For most species, evolutionary adaptation is not expected to be sufficiently rapid to buffer the effects of human-mediated environmental changes, including environmental pollution. Here we review how key features of populations, the characteristics of environmental pollution, and the genetic architecture underlying adaptive traits, may interact to shape the likelihood of evolutionary rescue fro...

Reichard et al. introduce the turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri), notable for its short-life span and diapause stage.

Populations of killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) persist in many different highly polluted environment indicative of adaptation or tolerance. In this study, we sought to determine whether long term, multigenerational exposures to environmental contaminants has affected reproductively relevant genes and biological processes. A homology cloning strategy was used to isolate the killifish cytochrom...

Hypoxia (low oxygen) often occurs in aquatic ecosystems that receive effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The combination of hypoxia and WWTP could impair fish health, because contains multiple contaminants disrupt the physiological pathways use to cope with hypoxia, but interactive effects these stressors on physiology are poorly understood. We have examined this issue b...

A radiotracer approach using diets labelled with (22)Na(+), (36)Cl(-) and [(14)C]polyethylene-4000 (PEG-4000) was employed to investigate the role of intestinal uptake from the food in ion homeostasis in the killifish Fundulus heteroclitus. This euryhaline teleost lacks both a stomach and the capacity for Cl(-) uptake at the gills in freshwater. PEG-4000 appearance in the water was minimal up t...

A total of 204 Ergasilus sarsi, a copepod, were collected from Tanganyika Killifish Lamprichthys tanganicanus in Lake Tanganyika during March 2010. The prevalence was 86.40%, the mean intensity was 7.56, and the mean abundance was 6.38. Only 27 of the fish were infested, and the highest infestation on one fish was 29. Proliferation of mucus cells and lamellar fusion occurred. Haemorrhage due to...

The Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) is an environmental sentinel organism used extensively for studies on environmental toxicants and salt (NaCl) homeostasis. Previous research in our laboratory has shown that rapid acclimation of killifish to seawater is mediated by trafficking of CFTR chloride channels from intracellular vesicles to the plasma membrane in the opercular membrane wit...

The short-lived killifish Nothobranchius furzeri inhabits ephemeral ponds in southeastern Africa and is characterized by rapid growth and early sexual maturation. With respect to the molecular, cellular, and integrative traits of aging, N. furzeri shows significant similarities to mammals, including humans. Recently, reference sequences for the N. furzeri genome have been published. Also, metho...