ACR Relevance Criteria Thought Retroperitoneal Bleed
This suggests that the generally small size of warm-water sea spiders may be due to selective factors other than oxygen limitation.AbstractThe intertidal isopod Dynoides dentisinus is a sexually dimorphic species; males are much larger than females and have a large, horn-like pleonal process (hereafter referred to as a "horn") and large, posteriorly extended uropods. Here, we investigated the function of these structures with regard to their mating system. Behavioral interactions were observed between a male occupying a small tube (resident) and a newly introduced individual (a female or male visitor). When the visitor was male, the resident repeatedly struck the visitor with his horn; each swing was accompanied by a short sound produced by stridulation. The resident also used his uropods to strike the male visitor and then rejected the visitor. The resident struck the female visitor in a similar fashion but eventually accepted her into the tube; during this process, the resident frequently emitted stridulatory sounds. Our field survey found that the members shared a single shelter (barnacle shell) containing groups composed of several males and females. This suggests that the mating system of this species is polygynandry. The number of females in a single barnacle shell was positively associated with the basal diameter of the barnacle shell. However, the number of females was not associated with the body size, horn size, or uropod size of the largest male in the barnacle shell. These results suggest that male body size, horns, and uropods might have evolved as weapons through male-male competition for large barnacle habitats and more females, but that they have not evolved as ornaments via female choice.AbstractChanges in temperature alter the viscosity of fluids, which impacts the force needed to move and the diffusion rates of gases. This is particularly salient for organisms that operate at mid to low Reynolds numbers. In this study, we investigated the independent effects of changes in temperature and viscosity on oxygen consumption rates of two coastal copepods (Acartia tonsa and Parvocalanus crassirostris) and used bioenergetic models to predict how these patterns could influence copepods in the natural environment. We found that only temperature influenced copepod oxygen consumption rates, indicating that copepods were not impacted by reduced oxygen diffusivity or increased energetics of movement resulting from higher seawater viscosity. We developed energy budgets based on novel respiration experiments in conjunction with data from the literature and found that cold temperatures do not result in higher scope for growth, because decreased metabolic costs are offset by reduced feeding capability. Our energy budgets imply that observed copepod temperature ranges in natural waters match theoretical ranges of optimal net carbon assimilation. At cold temperatures, feeding on motile prey yielded higher net carbon assimilation compared to feeding on non-motile prey, implying that motile prey are more favorable and may be actively selected for at cold temperatures. Finally, our models predicted that A. tonsa had a higher maximum net carbon assimilation as a percentage of body mass, indicating that copepods that use a similar sink-and-wait feeding strategy may be better able to exploit ephemeral food sources compared to continuous-swimming copepods such as P. crassirostris.AbstractThe timing of reproduction is often governed by environmental variables, such as temperature or rainfall. Understanding how environmental variables affect mating dynamics is necessary to predict how systems and populations may adapt to changing environmental conditions and is crucial for management of threatened species. The American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) ranges from the Yucatan to Maine in distinct populations that differ in their timing of reproduction; while most populations have only one breeding period during the spring, some southern populations have two breeding periods. Here we discuss seasonal patterns of reproduction in a Florida Gulf coast population where horseshoe crabs have two periods of breeding one in the spring and another in the fall. We used environmental measurements, spawning surveys, mark-recapture, and measurements of adult traits and spawning behavior to compare reproductive parameters between the two spawning seasons over three years. We then evaluated whether environmental conditions affect fall and spring horseshoe crab nesting patterns similarly and whether fall and spring horseshoe crabs should be considered two separate populations. We found significant differences in environmental conditions across seasons and in a wide variety of horseshoe crab traits and nesting parameters. Furthermore, environmental conditions affected nesting behaviors of fall and spring horseshoe crabs differently. However, some individuals spawn during both seasons, suggesting that trait differences may be attributable to environmental effects during development or seasonal plasticity, rather than genetic differences, although further study is necessary. SY-5609 CDK inhibitor Finally, our results suggest that management practices should be tailored to each population, because environmental conditions may have different effects even on genetically similar groups.AbstractDiplopteraster verrucosus is a sea star that incubates its offspring in nidamental chambers. The offspring rely exclusively on maternally provided nutrition. The retention of the embryonic stages allows the allocation of nutritional supplies from the female to the brooded juveniles during the brooding period. The main objectives of this study are, first, to quantify the reproductive investment of D. verrucosus and, second, to describe the morphology, energetics, and oxidative metabolism throughout early ontogenetic stages. A skewed sex ratio of 21 femalesmales was found, and 17 of 39 females were brooding. Both brooding and non-brooding females showed higher energy density and total antioxidant capacity in their gonads than males. We identified three cohorts of offspring being retained within the female body simultaneously. Energy density and reactive oxygen species increased significantly with the offspring's volume throughout ontogeny. Moreover, we found evidence of at least two key events during ontogeny.