Recent findings suggest a convergence of time scales between ecological and evolutionary processes which is usually explained in terms of rapid micro evolution resulting in evolution on ecological time scales. A similar convergence, however, can also emerge when slow ecological processes take place on evolutionary time scales. A good example of such a slow ecological process is the colonization...

Temporary pool inhabitants face altered inundation regimes under climate change. While their exposure to these changes has received considerable attention, few studies have investigated their sensitivity or adaptability. Here, we use zooplankton as a model to explore how decreasing hydroperiods affect extinction risks and assess whether changes in life history traits could promote persistence. ...

Sex-specific markers are a prerequisite for understanding reproductive biology, genetic factors involved in sex differences, mechanisms of sex determination, and ultimately the evolution of sex chromosomes. The Western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, may be considered a model species for sex-chromosome evolution, as it displays female heterogamety (ZW/ZZ), and is also ecologically interesting a...

Species-specific differences in the responses of egg-laying mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) to the presence of fish exudates in oviposition sites in laboratory bioassays have been related to the likelihood of encountering mosquito-eating fish in natural oviposition sites. We examined the responses of egg-laying mosquitoes to the presence of larvivorous fish in oviposition sites to test this hyp...

Taxonomy of 11 species contained within the Lophogastrida genus Gnathophausia is presented. We report new records of G. affinis, G. gigas, G. ingens, and G. zoea from the Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the Azores. We also describe a new species, G. bergstadi that resembles G. zoea, but differs in having a heart-shaped apex on the telson and having the lower later keels of the carapace not f...

This study examined the extent of phenotypic plasticity for salinity tolerance and genetic variation in plasticity in the invasive copepod Eurytemora affinis. Euryemora affinis is a species complex inhabiting brackish to hypersaline environments but has invaded freshwater lakes and reservoirs within the past century. Reaction norm experiments were performed on a relatively euryhaline population...

Between 1976 and 1996 the fish of the Deep Fork River were sampled at three sites. A total of 163,358 specimens from 36 species was taken. To determine if changes had occurred since 1976 as a result of modifications in the aquatic environment, the fish communities at each of the three sampling stations were compared. Three periods during which well defined environmental changes that resulted in...

Four clones containing different transposable elements were isolated from a genomic library of Drosophila algonquin. Each clone was hybridized to salivary-gland chromosomes of three lines of D. algonquin and two lines of D. affinis. The estimated copy number in D. algonquin of the four element families varied from 59 to 333. The occupancy per site varied from 0.64 to 0.75. Thus the transposable...

Sub-lethal studies of chlorpyrifos, O,O-diethyl-O-(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl) phosphorothioate on mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis were carried out in vivo, for 20 days to assess the locomotor behavior in relation to bioaccumulation and interaction with a targeted enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC: 3.1.1.7). Fish exposed to sub-lethal concentration of 60 microg/L (1/5 of LC 50) were under s...

Chemosensory-related gene (CRG) families have been studied extensively in insects, but their evolutionary history across the Arthropoda had remained relatively unexplored. Here, we address current hypotheses and prior conclusions on CRG family evolution using a more comprehensive data set. In particular, odorant receptors were hypothesized to have proliferated during terrestrial colonization by...