We investigated whether the deep-sea isopod Bathynomus doederleini has the capacity to change burrow length in response to changes in environmental conditions. We observed burrowing behavior in individuals that were placed on substrates with either simple (ST) or complex (CT) surface topographies. Individuals in the ST group (N = 10) constructed seven burrows. The mean ratio of the burrow length to body length was 1.8. The individuals in the CT group (N = 10) constructed eight burrows with a mean ratio of burrow length to body length of 2.5. Thus the burrows were significantly longer in the CT group. In addition, the isopods in the CT group often incorporated a chamber in the mid-section of the burrow. Our results may be used to infer the determinants of burrow morphology and speculate about the lifestyle of this species in the deep sea.

The predator—prey relationship between largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, and freshwater goby, Rhinogobius spp., in Lake Biwa, Japan, was examined with respect to their morphological antisymmetry (laterality). Largemouth bass and Rhinogobius gobies exhibited lateral dimorphism in the height of the mandible and the length of the dentary, respectively. Populations of both species were composed of both left-developed and right-developed individuals. Each predation event was categorized as either cross-predation (a predator caught prey of the opposite morph) or parallel-predation (a predator caught prey of the same morph). Stomach contents analysis revealed that cross-predation events predominated over parallel-predation. Annual sampling for eight years demonstrated that in both largemouth bass and Rhinogobius gobies, the ratio of right-developed individuals in the population fluctuated temporally around 0.5. As the predominance of cross-predation was found in the relationship between the exotic largemouth bass and an endemic goby, the predominance may be caused by a kinematical interplay at each predation event.

A shift in phenology due to climate change is associated with some recent changes in populations, as it can disrupt the synchrony between organisms' requirements and resource availability. This conceptual framework has been developed mostly in systems of trophic interactions. Many coincidental changes, however, are involved in trophic interactions, preventing us from describing the direct impact of phenological shifts on fitness consequences. Here we address the phenological relationship in a simple non-trophic interaction to document a causal process of a warming-driven fitness change in a cicada, Cryptotympana facialis, whose numbers increased dramatically in Osaka, Japan in the late 20th century. We show that synchrony of the rainy season and hatching time may have a substantial influence on hatching success, by 1) shifting the time of completion of embryonic development, and 2) supplying water at various intervals. We estimate the change in hatching time over the last eleven decades (1901–2009) based on meteorological records and the temperature-dependent rate of C. facialis embryogenesis. Our estimate shows that hatching had initially occurred after the rainy season, and that warming had advanced it into the rainy season in the late 20th century. The probability of hatching success was markedly variable, and often very low before this synchronization occurred, but became stably high thereafter. Our findings suggest that the stabilizing effect of this synchrony on fitness was indispensable to the recent population increase of C. facialis.

Neuropeptide tyrosine (NPY) is a potent orexigenic neuropeptide implicated in feeding regulation in rodents. However, the involvement of NPY in feeding behavior has not well been studied in fish. Therefore, we investigated the role of NPY in food intake using a tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes) model. We observed the distribution of NPY-like immunoreactivity in the brain. Neuronal cell bodies containing NPY were located in the telencephalon, hypothalamus, mesencephalon, and medulla oblongata, and their nerve fibers were also found throughout the brain. We cloned two cDNAs, encoding NPYa and NPYb orthologs, respectively, from the brain, and also confirmed two genes encoding these NPYs in the Takifugu genome database. We examined the distribution of these transcripts in the brain using real-time PCR. Levels of NPYa mRNA in the telencephalon, mesencephalon and hypothalamus were much higher than in the medulla oblongata and cerebellum, whereas levels of NPYb mRNA in the medulla oblongata were higher than in other regions. We also examined prandial effects on the expression level of these transcripts in the telencephalon and hypothalamus. NPYa mRNA levels in the hypothalamus, but not in the telencephalon, obtained from fish fasted for one week were higher than those in fish that had been fed normally. The level was decreased at 2 h after feeding. Levels of NPYb mRNA were not affected by prandial conditions. These results suggest that NPY is present throughout the brain, and that NPYa, but not NPYb, in the hypothalamus is involved in the feeding regulation in the tiger puffer.

The Japanese wood pigeon Columba janthina is endemic to islands of East Asia and is listed as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). One subspecies, C. janthina nitens, in particular, is at the greatest risk of extinction due to its small population size. To reduce the extinction risk of C. janthina, it is important to understand the species' present genetic status and to develop an appropriate conservation plan based on genetic data. We developed seven new microsatellite markers for two subspecies of C. janthina: C. janthina janthina and C. janthina nitens. We also confirmed the cross-use of one microsatellite marker developed for Columba livia var. domestica. Seven loci were polymorphic in C. janthina janthina, while two loci were polymorphic in C. janthina nitens. Using the markers, we performed preliminary analysis of genetic diversity and genetic structure within each subspecies. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.00 to 0.64 in C. janthina janthina and from 0.00 to 0.08 in C. janthina nitens. Each subspecies and each population within C. janthina janthina had different allele frequencies. C. janthina nitens exhibited far lower genetic diversity than C. janthina janthina. Furthermore, C. janthina nitens appears to have experienced strong genetic drift from a common ancestral population, inferred by STRUCTURE analysis. The markers described here may be useful for investigating genetic diversity and genetic structure of C. janthina populations, and could be used to estimate appropriate evolutionary significant unit and to guide development of a captive breeding program based on genetic information.

Pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) is a pacemaker hormone regulating the locomotor rhythm in insects. In the present study, we cloned the cDNAs encoding the Apis PDF precursor protein, and found that there are at least seven different pdf mRNAs yielded by an alternative splicing site and five alternative polyadenylation sites in the 5′UTR and 3′UTR regions. The amino acid sequence of Apis PDF peptide has a characteristic novel amino acid residue, aspargine (Asn), at position 17. Quantitative real-time PCR of total and 5′UTR insertion-type pdf mRNAs revealed, for the first time, that the expression levels change in a circadian manner with a distinct trough at the beginning of night in LD conditions, and at the subjective night under DD conditions. In contrast, the expression level of 5′UTR deletion-type pdf mRNAs was about half of that of the insertion type, and the expression profile failed to show a circadian rhythm. As the expression profile of the total pdf mRNA exhibited a circadian rhythm, transcription regulated at the promoter region was supposed to be controlled by some of the clock components. Whole mount in situ hybridization revealed that 14 lateral neurons at the frontal margin of the optic lobe express these mRNA isoforms. PDF expressing cells examined with a newly produced antibody raised against Apis PDF were also found to have a dense supply of axon terminals in the optic lobes and the central brain.

Phylogenetic relationships of 31 Japanese Catocala species were analyzed based on the partial nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5) gene (762 bp). When several non-Catocala Noctuidae moths were designated as the outgroup, these Catocala species formed a monophyletic group. However, divergences between these Catocala species were very deep, and no close phylogenetic relationships were recognized among them except for that between the two recently separated species, C. xarippe and C. fulminea. The remote relationships implied for several pairs of species suggest that the color of the hindwings is a changeable characteristic, and does not reflect phylogenetic lineage. Continental specimens were analyzed in 20 of 31 Catocala species, and all of them showed a close relationship with their Japanese counterpart. However, the closeness of the nucleotide sequences between the Japanese and continental individuals of the same species varied from species to species, indicating that isolation between the Japanese and continental populations of these species occurred at many different times. The two analyzed species endemic to North America showed a close relationship with their morphologically inferred Japanese counterparts, indicating that the geographic separation and following speciation between these Eurasian and American species occurred much more recently compared with the speciation events among the Catocala species now found in Japan.

The aim of the present study is to study whether the presence of K in bathing media is required for the action of ADH to the ionic transport across the skin in the frog species Rana hexadactyla. lonic transport was measured as transepithelial potential difference (TEPD) and short circuit current (SCC) by using an indigenously developed computer based voltage-clamp technique. Addition of ADH (40 nM) on the serosal side significantly increased the TEPD and SCC with Normal Ringer (NR) on both sides. ADH had no effect subsequent to amiloride (100 µM) pre-treatment, which confirmed the ADH-induced Na transport. Chloride also has a significant role in the development of TEPD. To determine the role of K , Potassium-free Ringer (KFR) was placed on both sides; addition of ADH had no effect consequently. Further experiments were carried out to find out which side of K was required for the action of ADH. There was a lack of ADH effect with apical NR and serosal KFR, demonstrating that serosal K is essential to activate Na , K - ATPase. Similarly, the ADH effect was lacking with apical KFR and serosal NR that was the novel finding of this study. Due to the concentration gradient, the K was secreted from serosal side to apical side through barium (1 mM) blockable K channel. This study provides evidence that serosal as well as apical K are necessary for the action of ADH.

We describe a new species of dicroglossid frog of the Fejervarya limnocharis complex from western Honshu, Japan Mainland. The new species, Fejervarya kawamurai, is genetically closer to F. sakishimensis than to F. limnocharis. It differs from F. sakishimensis by smaller tympanum, head, forelimb, hindlimb, foot, and tibia lengths, all relative to snout-vent length, and from F. multistriata by relatively shorter forelimb, hindlimb, foot, and tibia. From F. limnocharis and F. iskandari, it is differentiated by relatively smaller forelimb, hindlimb, foot, and tibia lengths. Taxonomic problems of Fejervarya populations occurring in Central Ryukyus, continental China, and Taiwan are discussed.

We assessed taxonomic relationships among Turkish water frogs through estimation of phylogenetic relationships among 62 adult specimens from 44 distinct populations inhabiting seven main geographical regions of Turkey using 2897 bp sequences of the mitochondrial Cytb, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes with equally-weighted parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian methods of inference. Monophyletic clade (Clade A) of the northwesternmost (Thrace) samples is identified as Pelophylax ridibundus. The other clade (Clade B) consisted of two monophyletic subclades. One of these contains specimens from southernmost populations that are regarded as an unnamed species. The other subclade consists of two lineages, of which one corresponds to P. caralitanus and another to P. bedriagae. Taxonomic relationships of these two species are discussed and recognition of P. caralitanus as a subspecies of P. bedriagae is proposed.