The song nucleus high vocal center (HVC) sends neural signals for song production and receives auditory input. By using electroencephalography (EEG) to objectively identify wake/sleep state, we show that HVC auditory responses change with physiological states. Comparison of EEG and HVC records revealed that HVC response to auditory stimuli is greatest during slow-wave sleep. During slow-wave sl...

Five different organs from 16 asymptomatic free-ranging marsupial macropods (Macropus rufus, M. fuliginosus, and M. robustus) from inland Western Australia were tested for infection with Toxoplasma gondii by multi-locus PCR-DNA sequencing. All macropods were infected with T. gondii, and 13 had parasite DNA in at least 2 organs. In total, 45 distinct T. gondii genotypes were detected. Fourteen o...

The subgenus Cladoconnus Reitter, 1909 of the megadiverse genus Euconnus Thomson, 1859 is redescribed and revised for the Balkan Peninsula, Turkey and Caucasus. The following species are described: Euconnus (Cladoconnus) gagranicus sp. nov., E. (C.) ispartaensis sp. nov., E. (C.) meybohmi sp. nov., E. (C.) brachati sp. nov. and E. (C.) croaticus sp. nov. Lectotypes are designated for E. (C.) an...

Neurons of the song motor control nucleus robustus archistriatalis (RA) exhibited far weaker auditory responses in awake than in anesthetized zebra finches. Remarkably, sleep induced complex patterns of bursts in ongoing activity and uncovered vigorous auditory responses of RA neurons. Local injections of norepinephrine suggested that the changes in response strength occur through neuromodulato...

Ten microsatellites were isolated and characterized from a partial genomic library of Rhodnius prolixus, the principal Chagas disease vector in Venezuela, Colombia and Central America. These polymorphic molecular markers could be particularly useful in Chagas disease control initiatives. A wider applicability of the primer-pairs isolated was shown, from 6 to 10 loci being amplifiable in five ou...

This paper describes the distribution of living coccolithophores (LCs) in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea in summer and winter, and its relationship with environmental factors by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). We carried out a series of investigations on LCs distribution in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea in July and December 2011. 210 samples from different depths were co...

The nonadult stages, egg strings, eggs, larvae, and cysts of Gordius robustus, Paragordius varius, and Chordodes morgani are described morphometrically. The goal was to document the differences between species and to evaluate the usefulness of morphometrics in species identification. In concert, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA, a posteriori ...

In southern Atlantic studies on hermit crab biology are scanty considering the local biodiversity. In this way, some population features of Paguristes calliopsis Forest and Saint Laurent, 1968 such as size frequency distribution, sex ratio and shell occupation in the natural environment were studied. Specimens were collected by means of scuba methods in the infralittoral area of the Anchieta Is...