Evolution has left us with many mementos from our fishy past, most of which vanish early in development, and the notochord is one of them. All vertebrates develop a notochord, a form of rigid hydrostatic skeleton, early in gestation. The notochord soon becomes enclosed by short sections of bone that develop into individual vertebrae that eventually form the vertebral column. But hagfish didn't evolve a mineralised skeleton. John Long explains that hagfish are a `mosaic of ancestral and derived features', with the features that remain from the past providing a link to our ancestors. He adds that their undulating swimming style could also be related to the way our aquatic ancestors swam. Long wondered whether the hagfish could tell us anything about how a notochord functioned in swimming from the past through to the present. Together with his colleagues, Long has discovered that the hagfish's notochord has an amazing mechanical...
Ecosystem engineers on tropical reefs in transition
Giant barrel sponges (GSBs) remain robust to rising seawater temperatures and have rapidly populated reefs stripped of coral cover by climate change. GBSs may be poised to become the dominant habitat-forming organisms in tropical reef ecosystems of the future. In this Review, Joseph Pawlik provides an integrative and critical assessment of research on giant barrel sponges.
JEB grants to support junior faculty
Learn about the grants that we launched in 2023 to support junior faculty from two of our awardees: Erin Leonard, Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Visiting Fellowship recipient, and Pauline Fleischmann, Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grant recipient. The next deadline to apply is 28 November 2025.
Stressed salmon develop hallmarks of depression
Farmed salmon can experience high levels of CO2 and now Marco Vindas and colleagues report that fish which have experienced this form of stress show signs of fishy depression. They hope that understanding this could help farmers improve the fish's quality of life.
Extraordinary creatures: hummingbirds
Doug Altshuler and Ken Welch tell us about the extraordinary lives of hummingbirds, from their ability to hover during flight to their use of nectar as a primary food source.
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