Redescription of the mysid Petalophthalmus armiger Willemoes-Suhm, 1875 (Crustacea: Mysida: Petalophthalmidae) and distribution off western Mexico.

Specimens of Petalophthalmus armiger Willemoes-Suhm, 1875, were collected off western Mexico during a deep-water survey. Six males and 32 females were obtained from 18 sampling localities in western Mexico. The species is redescribed in detail, including illustrations of body and appendages, and SEM photographs of the mandibles. The new material indicates that P. armiger is widely distributed in the area and more common than previously thought in the eastern Pacific. Samples indicate that P. armiger inhabits water far offshore, where total depth exceeds 1000 m. Due to the lack of discrete samplings in the water column, however, the precise depth interval where P. armiger occurs cannot be defined.

Two species of the deep-water shrimp genus Nematocarcinus A. Milne-Edwards, 1881 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Caridea, Nematocarcinidae) from the Mexican Pacific.

The distribution of two species of the deep-water shrimp genus Nematocarcinus A. Milne-Edwards, 1881, occurring off the west coast of Mexico is analyzed based on a large series of recently collected material. Nematocarcinus faxoni Burukovsky, 2000, is by far the most common and abundant species in the area and it is distributed throughout the central and southern Gulf of California and off the entire Baja California Peninsula south to 17º10'15"N. Based on characteristics observed in the new samples and in the type material, N. agassizii Faxon, 1893, is reinstalled as a valid species, and no longer considered a junior of N. gracilipes A. Milne-Edwards, 1881, as proposed by Cardoso & Burukovsky (2014). Along the Pacific coast of Mexico, N. agassizii exhibits a more restricted distribution and it was collected only off the Baja California Peninsula. Previous records of this species in the Gulf of California, where N. faxoni was the only representative of the genus captured during this survey, are considered doubtful.

Effects of vine water status on dimethyl sulfur potential, ammonium, and amino acid contents in Grenache Noir grapes (Vitis vinifera).

We studied the effect of vine water status on the dimethyl sulfur potential (DMSP), ammonium, and amino acid contents of the berry during the maturation of Grenache Noir grapes. Water deficit increased the accumulation of amino acids in berries and favored yeast assimilable amino nitrogen. Similarly, ammonium content was higher in berries from vines subjected to moderate water deficit. DMSP content followed the same trend as yeast assimilable amino acid content, with higher concentrations observed in the berries of vines subjected to water deficit. The high DMSP and yeast assimilable nitrogen contents of musts from vines subjected to water deficit resulted in a better preservation of DMSP during winemaking. The wines produced from these musts had a higher DMSP level and would therefore probably have a higher aroma shelf life, because the DMSP determines the rate of release of dimethyl sulfur during wine storage, and this compound enhances fruity notes.

Presumptive detection of yellow head virus by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and dot-blot hybridization in Litopenaeus vannamei and L. stylirostris cultured on the Northwest coast of Mexico.

In order to assess the presence of yellow head virus (YHV) in shrimp farms along the Pacific coast of Mexico, 39 samples from 26 randomly chosen farms were analysed by means of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and dot-blot hybridization. Eleven samples were positive for YHV. The disease was reproduced by means of an infectivity bioassay performed with an extract of pleopods from the positive samples. Cumulative mortality reached 50% in 14 days. Four pairs of primers which amplified several YHV genome regions were designed and used to test dead and surviving shrimp from the bioassay by RT-PCR, resulting in positive results for every expected amplicon. The results of this study provide presumptive evidence of the presence of YHV in Mexican shrimp farms at least during 1999-2000.