Issues

Summary: Approaches used in quantitative genetics and animal personality research are useful to study the ecological and evolutionary consequences of individual variation in behaviour, physiology, performance and other complex traits.

Summary: Although invertebrates are unable to see the e-vector orientation of polarized light, they can gain valuable visual information from it.

Summary: Helicoverpa armigera, the nocturnal cotton bollworm moth, learns colours upon feeding, and discriminates colour discs depending on the chromatic contents irrespective of brightness.

Summary: Dopamine controls reproduction at multiple sites along the hypothalamic-pituitary–gonadal axis; in teleost fish, D2 receptors drive inhibition of hypothalamic GnRH1 neurons, a mechanism likely to be conserved across vertebrates.

Highlighted Article: Electroretinogram-based spectral response measurements suggest dichromacy in twisted-wing parasites.

Summary: Cytoprotective NO availability is important for hypoxia tolerance. Crucian carp possess an innate nitrate reductase activity, which supplements the supply of nitrite for NO generation during hypoxia.

Highlighted Article: A comparison of the swimming and hydrodynamics of control lampreys to lampreys whose spinal cord was transected mid-body reveals the hydrodynamic advantage of actively controlled swimming.

Summary: Physiological performance of large corals is not accurately estimated by scaling values from small corals, indicating the importance of colony size in the response of branching corals to elevated temperature and P_CO2.

Summary: Changes in HPI-axis reactivity and telencephalic serotonergic neurochemistry indicate allostatic load in rainbow trout kept in high densities.

Summary: In the brown booby, oxidative stress may arise as a cost of pre-laying reproductive investment in both sexes and constrain investment in eggs and offspring by females.

Summary: Limpet shells have good resistance to single impacts but perform poorly under multiple impacts owing to their layered structure; impact damage is often fatal but can be repaired.

Highlighted Article: Morpho butterfly wing scales produce their iridescent blue color with more than multilayers. The comparative macro- and microscopical properties of scales fairly agrees with the phylogeny of the genus.

Summary: Mosquitoes employ an auxiliary heart, located underneath the thoracic scutellum, to systematically propel hemolymph (insect blood) throughout the veins of the wings.

Summary: Compared with SD rats, FVB mice have higher ventilatory and metabolic responses to hypoxia, higher induction of HIF-1α, and lower Glut1 protein expression in the brainstem.

Summary: Bumble bees regulate their dietary intake of proteins and lipids among synthetic diets to nutritional targets ideal for survival. These intake targets may drive pollen collection behavior in the field.

Summary: Optokinetic experiments in two benthic shark species confirm low spatial resolution but uncover high contrast sensitivity of shark vision, a combination that favours early detection, but hinders recognition of objects.

Summary: Vertical directionality of zebrafish escape swims highlights the importance of ecological validity in motor control research.

Summary: Larval zebrafish raised in hypoxic water exhibit reduced Ca²⁺ uptake through a reduction in the number of ecac-expressing ionocytes, and these effects are probably associated with the activation of HIF-1αb during hypoxia.