Comparative mechanisms for O storage and metabolism in two Florida diving birds: the anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) and the double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum).

Air-breathing vertebrates face many physiological challenges while breath-hold diving. In particular, they must endure intermittent periods of declining oxygen (O) stores, as well as the need to rapidly replenish depleted O at the surface prior to their next dive. While many species show adaptive increases in the O storage capacity of the blood or muscles, others increase the oxidative capacity of the muscles through changes in mitochondrial arrangement, abundance, or remodeling of key metabolic pathways.

The projected impacts of climate change and fishing pressure on a tropical marine food web.

Small-scale fisheries, especially those from developing countries, are vital for millions. Understanding the impact of environmental and human factors on fish stocks and yields and how they might change is crucial to ensure the sustainable use of aquatic resources. We developed an ecosystem model using Ecopath and Ecosim (EwE) to investigate changes in target species biomass and ecosystem attributes over 83 years (2017-2100) caused by different scenarios of fishing pressure and ocean warming in the Brazilian Northeastern continental shelf.

Artificial light at night impairs visual lateralisation in a fish.

Environmental light, particularly during early development, significantly influences lateralisation, the asymmetric information processing between brain hemispheres. We hypothesized that lateralisation could be affected by Artificial Light at Night (ALAN), a widespread form of environmental pollution. In our experiment, we exposed eggs and larvae of zebrafish to either control or ALAN conditions and we then tested them in a rotational test to assess motor lateralisation, and a mirror test, to assess lateralisation in response to visual stimuli.

Evidence for the importance of trophically transmitted parasites and predation at the lower latitudes of species ranges.

The lack of information concerning how parasitism maps onto host geographical distributions represents a striking gap in ecological knowledge. This knowledge gap limits our understanding of a wide range of phenomena, including the consequences of climate change-induced range shifts of both hosts and parasites. To help solve this problem, we created a predictive theoretical framework and quantified latitudinal variation in parasitism by animal and protozoan parasites throughout the entire contiguous geographical ranges of four estuarine fish species.

Integrative multi-omics analysis reveals the contribution of neoVTX genes to venom diversity of Synanceia verrucosa.

Background: Animal venom systems are considered as valuable model for investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying phenotypic evolution. Stonefish are the most venomous and dangerous fish because of severe human envenomation and occasionally fatalities, whereas the genomic background of their venom has not been fully explored compared with that in other venomous animals.

Results: In this study, we followed modern venomic pipelines to decode the Synanceia verrucosa venom components.

Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato widespread in urban areas of the Czech Republic.

Background: Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) are important zoonotic agents transmitted by Ixodes ricinus ticks, which are widely distributed across Central Europe.

Navigating motherhood: biological and landscape factors affecting postpartum movement in white-tailed deer.

Background: Population growth and management in cervid species is dependent on reproductive ecology and factors influencing juvenile survival. Aspects of the female's movement behavior likely affect juvenile survival and movement patterns of pregnant and lactating females differ from non-pregnant or non-lactating females. Explanations for these differing movement patterns include change in nutritional demands for the female, isolation during parturition, and predator avoidance.

Fast and cost-efficient species identification of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), brown trout (Salmo trutta), and their hybrids using a single SNP marker.

A workflow for developing a cost- and time-efficient, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based assay for species and hybrid identification is described. In a reference set (n = 46), the developed assay identified individuals of two closely related species, the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L., n = 23) and brown trout (Salmo trutta, n = 23), with 100% accuracy.

Complications of Estimating Hatchery Introgression in the Face of Rapid Divergence: A Case Study in Brook Trout ().

Fish stocking has been utilized for over a century to offset extirpations or declines in abundance of many native species. These historical declines and hatchery contributions have led to uncertainty surrounding whether many contemporary populations are native, introgressed with hatchery sources, or entirely of hatchery origin. Such uncertainty is problematic for the conservation of native biodiversity as it hampers management agencies' ability to prioritize the conservation of indigenous locally adapted populations.

Actively soniferous tropical reef fishes are diverse, vulnerable, and valuable.

Active (i.e., intentional) fish sound production provides informative cues for numerous ecological functions, including larval recruitment or reproduction, and can facilitate monitoring and restoration.

Development and sex affect respiratory responses to temperature and dissolved oxygen in the air-breathing fishes Betta splendens and Trichopodus trichopterus.

Ventilation frequencies of the gills (f) and the air-breathing organ (f) were measured in juveniles and adults of the air-breathing betta (Betta splendens) and the blue gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus) in response to temperature and hypoxia. Ventilatory rates were evaluated after 1 h of exposure to 27 °C (control), 23 and 31 °C (PO = 21.0 kPa), after acute temperature changes (ATC) from 23 to 27, and 27 to 31 °C, and under progressive hypoxia (PH; PO =  ~ 21 to 2.

A new genus and a new species of microcotylids (Polyopisthocotyla, Platyhelminthes), gill parasite of the pink dentex (Teleostei, Sparidae) off Tunisia and notes on Polyopisthocotyla and Monopisthocotyla from spp.

The study of the polyopisthocotylan parasites of marine fishes in the western Mediterranean is carried on using an integrative approach combining morphology and DNA barcodes. n. gen.

Goldfish phenomics reveals commonalities and a lack of universality in the domestication process for ornamentation.

Domestication process effects are manifold, affecting genotype and phenotype, and assumed to be universal in animals by part of the scientific community. While mammals and birds have been thoroughly investigated, from taming to intensive selective breeding, fish domestication remains comparatively unstudied. The most widely bred and traded ornamental fish species worldwide, the goldfish, underwent the effect of long-term artificial selection on differing skeletal and soft tissue modules through ornamental domestication.

The sensory shark: high-quality morphological, genomic and transcriptomic data for the small-spotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula reveal the molecular bases of sensory organ evolution in jawed vertebrates.

Cartilaginous fishes (chondrichthyans: chimaeras and elasmobranchs -sharks, skates and rays) hold a key phylogenetic position to explore the origin and diversifications of jawed vertebrates. Here, we report and integrate reference genomic, transcriptomic and morphological data in the small-spotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula to shed light on the evolution of sensory organs. We first characterise general aspects of the catshark genome, confirming the high conservation of genome organisation across cartilaginous fishes, and investigate population genomic signatures.

Bgee in 2024: focus on curated single-cell RNA-seq datasets, and query tools.

Bgee (https://www.bgee.org/) is a database to retrieve and compare gene expression patterns in multiple animal species.

Habitat loss and discontinuity as drivers of habitat fragmentation: The role of contamination and connectivity of habitats.

Habitat discontinuity of aquatic environments is a serious problem that might hamper the different activities performed by organisms. When combined with contamination, the consequences for the population's dynamics might be exacerbated, particularly regarding foraging activity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the combined effects of habitat discontinuity and contamination on the foraging behavior by zebrafish (Danio rerio) and on their ability to explore heterogeneous landscapes.

Spatiotemporal distribution patterns and assembly mechanisms of eukaryotic plankton communities in Liujiaxia Reservoir at the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.

Eukaryotic plankton are important parts of the aquatic ecosystem and their community composition and spatiotemporal distribution patterns are affected by environmental factors. The Liujiaxia Reservoir is located at the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and is a vital resource for communities and agriculture in the region. Revealing the plankton diversity and their correlation with environmental factors is essential for understanding the ecological processes and mechanisms by which plankton contribute to, and maintain the ecosystem function of, the Liujiaxia Reservoir and beyond.

Quantifying the Detection Sensitivity and Precision of qPCR and ddPCR Mechanisms for eDNA Samples.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection employing quantitative PCR (qPCR) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) offers a non-invasive and efficient approach for monitoring aquatic organisms. Accurate and sensitive quantification of eDNA is crucial for tracking rare and invasive species and understanding the biodiversity abundance and distribution of aquatic organisms. This study compares the sensitivity and quantification precision of qPCR and ddPCR for eDNA surveys through Bayesian inference using latent parameters from both known concentration (standards) and environmental samples across three teleost fish species assays.

Does Motility-Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine Stickleback.

Dispersal can affect individual-level fitness and population-level ecological and evolutionary processes. Factors that affect dispersal could therefore have important eco-evolutionary implications. Here, we investigated the extent to which an inflammation and tissue repair response-peritoneal fibrosis-which is known to restrict movement, could influence dispersal by conducting a mark-recapture experiment in a lake in Alaska with threespine stickleback (.

Lizards as sentinels for the distribution of .

The rat lungworm is a zoonotic metastrongyloid nematode currently considered an emerging pathogen. Originating in Southeast Asia, this nematode has spread to tropical and subtropical parts of the world via its invasive rodent and gastropod hosts.On the island of Tenerife in the Canary archipelago, the invasion was recognized more than a decade ago.

Microplastics in aquatic systems: A comprehensive review of its distribution, environmental interactions, and health risks.

Microplastics (MPs) have become a critical pollutant, accumulating in aquatic ecosystems and posing significant environmental and human health risks. Approximately 5.25 trillion plastic particles float in global oceans, releasing up to 23,600 metric tonnes of dissolved organic carbon annually, which disrupts microbial dynamics.

Intrinsic and environmental drivers of pairwise cohesion in wild Canis social groups.

Animals within social groups respond to costs and benefits of sociality by adjusting the proportion of time they spend in close proximity to other individuals in the group (cohesion). Variation in cohesion between individuals, in turn, shapes important group-level processes such as subgroup formation and fission-fusion dynamics. Although critical to animal sociality, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing cohesion remains a gap in our knowledge of cooperative behavior in animals.

Widespread presence of metallic compounds and organic contaminants across Pacific coral reef fish.

Coral reef fishes represent an invaluable source of macro- and micro-nutrients for tropical coastal populations. However, several potentially toxic compounds may jeopardize their contribution to food security. Concentrations of metallic compounds and trace elements (MTEs), and persistent organic pollutants (POPs, including pesticides and polychlorobiphenyls PCBs), totalizing 36 contaminants, were measured in coral reef fish from several Pacific islands.