Sistema Regional de Información
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Las concentraciones de metales (Cu, Cr, Zn, Cd, Mn y Pb) fueron medidas en tejidos blandos y en conchas del mejillón de manglar, Mytella guyanensis en la Bahía de Sepetiba, en el estado de Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Se establecieron las relaciones entre estas variables y el tamaño del animal para verificar su utilización en la vigilancia de la contaminación en la bahía.Las concentraciones de Zn, Mn, Pb y Cr disminuyen con relación al incremento de peso del animal. La concentración de Cd crece con el tamaño del animal, mientras que el Cu presenta concentraciones constantes independientes del tamaño.Una comparación con resultados obtenidos en especies relacionadas de mejillones de regiones templadas, muestra diferencias significativas, por lo que estas diferencias deberán ser consideradas en la elección de especies tropicales en programas de vigilancia ambiental.

A comparative anatomical study of Laternea triscapa, L. pusilla and Ligiella rodrigueziana under light and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the validity of the genus Ligiella. The main differences between the two genera was established on the basis of the form, structure and location of the specialized glebiferous tissue, the glebiferous chamber and the gleba. The presence of an eight-spored basidium is reported and illustrated for the first time in Clathraceae. Description and illustration of sections of inmature fruiting bodies of the three species are included. The presence or absence of specialized glebiferous tissue is suggested as the starting point in the taxonomy of the Clathraceae.

In a sanitary survey, nine taverns were chosen among those selling mollusk coctails, eaten raw in the city of San José so as to represent three socio-economic levels. Sixty-six samples of coctails were examined for total and fecal coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus, and salmonellas. Only 7% of the samples proved to be within the accepted limits for human consumption. No correlation was found between sample origin and its bacteriologically determined quality.

A great variation in ripening of coffee fruits, dependent on blooming periods, was observed in a ten-year study in Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica (800 m Premontane Moist Forest). Blooming occurs more frequently from January to March and the most active period of fruit ripening is from mid October to mid November. Vegetative growth shows its greatest peak from April to June, with two additional peaks: from August to September, and from the end of November to mid December. There is a direct relationship between vegetative and reproductive growth and climatic fluctuations.

A methodology for an inventory of tree species was tested in three forest relicts of the Central Valley, Costa Rica. All three sites are secondary forests, but two (Ciudad Colón, 800 m and San Pedro de Montes de Oca, 1200 m), are of recent regeneration by succession; the oldest (Ochomogo, 1600 m), is an old relict surrounded by cultivated land. Forty families, 97 genera and 144 species of trees were identified from the three forests.

In spite of its proximity to the Gulf of Panama and to the identical climatological conditions of the Isthmus of Panama, the Gulf of Chiriqui presents different oceanographic characteristics. Here there is no upwelling as indicated by the analysis of temperature, salinity and dissolved phosphates data. The absence of the upwelling in the Gulf of Chiriqui is the relatively low northerly wind stress index, in contrast to that much higher in the Gulf of Panama where upwelling is known to occur periodically.

La acción citolítica de sustancias simples y de agentes biológicos complejos puede ser descrita por ecuaciones tipo Hill. Se propone la medición del poder hemolítico de venenos de serpientes en términos de la disminución de la acción lítica en una dilución 1: 10. La ventaja de este procedimiento es que el poder citolítico es una función de las propiedades bioquímicas del sistema, más que de la concentración de los principios activos. Se muestran los poderes hemolíticos de algunos venenos de serpientes sobre eritrocitos humanos 0 Rh (+).

The discarded by-catch of fish and other organisms in commercial shrimp fisheries in the Gulfs of Nicoya and Papagayo, Costa Rica, based on fish to shrimp weight ratios, estimates, are given for combined white, pink and brown shrimp. Red shrimp were not included in the analysis. Eight hauls were sampled for the white and small shrimp and six hauls for the pink and brown during June, July, and August 1980. Total fish discarded to shrimp landed ratios applied to the 1 980 landings yielded an overall estimate of 4200 metric tons of discarded fishery products. The magnitude of the discarded fish and other organisms and the possible commercial use of such products strongly suggests further research on the topic.

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The females of the tarantula Aphonopelma seemanni are active during the rainy season showing a daily activity pattern basically nocturnal between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. with scarce diurnal activity.