2021年经济学人 水产养殖--鱼食界的哥斯拉(1)

Aquaculture

水产养殖

Godzilla the rotifer

哥斯拉版轮虫

A mutagenic technique employed for plants is used on animals

一种用于植物的突变技术被用于动物身上

The world's fisheries are overexploited. One way to relieve pressure on them is to increase the yield of fish farms. And one way to do that is to improve the quality of the food fed to the livestock¹ in those farms. Abe Tomoko, of the riken Nishina Centre for Accelerator-Based Science, in Wako, Japan, has a novel proposal for doing this. In her role as director of the centre's beam mutagenesis group, she has overseen² the creation of 30 novel cultivars of crops and ornamental³ plants generated by the selective breeding of promising⁴ mutants created using radiation from a particle accelerator called the RI Beam Factory. This time, though, she has applied⁵ the technique to animals.

世界渔业被过度开发，能够减轻压力的一个办法是增加养鱼场的产量，其中一种方法就是提高农场牲畜饲料的质量。日本和古市理研西奈加速器科学中心的安倍知子提出了一个新的方案。作为该中心光束突变小组的主任，她监督了30个作物和观赏植物新品种的培育，这些新品种是利用RI光束工厂的粒子加速器辐射产生的有希望的突变体进行选择性育种产生的。不过，这一次，她把这项技术应用到了动物身上。

The young of farm-raised fish species such as yellowtails, halibut, bream and bluefin tuna are fed with live prey⁶. For the smallest fry these are often rotifers, a phylum of tiny animals discovered in the late 17th century by early microscopists. In particular, farmers use a complex of 15 species known collectively as Brachionus plicatilis. The members of this complex are, in turn, divided into three groups classified by size: ss, the adults of which are 170-190 microns long; s, with adults 190-240 microns long; and L, with adults 240-320 microns long. Members of these different groups are fed to progressively larger fish larvae⁷.

养殖的鱼类如黄尾鱼、大比目鱼、鲷鱼和蓝鳍金枪鱼会喂食活的猎物，最小的鱼苗通常会喂食轮虫，轮虫是17世纪晚期由早期显微镜学家发现的一门微小动物。农民们特别使用的是一种由15个物种组成的复合体，统称为褶皱臂尾虫。这个复合体的成员按大小依次分为三组：ss，成虫长度为170-190微米；s，成虫长度为190-240微米；L，成虫长度为240-320微米。这些不同群体的成员会被喂食给逐渐长大的鱼苗。

Above the size of L rotifers, however, farmers switch phylum and feed their charges crustaceans⁸ called brine shrimps⁹, the smallest of which clock in at 400 microns. That leaves a size gap which fish do not like. They often develop badly at this stage of their growth, and sometimes resort to cannibalism¹⁰. Dr Abe and her colleagues therefore wondered, as they describe in Bioscience, Biotechnology & Biochemistry, whether they could plug the gap between the biggest rotifers and the smallest brine shrimps in the way that new plant cultivars are created, by bombarding rotifers with carbon or argon ions spun¹¹ up to high speed in the beam factory.

然而，L号轮虫再往上，农民们换了门，用一种被称为“盐水虾”的甲壳类动物喂食，最小的盐水虾长度有400微米。这就留下了一个鱼儿们不喜欢的尺寸缺口。在生长的这一阶段它们往往发育不良，有时还会以同类相食。因此安博士和她的同事们就想：正如他们在《生物科学》、《生物技术与生物化学》中描述的那样，他们是否能像培育新的植物品种那样，通过用碳离子或氩离子轰击轮虫使其在光束工厂里高速旋转，以此来填补最大的轮虫和最小的盐水虾之间的空白。

1 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

2 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

3 ornamental   

adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物

参考例句：

• The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
• The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。

4 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

7 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

8 crustaceans   

n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句

9 shrimps   

n.虾，小虾( shrimp的名词复数 )；矮小的人

参考例句：

• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood. 小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I'm going to have shrimps for my tea. 傍晚的便餐我要吃点虾。 来自辞典例句

10 cannibalism   

n.同类相食；吃人肉

参考例句：

• The war is just like the cannibalism of animals.战争就如同动物之间的互相残。
• They were forced to practise cannibalism in order to survive.他们被迫人吃人以求活下去。

11 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。