First record and further description of the Cape hagfish Myxine capensis(Myxinidae) off Mozambique, western Indian Ocean.

The first record of the Cape hagfish Myxine capensis in Mozambican waters is reported based on a single 356 mm total length specimen taken by bottom trawl off Maputo, 25° 52·9' S; 34° 42·7' E - 25° 54·1' S; 34° 41·0' E, at depths from 557 to 564 m. This account also represents the northernmost record of a hagfish in the western Indian Ocean. Morphometric and meristic data are provided and compared with those of 27 specimens (including the holotype) caught off Namibia and South Africa.

Review of the Australian hagfishes with description of two new species of Eptatretus (Myxinidae).

This paper revises and updates taxonomic and distributional information about hagfishes (Myxinidae) from Australia. It covers five species of the genus Eptatretus: Eptatretus cirrhatus known from eastern Australia and also distributed around New Zealand, Eptatretus longipinnis endemic to South Australia, Eptatretus strahani originally described from the Philippines and reported here as a new record from Western Australia and two new species described herein as Eptatretus alastairi and Eptatretus gomoni, both from Western Australia. Eptatretus alastairi is distinguished from all congeners by the unique combination of the following characters: six pairs of gill pouches; three-cusp multicusps on the anterior and posterior rows of cusps; anterior unicusps 9-12; posterior unicusps 8-11; total cusps 48-56; prebranchial pores 13-16; branchial pores 5-6; trunk pores 50-55; tail pores 11-13; total pores 83-88; two bilaterally symmetrical nasal-sinus papillae in the dorsal surface of the nasal sinus. Eptatretus gomoni is distinguished from all congeners by the unique combination of the following characters: eight pairs of gill pouches; three-cusp multicusps on the anterior and two-cusp multicusps on the posterior row of cusps; anterior unicusps 10-11; posterior unicusps 9-10; total cusps 50; prebranchial pores 12-13; branchial pores 7-8; trunk pores 57-58; tail pores 14-15; total pores 91-93; no nasal-sinus papillae. An identification key for the Australian species of Eptatretus is also provided.

A new species of hagfish (Myxinidae: Eptatretus) from Papua New Guinea.

A new species of seven-gilled hagfish Eptatretus astrolabium (Myxinidae) is described from a 400 mm total length female trapped 1 km east from Planet Rock, Astrolabe Bay, Papua New Guinea, at c. 500 m depth. This is the first hagfish species reported from the waters around New Guinea. It can be distinguished from other hagfishes by a combination of characters including seven pairs of gill apertures, three-cusp multicusps on the anterior and posterior rows of cusps, 10 posterior unicusps, 52 total cusps, 18-19 prebranchial pores, five branchial pores, 48-49 trunk pores, 83-84 total pores and no nasal-sinus papillae.

Two centuries of the Scandinavian wolf population: patterns of genetic variability and migration during an era of dramatic decline.

The grey wolf (Canis lupus) was numerous on the Scandinavian peninsula in the early 19th century. However, as a result of intense persecution, the population declined dramatically and was virtually extinct from the peninsula by the 1960s. We examined historical patterns of genetic variability throughout the period of decline, from 1829 to 1979. Contemporary Finnish wolves, considered to be representative of a large eastern wolf population, were used for comparison. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variability among historical Scandinavian wolves was significantly lower than in Finland while Y chromosome variability was comparable between the two populations. This may suggest that long-distance migration from the east has been male-biased. Importantly though, as the historical population was significantly differentiated from contemporary Finnish wolves, the overall immigration rate to the Scandinavian peninsula appears to have been low. Levels of variability at autosomal microsatellite loci were high by the early 1800s but declined considerably towards the mid-20th century. At this time, approximately 40% of the allelic diversity and 30% of the heterozygosity had been lost. After 1940, however, there is evidence of several immigration events, coinciding with episodes of marked population increase in Russian Karelia and subsequent westwards migration.

Platinum(II) complexes block the entry of T4 phage DNA into the host cells.

The efficiency of multiplicity reactivation of T4 particles inactivated by platinum(II) complexes is very low. The same is true for marker rescue and functional survival of genes. This can be at least partly explained by the inability of most inactivated virus particles to introduce their DNA into the host cells as demonstrated by electron microscopy. Conformational changes in the DNA, formation of DNA-DNA and DNA-protein cross-links and the damage of proteins participating in the injection process could be responsible for the phenomenon observed.