Fifty years of ichthyology in Grahamstown
- Skelton, Paul H (Paul Harvey)
- Authors: Skelton, Paul H (Paul Harvey)
- Date: 1996
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7138 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011816
- Description: In July 1946, the fledgling Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) awarded Dr J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley) Smith of Rhodes University College a research fellowship of £800 to enable him to devote his energies to ichthyology. The university responded by providing accommodation, equipment and appointing Smith a research professor. These actions marked the beginning of what has become a major academic development in Grahamstown as represented by the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science (DIFS), and the Freshwater Fish Section at the Albany Museum. At present more than 40 people are employed in one way or other in these organizations, more than 20 of them professionals, in addition to whom there are 41 postgraduate students currently studying ichthyology or fisheries science through DIFS at Rhodes University. Altogether this represents a concentration of ichthyological expertise probably unmatched anywhere else in the world. It is opportune therefore to highlight a few of the more significant milestones in the history of ichthyology in Grahamstown and so illuminate some of the key factors behind this achievement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1996
- Authors: Skelton, Paul H (Paul Harvey)
- Date: 1996
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7138 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011816
- Description: In July 1946, the fledgling Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) awarded Dr J.L.B. (James Leonard Brierley) Smith of Rhodes University College a research fellowship of £800 to enable him to devote his energies to ichthyology. The university responded by providing accommodation, equipment and appointing Smith a research professor. These actions marked the beginning of what has become a major academic development in Grahamstown as represented by the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science (DIFS), and the Freshwater Fish Section at the Albany Museum. At present more than 40 people are employed in one way or other in these organizations, more than 20 of them professionals, in addition to whom there are 41 postgraduate students currently studying ichthyology or fisheries science through DIFS at Rhodes University. Altogether this represents a concentration of ichthyological expertise probably unmatched anywhere else in the world. It is opportune therefore to highlight a few of the more significant milestones in the history of ichthyology in Grahamstown and so illuminate some of the key factors behind this achievement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1996
Karyology of the redfin minnows, genus Pseudobarbus Smith, 1841 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae): one of the evolutionarily tetraploid lineages of South African barbines
- Naran, D, Skelton, Paul H (Paul Harvey), Villet, M H (Martin Herrer)
- Authors: Naran, D , Skelton, Paul H (Paul Harvey) , Villet, M H (Martin Herrer)
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6770 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008063
- Description: The karyotypes of six species of Pseudobarbus Smith, 1841, namely P. afer (Peters, 1864), P. asper (Boulenger, 1911), P. burchelli Smith, 1841, P. burgi (Boulenger, 1911), P. phlegethon (Barnard, 1938) and P. tenuis (Barnard, 1938), were examined by conventional Giemsa staining and described. All six karyotypes have 2n = 100 chromosomes, dominated by biarmed chromosomes, as does the only other member of the genus, P. quathlambae (Barnard, 1938). Sex-related intraspecific karyotype variation was not found. The shared chromosome numbers and general similarity of the karyotypes (FN = 186–192) provide a new synapomorphy to support their monophyly, which is already indicated by anatomical and mtDNA markers. Karyotype evolution within the genus has been accompanied by chromosomal inversions and centromeric shifts. Comparison of the diploid number found in Pseudobarbus with other African barbine cyprinines, which have in the region of 2n=50 and lower FNs, suggests a tetraploid evolutionary origin of the genus, possibly by allotetraploidy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Naran, D , Skelton, Paul H (Paul Harvey) , Villet, M H (Martin Herrer)
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6770 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008063
- Description: The karyotypes of six species of Pseudobarbus Smith, 1841, namely P. afer (Peters, 1864), P. asper (Boulenger, 1911), P. burchelli Smith, 1841, P. burgi (Boulenger, 1911), P. phlegethon (Barnard, 1938) and P. tenuis (Barnard, 1938), were examined by conventional Giemsa staining and described. All six karyotypes have 2n = 100 chromosomes, dominated by biarmed chromosomes, as does the only other member of the genus, P. quathlambae (Barnard, 1938). Sex-related intraspecific karyotype variation was not found. The shared chromosome numbers and general similarity of the karyotypes (FN = 186–192) provide a new synapomorphy to support their monophyly, which is already indicated by anatomical and mtDNA markers. Karyotype evolution within the genus has been accompanied by chromosomal inversions and centromeric shifts. Comparison of the diploid number found in Pseudobarbus with other African barbine cyprinines, which have in the region of 2n=50 and lower FNs, suggests a tetraploid evolutionary origin of the genus, possibly by allotetraploidy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
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