bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mitochondrial Pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 of Nosema bombycis: A Marker in Microsporidian evolution
Authors: Li Tian , Dang Xiaoqun , Xu Jinshan , Liu Handeng , Pan Guoqing , Zhou Zeyang 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Microsporidia are a group of intracelluar eukaryotic parasites, which can infected almost all animals, including human beings. Till now, no mitochodria but mitosome, a remnant of mitochondria was discovered in this phylum. We present here the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase El (PDH, including PDHα and PDHβ) of the microsporidian Nosema bombycis, the pathogen of silkworm pébrine. Compared with PDH of microsporidian Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Antonospora locustae, both subunits are conserved. The phylogeny indicated that both subunits are mitochondrial. The syntenic maps revealed the subunits organization of NbPDH is distributed in different scaffolds, similar to that of EcPDH but different with AIPDH, and the relationship between phylogeny tree and organization of PDH suggest that the AlPDH subunits organization is the ancestral style of microsporidia, and through the genome evolution, the reshuffling of the chromosome of microsporidia occurred, the adjacent style of ALPDHE1 organization changed, and the two subunits separated and located to different chromosomes in E. cuniculi. For N. bombycis and N. ceranae, they locate to different scaffolds. In order to determine NbPDH subcellular localizations, we prepared the polyclonal antibodies against NbPDH prokaryotic fusion proteins, and adopted the colloidal gold immunological electron microscopy, the expression signals of NbPDH were observed in spores however, the subcellular localization were not definited. In general, through comparison of three microsporidian PDH molecular phylogeny, subunits organization in chromosomes, localization indicated that PDH is an interesting marker in microsporidia evolution.
Perspectives: Gene expression in fisheries management
Authors: Nielsen Jennifer L. , Pavey Scott A. 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Functional genes and gene expression have been connected to physiological traits linked to effective production and broodstock selection in aquaculture, selective implications of commercial fish harvest, and adaptive changes reflected in non-commercial fish populations subject to human disturbance and climate change. Gene mapping using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to identify functional genes, gene expression (analogue microarrays and real-time PCR), and digital sequencing technologies looking at RNA transcripts present new concepts and opportunities in support of effective and sustainable fisheries. Genomic tools have been rapidly growing in aquaculture research addressing aspects of fish health, toxicology, and early development. Genomic technologies linking effects in functional genes involved in growth, maturation and life history development have been tied to selection resulting from harvest practices. Incorporating new and ever-increasing knowledge of fish genomes is opening a different perspective on local adaptation that will prove invaluable in wild fish conservation and management. Conservation of fish stocks is rapidly incorporating research on critical adaptive responses directed at the effects of human disturbance and climate change through gene expression studies. Genomic studies of fish populations can be generally grouped into three broad categories: 1) evolutionary genomics and biodiversity; 2) adaptive physiological responses to a changing environment; and 3) adaptive behavioral genomics and life history diversity. We review current genomic research in fisheries focusing on those that use microarrays to explore differences in gene expression among phenotypes and within or across populations, information that is critically important to the conservation of fish and their relationship to humans
Habitat structure directly affects aggression in convict cichlids Archocentrus nigrofasciatus
Authors: Barley Anthony J. , Coleman Ronald M. 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Aggressive behavior can be an important factor in determining how animals use and divide space and resources. Previous studies have shown that aggression in fishes can be influenced by a variety of factors, including water temperature and resource levels. In this study, we tested if the amount of habitat structure in the environment affected aggression levels in female convict cichlids Archocentrus nigrofasciatus. We performed a laboratory experiment in which we placed female convict cichlids into an aquarium with low or high amounts of habitat structure and monitored the dominant female's behavior toward the subordinate female. Aggressive behavior in convict cichlids primarily consists of chases and bites. We found that the total time the dominant female spent chasing the subordinate female was greater when there was a low amount of habitat structure as compared to when there was a high amount of habitat structure. We also found that both the average duration of a chasing bout and the number of bites directed at the subordinate fish increased when there was a low amount of structure, but the number of chases did not. These results indicate that increased habitat structural complexity decreases aggressive behavior in convict cichlids.
The role of dyadic interactions in the mixed-mating strategies of the mangrove rivulus Kryptolebias marmoratus
Authors: Luke Kelly N. , Bechler David L. 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
The mangrove rivulus Kryptolebias marmoratus a small cyprinodont fish native to tropical and subtropical waters from Florida to Brazil, is one of two known self-fertilizing, hermaphroditic vertebrates of which K. marmoratus displays androdioecy, a complex system of reproduction in which hermaphrodites and males are present. This study describes the behavioral repertoires observed during dyadic interactions in the laboratory. Kryptolebias marmoratus exhibited 23 distinctive acts or behaviors. Acts were divided into four categories: aggressive, submissive, neutral, and reproductive. Leading and following behaviors played important roles in the behavioral repertoires of these fish. In hermaphrodite-male dyads, males exclusively initiated the reproductive process and actively pursued hermaphrodites. When hermaphrodites were paired, there was no evidence that they behaved like other simultaneous hermaphrodites that alternate sexual roles (e.g. serranids). Hermaphrodites were extremely aggressive towards one another, and the aggressor established dominance rapidly. Male-male dyads were divided into two subdivisions based on the presence or absence of the caudal ocellus on one fish. A caudal ocellus on one male appeared to signal the possibility of a potential mating partner to males lacking it. Pairings of males without an ocellus were similar to hermaphrodite-hermaphrodite dyads in that both members of the pair were aggressive towards one another. These observations may be indicative of interactions taking place in natural communities or assemblages of fish in which both males and hermaphrodites occur and provide evidence on the role of dyadic interactions in the mixed-mating strategies.
Female and male visually based mate preferences are consistent with reproductive isolation between populations of the Lake Malawi endemic Labeotropheus fuelleborni
Authors: Pauers Michael J. , Ehlinger Timothy J. , McKinnon Jeffrey S. 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Sexual selection via female mate choice is thought to have played a key role in the speciation of haplochromine cichlids, but a dominant role for visual signals in such processes has lately been called into question. In addition, the possible role of male mating preferences in haplochromine speciation has been little studied. We studied patterns of both female and male mate choice, based exclusively on visual signals, in order to evaluate potential reproductive isolation between two populations of the Lake Malawi haplochromine Labeotropheus fuelleborni. In the first experiment, females were allowed to choose between two males, one from the same population and the other allopatric with respect to the female. Females in this experiment responded more frequently to males from their own population. Similarly, the males in these trials displayed more frequently when presented with females of their own population. In the second experiment, a female was allowed to choose between two males, either both from her own population or both allopatric. In these trials, both males and females from the Katale population interacted significantly more frequently in settings in which all three individuals were from the same population (“same-population trios”), and those from the Chipoka population showed a similar trend. Thus, patterns in both male and female courtship behavior suggest that visual signals contribute to at least incipient reproductive isolation between populations of L. fuelleborni.
Differences in pectoral fin spine morphology between vocal and silent clades of catfishes (Order Siluriformes): Ecomorphological implications
Authors: Kaatz Ingrid M. , Stewart Donald J. , Rice Aaron N. , Lobel Phillip S. 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Stridulatory sound-producing behavior is widespread across catfish families, but some are silent. To understand why, we compared spine morphology and ecotype of silent and vocal clades. We determined vocal ability of laboratory specimens during disturbance behavior. Vocal families had bony (not flexible or segmented) spines, well-developed anterior and/or posterior serrations, and statistically significantly longer spines. We compared morphology of the proximal end of the pectoral spine between vocal and silent species. For vocal taxa, microscopic rounded or bladed ridges or knobs were present on the dorsal process. Most silent species had reduced processes with exclusively smooth, convoluted, or honeycombed surfaces very similar to spine-locking surfaces, or they had novel surfaces (beaded, vacuolated, cobwebbed). Most callichthyids had ridges but many were silent during disturbance. All doradid, most auchenipterid and most mochokid species were vocal and had ridges or knobs. Within the Auchenipteridae, vocal species had spines with greater weight and serration development but not length. Silent auchenipterids had thin, brittle, distally segmented spines with few microscopic serrations on only one margin and a highly reduced dorsal process lacking any known vocal morphology. Silent auchenipterids are derived and pelagic, while all vocal genera are basal and benthopelagic. This is the first phylogenetic evidence for stridulation mechanism loss within catfishes. Phylogenetic mapping of vocal ability, spine condition, and ecotype revealed the repeated presence of silence and vocal taxa, short and long spines, and ecotype shifts within clades. The appearance and loss of vocal behavior and supporting morphologies may have facilitated diversification among catfishes.
Female waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index and sexual attractiveness in China
Authors: Dixson B.J. , Li Baoguo , Dixson A.F. 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Men and women at Northwest University (n=751), Xi'an, China were asked to judge the attractiveness of photographs of female patients who had undergone micrograft surgery to reduce their waist-to-hip ratios (WHR). Micrograft surgery involves harvesting adipose tissue from the waist and reshaping the buttocks to produce a low WHR and an ‘hourglass’ female figure. This gynoid distribution of female body fat has been shown to correlate with measures of fertility and health. Significantly larger numbers of subjects, of both sexes, chose post-operative photographs, with lower WHRs, as more attractive than pre-operative photographs of the same women. Some patients had gained, and some had lost weight, post-operatively, with resultant changes in body mass index (BMI). However, these changes in BMI were not related to judgments of attractiveness. These results show that the hourglass female figure is rated as attractive in China, and that WHR, rather than BMI, plays a crucial role in such attractiveness judgments.
Blood is not always thicker than water: The limited effect of kin selection on human kinship in the traditional Chinese family
Authors: Sun Lixing 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
To examine the importance of kin selection in shaping human societies, this study analyzed the kinship system practiced in traditional China for two millennia and teased apart its underlying genetic and other, presumably cultural, components. The results demonstrate that, in the traditional patrilineal Chinese family, both genetic relatedness and the cultural factor of generation were important in determining kinship status for male agnates (genetically related relatives). For female agnates, however, only genetic relatedness was important. Another surprising finding was that the influence of gender was not as important as genetic relatedness. The most interesting finding in this study, however, was that kin selection and culture (i.e., seniority in generation and age) played vastly different roles in different lineages in the Chinese family: for collateral (indirect) agnates, genetic relatedness was the most important factor in determining their kinship status, but for lineal (direct) agnates, its importance was overridden by seniority in generation and age, a cultural factor. Several other bio-cultural factors also explained a considerable amount of variance in kinship status. Since kinship profoundly affected, and was often the foundation of, the legal and social systems in dynastic China, kin selection, while its strength may differ remarkably between lineal and collateral relatives, could act as a selective force in Chinese families.
Handedness found in a wild group of moor monkeys in the Karaenta Nature Reserve, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Authors: Watanabe Kunio 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Hand preference of wild moor monkeys Macaca maurus was investigated in food reaching situations at the Karaenta Nature Reserve, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The frequency picking up sweet-corn grains to take into the mouth by either hand of monkeys was counted directly at the feeding ground where sweet-corn grains were scattered for monkeys. Among the 20 monkeys examined, 8 were right-handed, 8 were left-handed, and 4 were ambilateral. The results indicated the prevailed hand preference on individual level but not either trends of left- or right-hand preference on population level. The trend toward a higher proportion of left-handed monkeys found in Japanese and rhesus monkeys was not found. Some other characteristics found in moor monkeys are discussed in comparison with those previous findings in Japanese and Tibetan macaques in order to evaluate variations within the genus Macaca.
Zonal distribution and population biology of Ilyoplax frater (Brachyura: Ocypodoidea: Dotillidae) in a coastal mudflat of Pakistan
Authors: Saher Noor Us , Qureshi Naureen Aziz 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Zonal distribution and population biology of Ilyoplax frater were studied in a mangrove mudflat area of Pakistan. The crabs were collected from Korangi creek through transect and quadrat method from low tide level to high tide level. Two transects were delimited in a mangrove area of Korangi creek (24°79’'N/ 67°20’E). On each transect, three 0.25 m quadrats were sampled at three tidal levels on a monthly basis during low tide periods from March 2001 to February 2002. A total of 1124 crabs were obtained, of which 482 were males and 642 were females. Density of crabs varied between 0 and 90 /m2. The density and size distribution varied and showed significant differences from low to high tide level, and were positively correlated with the percent moisture, percent organic matter and sediment grain size. The carapace width (CW) ranged from 2.5 to 11.5 mm for male and 2.5 to 11.0 mm for female and was not significantly different. The overall sex ratio did not differ significantly from the expected 1:1 throughout the year in small crabs but was significantly different in adult crabs (χ2 = 49.73) with more male crabs. Size frequency distribution showed recruitment of juvenile crabs (< 4 mm) nearly throughout the year except during June and July. Presence of ovigerous females in all months with seasonal peaks in September, October, December and May indicates seasonal continuous breeding. Weight of egg mass increases with weight of ovigerous females and show positive linear relationship. The estimated mean diameter of egg was 2.83± 0.25 μm, and the average number of eggs was 3065± 902.
Functional origins of the vertebrate cerebellum from a sensory processing antecedent
Authors: Montgomery John , Bodznick David 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
The structure of the cerebellar cortex is remarkably similar across vertebrate phylogeny. It is well developed in basal jawed fishes, such as sharks and rays with many of the same cell types and organizational features found in other vertebrate groups, including mammals. In particular, the lattice-like organization of cerebellar cortex (with a molecular layer of parallel fibres, interneurons, spiny Purkinje cell dendrites, and climbing fires) is a common defining characteristic. In addition to the cerebellar cortex, fishes and aquatic amphibians have a variety of cerebellum-like structures in the dorso-lateral wall of the hindbrain. These structures are adjacent to, and in part, contiguous with, the cerebellum. They derive their cerebellum-like name from the presence of a molecular layer of parallel fibers and inhibitory interneurons, which has striking organizational similarities to the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex. However, these structures also have characteristics which differ from the cerebellum. For example, cerebellum-like structures do not have climbing fibres, and they are clearly sensory. They receive direct afferent input from peripheral sensory receptors and relay their outputs to midbrain sensory areas. As a consequence of this close sensory association, and the ability to characterise their signal processing in a behaviourally relevant context, good progress has been made in determining the fundamental processing algorithm in cerebellar-like structures. In particular, we have come to understand the contribution to signal processing made by the molecular layer, which provides an adaptive filter to cancel self-generated noise in electrosensory and lateral line systems. Given the fundamental similarities of the molecular layer across these structures, coupled with evidence that cerebellum-like structures may have been the evolutionary antecedent of the cerebellum, we address the question: do both share the same functional algorithm?
Predator perception of detritus and eggsac decorations spun by orb-web spiders Cyclosa octotuberculata: Do they function to camouflage the spiders?
Authors: GAN Wenjin , Liu Fengxiang , Zhang Zengtao , LI Daiqin 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Camouflage is one of the most widespread and powerful strategies that animals use to make detection/recognition more difficult. Many orb-web spiders of the genus Cyclosa add prey remains, plant debris, moults, and/or eggsacs to their webs called web decorations. Web decorations resembling spider body colour pattern have been considered to camouflage the spider from predators. While this camouflage is obvious from a human's perspective, it has rarely been investigated from a predator's perspective. In this study, we tested the visibility of web decorations by calculating chromatic and achromatic contrasts of detritus and eggsac decorations built by Cyclosa octotuberculata, against four different backgrounds viewed by both bird (e.g., blue tits) and hymenopteran (e.g. wasps) predators. We showed that both juvenile and adult spiders on webs with detritus or egg-sac decorations were undetectable by both hymenopteran and bird predators over short and long distances. Our results thus suggest that decorating webs with detritus or eggsacs by C. octotuberculata may camouflage the spiders from both hymenopteran and bird predators in their common habitats.
Behavioral interactions between a coexisting rodent Micaelamys namaquensis and macroscelid Elephantulus myurus
Authors: Lancaster Jennifer , Pillay Neville 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
A number of mechanisms are known to influence coexistence in small mammal communities. However, the role of behavioral interactions in promoting species coexistence is under-represented in the literature. We studied the behavioral interactions of two coexisting small mammals, the Namaqua rock mouse Micaelamys namaquensis (Rodentia) and the Rock sengi Elephantulus myurus (Macroscelidae), which have high dietary and microhabitat overlap. Using wild-caught individuals, intra- and interspecific dyadic encounters were staged in tanks on a neutral rocky outcrop. Interspecific dyads displayed significantly more active avoidance behavior. There was no support for the prediction that the larger, more specialist species, E. myurus, is behaviorally dominant over M. namaquensis. Intraspecific encounters of E. myurus showed significantly more passive avoidance and amicable behavior, whereas the behavior of M. namaquensis did not differ between intra- and inter-specific encounters, both of which were characterized by low levels of aggression and amicability. Thus, due to the lack of aggression, direct competition appears weak and instead mutual avoidance may reduce or minimize interspecific interactions, potentially promoting coexistence.
Dietary analysis of Homonota darwini (Squamata: Gekkonidae) in Northern Patagonia
Authors: Kun Marcelo E. , Piantoni Carla , Krenz John D. , Ibargüengoytía Nora R. 
Published: September 2019

Abstract
Our study investigated the diet of the southernmost gecko in the world, Homonota darwini. Fifty-three specimens were captured during spring and summer in four locations in Patagonia, Argentina. The stomach contents of the specimens were identified, and we found that prey consisted of six main groups: Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Homoptera and Araneae, and the adults and larvae of moth Lepidoptera. Lepidoptera was the major dietary component. The presence of ants and moths as common prey suggests an ambush feeding strategy. In spring, females consumed more ants than males although no other dietary differences between males and females were evident. We found nine geckos with empty stomachs and six parasitized by nematodes. Presence of empty stomachs corroborates previous observations of other nocturnal geckos and non-gecko lizards. Reduced foraging success of nocturnal lizards could be due to difficulty in prey detection due to dim light, reduced or erratic activity of insect prey at night, or shorter activity times of geckos relative to diurnal success. Sex and season were not associated with the incidence of empty stomachs. Principal component analysis showed that four food alternatives correlated with season. The constraint of nocturnality, coupled with low night-time temperatures restricting feeding to only a few hours after sunset, appear to have caused a generality of diet which may limit energy acquisition. We conclude that H. darwini is an arthropod generalist and likely an ambush forager, as are many other nocturnal gekkonids.