Publications by authors named "Ondrej Slavik"

Article Synopsis
  • Parasitism can influence host behavior and color, specifically studying the effects on albino and pigmented European catfish (Silurus glanis) infested with glochidia from two species of mussels.
  • The study found that the behaviour of albino and pigmented catfish was noticeably different, with pigmented individuals becoming bolder after parasitization, while albino individuals showed no behavioral changes.
  • Results indicated that albino catfish may be less susceptible to glochidia infestation, highlighting the significance of phenotype when considering the effects of parasitism on behavior.
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  • This study investigated how the antidepressant sertraline, found in treated wastewater, affects the interaction between parasitic larvae of the freshwater mussel (Unio tumidus) and their host fish (Squalius cephalus).
  • Results indicated that long-term exposure of fish to sertraline slightly improved the larvae's attachment rate, while short-term exposure didn't significantly impact larvae viability.
  • Notably, the study also discovered sertraline transfer from infected larvae to non-exposed fish, suggesting pharmaceutical pollutants can disrupt freshwater ecosystems in subtle but important ways.
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Sertraline is an environmental pollutant which received magnified scientific attention due to its global presence in waters. Adverse effects on feeding, reproduction and other traits were observed mostly in unstressed aquatic organisms. Chronic stress, however, induces significant physiological changes, and the effects of sertraline in stressed fish may differ from those observed in non-stressed individuals.

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  • The pet trade significantly contributes to the introduction of aquatic non-native species, with Indonesia as a key player in this market.
  • South American river stingrays (Potamotrygon spp.) were introduced to Indonesia in the 1980s, and recent surveys show a growing trade volume, alongside suitable conditions for their establishment in the wild.
  • The first recorded envenomation by these stingrays outside South America highlights the urgent need for regulation and monitoring to prevent potential ecological risks.
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  • * Brown trout were exposed to METH at an environmental concentration of 1 μg/L for 28 days, leading to decreased activity and metabolic rates, along with altered brain and gonad structure compared to unexposed fish.
  • * The study revealed complex links between brain metabolomics, physiology, and behavior in exposed trout, suggesting that METH significantly impacts aquatic life on multiple biological levels, which could inform future ecological risk assessments.
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  • Reservoirs disrupt natural river flow, reduce biodiversity, and facilitate the spread of non-native fish species, which migrate to tributaries for resources.
  • A 5-year study using radio-tagged fish analyzed migration between a reservoir and its tributary, focusing on both invasive (like asp and bream) and native species (like chub and pike).
  • The study found that increasing day length was the main factor influencing migration, while other environmental changes like water levels and temperature impacted specific species differently, highlighting the complexity of how reservoirs affect fish migration patterns.
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Oculocutaneous albinism is the result of a combination of homozygous recessive mutations that block the synthesis of the tyrosine and melatonin hormones. This disability is associated with physiological limitations, e.g.

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Traces of psychoactive substances have been found in freshwaters globally. Fish are chronically exposed to pollution at low concentrations. The changes of aggressive behaviour of chub (Squalius cephalus) were determined under the exposure to four psychoactive compounds (sertraline, citalopram, tramadol, methamphetamine) at environmentally relevant concentrations of 1 μg/L for 42 days.

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Animal self-awareness is divided into three levels: bodily, social, and introspective self-awareness. Research has focused mainly on the introspection of so-called higher organisms such as mammals. Herein, we turn our attention to fish and provide opinions on their self-awareness based on a review of the scientific literature.

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  • Illicit drug abuse impacts society and contaminates aquatic ecosystems through wastewater discharges.
  • Methamphetamine, specifically, negatively affects brown trout behavior at low concentrations, causing addiction and altering movement patterns.
  • This study highlights how human drug use problems extend to fish populations, leading to altered behaviors and potential consequences for their ecosystems.
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The problem of crack propagation from internal defects in thermoplastic cylindrical bearing elements is addressed in this paper. The crack propagation in these elements takes place under mixed-mode conditions-i.e.

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Tramadol is a widely used analgesic with additional antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. This compound has been reported in continental waters reaching concentrations of µg/L as a consequence of its inefficient removal in sewage treatment plants and increasing use over time. In this study, European chubs (Squalius cephalus) were exposed to 1 µg/L of tramadol in water for 42 days with a subsequent 14 days of depuration.

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Hormonal changes such as increased cortisol level in blood plasma in response to stress and social environmental stimuli are common among vertebrates including humans and typically accompanied by other physiological processes, such as changes in body pigmentation and/or pupil dilatation. The role of pupil size variation (PSV) as a response to stress have yet to be investigated in fish. We exposed albino and pigmented European catfish to short-term stress and measured changes in pupil size and cortisol level.

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Reservoirs are known to alter temperature and flow regimes, shift nutrient cycles, reduce downstream species diversity and enable a predominantly upstream spread of non-native species. However, information about the seasonal dynamics of the spread of non-natives from a reservoir to its tributaries and the further consequences regarding the spatial distribution of native species is rare. We observed the occurrence of fish in the Vltava River and its tributaries (Elbe catchment area, central Europe) upstream of the Lipno Reservoir for five consecutive years.

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A simple and low-cost method of monitoring and collecting particulate matter detaching from (or interacting with) aquatic animals is described using a novel device based on an airlift pump principle applied to floating cages. The efficiency of the technique in particle collection is demonstrated using polyethylene microspheres interacting with a cyprinid fish () and a temporarily parasitic stage (glochidia) of an endangered freshwater mussel () dropping from experimentally infested host fish (). The technique enables the monitoring of temporal dynamics of particle detachment and their continuous collection both in the laboratory and , allowing the experimental animals to be kept under natural water quality regimes and reducing the need for handling and transport.

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Background: The aquatic environment has been contaminated with various anthropogenic pollutants, including psychoactive compounds that may alter the physiology and behavior of free-living organisms. The present study focused on the condition and related mortality of the juvenile chub (). The aim of the study was to test whether the adverse effects of the antidepressants sertraline and citalopram, the analgesic tramadol and the illicit drug methamphetamine, on fish condition exist under environmentally relevant concentrations and whether these effects persist after a depuration period.

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Aggressiveness has been one of the behavioral traits most examined with various standard testing methods. We used two distinct methods (the mirror and the real opponent tests) to evaluate individual aggression and relate it to the activity and individual stress of chub (Squalius cephalus L.).

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Various types of micropollutants, e.g., pharmaceuticals and their metabolites and resistant strains of pathogenic microorganisms, are usually found in hospital wastewaters.

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Interspecific relationships frequently determine the effect a pollutant can have on an organism, and this is especially true in closely interacting species such as hosts and parasites. The high spatial and temporal variability of contaminant concentrations combined with the movement of aquatic biota can further influence the consequences that are associated with contamination. We used a full factorial design for the exposed and unexposed partners of the relationship between the parasitic larvae (glochidia) of the European freshwater mussel (Anodonta anatina) and its host fish (Squalius cephalus) to identify the sources of variation in the sublethal endpoints of species interaction (the intensity of parasite attachment, the spatial position of glochidia on the host body, and encapsulation success).

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Parasites alter their host behaviour and vice versa as a result of mutual adaptations in the evolutionary arms race. One of these adaptations involves changes in host thermoregulation, which has the potential to harm the parasite and thereby act as a defence mechanism. We used a model of the brown trout () experimentally parasitised with glochidia ectoparasitic larvae from the endangered freshwater pearl mussel () to reveal whether parasitisation alters fish behavioural thermoregulation.

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The movement of individuals within preferred areas is reduced by a high availability of food and information about its distribution, while high number of competitors promotes increased movement. Experienced animals use information about social and physical environment to improve resources exploitation, tended to maintain positions within the preferred areas and reuse the environment that is often referred to as site fidelity. In this study, radio-telemetry was used to observe the movements of 98 adult brown trout, , in oligotrophic streams with different population densities; to determine subpopulation site fidelity, 5,195 conspecifics from 14 subpopulations were individually tagged during spring and autumn.

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Barriers represent one of the largest anthropogenic impacts on the ecological status of rivers, and they also potentially restrict fishes' ability to respond to future environmental changes. Thus, river management aims to restore the longitudinal connectivity of rivers to allow continuous migration and movement of water, sediments and biota. However, it is often unclear whether the targeted barriers are also those most relevant for fish species, particularly to track future habitat shifts caused by environmental change.

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The future distribution of river fishes will be jointly affected by climate and land use changes forcing species to move in space. However, little is known whether fish species will be able to keep pace with predicted climate and land use-driven habitat shifts, in particular in fragmented river networks. In this study, we coupled species distribution models (stepwise boosted regression trees) of 17 fish species with species-specific models of their dispersal (fish dispersal model FIDIMO) in the European River Elbe catchment.

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Parasitization by the larvae (glochidia) of freshwater mussels can cause harm to a fish's gills, resulting in less effective respiration and/or reduced activity by the host fish. The impact of glochidia infections on the host's physiology remains poorly understood, and no information is available concerning energy consumption in parasitized fish. Hence, we obtained glochidia of the invasive unionid mussel Sinanodonta (Anodonta) woodiana and experimentally infected common carp, Cyprinus carpio, tagged with physiological sensors to measure energy consumption.

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In addition to hypopigmentation of the skin and red iris colouration, albino animals also display distinct physiological and behavioural alterations. However, information on the social interactions of albino animals is rare and has mostly been limited to specially bred strains of albino rodents and animals from unique environments in caves. Differentiating between the effects of albinism and domestication on behaviour in rodents can be difficult, and social behaviour in cave fish changes according to species-specific adaptations to conditions of permanent darkness.

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