Recognizing the enemy: do predator cues influence hatching in Neotropical annual killifish?

Annual fish species have evolved complex adaptations to survive in temporary wetlands. The main adaptation of these fish is the ability to produce embryos that survive dry periods. Embryo development of this fish can show variation at multiple levels influenced by many environmental factors, such as photoperiod and temperature.

Swim bladder as a primary site of mycobacterial infection in Nothobranchius 'belly sliders'.

The swim bladder inflates early after fish hatching via its interconnection with the digestive tract (ductus pneumaticus). This interconnection may serve as a portal to foreign particles, including bacteria, causing deficiencies in primary swim bladder inflation. We histologically examined 134 African annual killifish (genus Nothobranchius) with secondary loss of swim bladder function ('belly sliders').

Urinary shedding of leptospires in palearctic bats.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonotic infection of worldwide occurrence. Bats, like other mammalian reservoirs, may be long-term carriers that maintain endemicity of infection and shed viable leptospires in urine. Direct and/or indirect contact with these Leptospira shedders is the main risk factor as regards public health concern.

Spontaneous adenocarcinoma of the gas gland in Nothobranchius fishes.

Nothobranchius fishes (Cyprinodontiformes), known for their genetically encoded extremely compressed lifespan, are considered an excellent vertebrate model for the research of aging. Unlike the rapid accumulation of data concerning their biology, ecology and genome, knowledge of their age-related diseases, including tumours, is still very limited. This Note reports spontaneous neoplastic lesions in the swim bladder gas glands of Nothobranchius furzeri, N.

White-nose syndrome detected in bats over an extensive area of Russia.

Background: Spatiotemporal distribution patterns are important infectious disease epidemiological characteristics that improve our understanding of wild animal population health. The skin infection caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans emerged as a panzootic disease in bats of the northern hemisphere. However, the infection status of bats over an extensive geographic area of the Russian Federation has remained understudied.

Phylogenetic revision of (, ) and allied genera.

A concatenated dataset of LSU, SSU, ITS and DNA sequence data was analysed to investigate the taxonomic position and phylogenetic relationships of the genus in (). Newly generated sequences from camarosporium-like taxa collected from Europe (Italy) and Russia form a well-supported monophyletic clade within . A new genus and a new family are established to accommodate these taxa.

Dynamics of herbaceous vegetation during four years of experimental coppice introduction.

Understanding the effects of coppicing on forest ecosystems is important for progress towards sustainable forest management. A newly established coppicing experiment in a secondary temperate deciduous forest in the SE Czech Republic provides a rather unique insight into succession driven by canopy thinning in a forest still lacking species typical for forests established since long time ago. Herbaceous layer vegetation was monitored for four subsequent years in 2012-2015.

Patterns of functional diversity of two trophic groups after canopy thinning in an abandoned coppice.

Coppice abandonment had negative consequences for biodiversity of forest vegetation and several groups of invertebrates. Most coppicing restoration studies have focused only on a single trophic level despite the fact that ecosystems are characterized by interactions between trophic levels represented by various groups of organisms. To address the patterns of functional diversity in the perspective of coppicing restoration, we studied the short-term effects of conservation-motivated tree canopy thinning in an abandoned coppice-with-standards in Central Europe, a region where such attempts have been rare so far.

Shaking the myth: Body mass, aggression, steroid hormones, and social dominance in wild house mouse.

In social mammals, the position of a male in the group's hierarchy strongly affects his reproductive success. Since a high social rank is often gained through competition with other males, selection should favour bigger males over smaller ones. We may therefore predict faster growth and/or delayed sexual maturity in dominant males.

Preliminary insights into the impact of dietary starch on the ciliate, Neobalantidium coli, in captive chimpanzees.

Infections caused by the intestinal ciliate Neobalantidium coli are asymptomatic in most hosts. In humans and captive African great apes clinical infections occasionally occur, manifested mainly by dysentery; however, factors responsible for development of clinical balantidiasis have not been fully clarified. We studied the effect of dietary starch on the intensities of infection by N.

Parasitism, life history traits and immune defence in cyprinid fish from Central Europe.

Background: The main prediction of life-history theory is that optimal energy allocated among the traits is related to the growth, maintenance and survival. It is hypothesized that the optimal resource allocated to immune function, which generates resistance towards parasites and reduce the fitness losses caused by parasitism, is depending on other requirements for energetic resource and the benefits associated with them. The aims of this study are to investigate in a comparative way (1) how parasitism is related to fish life history traits (fecundity, longevity, mortality), (2) whether there is a trade-off between reproduction and immune investments in fish females (i.

Genome size and GC content evolution of Festuca: ancestral expansion and subsequent reduction.

Background And Aims: Plant evolution is well known to be frequently associated with remarkable changes in genome size and composition; however, the knowledge of long-term evolutionary dynamics of these processes still remains very limited. Here a study is made of the fine dynamics of quantitative genome evolution in Festuca (fescue), the largest genus in Poaceae (grasses).

Methods: Using flow cytometry (PI, DAPI), measurements were made of DNA content (2C-value), monoploid genome size (Cx-value), average chromosome size (C/n-value) and cytosine + guanine (GC) content of 101 Festuca taxa and 14 of their close relatives.

Comparative study of the femoral organ in Zodarion spiders (Araneae: Zodariidae).

The femoral organ of Zodarion spiders has not been investigated in detail yet. In this study we describe the external and internal structure of this organ. The organ is situated at the distal tip of the femora of all the legs during all developmental stages.

Dietary and prey-capture adaptations by which Zodarion germanicum, an ant-eating spider (Araneae: Zodariidae), specialises on the Formicinae.

There has been considerable recent interest in the biology of spiders that specialise on ants as prey, but previous studies have tended to envisage the level of adaptation as being to ants as a group. In this paper, we provide evidence that Zodarion germanicum is a spider that has dietary and venom adaptations by which it targets a particular subset of ants, the subfamily Formicinae. We reared spiders from first instar in the laboratory on three different diets: formicine ants only, myrmicine ants only and mixed (both formicine and myrmicine ants).

Presence and species identification of the gapeworm Mammomonogamus laryngeus (Railliet, 1899) (Syngamidae: Nematoda) in a semi-wild population of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) in Indonesia.

One adult syngamid nematode parasite couple was found during routine clinical observation in quarantine at the former Bohorok Rehabilitation Station from sputum of Pongo abelli and determined as Mammomonogamus laryngeus [Railliet, A., 1899. Syngame laryngieu du boeuf.

Random distribution pattern and non-adaptivity of genome size in a highly variable population of Festuca pallens.

Background And Aims: The spatial and statistical distribution of genome sizes and the adaptivity of genome size to some types of habitat, vegetation or microclimatic conditions were investigated in a tetraploid population of Festuca pallens. The population was previously documented to vary highly in genome size and is assumed as a model for the study of the initial stages of genome size differentiation.

Methods: Using DAPI flow cytometry, samples were measured repeatedly with diploid Festuca pallens as the internal standard.

Seasonal dynamics in the numbers of parasitic bugs (Heteroptera, Cimicidae): a possible cause of roost switching in bats (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae).

The objective of the present paper is to extend the knowledge of roosting strategies of bats and the interaction of bats with their roost ectoparasites, the bat bugs Cimex pipistrelli. The project was focussed on the potential causality of bat movements and the variation in bug numbers. For 2 years, three model bat boxes with breeding female Pipistrellus pygmaeus were monitored inside floodplain forest.

Ultrastructural study of developmental stages of Mattesia dispora (Neogregarinorida: Lipotrophidae), a parasite of the flour moth Ephestia kuehniella (Lepidoptera).

The ultrastructure of merozoites, gamonts and oocysts of the neogregarine Mattesia dispora and their development in larvae of the flour moth Ephestia kuehniella were studied by electron microscopy. The apical complex of free macronuclear merozoites was very distinct in micrographs of sections, the polar rings being especially prominent. Two gamonts associated in head-to-head syzygy and the apical complexes served as the contact point during pairing.

Temporal and spatial distribution of glochidial larval stages of European unionid mussels (Mollusca: Unionidae) on host fishes.

Glochidia are the larval stage of freshwater unionid mussels that parasitize the fins and gill apparatus of fish. A total of 22 fish species were examined for the presence of glochidia whose distribution on individual hosts was studied on three common fish species, the roach Rutilus rutilus (L.), perch Percafluviatilis L.

Intraspecific DNA content variability in Festuca pallens on different geographical scales and ploidy levels.

Background And Aims: Intraspecific genome size variability of Festuca pallens occurring on relict rocky steppes in Central Europe was studied on two ploidy levels and three geographical scales: (1) local scale of 24 populations, (2) landscape scale of three transects in river canyons or hill systems, and (3) global scale of 160 samples covering the whole distribution area.

Methods: DAPI flow cytometry of homogeneously cultivated samples (>or=1 year), measured randomly with two internal standards, Lycopersicon esculentum and Pisum sativum. Differences in DNA content were confirmed (1) by the double peaks of simultaneously measured samples, (2) based on measurements carried out in different seasons, and (3) by additional measurements with propidium iodide.

Specificity and specialization of congeneric monogeneans parasitizing cyprinid fish.

Patterns and likely processes connected with evolution of host specificity in congeneric monogeneans parasitizing fish species of the Cyprinidae were investigated. A total of 51 Dactylogyrus species was included. We investigated (1) the link between host specificity and parasite phylogeny; (2) the morphometric correlates of host specificity, parasite body size, and variables of attachment organs important for host specificity; (3) the evolution of morphological adaptation, that is, attachment organ; (4) the determinants of host specificity following the hypothesis of specialization on more predictable resources considering maximal body size, maximal longevity, and abundance as measures of host predictability; and (5) the potential link between host specificity and parasite diversification.

Three new species of Dactylogyrus Diesing, 1850 (Monogenea: Dactylogyridae) from the gills of the bala sharkminnow Balantiocheilos melanopterus (Cyprinidae) from Thailand.

Three new species of Dactylogyrus are described from the gills of the cyprinid fish Balantiocheilos melanopterus (Bleeker) imported from Thailand via the aquarium trade. They are D. coartatus n.

A molecular phylogeny of the Dactylogyridae sensu Kritsky & Boeger (1989) (Monogenea) based on the D1-D3 domains of large subunit rDNA.

Phylogenetic analyses based on the partial large subunit rDNA (LSU) sequences of polyonchoinean monogeneans belonging to the Dactylogyridea and Monocotylidea were generated to investigate relationships among various subfamilies of the Dactylogyridae sensu Kritsky & Boeger, 1989. Monophyly of the Dactylogyridae was supported by all analyses performed. Status of the Ancyrocephalidae sensu Bychowsky & Nagibina, 1978 and Ancyrocephalinae sensu Kritsky & Boeger, 1989 was revised based on the present data.