Résumé: The recruitment success of some herring stocks fluctuates strongly, and apparently, success is often already determined during the early life stages, i.e. before metamorphosis. In studying the survival of early life stages and its affecting factors, particularly those during the egg stage, it is crucial to examine the processes at the spawning sites, which often cannot be explored directly. A recent decline in the recruitment of Western Baltic spring-spawning herring (WBSSH) increases the urgency of filling the knowledge gap for this stock, especially because one bottleneck in the recruitment seems to occur before hatching. We examined the successful 20032009 spawning sites of WBSSH in the main spawning ground, the Greifswalder Bodden lagoon. Instead of using common techniques such as diving or underwater videography, which are usually unsuitable for mapping large areas, we applied a model approach. We tracked herring larvae at length 610 mm, recorded by larval surveys during MarchJune of the respective years, back to their hatching sites using a Lagrangian particle backtracking model. We compared the spawning areas identified by the model with the results of earlier field studies; however, we also analysed variations between years, larval length groups, and different applied growth models, which are needed to define hatch-dates. Although spawning sites could not be identified with high precision because of the strong diffusion in the area studied, results indicate that larvae up to 10 mm length are caught near their hatching sites. However, the location of successful spawning sites varied largely between years, with the main hatching sites situated in the Strelasund and the eastern entrance of the lagoon. This may reflect variations in spawning-site selection or quality. A better knowledge of the locations and relative importance of, and the processes occurring on, the different spawning sites will provide an important contribution to the sustainable management of this commercially valuable herring stock.

Résumé: Ion uptake mechanisms are diverse in fish species, certainly linked to duplication events that have led to the presence of a multitude of paralogous genes. In fish, Na+ uptake involves several ion transporters expressed in different ionocyte subtypes. In the European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax, several key transporters potentially involved in Na+ uptake have been investigated in seawater (SW) and following a 2 weeks freshwater (FW) acclimation. Using gel electrophoresis, we have shown that the Na+/H+-exchanger 3 (nhe3, slc9a3) is expressed in gills and kidney at both salinities. Quantitative realtime PCR analysis showed a significantly higher nhe3 expression in fresh water (FW) compared to SW. Its apical localization in a subset of gill ionocytes in freshwater-acclimated fish supports the role of NHE3 in Na+ uptake. Interestingly, NHE3-immunopositive cells also express basolateral Na+/K+/2Cl− cotransporter 1 (NKCC1) and are mainly localized in gill lamella. Among the three nhe2 (slc9a2) paralogs, only nhe2c shows differential branchial expression levels with higher mRNA levels in SW than in FW. The increased branchial expression of the ammonia transporter rhcg1 (Rhesus protein), nhe3 and cytoplasmic carbonic anhydrase (cac) in FW could indicate the presence of a functional coupling between ion transporters to form a Na+/NH4+ exchange complex. Acid-sensing ion channel 4 (asic4) seems not to be expressed in sea bass gills. Na+/Cl- cotransporter (ncc2a or ncc-like) is about three times more expressed in FW compared to SW suggesting coupled Na+ and Cl− uptake in a subset of gill ionocytes. Besides the main pump Na+/K+-ATPase, branchial NCC2a and NHE3 may be key players in ion uptake in sea bass following a long-term freshwater challenge.

Résumé: V-H+-ATPase and Na+/K+-ATPase were localized in the gills and branchiostegites of M. amazonicum and the effects of salinity on the branchial chamber ultrastructure and on the localization of transporters were investigated. Gills present septal and pillar cells. In freshwater (FW), the apical surface of pillar cells is amplified by extensive evaginations associated with mitochondria. V-H+-ATPase immunofluorescence was localized in the membranes of the apical evaginations and in clustered subapical areas of pillar cells, suggesting labeling of intracellular vesicle membranes. Na+/K+-ATPase labeling was restricted to the septal cells. No difference in immunostaining was recorded for both proteins according to salinity (FW vs. 25 PSU). In the branchiostegite, both V-H+-ATPase and Na+/K+-ATPase immunofluorescence were localized in the same cells of the internal epithelium. Immunogold revealed that V-H+-ATPase was localized in apical evaginations and in electron-dense areas throughout the inner epithelium, while Na+/K+-ATPase occurred densely along the basal infoldings of the cytoplasmic membrane. Our results suggest that morphologically different cell types within the gill lamellae may also be functionally specialized. We propose that, in FW, pillar cells expressing V-H+-ATPase absorb ions (Cl-, Na+) that are transported either directly to the hemolymph space or through a junctional complex to the septal cells, which may be responsible for active Na+ delivery to the hemolymph through Na+/K+-ATPase. This suggests a functional link between septal and pillar cells in osmoregulation. When shrimps are transferred to FW, gill and branchiostegite epithelia undergo ultrastructural changes, most probably resulting from their involvement in osmoregulatory processes.