A new species of Achelia (Pycnogonida: Ammotheidae) and first records of intertidal sea spiders found on Zoanthus (Cnidaria: Zoantharia) from Karachi, Pakistan.

Ten intertidal sea spider (Pycnogonida) species from five families - Pycnogonidae (1 species), Ammotheidae (3 species), Callipallenidae (3 species), Phoxichilidiidae (2 species) and Endeidae (1 species) - are reported in the present study. Out of these ten species, four are first records from Pakistan, including a new species, Achelia karachiensis sp. nov. Intertidal zoanthid colonies have been found to provide shelter and food to a large and diverse Pycnogonid population at Sandspit and the Buleji, Karachi coast. This study highlights the significance of the intertidal fauna of pycnogonids of these areas and contributes to our understanding of the species diversity from the Karachi coast.

A comprehensive assessment of environmental pollution by means of heavy metal analysis for oysters' reefs at Hab River Delta, Balochistan, Pakistan.

The heavy metal pollution status of oyster reefs has been assessed with respect to ten metals pollutants in seawater, sediments, and tissues of above two oysters (soft tissues and shells) for assessing the pollution status in a short food chain in Hab River Delta. The results showed that heavy metals accumulated in M. bilineata were higher than those in M. cuttackensis. Simultaneously, the population of M. bilineata species has been ironically decreasing as a results of high pollution. The determined concentrations revealed a significant differences in their profiles among sediments, seawater and bioaccumulation in tissues and shells of two native oysters. The present study also compared these metal concentrations with national and international database by applying different pollution indices. Heavy metals in all samples were above the national environmental quality standards (NEQS-Pakistan). High level of pollution with an alarming condition of Hab River Delta need more attention for coastal management.

Assessment of reproductive disorder (imposex) induced by tributyltins in marine gastropods.

Imposex is a genital disorder characterized by imposition of male sexual characteristics in female gastropods due to exposure to tributyltin (TBT). TBT is used as biocidal agent in antifouling paints, applied on the ship hulls and marine submerged structures such as fishing gears and buoys. In the present study bioassay experiment was carried out to determine imposex inductive and endocrine disruptive effect of TBT in two species of gastropods of genus Thais. In this experiment normal specimens of T. bufo and T. rudolphi were exposed to three different concentrations (100, 500 and 1000ngl-1) of TBTCl for four weeks in laboratory and at the end of experiment level of free testosterone and TBT body burden was estimated by radioimmunoassay and gas chromatograph coupled with a flame photometric detector respectively. In both tested species exposed to 500 and 1000ngl-1 of TBT imposex stages developed, while in 100ng l-1 and control groups showed no imposex condition. Elevation of free testosterone level in imposex females has also been observed. These observations indicate that the TBT act as potential imposex inducer and endocrine disruptor in the targeted gastropod species and these species can be used as sensitive biomonitoring tool for TBT contamination.

Limpets of the genus Cellana (Patellogastropoda) from Pakistan, North Arabian Sea: species identification based on DNA sequencing.

The true limpets are found in the intertidal zone of the rocky shores of Pakistan, North Arabian Sea. Partial sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I was used to estimate the degree of genetic differentiation among the morphological forms of Cellana, which were considered as three separate species earlier in Pakistan. The study revealed that the three morphs of Cellana on COI sequence generated a single haplotype and matched with the COI sequence of Cellana karachiensis. This point out the phenotypic plasticity between the proposed species.

Impact of marine pollution in green mussel Perna viridis from four coastal sites in Karachi, Pakistan, North Arabian Sea: histopathological observations.

Pathological changes are regarded as a standard technique to monitor the effects of pollutants in marine animals. Histopathological examination of the population of green mussel Perna viridis (L.) from four sites in Pakistan, namely, Manora Channel, Rehri Creek, Sandspit Backwaters and Bhanbore was conducted. The first three sites are on the Karachi coast, whereas the fourth one, Bhanbore is situated outside Karachi, and is considered to be less polluted. Two types of parasites, Rickettsia-like organisms and metacestode were found in the mussels studied. In the present study, we observed various pathological lesions, such as inflammatory responses, granulocytomas, lipofuscin pigments, vacuolation in the digestive gland and gonads, lamellar fusion and dilated hemolymphatic sinus in the gills of P. viridis. These observations indicate the extent of environmental pollution in the studied areas. Although, Bhanbore is considered to be relatively less polluted compared to other three sites, the present results have revealed that the waters of Bhanbore are also polluted as evidenced by the pathological changes observed in the mussels collected from there.