of the ternary complexes of CuDTPA, NiDCTA, CrEDTA, CoHEEDTA, NiHEEDTA and CuHEEEDT Aheedta with OH-.

The acid dissociation constants of the metal chelates H(3)CuDTPA, H(2) NiDCTA, HCrEDTA, HCoHEEDTA, HNiHEEDTA and HCuHEEDTA were determined by potentiometric titration. The constants determined at an ionic strength of 0.1 were pK(a,1) = 2.1; pK(a,2) = 2.8 and pK(a,3) = 4.75 for H(3) CuDTPA (296 K), pK(a,1) = 2.16 for HCrEDTA (298 K); pK(a,1) = 1.6 and pK(a,2) = 2.0 for H(2) NiDCTA (298 K); pK(a,1) = 2.24 for HCoHEEDTA, pK(a,1) = 2.47 for HCuHEEDTA and pK(a,1) = 1.73 for HNi-HEEDTA. At high pH the formation of ternary hydroxo-complexes was observed for the chelates CrEDTA(-) (pK(a,1) = 7.35; pK(a,1) = 12.35), CoHEEDTA(-) (pK(a,1) = 11.74), NiHEEDTA(-) (pK(a,2) = 12,44) and CuHEEDTA(-) (pK(a,2) = 10.45).

Ternary complexes of the Cu(II) and Ni(II) chelates of edta and dcta with cyanide and ethylenediamine.

The formation of the ternary complexes CuEDTA(en)(2-), CuEDTA(CN)(3-), CuDCTA(CN)(3-), NiDCTA(CN)(3-) and NiEDTA(en)(2-) has been established spectrophotometrically. The stability constants found were log K = 2.87 +/- 0.03, 3.76 +/- 0.06, 2.64 +/- 0.35, 2.41 +/- 0.21 and 2.74 +/- 0.35 respectively. For the system CuDCTA(2-) + en no ternary complex was observed, instead Cu(en)(2)(2+) was formed. No reaction was found for the systems CoEDTA(2-) + N(3)(-), CoDCTA(2-) + N(3)(-), NiDCTA(2-) + en, NiDCTA(2-) + phen, NiEDTA(2-) + phen, NiDCTA(2-) + N(3)(-), NiEDTA(2-) + N(3)(-), CrEDTA(-) + NH(3), CrEDTA(-) + CN(-), CuEDTA(2-) + N(3) and CuEDTA(2-) + N(3)(-). The systems CoEDTA(2-) + en and CoDCTA(2-) + en involve more than one equilibrium. The absorption spectra of the ternary complexes between 500 and 850 nm are reported.