Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Confocal microscopy images of barnacles in transition from free-swimming cyprids to sessile juveniles, viewed from below. After settlement and metamorphosis, the disc-shaped basis adheres to the substratum. Essock-Burns et al. (pp. 194-207) show that, of ~250 barnacles observed, all but one had interfacial material (green) associated with developing cuticle (blue/green folds) and the substratum. The material contained phosphoprotein, nucleic acids and reactive oxygen species. At this stage, bacteria (red and green dots) are killed (red dots) under the developing basis. Thus, the end of settlement and metamorphosis is a critical time during which the release of additional material may contribute to adhesion and antimicrobial activity. Photo credit: Tara Essock-Burns.
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INSIDE JEB
OUTSIDE JEB
COMMENTARY
The fallacy of the average: on the ubiquity, utility and continuing novelty of Jensen's inequality
Summary: Performance at average conditions is seldom equal to average performance across a range of conditions. Known as Jensen's inequality, this disparity has important implications for how biologists view the world.
REVIEW
Temperature-induced cardiac remodelling in fish
Summary: Thermal acclimation of some temperate fishes causes extensive remodelling of the heart. The resultant changes to the active and passive properties of the heart represent a highly integrated phenotypic response.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
A different angle: comparative analyses of whole-animal transport costs when running uphill
Summary: Across-species analysis of the energy costs to run uphill highlights the importance of considering relative, proportional and absolute measures, and of interpretation within an ecological context, for example, in terms of the energy landscape.
The apparently contradictory energetics of hopping and running: the counter-intuitive effect of constraints resolves the paradox
Summary: Metabolic rate appears to be proportional to force rate for treadmill running; however, this is the result of runners selecting step frequencies that minimize cost per distance for specified speeds (speed constraints).
Spontaneous alternation behavior in larval zebrafish
Summary: Larval zebrafish show spontaneous alternation behavior, supporting the future use of zebrafish as a high-throughput pharmacological model in mnestic studies.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Hydrodynamic detection and localization of artificial flatfish breathing currents by harbour seals (Phoca vitulina)
Highlighted Article: Flatfish hidden in the benthos produce water currents by breathing, providing a source of sensory information for seals (Pinnipedia) in the detection of prey fish.
Unusual sound production mechanism in the triggerfish Rhinecanthus aculeatus (Balistidae)
Summary: Rhinecanthus aculeatus produce sounds by alternate sweeping movements of pectoral fins which push the scutes. The first part of each sound pulse cycle corresponds to inward buckling of the scutes and the second corresponds to passive recoil of the swimbladder wall.
Barnacle biology before, during and after settlement and metamorphosis: a study of the interface
Summary: Barnacles have complex interactions with bacteria during settlement and metamorphosis. Barnacle attachment uses multiple proteinaceous glues, which attract bacteria to the interface; bacteria at this interface are eventually killed.
Structure of the thoracic spiracular valves and their contribution to unidirectional gas exchange in flying blowflies Calliphora vicina
Summary: External filter flaps and inner valves support a respiratory airflow through the thorax in flying blowflies by opening the valve flaps during wing upstroke and keeping the inner openings narrow.
A new cue for torpor induction: charcoal, ash and smoke
Highlighted Article: Torpor expression is enhanced in yellow-footed antechinus in response to a combination of fire cues (food restriction, smoke and a charcoal/ash substrate), indicating a previously unrecognised regulatory mechanism for thermal biology in mammals.
Developmental changes in head movement kinematics during swimming in Xenopus laevis tadpoles
Summary: Xenopus laevis tadpoles decrease their swimming frequency during development without changing head movement amplitude, with consequences for vestibular self-stimulation.
Can the behaviour of threespine stickleback parasitized with Schistocephalus solidus be replicated by manipulating host physiology?
Summary: Hypotheses regarding causes of the behavioural modifications in threespine stickleback parasitized with the flatworm Schistocephalus solidus are tested by analyzing behaviour changes induced by experimental manipulations.
A general relationship links gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces
Summary: A basic relationship that links the motion of running to the ground forces applied enables practical, motion-based predictions of force–time patterns at essentially all speeds and regardless of foot-strike mechanics.
Role of the different eyes in the visual odometry in the wolf spider Lycosa tarantula (Araneae, Lycosidae)
Highlighted Article: The wolf spider Lycosa tarantula uses both lateral and substratum information to return home. Lateral information is gathered by the posterior lateral eyes; substratum information is gathered mainly by the anterior lateral eyes.
Retinal specialization through spatially varying cell densities and opsin coexpression in cichlid fish
Summary: Cichlid retinas show spatial variation with an area centralis that has higher photoreceptor and ganglion cell density and less opsin coexpression. Visual modeling suggests this may reflect a trade-off between colour discrimination and contrast detection.
Differences in mobility at the range edge of an expanding invasive population of Xenopus laevis in the west of France
Summary: The edge of an expanding population is characterized by an increase in locomotor stamina and limb dimensions in an invasive and largely aquatic frog.
The lateral line confers evolutionarily derived sleep loss in the Mexican cavefish
Highlighted Article: Increased sensory input from the lateral line contributes to the evolution of sleep loss in Mexican cavefish, providing a model for investigating how the sensory systems modulate sleep.
A second visual rhodopsin gene, rh1-2, is expressed in zebrafish photoreceptors and found in other ray-finned fishes
Summary: An ancient duplication of the rhodopsin gene, rh1-2, is a functional visual pigment and is expressed in retinal photoreceptors.
Effects of foraging distance on macronutrient balancing and performance in the German cockroach Blattella germanica
Summary: Foraging over long versus short distance increases consumption of specific nutrients and enhances performance in German cockroaches.
Comparative locomotor costs of domestic dogs reveal energetic economy of wolf-like breeds
Summary: Northern breed dogs have lower locomotor transport costs than other breeds, in part due to an energy-saving morphological mechanism retained from their highly cursorial progenitor, the gray wolf.
Corticosterone rapidly suppresses innate immune activity in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Summary: The stress response suppresses measures of innate immune activity at different rates. The elevation of plasma corticosterone above baseline levels may be necessary for stress-induced suppression to occur.
Call for Papers: The Integrative Biology of the Gut. Guest Editors Carol Bucking, Matt Regan and John Terblanche
We are pleased to welcome submissions for our upcoming Special Issue: The Integrative Biology of the Gut . We are calling for forward-looking papers that address the functional roles of the gut. We will consider papers that address gut function from the cellular level to its interactions with other organs and tissues, including its role in diverse ecophysiological processes, spanning both vertebrate and invertebrate species. The deadline for submission to this issue is 1 October 2024.
Extraordinary creatures: notothenioids and icefish
In our new Conversation focusing on extraordinary creatures, Christina Cheng and Kristin O'Brien tell us about the remarkable freeze tolerant nototheniods that live in the waters around Antarctica and how icefish are the only adult vertebrates that survive without haemoglobin.
Why are microclimates essential for predicting climate change responses and how to measure them?
In their Commentary, Duncan Mitchell and colleagues discuss problems with predicting terrestrial animals’ responses to a warming world based on air temperature, rather than the microclimate of their thermal environment. They provide a simple, low-cost approach to microclimate measurements to provide a more realistic assessment of terrestrial animal performance and predicted population responses in hot regions under warming conditions. This approach requires measuring the variables involved in the exchange of heat and water vapour between animals and their environment.
Keeping warm is harder for tree swallows when it’s damp
Damp air often feels chilly and now Cody Porter & co show that tree swallows use 8% more energy when the atmosphere is damp than when it is dry, so they have to work harder to keep warm in damp conditions.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register your interest to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
