Presentation Tips

Giving a talk? This short book offers lots of bite-sized tips and tricks to make your next presentation better. The book is divided into three sections: Planning what to say on organizing your thoughts and approach; Planning what to show on designing slides; and The talk itself on the delivery on the day

Parallelism in digging behaviour in two distantly related decapod crustaceans

Walking and swimming are the most common forms of locomotion used routinely by decapod crustaceans, but some have evolved ways of locomoting throughsubstrates, notably sand. Two such digging species, of different infraorders, are spanner crabs (Ranina ranina; Brachyura) and spiny sand crabs (Blepharipoda occidentalis; Anomura). Videotape and electromyogram analysis showed that digging by these species is similar, but Raninahas a wider locomotor repertoire than Blepharipoda: for instance, Raninacan walk forward on the benthos, whereas Blepharipoda(and other sand crabs) cannot walk. Similarly, although both Raninaand Blepharipodadig into the sand using their legs and abdomen, leg movements of Raninaare less stereotyped than those of Blepharipoda. In both species, the second and third pairs of legs shovel sand forward from underneath the animals, while the fourth pair of legs circles in the opposite direction, forcing the posterior end of the animals down into sand. Both species show similar patterns of contralateral leg coordination: left and right legs move forward and backward alternately when above sand, but switch to bilateral synchrony when they begin to submerge into sand. The abdomen is also rhythmically active during digging in both species, even though the abdomen is relatively stiff in Ranina. Thus, Raninais behaviourally intermediate to the highly specialized digging anomuran sand crabs (e.g., Blepharipoda) and more common walking decapod crustaceans (e.g., crayfish)

Filtering Out Parasites: Sand Crabs (Lepidopa benedicti) Are Infected By More Parasites Than Sympatric Mole Crabs (Emerita benedicti)

Two digging decapod crustaceans, the sand crab species Lepidopa benedicti and the mole crab species Emerita benedicti, both live in the swash zone of fine sand beaches. They were examined for two parasites that infect decapod crustaceans in the region, an unidentified nematode previously shown to infect L. benedicti, and cestode tapeworm larvae, Polypocephalus sp., previously shown to infect shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus). Lepidopa benedicti were almost always infected with both parasite species, while E. benedicti were rarely infected with either parasite species. This difference in infection pattern suggests that tapeworms are ingested during sediment feeding in L. benedicti, which E. benedicti avoid by filter feeding. Larger L. benedicti had more Polypocephalus sp. larvae. The thoracic ganglia, which make up the largest proportion of neural tissue, contained the largest numbers of Polypocephalus sp. larvae. Intensity of Polypocephalus sp. infection was not correlated with how long L. benedicti remained above sand in behavioural tests, suggesting that Polypocephalus sp. do not manipulate the sand crabs in a way that facilitates trophic transmission of the parasite. Litopenaeus setiferus may be a primary host for Polypocephalus sp., and L. benedict may be a secondary, auxiliary host

Resolving authorship disputes by mediation and arbitration

Background Disputes over authorship are increasing. This paper examines the options that researchers have in resolving authorship disputes. Discussions about authorship disputes often address how to prevent disputes but rarely address how to resolve them. Both individuals and larger research communities are harmed by the limited options for dispute resolution. Main body When authorship disputes arise after publication, most existing guidelines recommend that the authors work out the disputes between themselves. But this is unlikely to occur, because there are often large power differentials between team members, and institutions (e.g., universities, funding agencies) are unlikely to have authority over all team members. Other collaborative disciplines that deal with issues of collaborative creator credit could provide models for scientific authorship. Arbitration or mediation could provide solutions to authorship disputes where few presently exist. Because authors recognize journals’ authority to make decisions about manuscripts submitted to the journal, journals are well placed to facilitate alternative dispute resolution processes. Conclusion Rather than viewing authorship disputes as rare events that must be handled on a case by case basis, researchers and journals should view the potential for disputes as predictable, preventable, and soluble. Independent bodies that can offer alternative dispute resolution services to scientific collaborators and/or journals could quickly help research communities, particularly their most vulnerable members

Stinging the Predators: A collection of papers that should never have been published

This ebook collects academic papers and conference abstracts that were meant to be so terrible that nobody in their right mind would publish them. All were submitted to journals and conferences to expose weak or non-existent peer review and other exploitative practices. Each paper has a brief introduction. Short essays round out the collection

Prohibiting Pet Crayfish Does Not Consistently Reduce Their Availability Online

The pet trade is a significant source of introductions of non-indigenous aquatic species, such as crayfish. To test whether legislation that regulates the ownership of ornamental animals for aquariums had the desired effect of reducing the availability of those pets, classified advertising websites were monitored for sales of crayfish in jurisdictions with and without legislation regulating the ownership of crayfish. Advertisements from Canadian provinces with legislation against owning crayfish were compared to provinces without such legislation. The population adjusted number of advertisements for crayfish, and number of distinct sellers of crayfish, was significantly lower in one of two provinces that prohibited crayfish compared to provinces that permitted crayfish. This mixed outcome suggests that legislation alone does not consistently reduce online trade in crayfish

The phenology of sand crabs, Lepidopa benedicti (Decapoda: Albuneidae)

Albuneid sand crabs are widespread on sandy beaches around the world, but because they conceal themselves by digging in sand and are often found at low densities, little is known about their basic biology. Lepidopa species were collected from the beaches of South Padre Island, Texas, on the western coast of Gulf of Mexico, a location that had previously been suggested to act as a population sink. The site contained Lepidopa benedicti and L. websteri, although the latter was extremely rare (collected three times in 5 years). There was significant variation in abundance across the year, with higher densities in summer and lower in winter. Ovigerous females, carrying up to almost 2000 eggs, were found from late spring through summer, with most of the young of the year appearing in autumn. The sex ratio was biased toward females. The average size of L. benedicti in South Texas was smaller than individuals in Florida, but the population density appeared to be higher in Texas. The presence of reproductive individuals and even distribution of size classes weakens an earlier hypothesis that the western Gulf of Mexico acts as a population sink for L. benedicti. The changes in abundance suggest that the L. benedicti actively repositions itself at different depths in the swash zone at different times of the year, possibly for reproduction

Digging Mechanisms and Substrate Preferences of Shovel Nosed Lobsters, Ibacus peronii (Decapoda: Scyllaridae)

Digging is a distinct form of locomotion that poses different mechanical problems than other locomotor modes that are commonly used by crustaceans, e.g., walking, swimming. I examined the mechanisms of digging by shovel nosed lobsters (Ibacus peronii), which spend most of the day underneath sand. Ibacus peronii were videotaped while digging. Ibacus peronii use a “wedge” strategy to submerge into sand. An individual penetrates the sand with the walking legs, then extends the abdomen to push sand backwards, then flexes the abdomen while pushing backward with the legs, which slowly drives the body into the sand. This basic sequence repeats for several minutes. Digging often ends with a short series of tailflips. Digging by “wedging” is substantially different from previously described mechanisms in more specialized digging species. When presented with a choice of substrates, I. peronii preferred to dig in sand over shell grit, but individuals showed no preference for different types of sand

A bomb set to drop: parthenogenetic Marmorkrebs for sale in Ireland, a European location without non-indigenous crayfish

Ireland is one of the few locations in Europe where non-indigenous North American crayfish species have not been introduced, and is a refuge for endangered white-clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes (Lereboullet, 1858). The parthenogenetic crayfish species Marmorkrebs, Procambarus fallax f. virginalis (Hagen, 1870), is sold in the pet trade in Ireland within the recorded range of A. pallipes. Marmorkrebs risk being introduced into Irish waters, where they could threaten A. pallipes populations, particularly as a vector for crayfish plague

The spread of the parthenogenetic marbled crayfish, Marmorkrebs (Procambarus sp.), in the North American pet trade

The parthenogenetic marbled crayfish Marmorkrebs was discovered in the pet trade in Europe in the 1990s. Since then, its distribution through the pet trade has spread from Europe to other continents, including North America. North American pet owners were surveyed online with the aims of trying to track when Marmorkrebs entered the North American pet trade, the ways in which it spread through the pet trade, and how widely distributed Marmorkrebs are throughout the continent. Marmorkrebs have been in the North American pet trade since at least 2004, with the number of people increasing every year. While many Marmorkrebs are sold through online sources, face-to-face personal contacts account for almost as many acquisitions. The increasing spread of Marmorkrebs through the pet trade increases the probability that Marmorkrebs will be released into North American ecosystems