scholarly journals Behavioural and life-history responses of mosquitofish to biologically inspired and interactive robotic predators

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (158) ◽  
pp. 20190359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Polverino ◽  
Mert Karakaya ◽  
Chiara Spinello ◽  
Vrishin R. Soman ◽  
Maurizio Porfiri
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
The Body ◽  
Energy Reserves ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Information Theoretic ◽  
Antipredator Response ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Open Question

Invasive alien species threaten biodiversity worldwide and contribute to biotic homogenization, especially in freshwaters, where the ability of native animals to disperse is limited. Robotics may offer a promising tool to address this compelling problem, but whether and how invasive species can be negatively affected by robotic stimuli is an open question. Here, we explore the possibility of modulating behavioural and life-history responses of mosquitofish by varying the degree of biomimicry of a robotic predator, whose appearance and locomotion are inspired by natural mosquitofish predators. Our results support the prediction that real-time interactions at varying swimming speeds evoke a more robust antipredator response in mosquitofish than simpler movement patterns by the robot, especially in individuals with better body conditions that are less prone to take risks. Through an information-theoretic analysis of animal–robot interactions, we offer evidence in favour of a causal link between the motion of the robotic predator and a fish antipredator response. Remarkably, we observe that even a brief exposure to the robotic predator of 15 min per week is sufficient to erode energy reserves and compromise the body condition of mosquitofish, opening the door for future endeavours to control mosquitofish in the wild.

Prey tell: what quillback rockfish early life history traits reveal about their survival in encounters with juvenile coho salmon

2020 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
HW Fennie ◽  
S Sponaugle ◽  
EA Daly ◽  
RD Brodeur
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Otolith Microstructure Analysis ◽  
Pelagic Juvenile

Predation is a major source of mortality in the early life stages of fishes and a driving force in shaping fish populations. Theoretical, modeling, and laboratory studies have generated hypotheses that larval fish size, age, growth rate, and development rate affect their susceptibility to predation. Empirical data on predator selection in the wild are challenging to obtain, and most selective mortality studies must repeatedly sample populations of survivors to indirectly examine survivorship. While valuable on a population scale, these approaches can obscure selection by particular predators. In May 2018, along the coast of Washington, USA, we simultaneously collected juvenile quillback rockfish Sebastes maliger from both the environment and the stomachs of juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch. We used otolith microstructure analysis to examine whether juvenile coho salmon were age-, size-, and/or growth-selective predators of juvenile quillback rockfish. Our results indicate that juvenile rockfish consumed by salmon were significantly smaller, slower growing at capture, and younger than surviving (unconsumed) juvenile rockfish, providing direct evidence that juvenile coho salmon are selective predators on juvenile quillback rockfish. These differences in early life history traits between consumed and surviving rockfish are related to timing of parturition and the environmental conditions larval rockfish experienced, suggesting that maternal effects may substantially influence survival at this stage. Our results demonstrate that variability in timing of parturition and sea surface temperature leads to tradeoffs in early life history traits between growth in the larval stage and survival when encountering predators in the pelagic juvenile stage.

scholarly journals Transcriptome Profile Alterations with Carbon Nanotubes, Quantum Dots, and Silver Nanoparticles: A Review

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 794
Author(s):  
Cullen Horstmann ◽  
Victoria Davenport ◽  
Min Zhang ◽  
Alyse Peters ◽  
Kyoungtae Kim
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Quantum Dots ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
The Body ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Mechanisms Of Toxicity ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Engineered Nanomaterial ◽  
Next Generation Sequencing Ngs ◽  
Transcriptomic Changes

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has revolutionized sequence-based research. In recent years, high-throughput sequencing has become the method of choice in studying the toxicity of chemical agents through observing and measuring changes in transcript levels. Engineered nanomaterial (ENM)-toxicity has become a major field of research and has adopted microarray and newer RNA-Seq methods. Recently, nanotechnology has become a promising tool in the diagnosis and treatment of several diseases in humans. However, due to their high stability, they are likely capable of remaining in the body and environment for long periods of time. Their mechanisms of toxicity and long-lasting effects on our health is still poorly understood. This review explores the effects of three ENMs including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), quantum dots (QDs), and Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) by cross examining publications on transcriptomic changes induced by these nanomaterials.

scholarly journals Driver Liability Assessment in Vehicle Collisions in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1475
Author(s):  
Almudena Sanjurjo-de-No ◽  
Blanca Arenas-Ramírez ◽  
José Mira ◽  
Francisco Aparicio-Izquierdo
Keyword(s):  
Road Safety ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Self Organizing Maps ◽  
Safety Measures ◽  
Vehicle Collisions ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Visual Clustering ◽  
Open Question ◽  
The Impact

An accurate estimation of exposure is essential for road collision rate estimation, which is key when evaluating the impact of road safety measures. The quasi-induced exposure method was developed to estimate relative exposure for different driver groups based on its main hypothesis: the not-at-fault drivers involved in two-vehicle collisions are taken as a random sample of driver populations. Liability assignment is thus crucial in this method to identify not-at-fault drivers, but often no liability labels are given in collision records, so unsupervised analysis tools are required. To date, most researchers consider only driver and speed offences in liability assignment, but an open question is if more information could be added. To this end, in this paper, the visual clustering technique of self-organizing maps (SOM) has been applied to better understand the multivariate structure in the data, to find out the most important variables for driver liability, analyzing their influence, and to identify relevant liability patterns. The results show that alcohol/drug use could be influential on liability and further analysis is required for disability and sudden illness. More information has been used, given that a larger proportion of the data was considered. SOM thus appears as a promising tool for liability assessment.

Plasticity of nutrient accumulation patterns in diapausing fall webworm pupae

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Lvquan Zhao ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Ying Qiu ◽  
Alex S. Torson
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Diapause Induction ◽  
Energy Reserve ◽  
Short Photoperiod ◽  
Induction Phase ◽  
Energy Reserves ◽  
Hyphantria Cunea ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Fall Webworm ◽  
Diapause Incidence

Abstract The accumulation of nutrients during diapause preparation is crucial because any lack of nutrition will reduce the likelihood of insects completing diapause, thereby decreasing their chances of survival and reproduction. The fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea, diapause as overwintering pupae and their diapause incidence and diapause intensity are regulated by the photoperiod. In this study, we test the hypothesis that photoperiod influences energy reserve accumulation during diapause preparation in fall webworm. We found that the body size and mass, lipid and carbohydrate content of pupae with a short photoperiod during the diapause induction phase were significantly greater than those of pupae with a relatively short photoperiod, and the efficiency of converting digested food and ingested food into body matter was greater in the short-photoperiod diapause-destined larvae than the relatively short-photoperiod diapause-destined larvae. We also observed higher lipase and amylase activities in short-photoperiod diapause-destined larvae relative to the counterparts. However, no obvious difference was found in protein and protease in the pupae with a short photoperiod during the diapause induction phase and short-photoperiod diapause-destined larvae compared with the counterparts. Therefore, we conclude that the energy reserve patterns of diapausing fall webworm pupae are plastic and that short-photoperiod diapause-destined larvae increase their energy reserves by improving their feeding efficiency and increase their lipid and carbohydrate stores by increasing the lipase and amylase activities in the midgut.

scholarly journals Phenotypic plasticity of labile traits in the wild

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon E. Brommer
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Statistical Approach ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Quantitative Genetic Parameters

Abstract Individual-based studies allow quantification of phenotypic plasticity in behavioural, life-history and other labile traits. The study of phenotypic plasticity in the wild can shed new light on the ultimate objectives (1) whether plasticity itself can evolve or is constrained by its genetic architecture, and (2) whether plasticity is associated to other traits, including fitness (selection). I describe the main statistical approach for how repeated records of individuals and a description of the environment (E) allow quantification of variation in plasticity across individuals (IxE) and genotypes (GxE) in wild populations. Based on a literature review of life-history and behavioural studies on plasticity in the wild, I discuss the present state of the two objectives listed above. Few studies have quantified GxE of labile traits in wild populations, and it is likely that power to detect statistically significant GxE is lacking. Apart from the issue of whether it is heritable, plasticity tends to correlate with average trait expression (not fully supported by the few genetic estimates available) and may thus be evolutionary constrained in this way. Individual-specific estimates of plasticity tend to be related to other traits of the individual (including fitness), but these analyses may be anti-conservative because they predominantly concern stats-on-stats. Despite the increased interest in plasticity in wild populations, the putative lack of power to detect GxE in such populations hinders achieving general insights. I discuss possible steps to invigorate the field by moving away from simply testing for presence of GxE to analyses that ‘scale up’ to population level processes and by the development of new behavioural theory to identify quantitative genetic parameters which can be estimated.

scholarly journals Magnitude integration in the Archerfish

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tali Leibovich-Raveh ◽  
Ashael Raveh ◽  
Dana Vilker ◽  
Shai Gabay
Keyword(s):  
Animal Model ◽  
Grocery Store ◽  
The Body ◽  
Water Tank ◽  
Comparison Task ◽  
Magnitude Comparison ◽  
Mathematical Abilities ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Numerical Magnitudes ◽  
Shortest Queue

AbstractWe make magnitude-related decisions every day, for example, to choose the shortest queue at the grocery store. When making such decisions, which magnitudes do we consider? The dominant theory suggests that our focus is on numerical quantity, i.e., the number of items in a set. This theory leads to quantity-focused research suggesting that discriminating quantities is automatic, innate, and is the basis for mathematical abilities in humans. Another theory suggests, instead, that non-numerical magnitudes, such as the total area of the compared items, are usually what humans rely on, and numerical quantity is used only when required. Since wild animals must make quick magnitude-related decisions to eat, seek shelter, survive, and procreate, studying which magnitudes animals spontaneously use in magnitude-related decisions is a good way to study the relative primacy of numerical quantity versus non-numerical magnitudes. We asked whether, in an animal model, the influence of non-numerical magnitudes on performance in a spontaneous magnitude comparison task is modulated by the number of non-numerical magnitudes that positively correlate with numerical quantity. Our animal model was the Archerfish, a fish that, in the wild, hunts insects by shooting a jet of water at them. These fish were trained to shoot water at artificial targets presented on a computer screen above the water tank. We tested the Archerfish's performance in spontaneous, untrained two-choice magnitude decisions. We found that the fish tended to select the group containing larger non-numerical magnitudes and smaller quantities of dots. The fish selected the group containing more dots mostly when the quantity of the dots was positively correlated with all five different non-numerical magnitudes. The current study adds to the body of studies providing direct evidence that in some cases animals’ magnitude-related decisions are more affected by non-numerical magnitudes than by numerical quantity, putting doubt on the claims that numerical quantity perception is the most basic building block of mathematical abilities.

Development of surface pattern during division in Paramecium. II. Defective spatial control in the mutant kin241

Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Jerka-Dziadosz ◽  
N. Garreau de Loubresse ◽  
J. Beisson
Keyword(s):  
Basal Body ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cortical Reorganization ◽  
Surface Pattern ◽  
Recessive Mutation ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Cortical Organization ◽  
Nuclear Reorganization ◽  
In The Wild

kin241 is a monogenic nuclear recessive mutation producing highly pleiotropic effects on cell size and shape, generation time, thermosensitivity, nuclear reorganization and cortical organization. We have analyzed the nature of the cortical disorders and their development during division, using various specific antibodies labelling either one of the cortical cytoskeleton components, as was previously done for analysis of cortical pattern formation in the wild type. Several abnormalities in basal body properties were consistently observed, although with a variable frequency: extra microtubules in either the triplets or in the lumen; nucleation of a second kinetodesmal fiber; abnormal orientation of the newly formed basal body with respect to the mother one. The latter effect seems to account for the major observed cortical disorders (reversal, intercalation of supplementary ciliary rows). The second major effect of the mutation concerns the spatiotemporal map of cortical reorganization during division. Excess basal body proliferation occurs and is correlated with modified boundaries of some of the cortical domains identified in the wild type on the basis of their basal body duplication pattern. This is the first mutant described in a ciliate in which both the structure and duplication of basal bodies and the body plan are affected. The data support the conclusion that the mutation does not alter the nature of the morphogenetic signal(s) which pervade the dividing cell, nor the competence of cytoskeletal structures to respond to signalling, but affects the local interpretation of the signals.

scholarly journals The application of life history information to the conservation management of Chrysoritis butterflies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in South Africa

Koedoe ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R.F. Terblanche ◽  
H. Van Hamburg
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Conservation Management ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Wing Patterns ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
History Of ◽  
Voucher Specimens

Due to their intricate life histories and the unique wing patterns and colouring the butterflies of the genus Chrysoritis are of significant conservation and aesthetic value. Thisoverview probes into practical examples of butterfly life history research applicable to environmental management of this relatively well-known invertebrate group in South Africa. Despite the pioneer work on life histories of Chrysoritis in the past, more should be done to understand the life history of the butterflies in the wild, especially their natural host plants and the behaviour of adults and larvae. A system of voucher specimens of host plants should be introduced in South Africa. Although various host plant species in nature are used by the members of Chrysoritis, including the Chrysoritis chrysaor group, the choice of these in nature by each species is significant for conservation management and in the case of Chrysoritis aureus perhaps even as a specific characteristic.A revision of the ant genus Crematogaster will benefit the conservation management of Chrysoritis species since some of these ant species may consist of a number of specieswith much more restricted distributions than previously thought. Rigorous quantified tudies of population dynamics of Chrysoritis butterflies are absent and the introductionof such studies will benefit conservation management of these localised butterflies extensively.

scholarly journals Dietary canitine maintains energy reserves and delays fatigue of exercised african catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fed high fat diets

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Ozório ◽  
Vincent Van Ginneken ◽  
Guido van den Thillart ◽  
Martin Verstegen ◽  
Johan Verreth
Keyword(s):  
Lipid Level ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Clarias Gariepinus ◽  
Energy Charge ◽  
The Body ◽  
African Catfish ◽  
Energy Reserves ◽  
High Fat ◽  
High Fat Diets ◽  
Fat Diets

Lipids, together with proteins, are traditionally considered as primary fuels during aerobic swimming. The effects of dietary fat and carnitine supplements and exercise on the energy metabolism of juvenile fish were investigated. One hundred African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) were fed four isonitrogenous diets containing a fat level of 100 or 190 g kg-1 diet and one of the two levels of carnitine (15 and 1000 mg kg-1). Fish grew from 61 to 162 g in 10 wk. Thereafter, 6 fish per group swam vigorously for 3 h and the results were compared with unexercised groups. Fish receiving 1,000 mg carnitine accumulated 2- to 3-fold more carnitine than fish receiving 15 mg carnitine. Plasma acyl-carnitine level was affected by an interaction between dietary treatment and exercise (P < 0.05). Adenosine triphosphate and phosphocreatine concentrations were higher in the white muscle (WM) of exercised fish fed the high-carnitine supplements, compared with the low-carnitine fed fish (P < 0.05). Adenilate energy charge indexes were higher and ammonia concentrations were lower in WM of fish fed high-carnitine and high-fat diets. Dietary carnitine supplements may be needed in growing fish when dietary lipid level is high. In that case extra dietary carnitine can maintain the body energy reserves at adequate level when fish is exposed to a short-term, exhaustive exercise, a physiologic stress common both in nature and in intensive aquaculture systems.

Observation of the presence of crypsis in white mullet Mugil curema (Pisces: Mugilidae) juveniles under artificial rearing conditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-227
Author(s):  
Ana L. Ibáñez ◽  
Diana Y. Montero
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Culture ◽  
The Body ◽  
Artificial Rearing ◽  
Pigmentation Change ◽  
White Spots ◽  
Dorsal Axis ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Dorsal Area ◽  
Being Moved ◽  
One Way Anova

This study documents the presence of crypsis in Mugil curema juveniles under laboratory culture. Initially, the juveniles were located in one brown tank (BT1), later almost half of the individuals were placed in a white tank (WT) where they showed a pigmentation change to white. After being moved to another brown tank (BT2), the juveniles changed to their brown original colour, but kept a few small white spots on the dorsal axis of the body. The ventral head melanophore pattern also changed in the white specimens. Temperature (°C), oxygen (mg l−1) and Illuminance light (Lux m−2), total length (mm) and total weight (g) were determined by tank. Chromaticity was measured in L*(relative luminance) a*(measurement relating to the redness or greenness of the light) b*(measurement relating to the yellowness or blueness of the light) coordinates where all three values are required to completely describe an object’s colour. One-way ANOVA showed no differences for temperature, oxygen and illuminance light among tanks. Length and weight were similar for BT1 and WT but both were different from BT2. The white juveniles depicted similar L* as the WT background as well as the dorsal area of the brown pigmentation and converted juveniles to the brown tanks BT1 and BT2, respectively. Therefore, the fish's body relative luminance matches the background. To our knowledge this behaviour has not been reported before for any fish mullet either cultured or living in the wild.

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