Taurulus bubalis

Abstract: While the syntopic nature of many intertidal fish communities suggest that resources such as food are shared, little has been done to assess the importance of diet on the coexistence of intertidal fish of the U.K. In this study, six intertidal fish species (shanny, Lipophrys pholis, Blenniidae; long-spined scorpion fish, Taurulus bubalis, Cottidae; two-spotted goby, Gobiusculus flavescens, Gobiidae; rock goby, Gobius paganellus, Gobiidae; plaice, Pleuronectes platessa, Pleuronectidae; butterfish, Pholis gunnellus, Pholidae) were collected from two sites along the east coast of England (Filey and Thornwick Bay) and two sites around the coast of the Isle of Anglesey, North Wales (Rhosneigr and Penrhos), during summer and winter. A comparison of the diets of those in the highest abundances (L. pholis, T. bubalis and G. flavescens) found that, in general, prey preferences were dissimilar between species, albeit with some slight overlap, and therefore it could be said that diet acts as an important mechanism of interspecific coexistence.

Abstract: Collecting water from rock pools just above rising tides, usually in winter and spring, yielded 1412 Lipophrys pholis, 255 Pholis gunnellus and 29 Coryphoblennius galerita, bearing respectively 172, 8 and 1 Oceanobdella blennii, 744 Taurulus bubalis bearing six Oceanobdella microstoma and 14 Sanguinothus pinnarum, and a Myoxocephalus scorpius with a single O. microstoma; fishes of 23 other species totalled 1243, but none bore leeches externally. Oceanobdella blennii was found mainly in February and March (some in gill chambers), at temperatures generally below 8°C, with lower numbers (all external) in April and May and none later. Infestation was highest in Northumberland. Leeches on P. gunnellus were smaller than those on L. pholis, which they would not attack. They were confined to Northumberland and Scotland, where L. pholis was scarcer. The southern limit of O. blennii seemed to be in north Cornwall, but O. microstoma, though more stenothermal, extends from the Arctic to south Devon, its hosts living mostly subtidally. It is hidden under the chin of Cottidae, whereas S. pinnarum is easily seen on the fins. Abundance in south-west Britain of the ‘cleaner fish’ Crenilabrus melops may explain why S. pinnarum, though common in Scotland and tolerant of summer temperatures, is scarce in Anglesey and not found further south.

Abstract: In Koster archipelago (northern Skagerrak, Sweden) the harbour seal population increased from approximately 350 to more than 1000 individuals between 1988 and 1998. During the same period, sealworm ( Pseudoterranova decipiens ) abundance in the most heavily infected fish species, bullrout ( Myoxocepahulus scorpius ) and sea scorpion ( Taurulus bubalis ), did not increase. Since harbour seals do not normally feed on those cottids an infection route via cod ( Gadus morhua ), which consume cottids, is proposed. The abundance of sealworm in the final host is therefore related to the probability of cod preying on infected cottids prior to being preyed upon by seals. Our model predicts that the abundance of larval sealworm in benthic fishes is not related to the number of seals when the colony is over a specific threshold size.

Abstract: We present a genome assembly from an individual female Taurulus bubalis (the long-spined sea scorpion; Chordata; Actinopteri; Perciformes; Cottidae). The genome sequence is 615 megabases in span. The complete assembly is scaffolded into 21 chromosomal pseudomolecules.