(Press-News.org) Reef fish larvae are only millimeters-long when they hatch, but can smell the presence of coral reefs from several kilometers offshore, and use this odor to navigate home. The results are reported August 28 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Claire Paris from the University of Miami and colleagues from other institutions.
The researchers used a novel drifting behavioral arena to find that larvae of two families, damselfish and cardinalfish, changed swimming speed and direction in response to the smell of reef water, but water from the open ocean did not evoke a similar behavior from the larvae. Water temperature and current directions, factors normally important to navigation in the ocean, did not appear to influence the orientation of larvae in this study. The study states that reef odor could act as a wake-up call that signals settlement fish larvae to modify their activity for directions towards the reef. Other fish such as sharks and freshwater salmon are known to navigate using olfactory signals, but this is the first study to report that reef fish larvae use similar odor cues. Paris elaborates, "Unlike most animals that migrate as adults on a seasonal basis, coral reef fish undertake their longest voyage early in their life history. Here we find that coral reef fish larvae smell the reef kilometers away and then switch to a proximal cue which allows them to navigate with a landscape frame of reference."
###
Citation: Paris CB, Atema J, Irisson J-O, Kingsford M, Gerlach G, et al. (2013) Reef Odor: A Wake Up Call for Navigation in Reef Fish Larvae. PLoS ONE 8(8): e72808. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0072808
Financial Disclosure: Portions of this study were funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)-SGER OCE-0512167 and NSF-OTIC 1155698 to C. B. Paris, by NSF OCE 0452988 to J. Atema and G. Gerlach, by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft GE842/6-1 to G. Gerlach, and by an Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence Grant to M.J. Kingsford. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0072808.
Disclaimer: This press release refers to upcoming articles in PLOS ONE. The releases have been provided by the article authors and/or journal staff. Any opinions expressed in these are the personal views of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLOS. PLOS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the release and article and your use of such information.
About PLOS ONE: PLOS ONE is the first journal of primary research from all areas of science to employ a combination of peer review and post-publication rating and commenting, to maximize the impact of every report it publishes. PLOS ONE is published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS), the open-access publisher whose goal is to make the world's scientific and medical literature a public resource.
All works published in PLOS ONE are Open Access. Everything is immediately available—to read, download, redistribute, include in databases and otherwise use—without cost to anyone, anywhere, subject only to the condition that the original authors and source are properly attributed. For more information about PLOS ONE relevant to journalists, bloggers and press officers, including details of our press release process and our embargo policy, see the everyONE blog at http://everyone.plos.org/media.
Fish larvae sniff reef odor to find their way home
Olfactory signals help reef fish larvae navigate home
2013-08-29
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
A major cause of age-related memory loss identified
2013-08-29
NEW YORK, NY (August 28, 2013) — A team of Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers, led by Nobel laureate Eric R. Kandel, MD, has found that deficiency of a protein called RbAp48 in the hippocampus is a significant contributor to age-related memory loss and that this form of memory loss is reversible. The study, conducted in postmortem human brain cells and in mice, also offers the strongest causal evidence that age-related memory loss and Alzheimer's disease are distinct conditions. The findings were published today in the online edition of Science Translational ...
1 in 4 has alarmingly few intestinal bacteria
2013-08-29
All people have trillions of bacteria living in their intestines. If you place them on a scale, they weigh around 1.5 kg. Previously, a major part of these 'blind passengers' were unknown, as they are difficult or impossible to grow in laboratories. But over the past five years, an EU-funded research team, MetaHIT, coordinated by Professor S. Dusko Ehrlich at the INRA Research Centre of Jouy-en-Josas, France and with experts from Europe and China have used advanced DNA analysis and bioinformatics methods to map human intestinal bacteria.
-The genetic analysis of intestinal ...
We may all be Martians -- new research supports theory that life started on Mars
2013-08-29
New evidence has emerged which supports the long-debated theory that life on Earth may have started on Mars.
Professor Steven Benner will tell geochemists gathering today (Thursday 29 Aug) at the annual Goldschmidt conference that an oxidized mineral form of the element molybdenum, which may have been crucial to the origin of life, could only have been available on the surface of Mars and not on Earth. "In addition", said Professor Benner "recent studies show that these conditions, suitable for the origin of life, may still exist on Mars."
"It's only when molybdenum ...
Magnetic charge crystals imaged in artificial spin ice
2013-08-29
A team of scientists has reported direct visualization of magnetic charge crystallization in an artificial spin ice material, a first in the study of a relatively new class of frustrated artificial magnetic materials-by-design known as "Artificial Spin Ice." These charges are analogs to electrical charges with possible applications in magnetic memories and devices. The research team's findings appear in the August 29 issue of the journal Nature.
The unique properties of spin ice materials have fascinated scientists since they were first discovered in the late 1990s in ...
Blocking molecular pathway reverses pulmonary hypertension in rats, Stanford study finds
2013-08-29
STANFORD, Calif. - Pulmonary hypertension, a deadly form of high blood pressure that develops in the lungs, may be caused by an inflammation-producing molecular pathway that damages the inner lining of blood vessels, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The results, which will be published Aug. 28 in Science Translational Medicine, suggest that using medications to block this pathway could lead to the first-known cure for the disease, apart from lung transplantation. The new research could also lead to a better understanding ...
East Antarctic Ice Sheet could be more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought
2013-08-29
The world's largest ice sheet could be more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than previously thought, according to new research from Durham University.
A team from the Department of Geography used declassified spy satellite imagery to create the first long-term record of changes in the terminus of outlet glaciers – where they meet the sea – along 5,400km of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet's coastline. The imagery covered almost half a century from 1963 to 2012.
Using measurements from 175 glaciers, the researchers were able to show that the glaciers underwent ...
The 'woman who understood Newton'
2013-08-29
In this month's edition of Physics World, Paula Findlen from Stanford University profiles Laura Bassi -- an emblematic and influential physicist from the 18th century who can be regarded as the first ever woman to forge a professional scientific career.
Once described as the "woman who understood Newton", Laura Bassi -- born in the city of Bologna in 1711 -- rose to celebrity status in Italy and all across the globe, gaining a reputation as being the best physics teacher of her generation and helping to develop the discipline of experimental physics.
Bassi held numerous ...
Targeting mosquito breeding sites could boost malaria control efforts in Africa and Asia
2013-08-29
A malaria control method that targets mosquito larvae and pupae as they mature in standing water could be an important supplementary measure in the fight against the disease, according to a new report.
The Cochrane review -- led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in collaboration with Durham University and other researchers in the UK and US -- is the first systematic review looking at using larval source management (LSM) to control malaria, which causes an estimated 660,000 deaths worldwide every year. It found evidence that the method may significantly ...
Intestinal flora determines health of obese people
2013-08-29
The international consortium MetaHIT, which includes the research group of Jeroen Raes (VIB / Vrije Universiteit Brussel), publishes in the leading journal Nature that there is a link between richness of bacterial species in the intestines and the susceptibility for medical complications related to obesity. The researchers demonstrated that people with fewer bacterial species in their intestines are more likely to develop complications, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. A flora with decreased bacterial richness appears to function entirely differently to the ...
The science of collaboration
2013-08-29
CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- It's a long, expensive, risky road to turn a scientific breakthrough into a treatment that can help patients. Fewer organizations are trying to tackle the challenges alone, says a new paper from MIT researchers published August 28 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
An essential new way to move discoveries forward has emerged in the form of multi-stakeholder collaborations involving three or more different types of organizations, such as drug companies, government regulators and patient groups, write Magdalini Papadaki, a research associate, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Study identifies gene clusters in rhizobia linked to robust legume growth
Remapping the evolutionary tree of butterflies
Employees who spot problems help the bottom line, so why do leaders give more power to bootlickers?
Could living near water mean you’ll live longer?
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome linked to worse surgical outcomes, higher costs
US POINTER trial: Structured lifestyle intervention delays cognitive decline
Detecting a potential behavioral biomarker for Parkinson’s disease in mice
Expectations about pain influence the experience in different ways
Landmark sleep study links objective sleep patterns with 172 diseases—regularity matters more than duration
Breaking research at ADLM 2025: AI poised to revolutionize Lyme disease testing, treatment
CD4+ T cell-mediated immune drift in biologic treatment of inflammatory skin diseases
Spotlight on technology to protect older Australians from respiratory infections
There’s something in the air
New insights could help phages defeat antibiotic resistant bacteria
New system dramatically speeds the search for polymer materials
Safety of JN.1-updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines
Type 2 diabetes and financial outcomes
A financial toll on patients with type 2 diabetes
Safflower yellow pigments in coronary heart disease: Mechanisms, applications, and future perspectives
TraMA: new RNA-based measure predicts mortality risk and tracks aging
From WebMD to AI chatbots: How innovation has empowered patients to take control of their health
Unravelling antileishmanial mechanisms of phytochemicals: From mitochondrial disruption to immunomodulation
Association for Molecular Pathology announces 2025 award recipients
When light collides with light
Study finds that white students visit college advisers the least, but benefit most in terms of graduation rates and GPA
Science by the millions: How everyday people are revolutionizing global biodiversity research with tech
A bolt is born! Atmospheric events underpinning lightning strikes explained
Using alcohol to reduce the costs of industrial water electrolysis
FAU researchers advise: prescribe high potency statins in treatment, prevention
15 regions chosen for groundbreaking effort to reduce cardiovascular disease
[Press-News.org] Fish larvae sniff reef odor to find their way homeOlfactory signals help reef fish larvae navigate home