EBIO

The Mayan cichlid ‘Cichlasoma (Nandopsis)’ urophthalmus (Günther 1862) is native to tropical Central America but has colonized much of the subtropical part of Florida. This study evaluates diet, morphology, and parasitology in adults from a brackish water site and a freshwater site, as well as through ontogeny at the freshwater site only. Most of the brackish water fish consumed algae, snails, detritus, fish, and amphipods. In contrast, fish was the primary prey item for the freshwater population, but algae, decapods, and snails were frequent prey as well. Dietary richness was greater in the freshwater adults, but prevalence of durophagy was greater among the brackish water fish. Fish remained the primary prey for both adults and juveniles. In this freshwater population there was a shift from detritus and ostracods to snails, decapods, Hymenoptera, and Diptera adults with no increase in durophagy through ontogeny. Despite dietary flexibility, ‘C. (Nandopsis)’ urophthalmus utilizes the same prey items at different localities, and appears to require crustaceans, insects, or fish in its diet. The brackish water fish exhibited a longer premaxillary ascending process and fewer, larger molariform pharyngeal teeth. The freshwater fish had a wider gape, deeper body, longer oral jaws, and longer pectoral fins. Thus, ‘C. (Nandopsis)’ urophthalmus exhibits some phenotypic plasticity, but not to the extent of polymorphic cichlids and centrarchids. For freshwater ‘C. (Nandopsis)’ urophthalmus, all morphological variables grew isometrically except total molariform tooth area and pharyngeal jaw mass, which exhibited positive allometry. Most morphological trends appeared ecologically meaningful, but mixed results were observed for mandibular length and gape width, for which correlation with snails and caddisfly larvae, respectively, may be spurious. The nematode that parasitizes ‘C. (Nandopsis)’ urophthalmus was identified as Contracaecum multipapillatum. Although infection intensity did not differ between habitats, infection frequency was greater at the freshwater site. Infection intensity increased through ontogeny, and no nematodes were found in fish that were smaller than 93 mm SL. Parasitism appears to be weaker in Florida than in Central America. In Florida, the success of this species may be attributable in part, to its generalized feeding habits and broad tolerance for environmental conditions.

Abstract: This paper presents a thorough review of a complete blood count (CBC). Cell types for avian and mammalian blood, components of a CBC, and how CBCs are properly performed is discussed. Detailed explanation is given on the importance of a CBC and how it is used in treatment of wildlife.

The life history characteristics of hosts often influence patterns of parasite infection either by affecting the likelihood of parasite exposure or the probability of infection following exposure. In birds, migratory behavior has been suggested to affect both the composition and abundance of parasites within a host, although whether migratory birds have more or fewer parasites is unclear. To help address these knowledge gaps, we collaborated with airports, animal rescue/rehabilitation centers, and hunter check stations in the San Francisco Bay Area of California to collect 57 raptors, egrets, herons, ducks, and other waterfowl for parasitological analysis. Following dissections of the gastro-intestinal tract of each host, we identified 64 taxa of parasites: 5 acanthocephalans, 24 nematodes, 8 cestodes, and 27 trematodes. We then used a generalized linear mixed model to determine how life history traits influenced parasite richness among bird hosts, while controlling for host phylogeny. Parasite richness was greater in birds that were migratory with larger clutch sizes and lower in birds that were herbivorous. The effects of clutch size and diet are consistent with previous studies and have been linked to immune function and parasite exposure, respectively, whereas the effect of migration supports the hypothesis of 'migratory exposure' rather than that of 'migratory escape'.

Infections by the digenetic trematode, Ribeiroia ondatrae, cause severe limb malformations in many North American amphibians. Ribeiroia ondatrae also infects fishes as second intermediate hosts, but less is known about the pathology and immune responses initiated in infected fish, even though reports of infected fish date back to early 1900s. To this end, we experimentally exposed juvenile Bluegills Lepomis macrochirus to three doses of R. ondatrae cercariae and monitored the pathology, parasite infection success, and humoral responses over 648 h. All exposed fish became infected with metacercariae, and the average infection load increased with exposure dose. Histologically, infection was associated with acute hemorrhages in the lateral line and local dermis at 36 h, followed by progressive granulomatous inflammation that led to the destruction of encysted metacercariae. Correspondingly, over the course of 648 h we observed an 85% decline in average infection load among hosts, reflecting the host's clearance of the parasite. Infection was not associated with changes in fish growth or survival, but did correlate with leukocytosis and neutrophilia in circulating host blood. Understanding the physiological responses of R. ondatrae in Bluegill will help to clarify the ecological effects of this parasite and provide a foundation for subsequent comparisons into its effects on behavior, individual health, and population dynamics of Bluegill. Received March 4, 2015; accepted August 9, 2015.

A total of 67 specimens from the National History Museum, London, UK and from the United States National Parasite Collection, Beltsville, USA, which had previously been identified as Mesocoelium monas Rudolphi, 1819 from a variety of definitive hosts (amphibians, reptiles and a fish), were reevaluated using available literature and the keys to nine body types of species developed by Dronen et al. (2012). Fifteen specimens were of insufficient quality to be placed into a body type. In the remaining 52, only four body types (mesembrinum, monas, lanceatum, and pesteri) were encountered. None of the 52 specimens conformed to either the original description of M. monas by Rudolphi in 1819 or the subsequent re-description by Freitas in 1958. Although some authors have proposed sweeping synonymies of species in the genus reducing the number of species to as few as four in a study by Nasir & Dìaz in 1971, the results of the present study suggest that there are likely numerous species worldwide. The usefulness of some characters in separating species of Mesocoelium is discussed.

Wildlife managers are responsible for mitigating conflict from stakeholder groups towards controversial natural resource management plans. These stakeholder groups can be summed up in a wide lens as: utilitarians (anthropocentric), mutualists (biocentric), and pluralists (‘middle of the road’) (Decker et al. 2012). Each group has a distinct value and belief system from the other, therefore motivated reasoning is a concern for wildlife and habitat management issue communication. “Specifically, values and [people’s] orientations are stable and enduring; they change gradually over time across generations as opposed to within individuals; whereas attitudes are more transitional in nature and therefore may be more easily influenced by communication strategies and other conservation interventions” (Teel et al. 2010). Motivated reasoning is the cognitive phenomenon where a person reacts to information in a way that supports their pre-formulated opinion and motivations on the subject. There are often controversial natural resource management plans/issues; this essay will be discussing framing devices, controversies, and how they influence motivated reasoning in the public sphere.

The Colorado Front Range is home to many species and millions of humans. Urban sprawl is a persistent issue for the sustainability of wildlife and ecosystem services. This phenomenon is defined by cities spreading out over the landscape, instead of building into the sky, which would consolidate the human population density and decrease the impact they have on natural habitats. In this paper, I will discuss the problems urban sprawl causes for humans and wildlife. There will also be a discussion of sustainability practices and policies in the context of urban sprawl.