BATANGAS CITY—A sudden drop in temperature that lowered oxygen level at the onset of the rainy season in Taal Lake has killed 752.6 metric tons of fish worth P57.226 million since Friday, officials said on Sunday.
The fishkill was the worst climate change disaster to hit Batangas, according to Rosario del Mundo of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) office in the province.
The loss at Talisay town’s side of the lake involved 375 MT of bangus (milkfish); 160 MT of tilapia, 50 MT of bangus and 1.6 MT of bangus fingerlings in Laurel town; 160 MT tilapia in Agoncillo; and 12 MT of bangus in San Nicolas.
Del Mundo said she first received the report of a decrease in oxygen level at the lake on Thursday, and the cultured fish began dying by the next day.
“If the dissolved oxygen drops and it rains, the fish cannot breathe and it dies,” she said.
Schools of fish were seen swimming in circles before they floated dead to the surface in huge numbers. The deaths have occurred in the past at summer’s end, but in much smaller numbers, officials said.
Biya, a fish species that only thrives in the lake, and crabs also died.
Del Mundo said the loss could still go higher because some fish cage owners, mostly Chinese, were still determining damage.
Talisay Mayor Zenaida Mendoza yesterday said she had ordered the dead milkfish, unfit for eating, buried under a mixture of soil and lime to dispel the foul odor in an isolated and upland area of Barangay Sampaloc.
Mendoza said that Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto sent a backhoe to help in the disposal, hampered by heavy rains.
Aquaculture is a multimillion-peso enterprise in Batangas, with at least 6,000 fish cages dotting the Taal Lake. With a report from AP source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/10339/weather-change-led-to-batangas-fishkill-says-bfar
Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. Lobsters are economically important as seafood, forming the basis of a global industry that nets more than US$1 billion annually.
Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most often associated with the name. They are also revered for their flavor and texture. Clawed lobsters are not closely related to spiny lobsters or slipper lobsters, which have no claws (chelae), or squat lobsters. The closest relatives of clawed lobsters are the reef lobsters and the three families of freshwater crayfish.
Lobsters are invertebrates, with a hard protective exoskeleton. Like most arthropods, lobsters must molt in order to grow, which leaves them vulnerable. During the molting process, several species change color. Lobsters have 10 walking legs; the front three pairs bear claws, the first of which are larger than the others.Although, like most other arthropods, lobsters are largely bilaterally symmetrical, they often possess unequal, specialized claws, like the king crab.
Lobster anatomy includes the cephalothorax which fuses the head and the thorax, both of which are covered by the chitinous carapace and the abdomen. The lobster's head bears antennae, antennules, mandibles, the first and second maxillae, and the first, second, and third maxillipeds. Because lobsters live in a murky environment at the bottom of the ocean, they mostly use their antennae as sensors. The lobster eye has a reflective structure above a convex retina. In contrast, most complex eyes use refractive ray concentrators (lenses) and a concave retina. The abdomen includes swimmerets and its tail is composed of uropods and the telson.
Lobsters, like snails and spiders, have blue blood due to the presence of haemocyanin, which contains copper. (In contrast, mammals and many other animals have red blood from iron-rich haemoglobin.) Lobsters possess a green hepatopancreas, called the tomalley by chefs, which functions as the animal's liver and pancreas.
In general, lobsters are 25–50 centimetres (10–20 in) long and move by slowly walking on the sea floor. However, when they flee, they swim backwards quickly by curling and uncurling their abdomen. A speed of 5 metres per second (11 mph) has been recorded. This is known as the caridoid escape reaction.
Longevity
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Recent research suggests that lobsters may not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age. In fact, older lobsters are more fertile than younger lobsters. This longevity may be due to telomerase, an enzyme that repairs DNA sequences of the form "TTAGGG".This sequence is often referred to as the telomeres of the DNA.t has been argued that lobsters may exhibit negligible senescence and some scientists have claimed that they could effectively live indefinitely, barring injury, disease, capture, etc.; however, this claim is highly speculative. Their undoubted longevity allows them to reach impressive sizes. According to the Guinness World Records, the largest lobster was caught in Nova Scotia, Canada, and weighed 20.15 kilograms (44.4 lb).
lobster
Longevity
Recent research suggests that lobsters may not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age. In fact, older lobsters are more fertile than younger lobsters. This longevity may be due to telomerase, an enzyme that repairs DNA sequences of the form "TTAGGG"This sequence is often referred to as the telomeres of the DNA.It has been argued that lobsters may exhibit negligible senescence and some scientists have claimed that they could effectively live indefinitely, barring injury, disease, capture, etc.; however, this claim is highly speculative. Their undoubted longevity allows them to reach impressive sizes. According to the Guinness World Records, the largest lobster was caught in Nova Scotia, Canada, and weighed 20.15 kilograms
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