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| Open AccessThe rise of predation in Jurassic lampreys
Here, the authors report two fossil lampreys, jawless vertebrates, from the Middle-Late Jurassic fossil Lagerstätte Yanliao Biota of North China. These large lampreys have an extensively toothed feeding apparatus resembling the Southern Hemisphere pouched lamprey, suggesting an ancestral predatory habit and southern origin of living lampreys.
- Feixiang Wu
- , Philippe Janvier
- & Chi Zhang
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Article
| Open AccessScaling the tail beat frequency and swimming speed in underwater undulatory swimming
Mechanisms by which aquatic animals optimize their tailbeat frequency for swimming have not been fully explained. Here, the authors propose scaling laws for undulatory swimmers, relating beat frequency to length considering muscle biology and fluid interaction.
- Jesús Sánchez-Rodríguez
- , Christophe Raufaste
- & Médéric Argentina
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| Open AccessImportant role of endogenous microbial symbionts of fish gills in the challenging but highly biodiverse Amazonian blackwaters
Amazonian blackwaters are acidic and physiologically-challenging, but are one of Earth’s most diversified ecosystems. This study revealed that fish survival in these hostile habitats depends on the colonization of their gills by endogenous blackwater Betaproteobacteria, with the potential to regulate host ionoregulatory processes.
- Sylvain François-Étienne
- , Leroux Nicolas
- & Derome Nicolas
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Article
| Open AccessData fusion and multivariate analysis for food authenticity analysis
Using two different mass spectrometric platforms, authors demonstrate how metabolomic data fusion and multivariate analysis can be used to accurately identify the geographic origin and production method of salmon.
- Yunhe Hong
- , Nicholas Birse
- & Christopher T. Elliott
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Article
| Open AccessThermal sensitivity of metabolic rate mirrors biogeographic differences between teleosts and elasmobranchs
Although diverse species of teleost fishes are present in polar waters, sharks and rays are relatively rare. This study presents analyses to explain this biodiversity pattern, showing that among-species thermal sensitivity of resting metabolic rates is lower than within-species sensitivity in teleosts, but not in sharks and rays.
- Yuuki Y. Watanabe
- & Nicholas L. Payne
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Article
| Open AccessThe rapid evolution of lungfish durophagy
It is unclear how Lungfishes evolved durophagy, the consumption of hard prey, despite being the longest lineage of vertebrates with this feeding mechanism. Here, the authors describe exceptionally preserved fossils of Youngolepis from the Early Devonian, showing early adaptations to durophagy.
- Xindong Cui
- , Matt Friedman
- & Min Zhu
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Article
| Open AccessIndividual experience as a key to success for the cuckoo catfish brood parasitism
The importance of learning for brood parasites is explored using cuckoo catfish. The catfish increase their parasitism success as they gain experience, mainly by improving their social coordination and timing of intrusions to cichlid host spawnings.
- Holger Zimmermann
- , Radim Blažek
- & Martin Reichard
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Article
| Open AccessAn intronic transposon insertion associates with a trans-species color polymorphism in Midas cichlid fishes
Roughly one in ten Midas cichlid fishes loses their characteristic dark coloration and transforms into a gold morph. Here, the authors describe a transposon insertion in the gene goldentouch likely constitute the genetic basis of this polymorphism.
- Claudius F. Kratochwil
- , Andreas F. Kautt
- & Axel Meyer
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Article
| Open AccessThe genomic timeline of cichlid fish diversification across continents
Cichlids are a model for adaptive radiation, but the timing of their diversification is debated. Here the authors assemble 14 cichlid genomes, introduce a Bayesian approach to account for fossil-assignment uncertainty, and present a dated phylogenomic hypothesis of cichlid and teleost evolution.
- Michael Matschiner
- , Astrid Böhne
- & Walter Salzburger
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Article
| Open AccessVortex phase matching as a strategy for schooling in robots and in fish
Whether and how fish might benefit from swimming in schools is an ongoing intriguing debate. Li et al. conduct experiments with biomimetic robots and also with real fish to reveal a new behavioural strategy by which followers can exploit the vortices shed by a near neighbour.
- Liang Li
- , Máté Nagy
- & Iain D. Couzin
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| Open AccessThe coincidence of ecological opportunity with hybridization explains rapid adaptive radiation in Lake Mweru cichlid fishes
Recent studies have suggested that hybridization can facilitate adaptive radiations. Here, the authors show that opportunity for hybridization differentiates Lake Mweru, where cichlids radiated, and Lake Bangweulu, where cichlids did not radiate despite ecological opportunity in both lakes.
- Joana I. Meier
- , Rike B. Stelkens
- & Ole Seehausen
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Article
| Open AccessUnexpected species diversity in electric eels with a description of the strongest living bioelectricity generator
A single species of electric eel, Electrophorus electricus, has been described. Here, de Santana et al. show that there are three major lineages of Electrophorus distributed across Greater Amazonia and describe two new species, one with a much stronger electric discharge than was previously known.
- C. David de Santana
- , William G. R. Crampton
- & Wolmar B. Wosiacki
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| Open AccessBehavioural individuality in clonal fish arises despite near-identical rearing conditions
Genetically-identical animals experiencing the same environmental conditions should develop, in theory, identical behavioral traits. However, Bierbachet al. show here that behavioral differences still emerge among cloned fish under tightly controlled experimental conditions.
- David Bierbach
- , Kate L. Laskowski
- & Max Wolf
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Article
| Open AccessOvarian fluid allows directional cryptic female choice despite external fertilization
In some species with internal fertilization, females can mate with multiple males and then manipulate which sperm fertilize the eggs. Here, Alonzo et al.find that by releasing ovarian fluid along with their eggs, female ocellated wrasse are able to influence paternity despite having external fertilization.
- Suzanne H. Alonzo
- , Kelly A. Stiver
- & Susan E. Marsh-Rollo
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Article
| Open AccessGreat hammerhead sharks swim on their side to reduce transport costs
Sharks’ dorsal fins are thought to assist propulsion and turns while pectoral fins are thought to oppose sharks’ negative buoyancy. Here, Payne and colleagues show that hammerhead sharks use an exaggerated dorsal fin to generate lift by swimming on their side.
- Nicholas L. Payne
- , Gil Iosilevskii
- & Yuuki Y. Watanabe
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Article
| Open AccessFitness consequences of artificial selection on relative male genital size
Within species, there tends to be a tight relationship between genital size and body size, suggesting strong stabilizing selection. Here, Booksmythe et al.artificially select relative genital size in mosquitofish and find that novel genital size-body size combinations do not lead to expected fitness reductions.
- Isobel Booksmythe
- , Megan L. Head
- & Michael D. Jennions
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Article
| Open AccessPhysiological constraints to climate warming in fish follow principles of plastic floors and concrete ceilings
Understanding climatic adaptation in fish is limited by a lack of large-scale, long term acclimation studies. Here, Sandblom et al. show that fish exposed to a 5-10 °C increase in water temperature next to a nuclear power plant display contrasting upper and lower cardiorespiratory thermal compensation limits.
- Erik Sandblom
- , Timothy D. Clark
- & Fredrik Jutfelt
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Article
| Open AccessViviparity stimulates diversification in an order of fish
Live birth and an annual life cycle potentially enable access to new ecological niches and subsequent species diversification. Here, Helmstetter et al.build the phylogeny for fish in the order Cyprinodontiformes and find that, though live birth and annualism have each evolved multiple times, only live birth is associated with increased diversification.
- Andrew J. Helmstetter
- , Alexander S. T. Papadopulos
- & Vincent Savolainen
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Article
| Open AccessFish mouths as engineering structures for vortical cross-step filtration
Suspension-feeding fish, such as goldfish and whale sharks, retain prey without clogging their oral filter. Using a cross-step filtration model based on fish morphology, Sanderson et al. show how vortices generated by this design could trap and transport particles even smaller than the filter pores.
- S. Laurie Sanderson
- , Erin Roberts
- & Hannah Brooks
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| Open AccessFish optimize sensing and respiration during undulatory swimming
Head movements of swimming fishes are thought to exist only because of recoil of the oscillating tail. Here, Akanyeti et al. show that by controlling the timing of head movements, fish can improve their swimming efficiency while simultaneously optimizing sensing and respiration.
- O. Akanyeti
- , P. J. M. Thornycroft
- & J. C. Liao
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Article
| Open AccessAnthropogenic noise increases fish mortality by predation
Little evidence exists on whether human-generated noise directly affects survival of wildlife. Here, Simpson et al. show that damselfish exposed to motorboat noise have elevated metabolic rates, reduced responses to predatory attacks, and suffer increased predation compared to fish in ambient conditions.
- Stephen D. Simpson
- , Andrew N. Radford
- & Mark G. Meekan
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Article
| Open AccessThe neural dynamics of sensory focus
Animals tracking objects can adapt their movements to optimise sensory coding. Using fish that sense objects as perturbations to an electric field, Clarke et al. reveal that the optimal object distance maintained by the fish is encoded within the firing properties of electrosensory neurons.
- Stephen E. Clarke
- , André Longtin
- & Leonard Maler
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| Open AccessSuction-based propulsion as a basis for efficient animal swimming
Swimming animals are generally assumed to generate forward thrust by pushing surrounding water rearwards. Here, Gemmell et al.show that efficient swimming in lampreys and jellyfish is achieved primarily through suction, as vortex-associated low pressure regions are synchronized by undulations of the body.
- Brad J. Gemmell
- , Sean P. Colin
- & John O. Dabiri
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Article
| Open AccessDirect observations of American eels migrating across the continental shelf to the Sargasso Sea
Migration of adult American eels from the coast to their spawning area in the Sargasso Sea have previously only been inferred from larval distributions. Here, Béguer-Pon et al. track adult eels from the continental shelf into the open ocean, with one individual migrating to the northern limit of the spawning site.
- Mélanie Béguer-Pon
- , Martin Castonguay
- & Julian J. Dodson
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| Open AccessElectric eels use high-voltage to track fast-moving prey
Weakly electric fish species use low-voltage to sense their surroundings, whereas a few strongly electric species use high-voltage as a weapon. Here the author shows that electric eels cross this boundary, using high-voltage simultaneously as a stunning weapon and as an electrical radar system to track fast-moving prey.
- Kenneth C. Catania
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Article
| Open AccessAllometric growth in the extant coelacanth lung during ontogenetic development
The presence of a pulmonary system in fossil coelacanths has only recently been identified, with little known about homologues in living species. Here, Cupello et al. confirm the presence of a lung in the extant species Latimeria chalumnaeand report its growth during different stages of development.
- Camila Cupello
- , Paulo M. Brito
- & Gaël Clément
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Article
| Open AccessMultivariate selection drives concordant patterns of pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection in a livebearing fish
In species in which females mate with multiple partners, sexual selection acts on male traits involved in mating and fertilization. Here, the authors show that selection acting before and after mating explains a significant component of variance in male reproductive fitness in a livebearing fish.
- Alessandro Devigili
- , Jonathan P. Evans
- & Andrea Pilastro
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Emergence of a novel prey life history promotes contemporary sympatric diversification in a top predator
Intraspecific variation is known to cascade evolutionary change down through food webs, although bottom-up changes are less well described. Here, Brodersenet al. show that life history change in a prey fish species, mediated through anthropogenic activity, can promote phenotypic diversification of its top predator.
- Jakob Brodersen
- , Jennifer G. Howeth
- & David M. Post
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Article
| Open AccessShort winters threaten temperate fish populations
Reductions in winter duration under climate change may have negative consequences for ectotherms adapted to seasonal temperature regimes. Here Farmeret al. show how short winters have, in part, caused failed lake fishery recruitment by altering spawning phenology and lowering the quality of eggs and larvae.
- Troy M. Farmer
- , Elizabeth A. Marschall
- & Stuart A. Ludsin
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| Open AccessMolecular development of chondrichthyan claspers and the evolution of copulatory organs
Claspers are copulatory organs found in male cartilaginous fishes. Here, the authors show that androgen receptor signalling maintains the Shh pathway to promote clasper development in male skates and suggest the importance of hormonal regulation in the evolution of male copulatory organs.
- Katherine L. O’Shaughnessy
- , Randall D. Dahn
- & Martin J. Cohn
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Spiracular air breathing in polypterid fishes and its implications for aerial respiration in stem tetrapods
Spiracles are tubes that connect the buccopharyngeal cavity with the surface of the skull and are found in many early-diverging fish lineages. Here the authors provide evidence that polypterid fishes use their spiracles to breathe air, and suggest that stem tetrapods may have used them similarly.
- Jeffrey B. Graham
- , Nicholas C. Wegner
- & John A. Long
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Morphology of seahorse head hydrodynamically aids in capture of evasive prey
Seahorses are very slow swimmers, yet they are specialized hunters of fast and evasive prey. Here the authors show that seahorse head morphology functions to create a zone of minimum hydrodynamic disturbance, which allows the seahorse to slowly approach the prey, and to position itself within capture range.
- Brad J. Gemmell
- , Jian Sheng
- & Edward J. Buskey
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Circadian rhythms in Mexican blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus in the lab and in the field
Body clocks modulate physiological processes to follow a day–night cycle, but whether animals exposed to constant darkness express circadian rhythms is unknown. Here the authors examine the expression of circadian genes in Mexican cavefish, and find that these resemble a pattern expected from exposure to constant daylight.
- Andrew Beale
- , Christophe Guibal
- & David Whitmore
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Single-male paternity in coelacanths
Deep-sea coelacanth female fish were thought to enhance genetic variability in their offspring by mating with multiple males. Here, Lampert et al.analyse the paternity of the offspring of two females, and present evidence that coelacanth females are in fact monogamous.
- Kathrin P. Lampert
- , Katrin Blassmann
- & Manfred Schartl
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| Open AccessThe saccus vasculosus of fish is a sensor of seasonal changes in day length
The saccus vasculosus is a circumventricular organ of the hypothalamus of many jawed fish whose function has remained a mystery for more than 300 years. Here the authors provide evidence that the saccus vasculosus functions as a sensor of seasonal changes in day length.
- Yusuke Nakane
- , Keisuke Ikegami
- & Takashi Yoshimura
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Rates of speciation and morphological evolution are correlated across the largest vertebrate radiation
Evolutionary theories predict that rates of morphological change should be positively associated with the rate at which new species arise. Here Raboski et al.demonstrate that rates of species diversification are highly correlated with the rate of body size evolution across ray-finned fish species.
- Daniel L. Rabosky
- , Francesco Santini
- & Michael E. Alfaro
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Referential gestures in fish collaborative hunting
Referential gestures such as pointing direct attention towards an object and have only been observed in apes and ravens. Vail et al. show that fish signal to indicate the location of hidden prey to hunting partners, demonstrating that referential gestures are not restricted to large-brained species.
- Alexander L. Vail
- , Andrea Manica
- & Redouan Bshary
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The function of fin rays as proprioceptive sensors in fish
Electrophysiological studies in some fish species suggest that proprioception is needed for fin movement. Here the authors test mechanosensory abilities of afferent nerves in pectoral fin rays, and find that the activity of fin ray nerve fibres reflects the amplitude and velocity of fin ray bending.
- Richard Williams IV
- , Nicole Neubarth
- & Melina E. Hale
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Adaptive sex allocation in anticipation of changes in offspring mating opportunities
For parents, sons are more evolutionarily lucrative than daughters if sons get more chances to breed (and vice versa). Kahn et al. find that mosquitofish take advantage of this: they anticipate the future mating prospects of their offspring and bias production towards the sex with greater opportunities.
- Andrew T. Kahn
- , Hanna Kokko
- & Michael D. Jennions
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Kinship reduces alloparental care in cooperative cichlids where helpers pay-to-stay
In alloparental brood care, individuals help raise the offspring of others and it is thought that high relatedness between the helpers and recipients is needed. In contrast, Zöttlet al. find that, in cooperatively breeding cichlids, unrelated subordinate females provide more alloparental care than related ones.
- Markus Zöttl
- , Dik Heg
- & Michael Taborsky
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Article |
Earliest known coelacanth skull extends the range of anatomically modern coelacanths to the Early Devonian
The coelacanth body plan can be traced to the late Middle Devonian, but the group's early history is unclear due to a limited fossil record. This study presents the earliest known coelacanth skull (Euporosteus yunnanensissp. nov.), extending the chronological range of anatomically modern coelacanths by 17 million years.
- Min Zhu
- , Xiaobo Yu
- & Liantao Jia
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Article |
Tactile stimulation lowers stress in fish
The health benefits of massage therapy, like the reduction of stress, have so far only been shown in humans. This study uses modelling to demonstrate that, while visiting cleaner fish to have ectoparasites removed, the physical stimulation also acts to reduce stress in the coral reef fish,Ctenochaetus striatus.
- Marta C. Soares
- , Rui F. Oliveira
- & Redouan Bshary
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Article |
Electrosensory ampullary organs are derived from lateral line placodes in bony fishes
Ampullary organs are involved in electroreception, but whether these are derived from placodes, thickened ectoderm, is unclear. In this study, the ampullary organs of the primitive ray-finned fish,Polyodon spathula, are shown to develop from lateral line placodes, suggesting that this is the ancestral state in bony fishes.
- Melinda S. Modrell
- , William E. Bemis
- & Clare V.H. Baker
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Article |
Silver hake tracks changes in Northwest Atlantic circulation
Many organisms are responding to a warming climate by shifts in spatial distribution. The poleward movement of silver hake,Merluccius bilinearis, over the last forty years is related to the position of the Gulf Stream and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation through changes in local bottom water temperature.
- Janet A. Nye
- , Terrence M. Joyce
- & Jason S. Link
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Article
| Open AccessIdentification of vertebra-like elements and their possible differentiation from sclerotomes in the hagfish
Hagfish, a group of extant jawless fish, lack true vertebrae, but it is not clear if hagfish lack all vertebrata-like structures. Here the authors report the presence of vertebra-like cartilages in the in-shore hagfish, suggesting that the hagfish underwent secondary reduction of vertebra.
- Kinya G. Ota
- , Satoko Fujimoto
- & Shigeru Kuratani
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Article
| Open AccessOceanic spawning ecology of freshwater eels in the western North Pacific
Little is known about the reproductive ecology of freshwater eels. In this article, the authors describe the capture of two species of eels together with eggs and newly hatched larvae, and suggest that spawning takes place during the new moon at shallower depths than previously thought.
- Katsumi Tsukamoto
- , Seinen Chow
- & Hideki Tanaka
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An adaptive explanation for the horse-like shape of seahorses
Seahorses evolved from pipefish, which have a remarkably different body shape. Here, by examining seahorse feeding behaviour and using a mathematical model, Van Wassenberghet al. demonstrate that the head, neck and trunk posture of the seahorse allows for the effective capture of their prey.
- Sam Van Wassenbergh
- , Gert Roos
- & Lara Ferry