The scuticociliatid ciliates Ancistrum haliotis and A. crassum are parasites that may cause high mortality in the cultured abalone Haliotis spp. and the bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum. Traditional identification with silver staining methods is hampered by their morphological similarities to closely related species and the complicated procedures of morphological analysis. We designed two SSU rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes labeled with a fluorochrome, and optimized the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) protocols for identification of A. halioti and A. crassum, respectively. The assays resulted in a clear identification by strong fluorescence signals from the oligonucleotide probes. The method can be used for quick and accurate quantitative analysis of A. haliotis and A. crassum infections on host molluscs.

This study provides new insights for the hatchery released Chinese shrimp (Fenneropenaeus chinensis), including proportion, dynamic migration route, after they were released into nature for stock enhancement using a new strategy quite different than ever. Chinese shrimp were sampled at 22 survey stations during two investigation voyages acrossing 74 survey stations in the Bohai Sea from July 16 to August 9 in 2015. Among 289 sampled individuals during the second voyage, totally 155 shrimps were identified as hatchery shrimp released into the Laizhou Bay at mid-May in 2015 based on finger-print of eight SSR (simple sequence repeats) markers, and the proportion of hatchery released shrimp in recapture samples were from 41.30%–85.71% in each station with an average value 53.63%, which verified a previous view point that up to 90% of autumn season Chinese shrimp landing in the Bohai Sea were composed of hatchery released. Meanwhile, the dynamic migration route of hatchery released shrimp revealed that part of released shrimp migrated heading northwest along the west coast of the Bohai Sea up to the Bohai Bay but just remained at the Laizhou Bay until over-wintering migration at mid-October when they initiate over-wintering migration. Present unnatural spring season shrimp fishing model cut the throat of spawner shrimp chance to swim back to their respective spawning plants at each spring, it still no chance to clarify whether the hatchery released shrimp could replenish to the reproduce population and complete a whole life cycle as same as their natural relatives.

Japanese Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus niphonius, is a commercially important, highly migratory species that is widely distributed throughout the northwestern Pacific region. However, its life history and migratory patterns are only partially understood. This study used otolith chemistry to investigate the migratory pattern of S. niphonius in the southern Yellow Sea, an important fishing ground. Transverse sections of otoliths from 15 age-1 spawning or spent individuals, comprising up to one complete migration cycle, were analyzed from the core to the margin by using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The ratios of the element to Ca were integrated with microstructural analysis to produce age-related elemental profiles. Combining multi-elemental analysis of otolith composition with multivariate analytical models, we quantified structural changes in otolith chemistry profiles. Results revealed there were diverse changing patterns of otolith chemistry profiles for detected elements and the elements of Na, Mg, Sr and Ba were important for the chronological signal. Five clusters were identified through chronological clustering, representing the five life stages from the early stage to the spawning stage. Variation of Ba:Ca ratio was most informative, showing a step-decreasing pattern in the first four stages and a rebound in the spawning stage. These results support the hypothesized migratory pattern of S. niphonius: hatching and spending their early life in the coastal sandy ridges system of the southern Yellow Sea, migrating northeastward and offshore for feeding during juvenile stage, aggregating in early October and migrating outward to the Jeju Island for wintering, and returning to the coastal waters for spawning. This study demonstrated the value of life-history related otolith chemistry profiles combined with multivariate analytical models was a means to verify the migration patterns of S. niphonius at regional scales with potential application in fisheries assessment and management.

Located between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, mangrove forests are sensitive to changes in climate. The responses of mangrove ecosystems to climate change in the future can be understood by reconstructing past mangrove dynamics using proxies preserved in the intertidal sediments. Considering the complexity of the proxies commonly used, it is necessary to develop a relatively simple, inexpensive proxy. In this study, available chemical tracers (δ¹³C_org and C:N) of the four cores (YLW02, YLW03, O18, and Q37) from the intertidal zone of the northern Beibu Gulf (NBG) and a three-end-member (mangrove, sea grass, and suspended particulate matter) model was utilized to determine the contribution of mangrove-derived organic matter (CMOM) in carbonate-free sediments. Compared with the summed concentration of mangrove pollen (SCMP), a significant positive correlation between CMOM and SCMP is displayed. The calculated CMOM for an additional ²¹⁰Pb-dated sediment core from the Yingluo Bay, NBG (YLW01) clearly indicates a mangrove development going through degradation, flourishing, relative degradation, and relative flourishing, which are separately in correspondence with the lowest, highest, lower, and higher air temperature and rainfall in the time intervals of 1890–1918 AD, 1919–1956 AD, 1957–1990 AD, and 1991–2010 AD. This suggests that CMOM preserved in intertidal sediments has a potential to reconstruct historical mangrove development in high resolution, at the very least, along the coasts of the NBG.

N₂ fixation rates (NFR, in terms of N) in the northern South China Sea (nSCS) and the East China Sea (ECS) were measured using the acetylene reduction assay in summer and winter, 2009. NFR of the surface water ranged from 1.14 nmol/(L·d) to 10.40 nmol/(L·d) (average at (4.89±3.46) nmol/(L·d), n=11) in summer and 0.74 nmol/(L·d) to 29.45 nmol/(L·d) (average at (7.81±8.50) nmol/(L·d), n=15) in winter. Significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity emerged in our study: the anticyclonic eddies (AE) (P<0.01) and the Kuroshio Current (KC) (P<0.05) performed significantly higher NFR than that in the cyclonic eddies or no-eddy area (CEONE), indicating NFR was profoundly influenced by the physical process of the Kuroshio and mesoscale eddies. The depth-integrated N₂ fixation rates (INF, in terms of N) ranged from 52.4 μmol/(m²·d) to 905.2 μmol/(m²·d) (average at (428.9±305.5) μmol/(m²·d), n=15) in the winter. The contribution of surface NFR to primary production (PP) ranged from 1.7% to 18.5% in the summer, and the mean contribution of INF to new primary production (NPP) in the nSCS and ECS were estimated to be 11.0% and 36.7% in the winter. The contribution of INF to NPP (3.0%–93.9%) also decreased from oligotrophic sea toward the eutrophic waters affected by runoffs or the CEONE. Furthermore, we observed higher contributions compared to previous studies, revealing the vital roles of nitrogen fixation in sustaining the carbon pump of the nSCS and ECS.

Using the mesoscale eddy trajectory atlas product derived from satellite altimeter data from 1993 to 2016, this study analyzes statistical characteristics and seasonal variability of mesoscale eddies in the Banda Sea of the Indonesian seas. The results show that there were 147 mesoscale eddies that occurred in the Banda Sea, of which 137 eddies were locally generated and 10 originated from outside. The total numbers of cyclonic eddies (CEs, clockwise) and anticyclonic eddies (AEs, anticlockwise) are 76 and 71, respectively. Seasonally, the number of CEs (AEs) is twice larger than the number of AEs (CEs) in winter (summer). In winter, CEs are distributed in the southern and AEs in the northern basins, respectively, but the opposite thing occurs in summer, i.e., the polarities of mesoscale eddies observed at the same location reverse seasonally. The mechanisms of polarity distribution reversal (PDR) of mesoscale eddies are examined with reanalysis data of ocean currents and winds. The results indicate that the basin-scale vorticity, wind stress curl, and the meridional shear of zonal current reverse seasonally, which are favorable to the PDR of mesoscale eddies. The possible generation mechanisms of mesoscale eddies include direct wind forcing, barotropic and baroclinic instabilities, of which the direct wind forcing should play the dominant role.

In this study, to meet the need for accurate tidal prediction, the accuracy of global ocean tide models was assessed in the South China Sea (0°–26°N, 99°–121°E). Seven tide models, namely, DTU10, EOT11a, FES2014, GOT4.8, HAMTIDE12, OSU12 and TPXO8, were considered. The accuracy of eight major tidal constituents (i.e., Q₁, O₁, P₁, K₁, N₂, M₂, S₂ and K₂) were assessed for the shallow water and coastal areas based on the tidal constants derived from multi-mission satellite altimetry (TOPEX and Jason series) and tide gauge observations. The root mean square values of each constituent between satellite-derived tidal constants and tide models were found in the range of 0.72–1.90 cm in the deep ocean (depth>200 m) and 1.18–5.63 cm in shallow water area (depth<200 m). Large inter-model discrepancies were noted in the Strait of Malacca and the Taiwan Strait, which could be attributable to the complicated hydrodynamic systems and the paucity of high-quality satellite altimetry data. In coastal regions, an accuracy performance was investigated using tidal results from 37 tide gauge stations. The root sum square values were in the range of 9.35–19.11 cm, with the FES2014 model exhibiting slightly superior performance.

The morphological evolution of the sand barrier in the Anhaiao coastal zone of Pingtan from 1996 to 2018 was studied. Tidal correction was used to refine the location of the coastline. A standard deviation ellipse method was applied to further analyze the movement of the barrier head with the axis and rotation angle. A natural neighbor interpolation (NNI) method was carried out to calculate the terrain of the intertidal area, and the erosion and deposition characteristics were illustrated based on the terrain. The results showed that the northern part of the sand barrier facing the lagoon area was deposited over the whole studied period, while erosion has always occurred in the southern part of the sand barrier facing the open sea. The erosion and deposition were slightly different on both sides of the barrier head due to hydrodynamic turbulence. The middle sand barrier moved 102.60 m away from its original location in 1996, and the end of the barrier moved 65.45 m. The head of the sand barrier continued moving 379 m to the northwest. Consequently, the preliminary morphological evolution of the sand barrier corresponding to the distance and direction of movement was detected.

The Kuroshio intrusion in a quasi-global eddy-resolving model (LICOMH) and a fully air-sea coupled model (LICOMHC) was evaluated against observations. We found that the Kuroshio intrusion was exaggerated in the former, while biases were significantly attenuated in the latter. Luzon Strait transport (LST) in winter was reduced from –8.8×10⁶ m³/s in LICOMH to –6.0×10⁶ m³/s in LICOMHC. Further analysis showed that different LST values could be explained by different large-scale and local surface wind stresses and the eddies east to the Luzon Strait as well. The relatively stronger cyclonic eddies in LICOMH northeast of the Luzon Island led to weak Kuroshio transport and strong intrusion through the Luzon Strait. The summed transport of all three factors was approximately 2.0×10⁶ m³/s, which was comparable with the difference in LST between the two experiments. The EKE budget showed that strong EKE transport and the baroclinic transformation term led to strong cyclonic eddies east of the Kuroshio in LICOMH, while surface winds contributed little to the differences in the eddies.

Based on satellite remote sensing dataset and survey data during upwelling season of 2015, the spatial structures of phytoplankton biomass and community for the first time in the eastern Hainan upwelling (EHU) and its adjacent area, the eastern Leizhou Peninsula upwelling (ELPU) were illustrated. It is found that a significant cold tongue with high salinity and low temperature along the eastern Hainan coast driven by upwelling-favorable summer monsoon. The ELPU was relative weaker than the EHU because of its wide and gentle continental slope. Due to mixing by tides and waves, DO concentration with high value (>6.0 mg/L) were almost homogenous from surface to 30 m depth at the EHU. Beneath that, low DO water (<6.0 mg/L, anoxia) were pumped upward from bottom by the upwelling. The ELPU has worse DO condition compared with the EHU where bottom DO were lower than 3.5 mg/L owing to abundant DO consumption. The phytoplankton biomass reached maximal value about 1.5 mg/m³ at 30 m depth layer rather than surface layer at the EHU indicating the impact limit of upwelling on phytoplankton growth and DO distribution. Nourished by rich nutrient input, the phytoplankton biomass at the ELPU were much higher than the EHU where the maximal value can reach about 4.0 mg/m³. The phytoplankton biomass were reduced to about 0.2–0.3 mg/m³ at the offshore areas of the EHU and ELPU which were close to the value at open sea. At the inshore of the EHU, the phytoplankton community was dominated by diatom which accounted for about 50% of phytoplankton biomass. And prokaryotes (about 40%), green algae (about 20%) and prochlorococcus (about 20%) became main species at the offshore of the EHU. At the ELPU, diatom accounted for about 80% of phytoplankton biomass followed by green algae, indicating a different ecosystem at this region compared with the EHU.