Issues

Summary: This Commentary examines the chemistry and biology of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive sulfur species (RSS) and proposes that many homeostatic functions attributed to ROS may be due to RSS.

Summary: To understand how systemic blood flow (or ‘cardiac output’) is regulated, we must look at factors beyond the heart, namely vascular capacitance and conductance.

Highlighted Article: Experiments suggest that the migration of pink salmon across the North Pacific may be driven largely by their use of geomagnetic map cues.

Summary: Partitioning of gas exchange in an air-breathing teleost is partially regulated by acid–base status, and respiratory control of pH is more likely with increasing temperature.

Highlighted Article: Despite the forces of viscous drag underwater, mantis shrimp strike faster in water than they do in air.

Highlighted Article: Amphiura filiformis luminescence is based on a luciferin/luciferase reaction and is dependent on an exogenous supply of coelenterazine.

Summary: Outline of a simple protocol for permeabilization of fish gills and measurement of mitochondrial physiology; this technique exploits the natural structure of gills and does not require mechanical separation.

Highlighted Article: Empirical evidence for a functional value to stress-induced changes in surface temperature that is consistent with an adaptation, using a temperate endotherm (the black-capped chickadee) as a model species.

Highlighted Article: A novel assay measuring hindgut ion and fluid reabsorption in Drosophila shows that inter- and intraspecific differences in cold tolerance are linked to maintenance of hindgut osmoregulatory capacity at low temperature.

Summary: Examination of the function of a primitive cerebellum-like structure contributes to ongoing efforts to understand, from an evolutionary perspective, the functional diversity of the vertebrate cerebellum in animal behavior.

Summary: Maternally derived steroids are metabolized during incubation. Here, we determine the timing of this embryonic metabolism for testosterone and assess early effects of metabolites on embryonic growth.

Summary: Substantial interspecific variation and plasticity of hypoxia tolerance exist across fundulid killifish and are only fully appreciated by considering multiple indices of tolerance.

Summary: High environmental ammonia has developmental time- and cell type-specific neurotoxic effects, glutamate receptor hyperactivation contributes to ammonia neurotoxicity, and corticotropin-releasing factor has neuroprotective properties in the larval zebrafish brain.

Summary: Male European lobsters may use sounds to communicate dominance status during agonistic encounters.

Summary: The effect of perceived predation risk and cortisol manipulation on plastic anti-predator traits in crucian carp.

Summary: The nasal plugs of rorqual whales are novel structures that prevent water from entering the respiratory tract and prevent barotrauma in the bony nasal cavities at depth.

Summary: Long-term hypoxia induces apoptosis and inflammation in marine bivalves, with a later onset in the more tolerant oysters compared with the less tolerant mussels.

Summary: Ventricular gene expression of painted turtles is affected more by ontogeny than by anoxia. R-protein transcriptomic patterns suggest an adult-specific translational arrest mechanism that could explain divergent overwintering strategies across development.

Summary: The crocodile Crocodylus porosus responds to increased salinity by enhancing solute-coupled water absorption in the urodaeum; this response serves to conserve water and enables them to thrive in hyperosmotic environments.