http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.10.004 0003-3472/© 2014 The Association for the Study of A In resource defence polygyny, where males defend resources that females use for reproduction, the resource characteristics preferred by the two sexes are expected to match. We tested this expectation by comparing the shell characteristics preferred by males and females in the shell-brooding cichl...

In the Lake Tanganyika cichlid Lamprologus callipterus, males were >12 times heavier than females, the most extreme sexual size dimorphism in this direction among animals. L. callipterus males construct nests of empty snail shells in which the females breed. If the ancestors of L. callipterus were small cichlids, both sexes may have used shells for shelter. If the ancestors were larger, snail s...

Abundance patterns of the hermit crab Pagurus maclaughlinae and its gastropod shell resources were compared to one another across the shallow subtidal landscape within Tampa Bay, Florida at a landscape (4.88 ha) and a sub-landscape (1 m2) scale. Specifically, we investigated whether the spatial abundance patterns of P. maclaughlinae over time could be explained by the abundance patterns of eith...

The shell of bacteriophages protects the viral DNA during host-to-host transfer and serves as a high-pressure container storing energy for DNA injection into a host bacterium. Here, we probe the mechanical properties of nanometer-sized bacteriophage phi 29 shells by applying point forces. We show that empty shells withstand nanonewton forces while being indented up to 30% of their height. The e...

This note is the first communication of the occurrence of the alien Anodonta (Sinanodonta) woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Lake Maggiore (Northern Italy). We have found empty shells of the bivalve first in August 2010, and since then, this species is colonizing rapidly the second deepest subalpine lake in Italy. Preliminary findings on morphometric features of A. woodiana in the L...

In 2020–2021, a trial to recruit flat oysters was implemented at longline farm in the central Adriatic, whereby efficiency recruitment (n. oyster/dm2) of different suspended substrates evaluated. Two lantern nets (50 cm diameter; 145 h) had composed 8 mm wide wrinkled ribbon and empty oyster shells positioned upper levels lanterns. The tumbling evaluation presence mud were also considered. simi...