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.
Celebrating 100 years of discovery

We are proud to be celebrating 100 years of discovery in Journal of Experimental Biology. Visit our centenary webpage to find out more about how we are marking this historic milestone.
Craig Franklin launches our centenary celebrations

Editor-in-Chief Craig Franklin reflects on 100 years of JEB and looks forward to our centenary celebrations, including a supplementary special issue, a new early-career researcher interview series and the launch of our latest funding initiatives.
Looking back on the first issue of JEB

Journal of Experimental Biology launched in 1923 as The British Journal of Experimental Biology. As we celebrate our centenary, we look back at that first issue and the zoologists publishing their work in the new journal.
Webinar: Increasing the visibility and impact of your research
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Would you like to increase the visibility and impact of your research and raise your profile internationally? If so, register for the very practical webinar we are running in association with HUBS on 23 February 2023.
Biology Communication Workshop: Engaging the world in the excitement of research
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We are delighted to be sponsoring a Biology Communication Workshop for early-career researchers as part of JEB’s centenary celebrations. The workshop focuses on how to effectively communicate your science to other researchers and the public and takes place the day before the CSZ annual meeting, on 14 May 2023. Find out more and apply here.
Mexican fruit flies wave for distraction

Dinesh Rao and colleagues have discovered that Mexican fruit flies vanish in a blur in the eyes of predatory spiders when they wave their wings at the arachnids, buying the flies time to make their escape.