Issues

Summary: Preferential intracellular pH regulation confers exceptional tolerance to a severe acute respiratory acidosis. This trait may represent a basal pattern of acid–base regulation used by developing vertebrates that is lost or retained in adults.

Summary: We review the use of phenotypic plasticity by amphibious fishes and ask whether studying plasticity in extant fishes can provide insight into evolutionary changes during the tetrapod invasion of land.

Highlighted Article: Female sea otters must manage high pup rearing costs on top of exceptional baseline energy demands; to accomplish this task, they exhibit distinct metabolic changes during key reproductive stages.

Highlighted Article: Specific proteins secreted by sea anemones following trauma of hair cells on their tentacles assist in the recovery of traumatized hair cells of the murine cochlea.

Summary: A method is presented that allows users of sound recording tags attached to marine mammals to measure flow noise and ambient noise separately.

Summary: When running uphill or downhill, the bouncing mechanism of running progressively disappears with slope and speed to contain the increase in muscular power necessary to overcome the slope.

Summary: Dissolved organic materials, ubiquitous but often overlooked components of natural waters, have profound effects on the ionoregulatory physiology of zebrafish, effects that depend on properties of these heterogeneous substances.

Highlighted Article: The plicate organ of mytilid mussels is a main site for ammonia excretion, which is facilitated by Rh channels and ciliary beating.

Summary: The intermuscular pressure between synergistic muscles correlates with muscle force.

Summary: Regional variation in diving ability and behavior of the South American sea lion suggests that exposure to different habitats and geographical locations better explains oxygen storage capacities and diving capability than body size alone.

Summary: Neuronal activity of a subset of neurons is required to maintain the organized proventricular structure and physical barriers of the peritrophic matrix and epithelia in Drosophila gut.

Summary: Cooling-induced dysfunction of locust skeletal muscle reflects compromised muscle excitability that arises from reduced L-type Ca²⁺current.

Summary: The thermal environment experienced by parents influences the phenotype of their offspring.

Highlighted Article: Development of a laboratory technique that secures high survival of the tropical fly Drosophila melanogaster when most of its body water is frozen.

Summary: Maternal size does not affect the number and size of eggs and new imagoes in fleas.

Summary: Female Heliconius erato butterflies have two UV-sensitive photoreceptors, but males only have one, and both sexes have a red-sensitive photoreceptor.

Summary: Three insect neuropeptides accelerate the contraction rate of the antennal hearts of mosquitoes, as well as the velocity of hemolymph in the antennal space.

Summary: Lyssomanes viridis jumping spiders attend to minimal visual information when localizing host plant species, seeking out a specific level of ambient illumination and possibly leaf brightness, but apparently ignoring leaf shape and color.

Summary: P450 aromatase is an enzyme that produces 17β-estradiol and plays a key role in the control of spermatogenesis in Podarcis sicula.