Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Close-up of Galaxea fascicularis, a reef-building coral. Many corals have formed a mutualistic symbiosis with dinoflagellates known as zooxanthellae, which feed their host through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis in zooxanthellate corals is enhanced by water flow, probably through stimulated gas exchange between coral tissue and the surrounding seawater. A new study by Osinga et al. (pp. 2236–2242) reveals that water flow enhances photosynthesis in G. fascicularis via increased CO2 uptake rather than through an increased efflux of oxygen. They also found that light capture by G. fascicularis is amongst the most efficient ever reported for corals. Photo credit: Tim Wijgerde.
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INSIDE JEB
EDITORIAL
CONVERSATION
REVIEW
Acid–base physiology, neurobiology and behaviour in relation to CO2-induced ocean acidification
Summary: This article reviews basic acid–base regulatory and neurobiology mechanisms relevant for behavioural alteration in fish exposed to CO2-induced seawater acidification, and identifies areas for future research.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
Cognitive specialization for learning faces is associated with shifts in the brain transcriptome of a social wasp
Highlighted Article: Comparative brain transcriptomics of Polistes paper wasps identifies molecular mechanisms associated with individual facial recognition, which function in neural signaling and signal transduction.
Visual acuity and signal color pattern in an Anolis lizard
Summary: Anoline lizards communicate with a colorfully patterned throat fan (the dewlap). Limited visual resolution makes fine details of the dewlap pattern visible to conspecifics only from a very short viewing distance.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Hotter nests produce hatchling lizards with lower thermal tolerance
Highlighted Article: Gecko embryos that experience high temperatures during incubation produce hatchlings with lower thermal tolerance, suggesting that lizards may have limited capacity to adapt to higher nest temperatures.
Dehydration enhances multiple physiological defense mechanisms in a desert lizard, Heloderma suspectum
Summary: Dehydration in Gila monsters did not elevate initial corticosterone, but increased innate immunity and stress reactivity, showing that dehydration may not elicit a hormonal stress response, but enhances physiological defense mechanisms.
Sticklebacks adapted to divergent osmotic environments show differences in plasticity for kidney morphology and candidate gene expression
Summary: Both plasticity and genetic variation in kidney morphology and candidate gene expression have likely facilitated adaptation to permanent low-salinity residency in threespine stickleback populations from the Baltic Sea.
Effect of temperature and food restriction on immune function in striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis)
Summary: Cold stress and food restriction have different effects on innate, cellular and humoral immunity in striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis).
Raccoon dog model shows preservation of bone during prolonged catabolism and reduced physical activity
Summary: The raccoon dog is a promising model of osteoporosis prevention similar to bears; despite profound catabolism and relative immobility, it does not lose bone density or strength.
Wings as impellers: honey bees co-opt flight system to induce nest ventilation and disperse pheromones
Summary: Honey bees employ unique flapping kinematics to use their wings as impellers for ventilatory fanning and dispersing pheromone signals.
Ovarian fluid impacts flagellar beating and biomechanical metrics of sperm between alternative reproductive tactics
Highlighted Article: In Chinook salmon, sperm biomechanics may be driving divergence in competitive reproductive success between alternative reproductive tactics.
Cross-modal influence of mechanosensory input on gaze responses to visual motion in Drosophila
Summary: Halteres, specialized fly mechanosensory organs for detecting body rotations, influence visually guided head movements even when flies are flying straight. Removing halteres decreases head movement responses to fast-moving visual stimuli.
Costs of immunity and their role in the range expansion of the house sparrow in Kenya
Summary: Costs of inflammation, partly mediated by Toll-like receptor expression, are related to range expansion in house sparrows invading Kenya.
Interactive effects of oxygen, carbon dioxide and flow on photosynthesis and respiration in the scleractinian coral Galaxea fascicularis
Summary: A multifactorial experiment reveals no effect of oxygen on coral photosynthesis and an increase in coral photosynthesis under high flow and a doubled concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide.
Nanofibre production in spiders without electric charge
Summary: Although it has been hypothesized that nanofibre production in cribellate spiders involves an electrostatic charging of fibres, we refute this hypothesis, proving that spiders use no charge at all.
Hunting with sticky tape: functional shift in silk glands of araneophagous ground spiders (Gnaphosidae)
Editors’ Choice: Gnaphosid spiders utilize sticky, extensible piriform silk to subdue hazardous prey. This derived use of attachment silk comes with strong modifications of the spinning apparatus and reduces the ability to attach structural silk threads.
Nutrient intake determines post-maturity molting in the golden orb-web spider Nephila pilipes (Araneae: Araneidae)
Summary: Nutrition determines post-maturity molting (PMM) in the orb-web spider Nephila pilipes, suggesting PMM may have evolved as an adaptation to diverse foraging conditions during range expansion.
Functional diversity of the lateral line system among populations of a native Australian freshwater fish
Summary: Animals are uniquely adapted to sense their environment. Populations of western rainbowfish exhibit habitat-specific specializations of the lateral line system that are likely linked with the animals’ behavioural needs.
Sustained energy intake in lactating Swiss mice: a dual modulation process
Summary: Sustained energy intake in lactating Swiss mice is modulated by both litter size and temperature.
When less means more: dehydration improves innate immunity in rattlesnakes
Summary: Results from laboratory and field studies indicate that dehydration enhances aspects of innate immune function in rattlesnakes.
2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize shortlist and winner
The JEB Editors are delighted to announce the shortlisted authors for the 2023 JEB Outstanding Paper Prize. Read the winning paper - Tiny spies: mosquito antennae are sensitive sensors for eavesdropping on frog calls - by Hoover Pantoja-Sanchez and Brian Leavell from Ximena Bernal's lab at Purdue University, USA.
JEB Science Communication Workshop for ECRs
If you’re an early-career researcher interested in science communication and are attending the SEB Annual Conference in Prague this summer, come a day early and join the JEB Editors at a sci comm workshop to learn the key writing skills needed to promote your research to a broad audience beyond your peers (1 July at 14.30-17.30). Places are limited to 24 attendees, and applicants should apply through the SEB registration page by 30 April 2024.
Bridging the gap between controlled conditions and natural habitats in understanding behaviour
Novel technologies enable behavioural experiments with non-model species, in naturalistic habitats and with underexplored behaviours. In their Commentary, Scholz and colleagues discuss how to obtain a deeper understanding of the natural ecology and lifestyle of study animals.
Beluga metabolic measures could help save species
To help save animals from extinction, it’s important to understand what each species needs to survive. This led Jason John et al. to measure the metabolic rates of captive belugas to develop a ‘fish calculator’ showing that the whales need to eat ~23 salmon per day.
ECR Workshop on Positive Peer Review
Are you an ECR looking for tips on how to write concise, astute and useful manuscript reviews? If so, join the JEB Editors at a 2-hour JEB-sponsored Workshop on Positive Peer Review at the Canadian Society of Zoologists annual meeting in Moncton on 9 May 2024 at 13.00-15.00. There are 25 spaces for ECRs and selection is first come, first serve. To sign up, check the ECR Workshop box when you register for the CSZ meeting.