Quantifying spatial and temporal variation of North Pacific fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) acoustic behavior

In order to help develop hypotheses of connectivity among North Pacific fin whales, we examine recordings from 10 regions collected in the spring and fall. We develop a Random Forest model to classify fin whale note types that avoids manual note classification errors. We also present a method that objectively quantifies the note and pattern composition of recordings. We find that fin whale recordings near Hawaii have distinctive patterns, similar to those found in other regions in the central North Pacific, suggesting potential migration pathways. Our results are consistent with previous studies that suggest there may be two different populations utilizing the Chukchi Sea and central Aleutians in the fall and mix to some degree in the southern Bering Sea. Conversely, we found little difference between spring and fall recordings in the eastern Gulf of Alaska, suggesting some residency of whales in this region. This is likely due to fine scale similarities of calls among the inshore regions of British Columbia, while offshore areas are being utilized by whales traveling from various distant areas. This study shows how our novel approach to characterize recordings is an objective and informative way to standardize spatial and temporal comparisons of fin whale recordings.     

The effects of carotenoid and food intake on caudal fin regeneration in male guppies

The trade‐offs involved in allocating carotenoid pigments and food to healing and regrowing damaged caudal fin tissue v . other functions were examined in guppies Poecilia reticulata , a species in which females prefer males that display larger amounts of carotenoids in their skin. The guppies were derived from four natural populations in Trinidad that differed in resource availability but not predation intensity. Carotenoids, food and site of origin did not affect either absolute or relative fin regrowth, which suggested that fin regeneration in guppies was not constrained by carotenoid availability. It is possible that carotenoid intake influences fin regeneration in the presence of natural stressors such as predators. There was a significant negative interaction between food level in the laboratory and resource availability in the field: males from low‐resource‐availability sites regrew more fin tissue when raised on the high food level, and males from high‐resource‐availability sites regrew more fin tissue when raised on the low food level. The direction of this interaction runs counter to theoretical expectations.     

Cellular and molecular processes of regeneration, with special emphasis on fish fins

The phenomenon of 'epimorphic regeneration', a complete reformation of lost tissues and organs from adult differentiated cells, has been fascinating many biologists for many years. While most vertebrate species including humans do not have a remarkable ability for regeneration, the lower vertebrates such as urodeles and fish have exceptionally high regeneration abilities. In particular, the teleost fish has a high ability to regenerate a variety of tissues and organs including scales, muscles, spinal cord and heart among vertebrate species. Hence, an understanding of the regeneration mechanism in teleosts will provide an essential knowledge base for rational approaches to tissue and organ regeneration in mammals. In the last decade, small teleost fish such as the zebrafish and medaka have emerged as powerful animal models in which a variety of developmental, genetic and molecular approaches are applicable. In addition, rapid progress in the development of genome resources such as expressed sequence tags and genome sequences has accelerated the speed of the molecular analysis of regeneration. This review summarizes the current status of our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of regeneration, particularly that regarding fish fins.     

Decline in abundance and apparent survival rates of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Estimates of abundance and survivorship provide quantifiable measures to monitor populations and to define and understand their conservation status. This study investigated changes in abundance and survival rates of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence in the context of anthropogenic pressures and changing environmental conditions. A long‐term data set, consisting of 35 years of photo‐identification surveys and comprising more than 5,000 identifications of 507 individuals, formed the basis of this mark–recapture study. Based on model selection using corrected Akaike Information Criterion, the most parsimonious Cormack–Jolly–Seber model included a linear temporal trend in noncalf apparent survival rates with a sharp decline in the last 5 years of the study and a median survival rate of 0.946 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.910–0.967). To account for capture heterogeneity due to divergent patterns of site fidelity, agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis was employed to categorize individuals based on their annual and survey site fidelity indices. However, the negative trend in survivorship remained and was corroborated by a significant decline in the estimated super‐population size from 335 (95% CI 321–348) individuals in 2004–2010 to 291 (95% CI 270–312) individuals in 2010–2016. Concurrently, a negative trend was estimated in recruitment to the population, supported by a sharp decrease in the number of observed calves. Ship strikes and changes in prey availability are potential drivers of the observed decline in fin whale abundance. The combination of clustering methods with mark–recapture represents a flexible way to investigate the effects of site fidelity on demographic variables and is broadly applicable to other individual‐based studies.     

A microanatomical and histological study of the fin long bones of the Devonian sarcopterygian Eusthenopteron foordi

Meunier F.J. and Laurin M. 2012. A microanatomical and histological study of the fin long bones of the Devonian sarcopterygian Eusthenopteron foordi. —Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 93 : 88–97. A paleohistological study of the endoskeletal bones of the dorsal and pelvic fins shows that Eusthenopteron foordi had true long bones that grew in length and thickness through endochondral and periosteal ossification, respectively. Endochondral ossification required cartilaginous epiphyses with a growth plate system whose presence is confirmed by both calcified cartilage and thin endochondral bony trabeculae that overlaid the erosive bays located in hypertrophic calcified cartilage. Articulations between axial mesomeres in paired fins were diarthroses. This microanatomical organization, i.e. longitudinal growth of diaphysis and articulations between epiphyses, can be considered an exaptation for terrestrial locomotion as it can produce skeletal elements able to support strong mechanical stress.     

半滑舌鳎仔鱼的摄食与生长

在水温23.4-24.0℃、盐度33.00、pH7.78-8.02的培养条件下,半滑舌鳎初孵仔鱼全长为3.55±0.161mm(n=60),依照公式4/3π.R/2.(r/2)2计算其卵黄囊体积为0.606±0.106mm3(n=60)。1日龄仔鱼,全长为4.99±0.211mm(n=10),卵黄囊体积较初孵仔鱼缩小近10倍,约为0.066±0.008mm3(n=10);2日龄,仔鱼的巡游模式建立,仔鱼全长为5.61±0.069mm,卵黄囊体积为0.030±0.002mm3(n=10),口初开;2.5日龄,口完全裂开,口裂0.24±0.024mm(n=10),仔鱼进入摄食期;3日龄,仔鱼的外源性摄食关系初步建立;4日龄,仔鱼的摄食率达100%,完成了内源性营养向外源性营养的转换;5日龄,仔鱼的卵黄完全被吸收,仅剩聚成一团的小油球,仔鱼的混合营养期持续2.5天时间;21日龄,稚鱼全长为12.96±0.611mm(n=11),仍有40%的个体残余的油球还没有完全被吸收,其体积仅为0.0000005±0.000003mm3(n=11)。仔鱼发育过程中,其长度的生长存在内源性营养阶段的快速生长、混合营养阶段的慢速生长以及饥饿期间的负生长三个生长期相,平均增长率为0.45mm/d,依照TL=aD3 bD2 cD d方程式对仔鱼的全长与日龄进行回归,其生长模型为TL(mm)=0.0026D3-0.0704D2 0.7993D 3.55(R2=0.9811,n=324)。仔鱼耐受饥饿的时间临界点发生在孵化后第10天(即9日龄)。仔鱼具有摄食能力的时间约6天,不可逆转饥饿期的时间约3天。残余的油球较长时间的存在,相对地延长了仔鱼混合营养期的时间,对仔鱼的发育、生长和存活有着至关重要的作用。5-20日龄的个体都具有胸角这个明显的形态学特征,只是饥饿个体和不可逆转饥饿期个体的胸角比摄食个体更为明显和尖锐,胸角不能作为区分健康仔鱼和饥饿仔鱼的形态学依据之一[动物学报51(6)1023-1033,2005]。     

Female Genito-genital Rubbing in a Group of Captive Chimpanzees

Wild and captive female bonobos exhibit a form of noncopulatory sexual behavior—genito-genital (GG) rubbing—in which 2 individuals rub their genital regions together. GG-rubbing in bonobos occurs in several contexts and may serve several functions, including tension reduction and reconciliation. It has not been reported for chimpanzees. In a study of captive, adolescent chimpanzees at the New Iberia Research Center, I observed that females rubbed genital regions at rates equivalent to those of bonobos, though the form of the behavior differed in significant ways from classic bonobo GG-rubbing. I describe the pattern of GG-rubbing in the chimpanzees and provide preliminary tests of 5 hypotheses for why the behavior occurs. All 4 females in the study group participated in GG-rubbing, though the frequency with which they initiated and participated varied. Females that GG-rubbed the most also groomed each other the most, supporting the hypothesis that GG-rubbing reinforces or at least reflects social bonds. The data do not support the hypothesis that females GG-rub to reconcile conflicts, to reduce tension during feeding, to signal social status, or to attract mates.