Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: The triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus, is an ideal species for behavioural investigations of visual processes in non-human animals. Cheney et al. (jeb243907) conducted a detailed genetic, morphological and behavioural investigation of their visual system, demonstrating that they expressed six opsin proteins in different photoreceptors and their visual acuity was significantly better for achromatic than for chromatic stimuli. Green et al. (jeb243533) used the same species to conduct one of the most comprehensive behavioural tests of colour discrimination yet and found that sensitivity to colour differences varied depending on hue (colour) and saturation (difference from grey), which has important implications for modelling vision. Photo credit: Valerio Tettamanti and Justin Marshall.
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INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
A perspective on insect water balance
Summary: Insect success on land relies upon limiting water loss from the gut, body surface and respiratory system and also upon enhancing water uptake.
REVIEW
Venom production and secretion in reptiles
Summary: Similarities among and differences between venom glands of helodermatid lizards and snakes are presented, indicating areas where future studies can contribute to the understanding of these ancient, fascinating secretory systems.
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Nest predation risk and deposition of yolk steroids in a cavity-nesting songbird: an experimental test
Summary: Experimentally increased perceived nest predation risk did not affect yolk androgen deposition, but decreased yolk progesterone in a cavity-nesting songbird.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Sucking lice and spiracular transpiration: turning a liability into a benefit and a necessity
Highlighted Article: Sucking lice have a novel water management system exploiting water loss through the respiratory system to replace urine production, which avoids polluting their host's skin and hair.
Two stressors are worse than one: combined heatwave and drought affect hydration state and glucocorticoid levels in a temperate ectotherm
Summary: Simulation of a combined heatwave and drought to challenge homeostasis in a temperate ectotherm shows that water deprivation and higher body temperatures additively alter physiological state but synergistically lead to increased thirst.
Scaling and relations of morphology with locomotor kinematics in the sidewinder rattlesnake Crotalus cerastes
Highlighted Article: Examination of ontogenetic scaling of morphology and locomotion in sidewinder rattlesnakes provides evidence for several significant relationships among morphology, kinematics and whole-animal speed.
A combined bioinformatics and LC-MS-based approach for the development and benchmarking of a comprehensive database of Lymnaea CNS proteins
Summary: Construction of LymCNS-PDB, the first comprehensive database of the central nervous system proteins of Lymnaea stagnalis, an invertebrate animal used highly successfully in neurobiological analysis of learning and memory.
Bridging the muscle genome to phenome across multiple biological scales
Summary: A multi-scale comparative study of muscles with different fiber type composition and architecture shows that intricate fine-tuning across gene, protein and fascicle scales shapes specialized muscle function.
Chronic stress and captivity alter the cloacal microbiome of a wild songbird
Summary: Chronic stress induces significant changes in the microbiome of a wild-caught avian host, including the loss of potentially beneficial bacterial taxa and an increase in potentially inflammatory endotoxin-producing taxa.
Colour discrimination thresholds vary throughout colour space in a reef fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus)
Summary: A comparison of thresholds for colour sets with similar orientations in colour space but located at different distances from the adapted achromatic point.
Seeing Picasso: an investigation into the visual system of the triggerfish Rhinecanthus aculeatus
Summary: The triggerfish Rhinecanthus aculeatus is an ideal species for behavioural investigations of visual processes. They express six opsin proteins in different photoreceptors, and their visual acuity is significantly better for achromatic than for chromatic stimuli.
Unbalanced fatty acid diets impair discrimination ability of honey bee workers to damaged and healthy brood odors
Summary: Dietary omega fatty acids help honey bees sniff out damaged brood odors to prevent disease from spreading in the hive.
Noise-induced hearing loss correlates with inner ear hair cell decrease in larval zebrafish
Highlighted Article: Increased noise conditions can negatively impact the hearing and inner ear of zebrafish with observable behavioural changes to acoustic stimuli.
Life in the slow lane: field metabolic rate and prey consumption rate of the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) modelled using archival biologgers
Highlighted Article: Modelled field metabolic rate estimates for Greenland sharks living in the Canadian Arctic suggest these animals have very low prey requirements in the wild.
Discriminating predation attempt outcomes during natural foraging using the post-buzz pause in the Japanese large-footed bat, Myotis macrodactylus
Summary: Investigation of the natural foraging behavior of wild Myotis macrodactylus demostrates that the length of the post-buzz pause is a useful acoustic indicator of predation success.
Knifefish turning control and hydrodynamics during forward swimming
Summary: Investigation of turning in a knifefish reveals that the body, pectoral fins and an elongated anal fin contribute to turning maneuvers.
Terrestrial force production by the limbs of a semi-aquatic salamander provides insight into the evolution of terrestrial locomotor mechanics
Summary: Terrestrial locomotion of a semi-aquatic salamander is associated with ground reaction forces (GRFs) that have slower rates of change and inclinations that are generally intermediate between those of terrestrial salamander limbs and semi-aquatic fins.
Echolocating Daubenton's bats call louder, but show no spectral jamming avoidance in response to bands of masking noise during a landing task
Summary: Measurement of the vocal compensation of Daubenton's bats to masking noise reveals that bats defend echo-to-noise ratios by increasing call amplitude but not by spectrally adjusting calls.
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.