Glossary questions and requests

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 17 May 2006, 22:34

Amanda,

I agree with Jeff's definition of bloodworm.

And some new ones:
Phenotype - the characteristics of an organism, based on genetical inheritance. In humans eye-colour (blue or brown) is such characteristic. Albinism or long fins are examples in fish.

Recessive gene - One of a pair of genes that form the offsprings phenotype, that requires a match on the other gene too. E.g. albino genes are recessive, so only if the gene from both parents are "albino" will the offspring be albino.

Dominant gene - One of a pair of genes that, when comhined with a recessive gene hides the trait of the recessive gene. For example, the offspring of one albino and one non-albino parent would be non-albino, yet carries the gene for albinism.

--
Mats

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 18 May 2006, 09:52

I like Tullochs defn of evolution as it doesn't make me feel like I need to go and look up other terms to understand it.

Jools

bedwetter · Post by **bedwetter** » 18 May 2006, 15:25

Personally, I don't agree with Tullocks definition of evolution because it stresses only the development of new species. Evolution is any change in the genetic make-up of a population over time. This may not neccessarily result in the formation of new species.
I like mats' definition of evolution, but perhaps it could be changed to say 'organism' rather than 'plant or animal'.

Also, I think Mats' definition of dominant and recessive need a little of bit modification. Genes are not dominant or recessive, it is the different forms of genes (called alleles) which are dominant or recessive. So, in the case of albinism, there is one gene that controls pigmentation. The dominant allele 'codes' for normal pigmentation, the recessive for albinism.

So, maybe:
Gene: a region of DNA that determines a certain trait of an organism i.e. pigmentation or fin length. There are two copies of each gene (or alleles) in each organism, one inherited from the mother, one from the father. See also allele.

Allele: alternative forms of genes. i.e. For the gene controlling pigmentation, there are two forms: 'normally pigmented' and 'albino'.

Dominant Allele:: A form of a gene which only requires one copy to be expressed, generally represented by a capitol letter i.e 'X' (in contrast, the recessive allele is represented by 'x'). For the gene controlling pigmentation, the dominant allele codes for normal pigmentation (=X). An organism will be normally pigemented if it has two copies of the dominant allele 'XX' or if it only has one copy of the dominant allele 'Xx'.

Recessive Allele: the form of a gene which will only be expressed if both copies of the gene are recessive. Generally designated by a small letter i.e 'x'. In the case of pigmentation, the form of the gene which codes for albinism is recessive (='x'), whereas the allele for normal pigmentation is dominant (='X'); an organism will only be an albino when both copies of the gene are recessive 'xx'. If an organism is 'Xx', the dominant allele X will be expressed.

These are bit longwinded. Maybe someone can think of a way to word them better.

Jeff

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 18 May 2006, 19:19

Let me put the reworked bloodworm definition in today. I'll look through the new words and rework Tullock's definition of evolution. I have a few days off (finally!!!) so I can look for more words. Great work, everybody!

Amanda

skh · Post by **skh** » 18 May 2006, 20:59

Hi,

my first entry.

Hypoxia: The actual oxygen concentration is lower than the oxygen concentration of water fully equilibrated with air.

Hyperoxia: The actual oxygen concentration is higher than the oxygen concentration of water fully equilibrated with air.

cheers

Stefan

Deb · Post by **Deb** » 18 May 2006, 23:48

Carl Ferraris' well-known book, Catfish in the Aquarium begins with a quote from Dr. Archie Carr:

"Any damn fool knows a catfish!"

True? I think we need a definition of the word catfish. I'll start if off by saying that every catfish has at least one pair of barbels, and that no catfish has scales.

Deborah

Post by **Shane** » 19 May 2006, 03:12

I think we need a definition of the word catfish.

The world needs a better definition...

I'll start if off by saying that every catfish has at least one pair of barbels, and that no catfish has scales.

Not all have barbels. There are some pretty good definitions, but all use internal characteristics. Coming up with a definition of "catfish" based on external characteristics is tough.
-Shane

Deb · Post by **Deb** » 19 May 2006, 05:12

Ferraris writes that some catfishes have barbels which are hidden in the grooves of their cheeks, but that's not what you mean, is it? Well, if we can't use barbels (never on the upper lip) as part of the ID, you're right - it will be tough. Impossible for me.

Deborah

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 19 May 2006, 11:02

A few from me.....

Lotic - Running water (streams, rivers etc)

Lentic - Still water (ponds, lakes etc)

Symbiotic - An association of two different organisms, which brings mutual benefit. eg the wood eating Panaque spp. and their gut microorganisms.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 19 May 2006, 12:44

I'm not quite sure that aufwuchs is correct. I'm not a German speaker, so i'm not too sure exactly what it means. Wels Altas I refers to it as...

"Biocover. Largely, the layer of filamentous algae growing on hard substrates, and the tiny invertebrates living within"

Now, this is different to the definition of biofilm, which most people regard as the same as aufwuchs. Was aufwuchs a term created by German aquarists, not scientists?

I think perhaps this needs to be cleared up.

My definition of biofilm is...

"An adhesive microscopic layer coating all (but mostly hard) submerged surfaces, comprising of mainly the following microoganisms; bacteria, algae and protozoa. Along with it's associated invertebrate epifauna, it is a common food source for many loricariid catfish".

Hmmmmm, maybe that's a bit too long?

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 19 May 2006, 15:15

Do you think a separate definition for biofilm would be in order, Racoll? I'm wondering if they are the same thing or if what is believed to be aufwuchs is too generalised(like algae, there are many types of algae). I'm looking at DeVries' German-English Scientific Dictionary (to help me with the Mergus Wels Band 2)(Nice photos, Lee and Shane. I even caught your names in there a few times.

)"Growth" is the literal translation of the word "Aufwuchs" from this little old dictionary(1946). Nothing more, nothing less. If any German speakers out there would like to correct this, please feel free.

Here's another go at:
Evolution: A biological change resulting in a new species. This change may be due to natural selection or genetic variation.

What should we add or subtract to the above?

I'll put in: lotic, lentic, symbiotic, gene, phenotype and allele. How far do we want to go with the genetics, Jools?

Catfish definition: How do you define thousands and thousands of species with one or two sentences? Maybe a link to the Cat-eLog would be a good definition.

Are anoxia and hypoxia different? Just curious.
Amanda

Durlänger · Post by **Durlänger** » 19 May 2006, 17:15

Aufwuchs comes from Aufwuchsnahrung which is a created word as it is not in the "Duden" (the thing with word`s in)

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 19 May 2006, 17:15

Do you think a separate definition for biofilm would be in order, Racoll?

Perhaps. Although, as you say, we will have to wait for a German speaker to tell us exactly what is meant by that word.

How about this for evolution?

A biological process, in which genetic traits can be changed and transfered over generations via natural selection.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 19 May 2006, 17:23

Amanda, I think "still" should be added to lentic, to seperate it moe clearly from lotic.

Lentic: Of inland still waters. Examples: swamps, ponds and lakes.

Thanks.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 19 May 2006, 17:31

Are anoxia and hypoxia different?

Not really, but hypoxia usually seems to refer to a physiological condition, and anoxia usually refers to environmental conditions.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 19 May 2006, 19:21

So, to clarify: A creature that isn't evolved to live in such condtions would suffer from hypoxia in an anoxic environment...

--
Mats

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 19 May 2006, 19:32

Yes, that's exactly what my understanding is.

I have just clarifed this in a huge penguin dictionary.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 19 May 2006, 19:39

Evolution: The historical development of a biological group.

skh · Post by **skh** » 20 May 2006, 14:02

Hi Folks:

a short note on the definition of swim-bladder:

"A sac or container for air and gasses. The fish can compress and enlarge the Swim Bladder
through muscular activity to control buoyancy."

To my knowledge, the swim-bladder is filled through diffusion of gases (usually mostly oxygen, but also nitrogen or CO2) from the blood. A structure called "rete mirabile", a counter current system, helps to concentrate the oxygen in the blood by biochemical processes in order to fill the swim-bladder with oxygen. The other way to fill or empty the swim-bladder ist the "ductus pneumaticus", that leads to the gut.

Has anyone a scientific citation mentioning muscular activity?

cheers

Stefan

skh · Post by **skh** » 20 May 2006, 14:06

Hi Mats,

So, to clarify: A creature that isn't evolved to live in such condtions would suffer from hypoxia in an anoxic environment...

I would also see it vice versa: If a fish can not adapt his respiration to hypoxic conditions (severe hypoxia rather than moderate hypoxia), he would suffer from anoxia (at least at the mitochondrial level).

cheers

Stefan

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 20 May 2006, 20:31

Stefan, sorry!:oops: (The source was a book from the 1980's)I appreciate the correction. Let's try this:

Swim Bladder: A sac or container for air and gasses which helps adjust buoyancy and sometimes acts as an accessory breathing organ. It is attached to the Weberian Apparatus. The Swim Bladder is filled through the diffusion of gasses (mostly Oxygen, but also Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide) from the blood.

DurlÃ¤nger wrote:Aufwuchs comes from Aufwuchsnahrung which is a created word as it is not in the "Duden" (the thing with word`s in)

Like the OED(Old English Dictionary) or Webster's(named after Noah Webster), you have "Duden?"(I'm trying!!) The dictionary I got is from 1946 and it's scientific. Please be patient with me.

Racoll, I'll be happy to add "still water" to the lentic definition. I like the idea of including the history in the evolution definition. I think we should start there and then move into the scientific portion.

Evolution: The historical development of a species in which genetic traits may be transferred over generations via natural selection.

Closer?

Hypoxia and hyperoxia should go in then.
Amanda

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 21 May 2006, 15:45

Evolution: The historical development of a species in which genetic traits may be transferred over generations via natural selection.

I'm happy with that. I would remove the "a" and add a comma though, to read:

Evolution: The historical development of species, in which genetic traits may be transferred over generations via natural selection.

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 21 May 2006, 16:50

racoll wrote:
Evolution: The historical development of a species in which genetic traits may be transferred over generations via natural selection.

I'm happy with that. I would remove the "a" and add a comma though, to read:

Evolution: The historical development of species, in which genetic traits may be transferred over generations via natural selection.

If there aren't any objections to Racoll's definition, I'd say let's go with it. How about we let it sit for a day to see if anybody else has some input. Nicely done, Racoll!

Where are we with Aufwuchs and Biofilm?

Here's two more:
Armoured: A fish having a protective outer covering, such as scutes, bony plates and/or scales.

Adaptation: When an organism or population adjusts to accomodate its environment. Example: Blind cave fishes. Also see Evolution.

I read that some blind cave fishes still have the eye sockets, but no eyes. I need to learn more about it!

Stefan, I'll enter the corrected Swim Bladder today. I deleted it yesterday to avoid any confusion.

Amanda

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 22 May 2006, 20:15

I'll put in Evolution (yippee!) and Armoured today. I want to see if anybody has more input for Adaptation. I'd like to go back to Sid's definition also:

Convergent Evolution: The evolution of species from different taxonomic groups toward a similar form; the development of similar charactaristics by taxonomically different organisms.

I like it when I can refer back to words that are already in the glossary.

Amanda

snowball · Post by **snowball** » 23 May 2006, 02:39

To me adaption implies more of a deliberate short term change, rather than generational change which sounds more like evolution (as in the example of blind cave fish).

How about adding behaviour in as so?

Adaptation: When an organism or population modifies physical or social behaviour to accomodate environmental changes.

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 23 May 2006, 21:36

snowball wrote:To me adaption implies more of a deliberate short term change, rather than generational change which sounds more like evolution (as in the example of blind cave fish).

How about adding behaviour in as so?

Adaptation: When an organism or population modifies physical or social behaviour to accomodate environmental changes.

I'll go for that. Any other input for Adaptation?

Here are a few more:
Contaminant: When a different species is caught along with the targeted species. If undetected, a Contaminant species may make it all the way to the LFS.

Neutral: Neither acid nor base. Having a pH of 7.0.

Cephalad: Toward the head.
Amanda

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 23 May 2006, 22:02

The correct scientific term for contaminant is bycatch.

Perhaps a mention too?

It's not totally accurate as bycatch refers to the act of collection whereas contaminant has a very definite possibility that it's because fish were mixed up at the exporters or importers.

It's another natural vs artificial uses of a term I think and probably should be dealt with in whatever way we decide to treat acclimate / acclimatise.

Jools

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 23 May 2006, 23:49

bronzefry wrote:

Acclimation: The process where a fish becomes used to a new set of circumstances, such as water parameters.

Conservation: The planned saving of an ecosystem and the species in it.

I think acclimation is an AmericaniZation, the people who invented the language would say Acclimitisation. Twisted Evil Maybe have both? Any Aussies out there reading this? Could you confirm what you guys would say?

It's nit picking but I'd also use "the planned preservation" for the Conservation defn.

Jools

I'm afraid you have that wrong there Jools. Acclimation is different from Acclimatiszation. The Americanism is the substitute of the z for the s.

Acclimation is the organism's physiological response to an artificial environment (laboratory/aquarium/captivity).

Acclimatisation is an organism's physiological response to environmental ("natural") changes.

My take on adaptation is: Any heritable trait which aids survival or reproduction of an organism.

Behaviour to me, is not related to adaptation in it's literal sense.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 24 May 2006, 00:34

racoll wrote: I'm afraid you have that wrong there Jools. Acclimation is different from Acclimatiszation. The Americanism is the substitute of the z for the s.

Acclimation is the organism's physiological response to an artificial environment (laboratory/aquarium/captivity).

Acclimatisation is an organism's physiological response to environmental ("natural") changes.

So, as laboratory = aquarium = captivity and all are artificial, would you also agree that could be represented more simply and yet correctly as:

Acclimation is the organism's physiological response to an changes in an artificial environment.

Acclimatisation is an organism's physiological response to changes in a natural environment.

?

I'm uncomfortable about the distinction, but then that's only me and the oxford English dictionary "wrong". While I'm guessing the above is correct from a strict scientific viewpoint (although I'd like to see a source) it's not commonly used as such by most of our visitors. So, at what point does common usage give way to being strictly correct? Walk into any LFS in the UK and you'll get one word, the other in the US LFS.

If we are being strictly correct, and with apologies to Lee Finley for re-raising one of his old hobby horses, all <em>Ancistrus</em> species should be called bushynoses and not bristlenoses, but maybe that's not scientific distinction.

At the very least we should add a "see also" to both entries cross referencing them. It was certainly a distinction I was unaware of.

Jools

Post by **Silurus** » 24 May 2006, 01:46

bronzefry wrote: Cephalad: Toward the head.

Where does this term occur on PC? I searched but drew a blank.
Seriously, I have not even encountered this term in all the time I have been reading scientific literature (and only once or twice did I encounter its antonym, caudad).

I thought the whole point of having a glossary was to explain words on the website that some readers might have difficulty comprehending. Seems to me like the net is being cast wider (and more indiscriminately)...