Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Poison frog tadpoles have to constantly watch out for predators. Szabo et al. (jeb243647) presented Allobates femoralis tadpoles with olfactory or visual cues, or a combination of the two, and compared their reaction with that of a water control. The results show that A. femoralis tadpoles can innately recognize some predators and likely need both visual and chemical information to effectively avoid them. Photo credit: Francesca Angiolani Larrea.
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INSIDE JEB
CONVERSATION
REVIEW
Functional significance and physiological regulation of essential trace metals in fish
Summary: This paper reviews the biological role of iron, copper, zinc and manganese, and the mechanisms underlying their regulation in fish. Knowledge gaps for future research are also discussed.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Born without night: the consequence of the no-night environment on reproductive performance in diurnal zebra finches
Summary: Loss of night negatively affects reproductive performance of adult zebra finches born and raised in normal day–night, with a more severe effect at the adult stage in animals that were born and raised in a constant light environment.
Short-range hunters: exploring the function and constraints of water shooting in dwarf gouramis
Highlighted Article: Dwarf gourami water shooting behaviour was examined in a series of experiments to test the function and constraints of their shooting ability and is shown to be analogous to archerfish shooting.
Plantar flexor muscles of kangaroo rats (Dipodomys deserti) shorten at a velocity to produce optimal power during jumping
Summary: Decoupling of muscle and joint kinematics in kangaroo rat lateral gastrocnemius muscles allows for a longer period of shortening near optimal velocities, which enables the muscle to sustain maximal power generation during jumping.
Sex differences in behavioural and anatomical estimates of visual acuity in the green swordtail, Xiphophorus helleri
Summary: Anatomical and behavioural quantification of visual acuity (spatial resolving power) in green swordtails indicates that acuity was anatomically identical in both sexes, but behaviourally higher in females, with implications for signalling.
Shedding light on the circadian clock of the threespine stickleback
Summary: In wild-caught threespine sticklebacks, the circadian clock controls locomotor activity in only a few individuals. Sticklebacks are mostly nocturnal, although interindividual variation exists.
Evidence of cognitive specialization in an insect: proficiency is maintained across elemental and higher-order visual learning but not between sensory modalities in honey bees
Highlighted Article: Bees show cognitive specialization, with some individuals being consistently better learners than the others within a sensory modality but across task complexity.
Naive poison frog tadpoles use bi-modal cues to avoid insect predators but not heterospecific predatory tadpoles
Summary: Poison frog tadpoles innately recognize dragonfly larvae as dangerous using a combination of visual and olfactory cues.
Tuned muscle and spring properties increase elastic energy storage
Highlighted Article: Tuning muscle and spring properties enhanced elastic energy storage in the plantaris longus muscle of Cuban tree frogs.
Thermal–metabolic phenotypes of the lizard Podarcis muralis differ across elevation, but converge in high-elevation hypoxia
Summary: The integrative phenotypes of lizards, including metabolic and thermally dependent physiological traits, vary between populations at different elevations, but converge in the novel oxygen environment of extreme high elevation.
Seasonal cellular stress phenomena and phenotypic plasticity in land snail Helix lucorum populations from different altitudes
Summary: Cellular stress phenomena in reciprocally transplanted land snail Helix lucorum at 0 and 1250 m altitudes underline phenotypic plasticity as a response to seasonal environmental changes in corresponding habitats.
A comparison of two methods for estimating critical swimming speed (Ucrit) in larval fathead minnows: the laminar flow assay and the spinning task assay
Summary: The spinning task assay is not a viable replacement for the laminar flow assay for the evaluation of swim performance in fish.
Thermal performance curves for aerobic scope in a tropical fish (Lates calcarifer): flexible in amplitude but not breadth
Editor's Choice: Acclimation to a large daily temperature cycle does not lead to a broadening of the aerobic metabolic window in fish, suggesting that thermal performance curves for aerobic scope are more plastic in amplitude than in breadth.
Diversity of lateral line patterns and neuromast numbers in the genus Oryzias
Summary: Different species in the genus Oryzias exhibit a great diversity in their lateral line pattern that is not explained by their evolutionary relationships.
CORRECTION
Sensory perception in a changing world – 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 JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and the SEB satellite meeting. Find out more and register to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK. Submit your abstract by 17 January 2025. Early-bird registration ends on 17 January 2025.
Extraordinary creatures: mantis shrimp
In our new Conversation series focusing on extraordinary creatures, Tom Cronin and Sheila Patek tell us about the incredible biology of mantis shrimp, from their complex vision to their powerful striking abilities.
Behaviour as a physiological process
In this Commentary, Shamil Debaere & colleagues argue the case for integration of behaviour into animal physiology, and advocate for behaviour to be considered as a physiological process.
Tiny ring-necked snakes keep warm heads despite their size
Some ectotherms are able to raise the temperature of certain body parts above the temperature of other regions & now Christian Fox and Albert Chung, with undergraduates from the University of Virginia, reveal that the heads of tiny ring-necked snakes can be 2.1C warmer than their tails, even though they are only 20cm long.
