Congratulations to Will, Mel and Krys who all handed in their PhD theses recently!
On the front cover
Our work on cichlids will be featured on the front cover of the upcoming issue of Proceedings B. Congratulations to Topi, who not only led the research, but also took the amazing cover photo
Gobies on ABC radio
Robyn Williams covered the ecology of desert gobies on The Science Show. Listen to the interview here.
Lab retreat on the Mornington Peninsula
The lab group held its three-day retreat on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, where we got to do some squid fishing, bush walking, swimming, and partake in a Master Chef style ‘cook off’.
A fish in the desert
Despite the extreme environment, Australia’s iconic Lake Eyre Basin is home to a range of aquatic animals – including fish. In fact, during massive floods, the desert is teeming with them. But such flood events are very rare. So, how do fish survive in the meantime? In a new study led by Krys Mossop, we showed that the survival of desert gobies hinges on constantly moving to new water sources. Specifically, we discovered that gobies from very different parts of the landscape were genetically similar, demonstrating that populations are much more connected than anticipated. These findings have implications for conserving species like the desert goby, and related fish that are endangered by habitat loss and degradation through human use of the desert’s scarce water resources.
Check out examples of the press coverage here, here, and here.
Power is a question of colour
We recently published a series of papers unlocking new insights into the mysterious evolution of colour diversity among fish, and how aggression by other species plays a part in patterns of colour diversity observed in the wild.
Check out the press coverage by Fairfax media here. For an interview about cichlid fishes on Triple R radio, download the podcast here.
Sex in troubled waters
In new research, we show for the first time that exposure to an environmentally relevant concentration of a widespread endocrine disrupting agricultural pollutant can alter male reproductive behaviour and morphology in a freshwater fish. This work was led by PhD student Michael Bertram, in collaboration with researchers from Åbo Akademi University in Finland, the University of Melbourne, and the Centre for Aquatic Pollution Identification and Management. We report that short-term exposure to a minute concentration (22 parts per trillion) of 17β-trenbolone—an anabolic growth-promoting steroid used extensively in livestock production worldwide—altered mating behaviour in male guppies. Exposed males performed fewer courtship dances (‘sigmoid displays’) and more ‘sneaking’ behaviour (i.e. unsolicited mating behaviour involving the male sneaking up from behind the female to copulate, without first performing courtship). In addition, exposed males gained significantly more mass, which was expected given the anabolic potency of this pollutant.
See examples of popular media coverage of this research HERE and HERE
