Ichthyology and herpetology remain in need of well-done studies in basic biology and ecology, life history, or natural history for many species. Even for well-studied areas in the United States, the percentage of species for which basic information is lacking or for which better information is needed, based on state or regional faunal books, ranged from about 10 to 35% for fish species, and about 5 to 31% for herps. For Mexico the need was even greater, with the basic biology of approximately 45% of the fish fauna poorly known. Part of the need for better information stems from perceptions by some that basic studies are less desirable than works grounded in theory or modeling. But basic biological information is the foundation for and critical to virtually all syntheses or meta-analyses. Thus, publication of good basic biology in appropriate journals is extremely valuable to one's discipline, and many peer-reviewed journals like Copeia remain amenable to publishing such information. In recent years, graduate students and faculty have been encouraged to publish in high-profile journals, often as judged by “impact factors.” But impact factors are a poor way to evaluate across disciplines, and the degree to which papers are cited should be given more consideration than the impact factor of any particular journal. Papers in Copeia or similar journals can be and are highly cited, with several in Copeia having been cited 300 to more than 500 times. To the end of high-quality publication of basic information, or its eventual synthesis, suggestions are offered relative to field notes and similar practices. For herpetologists and ichthyologists in mid- to late career, the challenge is to synthesize across one's career, passing to the next generation all that you have learned, by publishing professional books, books for laypersons, or outreach through other media. Contribution to knowledge by publication of basic biological information, and ultimately by synthesizing across one's career, all help meet our obligations to the disciplines that have so shaped our professional lives.

Activity patterns of ectothermic animals are affected by weather, time of day, and season, but quantifying these effects can be logistically challenging. We used an automated radio telemetry system to quantify Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata) activity patterns for two years in northern Illinois. Continuously collected activity data were paired with meteorological data collected from the site to determine factors influencing turtle behavior. Temperature, relative humidity, rain, year, month, time of day, and reproductive status affected activity levels. Increased activity levels corresponded with rain events, and males were generally more active than females, especially during spring and late summer. Overall, turtles were less active during an uncharacteristically warm and dry year compared to a year with conditions that were closer to the long-term average. Bimodal daily activity patterns have been reported in more southerly populations, and we found similar patterns near the species’ northern range limit, indicating that thermal constraints may limit activity of this species across its range. Activity comparisons between a year with normal meteorological conditions and an abnormally warm and dry year provide insight to the effect that further onset of climate change may have on the activity of Ornate Box Turtles.

A cichlid species first collected by Alfred Russell Wallace in the upper Rio Negro in 1852, lost during the transport to England but documented in drawings, is described as Crenicichla monicae on the basis of three specimens collected by the Swedish Amazonas Expedition 1923–1925. Crenicichla monicae is most similar to C. johanna, C. rosemariae, and one undescribed species which are characterized by cycloid scales, distinguishing them from other species of the genus in which most scales are ctenoid. Crenicichla monicae is recorded only from the lower Rio Uaupés and lower Rio Içana, tributaries of the upper Rio Negro, and is sympatric with the similar species C. johanna and C. lenticulata. It is distinguished from all other species of Crenicichla by the color pattern in females, with scattered dark spots on the upper half of the side and on the dorsal and caudal fins. Crenicichla monicae is a member of the C. lugubris species group, characterized by very small scales in a large number along the middle of the side (89–126 scales in E1 row), blunt snout, and particular ontogenetic transformation of color pattern.

Indeterminate growth, although widely accepted in reptiles, has questionable supporting evidence. In turtles and tortoises, evidence for indeterminate growth is mixed depending on the species, population, and individual. Using a captive colony of desert tortoises, I explored three questions about adult growth: 1) Do tortoises experience growth at reproductively mature size classes? 2) For those adults that experience growth, is growth continuous throughout adulthood? 3) Are there differences in growth and size between males and females? I found that adult tortoises maintained growth potential past reaching sizes deemed sexually mature. Growth rate was strongly related to size. Larger individuals grew less than smaller ones, and the majority of individuals appeared to stop growth at some point during adulthood. Additionally, there was little difference in growth rate between males and females, although males did achieve larger sizes than females. In summary, desert tortoises appear to display a finite growth potential that is regulated by size, sex, and potentially age, but both sexes can grow well past sexual maturity.

Incongruence between morphological and molecular-based phylogenetic hypotheses has been reported across a wide range of taxa. Specifically, morphological and molecular hypotheses of squamate phylogeny have been consistently incongruent and have been notoriously difficult to reconcile. With the ever-rising popular view of the superiority of molecular data over morphological data, studies have been biased toward seeking explanations for homoplasy in the morphological data. We propose considering approaches that do not make a priori assumptions about the superiority of one type of data over another. We present two case studies using the proto-oncogene c-mos, as well as a large multi-locus dataset, to examine apomorphy distributions across hypotheses. This approach reveals novel insights into data incongruence currently plaguing squamate phylogeny, with direct implications for other scenarios of phylogenetic incongruence.

Current models indicate that life history trade-offs between current and future reproduction can have a major influence on sexual signaling. Individuals with fewer future reproductive opportunities—regardless of current effort—are expected to allocate greater resources to current reproductive effort (terminal investment) because of the low marginal survival cost to signaling. In this study we examined the effect of age and physical condition on the calling behavior of the Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) to test the prediction that older males should exhibit greater signaling efforts compared to younger males of similar condition. Contrary to our predictions, calling males showed no significant effect of age or condition on any of the three call properties measured (call length, call rate, call effort). We offer possible explanations for the apparent discrepancy between theoretical predictions and our observations from the field.

Molecular data have greatly influenced our concepts of species and their relationships in the last few decades, and as a consequence the taxonomy of most vertebrate clades has been repeatedly revised to reflect phylogeny. However, as larger and more complete molecular data sets become available, the sometimes striking disparities between taxonomic revisions based on individual gene trees (particularly those based on mitochondrial DNA) and species trees has become increasingly apparent. Here, we present data from 13 nuclear and one mitochondrial gene. Our results demonstrate that the recent taxonomic proposal erecting the new Australian chelid genus Flaviemys (Testudines: Chelidae) was an unnecessary action, and that recognition of Flaviemys confuses, rather than clarifies, a phylogeny-based taxonomy of the group. Taxonomic actions have many broad repercussions, and we recommend that taxonomic changes should be proposed cautiously and only when they are based on the strongest possible data and analyses.

A male-biased sex ratio of 3:1 has been reported for a population of American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) in the Tempisque River Basin, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. If confirmed, this would constitute one of the largest male-biased sex ratios reported for any population of a member of the genus Crocodylus. Here, we examine the aforementioned population of C. acutus and report on sex ratios of hatchling, juvenile, and adult age classes within a sample of 474 crocodiles captured in the Tempisque Basin between May 2012 and June 2014. Hatchling sex ratio is exceptionally male biased (3.5:1), an imbalance that is maintained in juveniles but is reduced in adults (1.5:1). Mark–recapture data document that juvenile males disperse from the study site, potentially to avoid competition, a process that reduces male bias in the adult age class. An increased role of males in human–crocodile conflict may be a result of juvenile males dispersing to human-inhabited areas.

The Convict Cichlid, Amatitlania nigrofasciata, is a popular model organism for behavioral ecologists to study mate choice, monogamy, and parental care. This freshwater Central American fish displays the rare phenotype of reverse sexual dichromatism, and despite the species’ pervasiveness in behavioral laboratories, the role of female ornamentation in this system is uncertain. To better understand the function of female ornamentation, this study characterizes the visual sensitivity of A. nigrofasciata with particular attention to the long wavelength spectral sensitivity needed to perceive female coloration. We find Convict Cichlids to express a trichromatic complement of opsin proteins: SWS2A, SWS2B, and LWS. After confirming the expression of a LWS opsin gene, we inspected the LWS gene in order to speculate on directional selection potentially resulting in heightened sensitivity to female ornamentation. We examined seven tuning residues in the coding sequence of the LWS opsin gene of A. nigrofasciata and present sequence data that suggest Convict Cichlids have heightened long wavelength sensitivity that is tuned to the female ornament present.

While predator-induced plasticity has been demonstrated in a wide range of organisms, relatively few data exist to compare differences among species. In studies of predator-induced plasticity in amphibians, larval anurans have been widely examined, but there are fewer data for larval salamanders. We sought to examine morphological and behavioral defenses in larvae of five species of Ambystoma salamanders. We raised five species of larval mole salamanders (A. barbouri, A. gracile, A. laterale, A. maculatum, A. tigrinum) in separate lab experiments and exposed them to predator cues from larval dragonflies (Anax junius). Salamanders did not vary in their refuge use during the experiment, but A. gracile, A. laterale, and A. tigrinum reduced their activity in the presence of predators early in development. Dragonfly cues induced relatively few morphological changes across species: A. barbouri developed relatively large heads and deep tails, A. gracile and A. laterale developed relatively shorter heads, and A. maculatum developed relatively wider heads and shorter tails. Our results suggest that behavioral and morphological defenses in Ambystoma are highly variable among species and they appear to be less plastic than tadpoles and other salamander species.

A recent taxonomic revision of the Neotropical catfish genus Rhamdia (Pisces: Siluriformes: Heptapteridae) reduced a number of described species to synonymy, especially under a broadly circumscribed R. quelen. Evidence is presented here from DNA sequence data, external morphology, and morphometrics that argues for the recognition of R. guatemalensis in Central and northern South America and R. saijaensis and R. cinerascens in the Pacific drainages of Colombia and Ecuador, respectively. The DNA data indicate that all trans-Andean samples form a monophyletic group, within which there are separate clades corresponding to R. laticauda and the synonymized R. guatemalensis, R. saijaensis, and R. cinerascens. The morphometric data substantiate the phylogenetic groupings, and in external morphology, each putative species has diagnostic characters. Rhamdia guatemalensis is characterized by insertion of the adipose fin closer to the dorsal fin than to the caudal fin and presence of a conspicuous lateral longitudinal dark band; R. saijaensis is characterized by a small head with head length 20.8–23.4% of standard length and by lacking a lateral longitudinal band; and R. cinerascens is characterized by a large head with head length 25.8–30.1% of standard length, base of the adipose fin 30.3–33.3% of standard length, outer mental barbels extending to the base of the pectoral rays, and presence of a faint lateral longitudinal band. The external morphological differences and phylogenetic relationships indicate that these groups are both recognizable and represent independent lineages, which argue for their recognition as species.

Harvest regulations are important for fishes that are both commercially and recreationally sought after such as Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) throughout the Middle Mississippi River. Monitoring total harvest and understanding Channel catfish population dynamics (i.e., recruitment, growth, and mortality) are crucial for managing a sustainable population. Total commercial harvest and current harvest regulations in the Middle Mississippi River have not recently been evaluated. Thus, we evaluated total commercial harvest reports from 1945–2012 along with commercial fishing effort, population dynamics for the Middle Mississippi River Channel catfish population, and simulated the effects of various length limits on the reproductive potential and yield per recruit of the Channel catfish population. Overall, total commercial harvest has drastically declined from 1990–2012, while commercial effort has remained relatively constant. We speculate overexploitation as a possible cause to the decline in harvest given relatively constant commercial fishing effort. We collected 501 Channel catfish from the Middle Mississippi River during spring, summer, and fall of 2012–2013. Channel catfish were weighed, measured, aged (via lapilli otoliths), and egg samples were collected for fecundity estimates to obtain population level information. We used the static form of the spawning potential ratio (SPR) and the yield per recruit model to simulate variable exploitation rates at three different length limits (e.g., 356 mm, 381 mm, and 406 mm). Our yield per recruit simulation modeling results identified that a 381 mm length limit would not lead to growth overfishing until exploitation rates were between ~50 and 70%. Furthermore, simulation modeling predicted that the SPR was not below a critical minimum conservative threshold of 20% until exploitation rates reached between 50 and 70%; therefore, the population appears to be sustainable under the current length limit of 381 mm, if exploitation rates do not exceed 50–70%.

New genome sequencing techniques are enabling phylogenetic studies to scale-up from using a handful of loci to hundreds or thousands of loci from throughout the genome. In this study, we use targeted sequence capture (TSC) data from 540 ultraconserved elements and 44 protein-coding genes to estimate the phylogenetic relationships among all 17 species of horned lizards in the genus Phrynosoma. Previous molecular phylogenetic analyses of Phrynosoma based on a few nuclear genes, restriction site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing, or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have produced conflicting relationships. Some of these conflicts are likely the result of rapid speciation at the start of Phrynosoma diversification, whereas other examples of gene tree discordance appear to be caused by active and residual traces of hybridization. Concatenation and coalescent-based species tree phylogenetic analyses of these new TSC data support the same topology, and a divergence dating analysis suggests that the Phrynosoma crown group is up to 30 million years old. The new phylogenomic tree supports the recognition of four main clades within Phrynosoma, including Anota (P. mcallii, P. solare, and the P. coronatum complex), Doliosaurus (P. modestum, P. goodei, and P. platyrhinos), Tapaja (P. ditmarsi, P. douglasii, P. hernandesi, and P. orbiculare), and Brevicauda (P. braconnieri, P. sherbrookei, and P. taurus). The phylogeny provides strong support for the relationships among all species of Phrynosoma and provides a robust new framework for conducting comparative analyses.

The gill-arch musculature and associated aspects of the skeleton of the anguilliforms Protanguilla, Conger, Anguilla, and the synaphobranchids Synaphobranchus and Simenchelys are described, illustrated, and compared. We identify nine anguilliform synapomorphies, seven myological and two osteological and all but two reported for the first time. We also describe one myological and one osteological synapomorphy of the Anguilliformes minus Protanguilla. Our study strongly corroborates the monophyly of the Anguilliformes, which has never been seriously challenged by morphological evidence, and is also supported by molecular analyses. Furthermore, it offers additional morphological support for placing Protanguilla as the sister group of all other eels. The condition of many gill-arch skeletal and muscular features are also treated in other elopomorphs and, occasionally, osteoglossomorphs and more primitive actinopterygians. For comparison, we also include the description of the gill-arch muscles of a specialized eel species of the family Serrivomeridae and discuss analyses of its closest family relationships as indicated by several molecular studies.

Water diversions can disrupt flows and alter thermal regimes changing seasonal patterns that signal the onset of life-history functions of native organisms and compromise the fitness of their populations. We compared size, growth, relative mass, volumetric body condition, and reproductive status of Western Pond Turtles (Actinemys marmorata) across a decade on two forks of California’s Trinity River, one regulated and the other free-flowing. Turtles on the regulated fork experienced flows designed to accommodate anthropocentric demands, whereas those on the free-flowing fork experienced natural hydrologic cycles and seasonal warming. July water temperatures averaged 8.6°C colder on the regulated fork due to hypolimnetic releases. Turtles on the colder regulated fork grew more slowly and were smaller at similar ages compared with those on the free-flowing fork, a pattern that was exacerbated across the decade. Female relative mass (RM) across the decade did not differ between forks, whereas male RM was greater on the free-flowing fork only in the 1990s. In the 2000s volumetric body condition of females on the regulated fork differed significantly from males on both forks and females on the free-flowing fork. Females on the regulated fork appeared to be assimilating more resources possibly in response to colder water. Fewer females on the regulated fork were gravid and, due to smaller size, likely carried fewer eggs. The percent of gravid females on both forks declined significantly across the decade. We found additional evidence of a wider regional effect with differences in RM shifting from positive to negative for both sexes on both forks. We did not collect evidence that would explain these phenomena but these changes strongly suggest that trophic relationships of the turtles in the greater region are being adversely influenced.

Anurans show a distinct dichotomy among the sources of energy they use during larval growth and development, including both endotrophic and exotrophic, which allow studies of the nutritional needs in these different stages. In spite of its swimming function, during the last stages of metamorphosis, the tail releases nutrients necessary for the morphophysiological transformations of the aquatic larval stage into terrestrial adults, during which the animals do not eat, and enzymes play an indispensable role in this process. Alkaline phosphatase is an important enzyme in the mobilization of phosphate required for the anabolism of biomolecules essential to life, whereas acid phosphatase is a lysosomal marker. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the activity of acid and alkaline phosphatases obtained from the tail of bullfrog’s tadpoles (Lithobates catesbeianus), to provide information about the process of nutrient mobilization during development and metamorphosis. Acid and alkaline phosphatase activity increased during metamorphosis, and their highest activities were 189.9 (stage 45) for acid and 39.5 U.mg⁻¹ (stage 44/2) for alkaline phosphatase. The increase in the phosphatases’ specific activities during metamorphosis suggests that the enzymes play a key role in the release of the phosphate needed for the morphophysiological changes that occur during metamorphosis, aside from its importance in tail absorption and cell death. The possibility that the “phosphate regulon system” modulated by phosphate may be conserved in anuran metamorphic tail cells is discussed.

We describe a new species of Anolis from the Andes of northern Peru. This form is similar to species formerly assigned to the genus Phenacosaurus and to Ernest Williams’ tigrinus series. That is, the new species possesses large smooth headscales, cryptic coloration, and short limbs and tail. We present new DNA and morphological data and perform a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the Dactyloa clade of Anolis. The new species is estimated to be close to phenotypically similar species from Peru and Venezuela. We revise the taxonomy of Dactyloa based on our estimate. Most previously recognized phylogenetically defined groups are retained with restricted species contents. Several species currently scorable only for morphological data could not be placed in any group with confidence. The species status of the enigmatic mainland form Anolis deltae should be re-examined with reference to the roquet group of southern Lesser Antillean Anolis.

The new Chaetostoma-group genera Andeancistrus and Transancistrus are described based on recently collected material from rivers draining the respective Amazonian and Pacific slopes of the Andes Mountains in Ecuador. Andeancistrus is diagnosable from all other members of the Chaetostoma group by having a fully plated snout, lacking cheek odontodes that extend past the opercular flap, and by having eight vs. nine branched dorsal-fin rays. The new species Andeancistrus eschwartzae is also described and diagnosed from its only congener (A. platycephalus) by having a black to dark gray base color of head and body (vs. light gray), irregularly shaped round to vermiculate yellow-gold spots smaller than half naris diameter evenly distributed across head, lateral and dorsal surfaces of the body and fin rays (vs. white to blue uniformly round spots), and by lacking enlarged clusters of odontodes at the posteromedial apex of most lateral body plates (vs. odontode clusters present). Transancistrus contains the species T. aequinoctialis and T. santarosensis, which can together be diagnosed from all other members of the Chaetostoma group except Chaetostoma by lacking plates along the anterior and lateral margins of the snout; they can be diagnosed from Chaetostoma by having a much narrower unplated snout region, approximately as wide as the maximum diameter of the orbit (vs. twice this width). Geographic distributions exclusive of drainages north of Ecuador and strong molecular phylogenetic evidence for a sister relationship between Andeancistrus and Transancistrus support the hypothesis that these genera may have once been contiguously distributed through a low-lying region of northern Peru and been separated via uplift of the Andes Mountains.

The rubbernose-pleco genus Chaetostoma comprises 47 currently valid and many undescribed species distributed along Atlantic and Pacific slopes of the Andes Mountains from Panama to southern Peru, the Coastal Mountains of Venezuela, and drainages of the Guiana and Brazilian shields. We present a five-locus molecular phylogeny for 21 described and six undescribed species of Chaetostoma spanning the geographic range of the genus. Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses found Chaetostoma to be well supported as monophyletic and sister to a clade of central and northern Andean genera that have also been hypothesized to be closely related based on morphology (i.e., Andeancistrus, Cordylancistrus, Dolichancistrus, Leptoancistrus, and Transancistrus). Species of Chaetostoma were divided into a trichotomy consisting of: a Pacific Coast, Central American, Magdalena Basin, Lake Valencia, and Guiana Shield clade; a western Orinoco, Lake Maracaibo, and Lake Valencia clade; and a widespread upper Amazon/Orinoco clade inclusive of a single species on the Brazilian Shield. We also conducted a systematic review of species from the central Andes of northern Peru and Ecuador. Based on our phylogenetic results and direct examination of historical and recently collected type and non-type material, we describe two new species of Chaetostoma (C. bifurcum, from the Pacific Coast, and C. trimaculineum, from the Atlantic Slope), redescribe four species (C. breve, C. carrioni, C. dermorhynchum, and C. microps, all from the Atlantic Slope), transfer four species from Chaetostoma to Ancistrus and find two species to be junior synonyms.