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The influence of the lunar cycle on bluefin tuna foraging in the upwelling area of the Strait of Messina was investigated by exploring trophic interaction with mesopelagic fish and cephalopod prey. To focus on how the lunar cycle could affect availability of mesopelagic prey for this predator, we tested potential differences in the diet related to each lunar phase. Moreover, we considered two potential impacts of the lunar cycle: the lunar irradiance and the strength of currents. Overall, 2672 prey items were mesopelagic fish and cephalopods, representing 60.7% of overall diet by number. The main mesopelagic fish prey items were lanternfishes and dragonfishes, while Onychoteuthis banksii was the most important cephalopod prey. In summary, the Strait of Messina has highly specific hydrodynamic and biological features which strongly depend on upwelling currents, which in turn are influenced by the lunar cycle (new and full moon with strong currents, quarters with fewer currents). Upwelling causes water mixing, bringing to the surface a large amount of mesopelagic fauna which become more readily available to tuna. Lunar irradiance contributes to the variation of prey composition, increasing the success of visual predation on mesopelagic resources at high light in the water column.

Every year, billions of birds undertake extensive migrations between breeding and non-breeding areas, facing challenges that require behavioural adjustments, particularly to flight timing and duration. Such adjustments in daily activity patterns and the influence of extrinsic factors (e.g., environmental conditions, moonlight) have received much more research attention in terrestrial than marine migrants. Taking advantage of the widespread deployment in recent decades of combined light-level geolocator-immersion loggers, we investigated diel organisation and influence of the moon on flight activities during the non-breeding season of 21 migrant seabird species from a wide taxonomic range (6 families, 3 orders). Migrant seabirds regularly stopped (to either feed or rest) during migration, unlike some terrestrial and wetland birds which fly non-stop. We found an overall increase for most seabird species in time in flight and, for several species, also in flight bout duration, during migration compared to when resident at the non-breeding grounds. Additionally, several nocturnal species spent more of the day in flight during migration than at non-breeding areas, and vice versa for diurnal species. Nocturnal time in flight tended to increase during full moon, both during migration and at the non-breeding grounds, depending on species. Our study provides an extensive overview of activity patterns of migrant seabirds, paving the way for further research on the underlying mechanisms and drivers.

Every year, billions of birds undertake extensive migrations between breeding and non-breeding areas, facing challenges that require behavioural adjustments, particularly to flight timing and duration. Such adjustments in daily activity patterns and the influence of extrinsic factors (e.g., environmental conditions, moonlight) have received much more research attention in terrestrial than marine migrants. Taking advantage of the widespread deployment in recent decades of combined light-level geolocator-immersion loggers, we investigated diel organisation and influence of the moon on flight activities during the non-breeding season of 21 migrant seabird species from a wide taxonomic range (6 families, 3 orders). Migrant seabirds regularly stopped (to either feed or rest) during migration, unlike some terrestrial and wetland birds which fly non-stop. We found an overall increase for most seabird species in time in flight and, for several species, also in flight bout duration, during migration compared to when resident at the non-breeding grounds. Additionally, several nocturnal species spent more of the day in flight during migration than at non-breeding areas, and vice versa for diurnal species. Nocturnal time in flight tended to increase during full moon, both during migration and at the non-breeding grounds, depending on species. Our study provides an extensive overview of activity patterns of migrant seabirds, paving the way for further research on the underlying mechanisms and drivers.

The term lunar phobia is used to explain the behavior that some nocturnal animals have to avoid periods with greater moonlight intensity. The aim was to determine the effect of the brightness of the new moon and the full moon on the richness, abundance and diversity of the phyllostomid bat community at the La Ceiba estate, Tuxpan, Veracruz, where the study was conducted from October 2013 to February 2014 using five mist nets for two nights per month. We captured 142 bats belonging to eight species, with Artibeus lituratus being the species with the highest records in both lunar phases (74 individuals). Although no significant differences were found in diversity between the two lunar phases, greater cumulative species richness and abundance were recorded in the new moon (eight species, 118 individuals) than the full moon (five species, 24 individuals). The significant decrease in abundance between the new moon and the full moon, mainly of small frugivorous species, indicates that lunar luminosity affects bat activity. It also has an effect on total species richness as three species were exclusively recorded in the new moon phase., RESUMEN. El término fobia lunar se emplea para explicar el comportamiento que algunos animales nocturnos presentan al evadir los periodos con mayor luminosidad de la luna. El objetivo fue conocer el efecto de la luminosidad de luna nueva y la luna llena sobre la riqueza, abundancia y diversidad de murciélagos. El estudio se realizó en la finca La Ceiba de octubre 2013 a febrero 2014 empleando cinco redes de niebla durante dos noches por mes. Se capturaron 142 murciélagos pertenecientes a ocho especies, siendo Artibeus lituratus la especie con mayores registros en ambas fases lunares. Aunque no se encontraron diferencias significativas en la diversidad entre ambas fases lunares, se registró una mayor riqueza y abundancia acumulada en la luna nueva con ocho especies y 118 individuos. Lo que demuestra que la luminosidad lunar afecta la actividad de los murciélagos al presentarse una disminución significativa de la abundancia entre la luna nueva y la luna llena, principalmente de especies frugívoras pequeñas, mientras que en la luna nueva se registraron tres especies exclusivas.

MOON IN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND RITUAL BEHAVIOUR: SOME SLAVIC PARALLELS Moon is an important element of shaping folk beliefs and ritual practice in the entire Slavic folklore. Its appearance and light take active part in formation of various mythological concepts and clarification of historical events and weather. Balkan Slavs perceived moon as a living creature sometimes attacked by other mythical creatures, such as werewolves and halas. In Serbia, Bulgaria and Macedonia it was believed that spells can take down the moon from the skies. The notion of parallel between moon phases and changes on Earth affected the system of preferable behaviour, including ritual practice. Some lunar phases were, therefore, periods favourable for certain actions, while others should have been avoided.

For many years, it was believed that bird and mammal communication ‘in the dark of the night’ relied exclusively on vocal and chemical signalling. However, in recent decades, several case studies have conveyed the idea that the nocturnal world is rich in visual information. Clearly, a visual signal needs a source of light to work, but diurnal light (twilight included, i.e. any light directly dependent on the sun) is not the only source of luminosity on this planet. Actually, moonlight represents a powerful source of illumination that cannot be neglected from the perspective of visual communication. White patches of feathers and fur on a dark background have the potential to be used to communicate with conspecifics and heterospeci-fics in dim light across different contexts and for a variety of reasons. Here: (i) we review current knowledge on visual signalling in crepuscular and nocturnal birds and mammals; and (ii) we also present some possible cases of birds and mammals that, due to the characteristics of their feather and fur coloration pattern, might use visual signals in dim light. Visual signalling in nocturnal animals is still an emerging field and, to date, it has received less attention than many other means of communication, including visual communication under daylight. For this reason, many questions remain unanswered and, sometimes, even unasked.

En este artículo se presentan los resultados de un estudio realizado con un grupo clase integrado por alumnos españoles de educación primaria (7-8 años) de una escuela concertada de Granada capital, en relación con el sistema Sol-Tierra-Luna. Se analiza el cambio conceptual en la interpretación de fenómenos cotidianos (ciclo díanoche, fases lunares y estaciones) en tres grupos de segundo curso con metodologías de aprendizaje diferenciadas. Se lleva a cabo un estudio longitudinal, durante más de dos trimestres, mediante la realización de un pretest y dos postests. Según muestran nuestros resultados, hay considerables obstáculos cognitivos para la comprensión de estos fenómenos. Al parecer, las estrategias didácticas interactivas basadas en juego de rol son las que ofrecen mejores resultados a corto y a largo plazo., This article shows the results of a study carried out with Spanish Primary Education children (7-8 years old) in relation to the Sun-Earth-Moon system. Conceptual change about everyday phenomena (day-night cycle, moon phases and seasons’ succession) is investigated in three groups (K2) under different learning conditions. A longitudinal study is performed for over two quarter of the academic year, including one pretest and two posttests. According to our results, the sample seems to have considerable cognitive obstacles for understanding these physical concepts, being apparently learning strategies based on role-playing the best option to overcame these cognitive problems in a short-and long- term.

Cuando se pregunta a los estudiantes por la causa de las estaciones suelen responder: “en verano estamos más próximos al Sol y en invierno estamos más lejos del Sol”. La persistencia de esta idea y el hecho de su generalización entre los estudiantes y muchos adultos me ha inducido a escribir este artículo, en el cual se trata de explicar, de una forma clara y simple, el motivo de este y otros fenómenos debidos al movimiento de la Luna alrededor de la Tierra y de ésta alrededor del Sol.

‘Birth trends and the lunar connection for Lund’s community 1994-2005’ analyses natural births using statistical methods. With the aid of different time series models a pattern was found, namely that most natural births occur during the spring months and the smallest number occur during the month of November. An explanation for this could be that many people take vacation during the summer months, which gives them more time to reproduce during these months. The original idea behind this study was to examine if there was some proof behind the myth that the Full Moon influences women to go into labor. The objective with the study was to find a pattern between natural births in Lund's municipality during the period 1994-2005 and the Moon's phases. No connection could be established between natural births and the Moon's phases, neither for the Moon's four or eight phases. The analysis of the Moon's phases produced no significant differences in the phases, which means that there is more or less the same number of births during each phase. It would be more logical to consider the synodic period, which is one day on the Moon or the equivalent of 29.53 earth days. A suggestion then for future studies would be to see if a pattern could be established between births and an average synodic period.

Based on egg collection records, spontaneous spawning activity of sea bass, Lates calcarifer (Bloch), reared in floating net cages followed a semilunar cycle. The peak of multiple spawnings coincided with declining spring tides of quarter moon periods. Maximum diameter of intra-ovarian, ripe oocytes (0.51–0.55 mm) occurred in synchrony with the quarter moon periods. Smaller oocytes (0.44–0.47 mm) were sampled during the new and full moon periods. Two structural analogues of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRHa) (des-Gly10, D-Ala6-LHRH ethylamide and D-Ala6, Pro9-Nethylamide-LHRH), in pelleted or dissolved form, induced mature female sea bass with a mean egg diameter of at least 0.40 mm to spawn at any day during the lunar cycle. The onset of spontaneous and LHRHa-induced spawnings occurred during low tides in the evening until dawn (from 19.00 to 05.00 hours). These results demonstrate that LHRHa can effectively induce mature sea bass to spawn independent of the highly predictable semilunar spawning rhythm. In addition, the occurrence of both spontaneous and hormone-induced spawnings at a precise period of the day suggest a tidal and diurnal cue entraining spawning of mature female sea bass.

Male and female sea bass (Lates calcarifer Bloch) from 1982 wild-caught juveniles reared in floating net cages matured at about 2.0–2.5 years (mean body weight =1.1 kg; mean total length = 42.0 cm) and 3–4 years (2,7 kg; 54.5 cm), respectively. To monitor the occurrence of natural spawning, thirteen females were paired with twenty-eight males in a separate net cage in 1986. A “hapa” net with the same dimension as the net cage was installed to retain the spawned eggs. Spontaneous spawning occurred from June to October. The monthly total number of eggs collected varied from 393,000 to 60 million. Spawning appeared to be related to the lunar phase. Of the 26 recorded spawnings, seventeen took place within four days before or after the first quarter moon, while nine occurred within five days before or three days after the last quarter moon. All spawnings were observed between 1900–2300 hrs. The results demonstrate the feasibility of breeding sea bass in floating net cages, which is relatively cheaper and simpler than other existing methods.

The occurence and distribution of milkfish larvae (∼3–17 mm TL) off western Panay Island, Philippines are reported based on 594 plankton net tows made in April and May 1980. Forty-two tows yielded 44 larvae, together with 1149 milkfish eggs by 98 tows. About 70% of the larvae of all stages came from stations less than 100 m deep and 1–2 km from land. Younger larvae up to 6 mm and about 1 week old occurred at stations of various distances from shore, while older larvae occurred only near shore. About 48% of larvae of all stages were caught by surface tows; younger larvae occurred also in deeper layers (20 and 30 m). Larval abundance increased towards May. Younger larvae tended to occur during the quarter moon periods and older ones during the full and new moon periods.