Biological invasions are considered a major threat to biodiversity around the world, but the role of parasites in this process is still little investigated. Here, we compared parasite infections of a host species in the areas where it originated and where it was introduced, and in native and introduced species in the same environment, using the endoparasites of the fish Plagioscion squamosissim...

The number and diversity of source populations may influence the genetic diversity of newly introduced populations and affect the likelihood of their establishment and spread. We used the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene and nuclear microsatellite loci to identify the sources of a successful invader in southern Florida, USA, Cichlasoma urophthalmus (Mayan cichlid). Our cytochrome b data supporte...

The impacts of aquatic invasive species vary from the population to ecosystem level most strikingly through modifications native communities, often leading a decline in species. A primary impact mechanism is competitive displacement by resource partitioning. However, trophic interactions between and occupying same habitat remain poorly understood, particularly at early stages invasion. This stu...

Trophic linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are increasingly recognized as important yet poorly known features of food webs. Here we describe research to understand the dynamics of lake food webs in relation to a native riparian amphibian and its interaction with introduced trout. The mountain yellow-legged frog Rana muscosa is endemic to alpine watersheds of the Sierra Nevada M...

Predation is one of the key factors governing patterns in natural systems, and adjustments of prey behaviors in response to a predator stimulus can have important ecological implications for wild fish. To investigate the effects of predators on the behavior of prey fish and to test whether the possible effects varied with predator size, black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) and snakehead (Channa ...

Following activation of mammalian B cells, class switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM) of the Ig heavy chain (IgH) gene can improve the functions of the expressed antibodies. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is the only known B cell-specific protein required for inducing CSR and SHM in mammals. Lower vertebrates have an AID homologue, and there is some evidence o...

Turkey has, with geographic location including Istanbul and Çanakkale straits the system, 178,000 km in length streams, 906,000 ha of natural lakes, and 411,800 ha of dam lakes, and 28,000 ha of ponds due to richness inland waters which include freshwater fish. The fingerling fish (fry) were restocked approximately 250,000,000 in natural lakes, dam lakes and ponds for fisheries between years of...

Noninvasive administration of cortisol through the diet resulted in relatively rapid (<1.5 h) and highly reproducible increases in plasma cortisol in rainbow trout, comparable to changes seen in fish subjected to substantial stress. Juvenile rainbow trout were reared in isolation for 1 week, before their daily food ration was replaced by a meal of cortisol-treated food corresponding to 6 mg cor...