The Angular Interval between the Direction of Progression and Body Orientation in Normal, Alcohol- and Cocaine Treated Fruit Flies

In this study we characterize the coordination between the direction a fruit-fly walks and the direction it faces, as well as offer a methodology for isolating and validating key variables with which we phenotype fly locomotor behavior. Our fundamental finding is that the angular interval between the direction a fly walks and the direction it faces is actively managed in intact animals and modulated in a patterned way with drugs. This interval is small in intact flies, larger with alcohol and much larger with cocaine. The dynamics of this interval generates six coordinative modes that flow smoothly into each other. Under alcohol and much more so under cocaine, straight path modes dwindle and modes involving rotation proliferate. To obtain these results we perform high content analysis of video-tracked open field locomotor behavior. Presently there is a gap between the quality of descriptions of insect behaviors that unfold in circumscribed situations, and descriptions that unfold in extended time and space. While the first describe the coordination between low-level kinematic variables, the second quantify cumulative measures and subjectively defined behavior patterns. Here we reduce this gap by phenotyping extended locomotor behavior in terms of the coordination between low-level kinematic variables, which we quantify, combining into a single field two disparate fields, that of high content phenotyping and that of locomotor coordination. This will allow the study of the genes/brain/locomotor coordination interface in genetically engineered and pharmacologically manipulated animal models of human diseases. © 2013 Gakamsky et al

Multimedia signal processing for behavioral quantification in neuroscience

While there have been great advances in quantification of the genotype of organisms, including full genomes for many species, the quantification of phenotype is at a comparatively primitive stage. Part of the reason is technical difficulty: the phenotype covers a wide range of characteristics, ranging from static morphological features, to dynamic behavior. The latter poses challenges that are in the area of multimedia signal processing. Automated analysis of video and audio recordings of animal and human behavior is a growing area of research, ranging from the behavioral phenotyping of genetically modified mice or drosophila to the study of song learning in birds and speech acquisition in human infants. This paper reviews recent advances and identifies key problems for a range of behavior experiments that use audio and video recording. This research area offers both research challenges and an application domain for advanced multimedia signal processing. There are a number of MMSP tools that now exist which are directly relevant for behavioral quantification, such as speech recognition, video analysis and more recently, wired and wireless sensor networks for surveillance. The research challenge is to adapt these tools and to develop new ones required for studying human and animal behavior in a high throughput manner while minimizing human intervention. In contrast with consumer applications, in the research arena there is less of a penalty for computational complexity, so that algorithmic quality can be maximized through the utilization of larger computational resources that are available to the biomedical researcher

New data on Gaidropsarus granti (Regan, 1903) (Gadiformes: Lotidae) from the Mediterranean Sea, with emphasis on its parasites

One adult male Azores rockling Gaidropsarus granti was captured by trammel nets at a depth of about 250 m near the coast of Arbatax (Sardinia, Italy) in early March 2007. This new report confirms a wide bathymetric range for this species. Macroscopic and microscopic analysis of the gonad showed a spent testis at a postspawning stage, with a weak residual spermatogenetic activity. Several body parts of Natantia (Crustacea: Decapoda) were detected in its stomach contents. Different developmental stages of 91 parasite specimens belonging to Arthropoda (Gnathiidae) and Nematoda (Anisakidae, Cystidicolidae and Philometridae) were found in its mouth and gills, and body cavity, respectively. Myxozoan spores were found in the gallbladder. Male and female nematodes of the genus Ichthyofilaria are reported for the first time from the Mediterranean Sea, and a very rare male of this genus is reported for the second time in the world. Parasitological results indicated that this Atlantic migrant probably entered the Mediterranean as an adult, suggesting for a non-indigenous species the possibilities of entering with natural parasites and/or acquiring native parasites in the introduced range

Analysis of the Trajectory of Drosophila melanogaster in a Circular Open Field Arena

BACKGROUND: Obtaining a complete phenotypic characterization of a freely moving organism is a difficult task, yet such a description is desired in many neuroethological studies. Many metrics currently used in the literature to describe locomotor and exploratory behavior are typically based on average quantities or subjectively chosen spatial and temporal thresholds. All of these measures are relatively coarse-grained in the time domain. It is advantageous, however, to employ metrics based on the entire trajectory that an organism takes while exploring its environment. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To characterize the locomotor behavior of Drosophila melanogaster, we used a video tracking system to record the trajectory of a single fly walking in a circular open field arena. The fly was tracked for two hours. Here, we present techniques with which to analyze the motion of the fly in this paradigm, and we discuss the methods of calculation. The measures we introduce are based on spatial and temporal probability distributions and utilize the entire time-series trajectory of the fly, thus emphasizing the dynamic nature of locomotor behavior. Marginal and joint probability distributions of speed, position, segment duration, path curvature, and reorientation angle are examined and related to the observed behavior. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The measures discussed in this paper provide a detailed profile of the behavior of a single fly and highlight the interaction of the fly with the environment. Such measures may serve as useful tools in any behavioral study in which the movement of a fly is an important variable and can be incorporated easily into many setups, facilitating high-throughput phenotypic characterization

DNA BARCODING OF FISH SPECIES FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST OF ISRAEL

Accurately-classified genomic data in the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) database is vital to the protection and conservation of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea. The taxonomic classifications of 468 fish of 50 Mediterranean species were analyzed using the BOLD Identifier tool for variation in the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) mitochondrial gene. Within species, nucleotide maximum composite likelihood was low with a mean of 0.0044±0.0008. Three presumptive species had significantly higher values e.g., Arnoglossus spp. (0.07), Torquigener flavimaculosus (0.013) and Boops boops (0.028). However, samples of Arnoglossus species were sub-classified into two groups that were finally identified as two different species e.g., Arnoglossus laterna and Arnoglossus thori. For the different species, BLAST searches against the BOLD database using our DNA barcoding data as the query sequences designated the most similar targets into groups. For each analyzed species, the similarity of the first and second threshold groups ranged from 95 to 99% and from 83 to 98%, respectively. Sequence based classification for the first threshold group was concordant with morphology-based identification. However, for 34 analyzed species (68%) overlaps of species between the two threshold groups hampered classification. Tree-based phylogeny analysis detected more than one cluster in the first threshold group for 22 out of 50 species, representing genetic subgroups and geographic origins. There was a tendency for higher conservation and lower number of clusters in the Lessepsian (Red Sea) migrant versus indigenous species

Knots: Attractive Places with High Path Tortuosity in Mouse Open Field Exploration

When introduced into a novel environment, mammals establish in it a preferred place marked by the highest number of visits and highest cumulative time spent in it. Examination of exploratory behavior in reference to this “home base” highlights important features of its organization. It might therefore be fruitful to search for other types of marked places in mouse exploratory behavior and examine their influence on overall behavior

A lionfish (Pterois miles) invasion has begun in the Mediterranean Sea

Until now, few sightings of the alien lionfish Pterois miles have been reported in the Mediterranean and it was questionable whether the species could invade this region like it has in the western Atlantic. Here, we present evidence from divers and fishermen that lionfish have recently increased in abundance and within a year colonised almost the entire south eastern coast of Cyprus, likely due to sea surface warming. At least 23 different fish are reported of which 6 were removed. Groups of lionfish exhibiting mating behaviour have been noted for the first time in the Mediterranean. Managers need this information and should alert stakeholders to the potential ecological and socio-economic impacts that may arise from a lionfish invasion. Actions could involve incentives to engage divers and fishermen in lionfish removal programmes, as these have worked well at shallow depths in the Caribbean. Given that the Suez Canal has recently been widened and deepened, measures will need to be put in place to help prevent further invasion

Comparison of the Nasal Olfactory Organs of Various Species of Lizardfishes (Teleostei: Aulopiformes: Synodontidae) with Additional Remarks on the Brain

The olfactory organs of lizardfishes (Synodontidae) are situated in two capsules connected to the outside by incurrent and excurrent openings. The olfactory epithelium is in form of petal rosettes each composed of lamellae and a rephe, and bear olfactory receptor neurons, supporting cells and cells with kinocillia. The dimension of rosettes and lamellae, as well as the number of lamellae, increase with growth of the fish; until in adult fish these parameters remaine constant, species specific. In adult Synodus spp. and Trachinocephalus myops the rosettes are 3.5–4.0 mm long, with 5–8 lamellae, whereas in Saurida spp. they are 8.0 mm and possess up tp 22 lamellae. The number of ORN ranges from 2,600 on the smaller lamellae to 20,000 on the largest ones. The number of ORN/mm2 of olfactory is ca. 30,000 in Saurida spp. Thus the rosettes of S. macrolepis with 20 lamellae possess a total of ca. 170,000 ORN, whereas those of Sy. variegatus and T. myops with the average of six lamellae possess only ca. 50,000–65,000 ORN. The olfactory nerves lead from the rosettes to the olfactory balbs situated on the olfactory lobes. The differences among the species in olfactory organs are discussed in correlation with their distribution