Scales have numerous hidden details in their sculptural design that contributes effectively to fish identification and classification. A traditional approach has been made to study the scale morphology of the yellow striped goatfish Upeneus vittatus (Forskål, 1775) using a micron cam attached to a Gateway computer and a stereomicroscope in tandem with a 14 megapixel Kodak easyshare Z 1485 IS digital camera in which digitized images were processed using Corel Paint Photoshop 2x program.To eliminate subjective human error, scale variation in scale images were subjected to Elliptic Fourier Analysis using 77 Fourier descriptors and Principal Component Analysis to discriminate variation between scale shapes within the male and female U. vittatus and to use the data generated to established variation between male and female species.Scanned images (1200dpi) were binarized to generate chain codes using SHAPE 1.3 version. The data were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis conducted using the PAST software ver. 1.8.Result of the study revealed that there is a high significance in the variation of shapes within male and female individuals of U. vittatus and that a significant variation in scale shapes was observed between male and female species.This study demonstrated that scale characteristics can provide useful taxonomic information on the morphological differences between sexes of U. vittatus and that elliptic Fourier analysis and principal Component analysis are good tools to discriminate variation in scale shapes.

This study identified the bacterial community composition associated with Barbour's seahorses (Hippocampus barbouri). Seahorses and samples from the surrounding environment (sediment and water) were collected from Cantiasay Island in Surigao del Norte, Philippines. Genomic DNA was isolated from these samples, and the V1–V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform. There were 929 803 sequence reads corresponding to 859 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), which were obtained from the six genomic libraries. The results showed that the most abundant OTUs were affiliated to the phylum Proteobacteria, particularly those belonging to the genera Shewanella, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter and Aeromonas, which were found to be dominant in seahorse gut samples. The only exception was for the skin of male seahorses, which was dominated by members belonging to the genus Bacillus (phylum Firmicutes). These findings on bacterial community structure and composition may shed light on therapeutic claims of Barbour's seahorses and help in the conservation of this species.

Abstract. Dechavez R, Calub ML, Genobata DR, Balacuit R, Jose R, Tabugo SR. 2022. Identification of culture-dependent microbes from mangroves reveals dominance of Bacillus including medically important species based on DNA signature. Biodiversitas 23: 5342-5350. Mangroves are among the most crucial plant hosts in the marine environment because of their notable role in the ecosystem and their benefits. Identification of plant-associated and culture-dependent microbes is key to having a rich reservoir of bioactive substances. DNA barcoding was done based on 16S rRNA gene and ITS region. In this study, seven (7) mangrove species were identified as hosts. Results show that most bacterial isolates from plant leaves were gram-positive bacteria belonging to phylum: Firmicutes and genus Bacillus. Phylogenetic inference reveals a diverse non-monophyletic group with medically and economically necessary species. Among the host plants, Sonneratia alba harbored the most species of bacteria and fungi. These include two medically important strains of B. cereus and B. thuringiensis and host-specific bacteria like B. altitudinis in S. alba, B. velezensis in Rhizophora apiculata, B. clausii in Avicennia marina and B. firmus in A. marina were revealed. Meanwhile, some bacteria like B. subtilis and B. megaterium were found in three host species and B. cereus was the most abundant being recorded in four host plants. Diverse strains of fungi, Aspergillus sp., A. nomiae, A. tubingensis and A. niger were also present. This study served as baseline data for future research on diversity and host ecology for possible drug discovery.

Bats are biological species that can be influenced by environmental changes. The nature and understanding of the adaptation and survival of bats as biological indicators of the health of the ecosystem is essential for preservation and conservation strategies. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) are fine and random deviations from perfect symmetry of organism’s morphology. It is considered as a reliable factor for measuring developmental instability because it reflects both genetic and environmental stresses especially in endangered populations. Hypothesis assumes that FA has costs and reflects the degree of stress and quality of individuals herewith, a direct relationship between FA and developmental instability. The study determined the developmental instability via fluctuating asymmetry of Rousettus ampexicaudatus, a fruit bat. Using landmark method for shape asymmetry, anatomical and mathematical landmarks were used and analyzed using Symmetry and Asymmetry in Geometric Data (SAGe) program. Results yield highly significant FA for both populations examined (Tamboco cave & claise cave, Bohol). However, population from claise cave in Nagtuang of loon has relatively higher FA and percentage of variation based on the Principal component Analysis (PcA). Thus, the bat population in claise cave experienced a higher degree of stress. Keywords - Animal Ecology, fluctuating asymmetry, SAGE program, experimentaldesign, Philippines

Relative Warp Analysis and Correlation Analysis based on Distances (CORIANDlS) were used to study morphological variations in the shape of the snail P. canaliculata, an invasive pest species of rice agroecosystem. Relative warps are factors (principal components of partial warp scores) which summarize the major vectors of shape variation within samples. Correlation Analysis based on distances on the other hand, allows both looking into similarities among specimens/groups, and interpreting such similarities in terms of congruence among traits. It is also a measure of trait disparity. Comparison of samples was done by looking into the relative contributions of different traits to each species groups' distinctiveness. Results have shown close resemblance or association in terms of shell shape between populations of female and male individuals. Results obtainedhave somehow, demonstrated that subtle shape differences in shell shape can be detected by geometric morphometrics.