Contact-rehydration in terrestrial slugs involves a specific drinking behaviour during which water is rapidly absorbed through the integument of the foot. When dehydrated slugs were placed on wet filter paper containing 14C-inulin, they displayed the characteristic drinking posture and absorbed both water and 14C-inulin. Samples of haemolymph from dehydrated slugs after 12 min of contact-rehydration contained about 6 micrograms of 14C-inulin 100 mg-1 of haemolymph (0.24 mmol l-1 14C-inulin in the substrate). The haemolymph of hydrated slugs however contained no detectable radioactivity after 12 min on the filter paper. Electron microscopy revealed that the intercellular spaces between the epithelial cells of the foot were reduced in dehydrated slugs, but were rapidly enlarged during contact-rehydration. It is concluded that contact-rehydration in terrestrial slugs is mediated by bulk flow of water through an epithelial paracellular pathway in the integument of the foot.
In the field: an interview with Harald Wolf
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In our new Conversation, Harald Wolf talks about his fieldwork experiences working with desert ants in Tunisia to understand their navigation.
Propose a new Workshop
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Our Workshops bring together leading experts and early-career researchers from a range of scientific backgrounds. Applications are now open to propose Workshops for 2024, one of which will be held in a Global South country.
Julian Dow steps down and John Terblanche joins the JEB team
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After 15 years with the journal, Julian Dow from University of Glasgow, UK, is stepping down as a Monitoring Editor. We wish Julian all the best for the future and welcome John Terblanche, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, who is joining the team. Julian talks about his long association with The Company of Biologists and the journal and John tells us about his life and career in this News article.
The capture of crude oil droplets by filter feeders at high and low Reynolds numbers
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Researchers from the University of Montreal, Canada, reveal how tiny filter feeding barnacles and Daphnia entrap and consume minute droplets of crude oil, introducing the pollutant at the bottom of the food chain.
Patterns and processes in amphibious fish
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In their Review, Keegan Lutek, Cassandra Donatelli and Emily Standen discuss the biomechanics and neural control of terrestrial locomotion in amphibious fish. They explore how locomotor mode depends on body shape, physical constraints and phylogeny.
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