Big fish can't jump? Allometry of terrestrial jumping in cyprinodontiform fishes.

Teleost fishes that emerge onto land must produce effective terrestrial movements to return to the water. Using the Cyprinodontiformes as a model system, we examined a terrestrial behavior termed the tail-flip jump across a size range of individuals representing three species of aquatic killifishes (Gambusia affinis, Poecilia mexicana, and Jordanella floridae) and two species of amphibious killifishes (Kryptolebias marmoratus and Fundulus heteroclitus) to identify potential effects of size (mass) on jumping performance. The ballistic trajectory equation was used to partition the contributions of velocity (determined by acceleration and contact time) and takeoff angle to jump distance.

Effects of caudal fin size on tail-flip jump performance.

Fishes are generally considered to be fully aquatic, but some voluntarily strand themselves on land to escape poor water conditions, predators, or to exploit terrestrial niches. The tail-flip jump is a method of terrestrial locomotion performed by small fishes without apparent morphological specialization, but few studies have investigated the role the caudal fin has on the tail-flip jump. We hypothesized that fish with larger caudal fins would perform shorter individual tail-flip jumps and not be able to sustain jumping in extended terrestrial excursions.

Differential gene expression and developmental pathologies associated with persistent organic pollutants in sentinel fish in Troutman Lake, Sivuqaq, Alaska.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are lipophilic compounds that bioaccumulate in animals and biomagnify within food webs. Many POPs are endocrine disrupting compounds that impact vertebrate development. POPs accumulate in the Arctic via global distillation and thereby impact high trophic level vertebrates as well as people who live a subsistence lifestyle.

Perchlorate exposure does not induce obesity or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in zebrafish.

Perchlorate is a water-soluble contaminant found throughout the United States and many other countries. Perchlorate competitively inhibits iodide uptake at the sodium/iodide symporter, reducing thyroid hormone synthesis, which can lead to hypothyroidism and metabolic syndromes. Chronic perchlorate exposure induces hepatic steatosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in developing threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).

The fast and the tendinous? Locomotor modifications of the caudal peduncle in Gila spp. from the American Southwest.

In the American Southwest, the fishes within the genus Gila evolved in an environment with seasonal rainstorms that caused stochastic flooding. Some species within this genus, such as bonytail (Gila elegans), possess locomotor morphologies that are similar to those seen in high-performance swimmers such as tuna and lamnid sharks. These shared features include a shallow caudal peduncle, lunate tail, and mechanisms to transmit force from the anterior musculature to the tail fin.

Sodium perchlorate induces non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in developing stickleback.

Perchlorate is a pervasive, water-soluble contaminant that competitively inhibits the sodium/iodide symporter, reducing the available iodide for thyroid hormone synthesis. Insufficient iodide uptake can lead to hypothyroidism and metabolic syndromes. Because metabolism, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are tightly linked, we hypothesized that perchlorate would act as an obesogen and cause NAFLD via accumulation of lipids in liver of developing threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).