Hornyhead turbot, Pleuronichthys verticalis (Pleuronectiformes: Pleuronectidae), are morphologically asymmetrical teleosts with substantial bilateral asymmetry in the neurocranium, suspensorium and anterior jaws. In order to quantify the kinematics of prey capture and to test for functional bilateral asymmetries, four individuals of this species were video-taped feeding using a high-speed video system at 200 fields s-1. Frame-by-frame analysis revealed several features not commonly found in prey capture behavior of previously studied ray-finned fishes. These features include (1) extreme lateral compression of the suspensorium and opercular series prior to mouth opening, indicating the consistent presence of a preparatory phase during feeding, (2) apparent dissociation of hyoid retraction and lower jaw depression, (3) prolonged hyoid retraction throughout much of the feeding cycle, and (4) concomitant dorsal rotation of the neurocranium and closing of the jaws. P. verticalis also demonstrate a significant degree of functional bilateral asymmetry during prey capture. When approaching prey, fish flex their heads towards the ocular (anatomically the right) side of the body. During prey capture, their jaws bend out of the midline towards the blind (left) side. Comparisons of the displacement and timing for movements of homologous anatomical features on the ocular and blind sides of the head reveal that maximum gape is always larger on the blind side of the head than on the ocular side. In contrast, other kinematic variables measured are similar on both sides of the head. These results suggest that P. verticalis possess unique functional features of prey capture behavior and that morphological bilateral asymmetry of the head and jaws is associated with, and perhaps causally related to, the functional bilateral asymmetry present during feeding.
In the field: an interview with Martha Muñoz
Martha Muñoz is an Assistant Professor at Yale University, investigating the evolutionary biology of anole lizards and lungless salamanders. In our new Conversation, she talks about her fieldwork in Indonesia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and the Appalachian Mountains, including a death-defying dash to the top of a mountain through an approaching hurricane.
Call for new preLighters
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preLights is the preprint highlighting community supported by The Company of Biologists. At the heart of preLights are our preLighters: early-career researchers who select and write about interesting new preprints for the research community. We are currently looking for new preLighters to join our team. Find out more and apply here.
Graham Scott in conversation with Big Biology
Graham Scott talks to Big Biology about the oxygen cascade in mice living on mountaintops, extreme environments for such small organisms. In this JEB-sponsored episode, they discuss the concept of symmorphosis and the evolution of the oxygen cascade.
Trap-jaw ants coordinate tendon and exoskeleton for perfect mandible arc
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Trap-jaw ants run the risk of tearing themselves apart when they fire off their mandibles, but Greg Sutton & co have discovered that the ants simultaneously push and pull the mandibles using energy stored in a head tendon and their exoskeleton to drive the jaws in a perfect arc.
Hearing without a tympanic ear
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In their Review, Grace Capshaw, Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Catherine Carr explore the mechanisms of hearing in extant atympanate vertebrates and the implications for the early evolution of tympanate hearing.
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