Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: A spearing mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda: Lysiosquillina maculata) extends its rapidly rotating raptorial appendages to capture evasive prey, such as this yellow-tail damsel. Mantis shrimp use a spectacular diversity of raptorial appendage morphologies and kinematics to capture and crush prey. McHenry et al. (pp. 3399-3411) analyzed the hydrodynamics of raptorial striking across mantis shrimp using both blade element and computational fluid dynamic analyses. Across the clade, the hydrodynamics are minimally affected by shape and instead are strongly impacted by size, kinematics and, to a lesser extent, the orientation of the stabbing dactyl. Photo credit: Roy Caldwell.
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INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Hydrodynamic properties of fin whale flippers predict maximum rolling performance
Summary: A simple hydrodynamic model predicts fin whale rolling performance.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Energetics of communal roosting in chestnut-crowned babblers: implications for group dynamics and breeding phenology
Highlighted Article: Cooperatively breeding chestnut-crowned babblers save considerable energy by group roosting within enclosed nests; this economy helps explain the species' social dynamics and breeding phenology.
Vision on the high seas: spatial resolution and optical sensitivity in two procellariiform seabirds with different foraging strategies
Summary: Procellariiform seabirds with different nesting and foraging strategies have also evolved predictable differences in their ability to see their prey or other foraging seabirds.
Object approach computation by a giant neuron and its relationship with the speed of escape in the crab Neohelice
Summary: Visually guided behaviors operate in closed loop. In crabs, the information of approaching objects is encoded and conveyed by identified giant neurons to continuously regulate the speed of the escape run.
Actions of sex steroids on kisspeptin expression and other reproduction-related genes in the brain of the teleost fish European sea bass
Summary: Kisspeptins are attributed to be key factors in mediating gonadal steroid feedback in mammalian hypothalamus and in the teleost fish sea bass, suggesting that this property is conserved across vertebrates.
Collective strategy for obstacle navigation during cooperative transport by ants
Highlighted Article: Ant groups navigate obstacles with a collective strategy that adapts to obstacle difficulty. Groups begin with simple behaviors; if unsuccessful, they switch to robust behaviors that work for more difficult obstacles.
Oxygen dependence of upper thermal limits in fishes
Summary: A novel metric (PCTmax) is presented for assessing the oxygen sensitivity of upper thermal limits in water-breathing ectotherms based on measurements of critical thermal maxima in marine fishes under hypoxia.
Wing flexibility improves bumblebee flight stability
Summary: Flexibility of the 1m-cu resilin joint in bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) wings improves stability in forward flight.
Annual life-stage regulation of lipid metabolism and storage and association with PPARs in a migrant species: the gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
Summary: Changes in energetics related to the migratory cycle span organismal, tissue and molecular endpoints, and these seasonal adjustments involve the PPAR family of nuclear receptors and their target genes.
The comparative hydrodynamics of rapid rotation by predatory appendages
Highlighted Article: Blade-element analysis and computational fluid dynamics are both effective for analyzing mantis shrimp strike hydrodynamics. Mantis shrimp appendage diversification is strongly impacted by the hydrodynamic consequences of size and kinematics.
The opening–closing rhythms of the subelytral cavity associated with gas exchange patterns in diapausing Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata
Summary: Colorado potato beetles are able to close their subelytral cavity tightly and it then serves as a water-saving device.
Crouching to fit in: the energetic cost of locomotion in tunnels
Summary: The energetic cost of locomotion in a simulated tunnel exceeds that of overground locomotion in two semi-fossorial mammal species (ferrets and degus).
Intracellular regulation of the insect chemoreceptor complex impacts odour localization in flying insects
Summary: The unique signal transduction of the OR complex contributes to insects’ sensitive and efficient olfactory capabilities, supporting the hypothesis that insects evolved a unique chemoreceptor family to accommodate the high-speed demands of flight.
A social mechanism facilitates ant colony emigrations over different distances
Summary: Within social systems, there are often ‘key’ individuals that are disproportionately active in various tasks; however, the contribution of such individuals may be far from decisive.
Coming up for air: thermal dependence of dive behaviours and metabolism in sea snakes
Summary: Interactions between the thermal environment, body activity and bimodal respiration show that with rising water temperatures, sea snakes may become more susceptible to fishing-related mortality through reduced apnoeic capacity.
Nitric oxide inhibition of NaCl secretion in the opercular epithelium of seawater-acclimated killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus
Summary: Nitric oxide contributes to the regulation of ion transport in fish predominantly through the sGC/cGMP pathway and S-nitrosation of transport proteins may be an additional mechanism.
The answer is blowing in the wind: free-flying honeybees can integrate visual and mechano-sensory inputs for making complex foraging decisions
Summary: In complex environments, free-flying honeybees are able to integrate both visual and wind-induced mechano-sensory cues to make decisions in a way that is suggestive of integrative processing by the brain.
Cutaneous water collection by a moisture-harvesting lizard, the thorny devil (Moloch horridus)
Highlighted Article: Desert lizards such as thorny devils harvest moisture from different sources using their skin surface. Moist sand seems to be the most routine water source to meet their water demand.
Assessing hydrodynamic space use of brown trout, Salmo trutta, in a complex flow environment: a return to first principles
Summary: New techniques are used to experimentally demonstrate that energy conservation strategies play a key role in brown trout space use.
New funding schemes for junior faculty staff
In celebration of our 100th anniversary, JEB has launched two new grants to support junior faculty staff working in animal comparative physiology and biomechanics who are within five years of setting up their first lab/research group. Check out our ECR Visiting Fellowships and Research Partnership Kickstart Travel Grants.
JEB@100: an interview with Monitoring Editor Stuart Egginton
Stuart Egginton reveals how he overcame the challenges of being a comparative physiologist in a medical school and how he would tell his younger self to trust his instincts when pursuing new ideas.
Travelling Fellowships from JEB
Our Travelling Fellowships offer up to £3,000 to graduate students and post-doctoral researchers wishing to make collaborative visits to other laboratories. Next deadline to apply is 27 October 2023
Feedforward and feedback control in the neuromechanics
Auke J. Ijspeert and Monica A. Daley provide an overview of key knowledge gained from comparative vertebrate experiments and insights obtained from neuromechanical simulations and robotic approaches. Read the full Centenary Review Article here.
Light fine-tunes electric fish pulses to keep them in the shade
Weakly electric fish perceive their surroundings through electric chirrups and now Ana Camargo & colleagues have revealed that light fine-tunes the fish's electric pulses to ensure that they remain scheduled beneath the mats of vegetation they use for shelter, avoiding penetrating beams of light that could give them away.
