Background:The ice-ice disease is one of the major problems in the cultivation of seaweeds. This problem seems to have worsened in recent years without any significant solution and central production sites of seaweed like in the Zamboanga Peninsula are affected. Methods: This present study investigated the current status of incidence and degree of infection of ice-ice disease associated with Kappaphycus alvarezii brown and green during July to September, 2018 in two varying seaweed farms in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Mindanao, Philippines. Ecological parameters known to affect the occurrence of ice-ice disease were obtained in each seaweed farm such as temperature, salinity, and pH. Results: In this study, incidence (%) and degree of infection (%) of ice-ice disease found to be highest in the seaweed farm in Mampang, Zamboanga City compared in Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur. Results of One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) on the incidence (%) and degree of infection (%) of ice-ice disease reveal significant differences (p= 5.141E-09 and p=6.094E-06 at α= 0.05, respectively) between the two selected farms. Conclusion: Occurrence of this disease could be attributed to the unfavorable environmental conditions. This incidence and infection of ice-ice disease are indicative of the varying resistance of K. alvarezii, thus this study may be significant with an implication to management strategies of the current status of the seaweed farms in Zamboanga Peninsula, Mindanao, Philippines.

The advent of geometric morphometrics opened an area to study morphological variations in organisms. Thus, the aim of this study is to use outline-based geometric morphometrics to describe variations in the shell shapes of the left and right valves of Anadara oceanica (Lesson, 1831) (Bivalvia Arcidae) populations from the two neighbouring intertidal zones of Margosatubig, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. Herein, there were two levels of analyses that were employed: first, the shell shapes of the outer left and right valves between populations were compared; second, the shell shapes within population were quantitatively determined in terms of its symmetry. Results revealed significant variations both in the left and right valves of A. oceanica between populations. The variations observed are characterized by the deformations in the umbonal and anteroventral angles and in the dorsal, anterior and ventral margins of the outer shell both in the left and right valves. Although further studies are necessary in order to elucidate these variations, the second analysis revealed that the detected asymmetry in the shell shapes within A. oceanica populations was the cause of variation within populations that contributed to the significant variations between populations. Considering that the two sites are not geographically isolated, the results herein clearly proved that shell shape variation could also occur in neighbouring populations. The variations in the shell shapes of A. oceanica populations may have implications to habitat adaptation which aid in understanding the nature of this species especially those dwelling in the intertidal areas of Margosatubig,