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Anguillid eels are near globally distributed catadromous fishes with marine spawning areas and inshore and inland growth areas in both lotic (rivers, estuaries) and lentic (lakes, ponds, lagoons) water bodies. As predators, anguillid eels play an important ecological role in both marine and freshwater systems, and several species are harvested commercially for food. However, some of the more widely distributed species have undergone severe declines in recruitment and their population status is now of significant concern. Given the multiple and lengthy migrations undertaken by anguillid eels, understanding of the drivers of movement is fundamental for species conservation and management. Yet, despite the importance of lentic systems to their ecology, most studies on anguillid eel movement have been conducted in lotic systems. Given that key influences on eel migration in lotic water bodies, such as fluctuations in flow and water temperature, may be minimised in lentic environments, the transferability of findings between lotic and lentic systems cannot be assumed. A systematic map was constructed to synthesise current knowledge on the extrinsic and intrinsic drivers of anguillid eel movement in lentic systems. The current state of knowledge of the drivers of eel movement in lentic systems is presented and compared to the relatively well-understood drivers of movement in lotic systems. We also discuss current knowledge gaps and limitations, and identify key future research requirements to inform the management and conservation of anguillid eels in understudied lentic systems. Graphical abstract

We are in the midst of a revolution in satellite technology, with the rapid development and advancement of small satellites (or SmallSats, i.e., satellites

Top marine predators, such as odontocetes, pinnipeds, and seabirds, are known to forage around fishing boats because fishermen aggregate and/or discard their prey. Recently, there have been reports of humpback whales interacting with fishing boats. However, whether humpback whales utilise discard fish as a food source and how they forage around fishing boats is unknown. This study reports for the first time, the foraging behaviour of a humpback whale around fishing boats. Three whales were tagged using a suction-cup tag containing a video camera, and a behavioural data logger in the coastal area of Tromsø, Norway. Video data from one tagged whale showed that the whale remained in close vicinity of fishing boats for 43 minutes, and revealed the presence of large numbers of dead fish, fish-eating killer whales, fishing boats, and fishing gear. In waters with large numbers of dead fish, the whale raised its upper jaw, a motion associated with engulfing discard fish from fishing boats, and this feeding behaviour differed markedly from lunge-feeding observed in two other whales in the same area. This behaviour was defined as “pick-up feeding”. The behavioural data logger showed that there was no lunge feeding when the whale foraged around fishing boats. This study showed a novel humpback whale foraging strategy: low energy gain from scattered prey but also low energy costs because high-energy lunge feeding was not required.

A wide array of technologies are available for gaining insight into the movement of wild aquatic animals. Although acoustic telemetry can lack the fine‐scale spatial resolution of some satellite tracking technologies, the substantially longer battery life can yield important long‐term data on individual behavior and movement for low per‐unit cost. Typically, however, receiver arrays are designed to maximize spatial coverage at the cost of positional accuracy leading to potentially longer detection gaps as individuals move out of range between monitored locations. This is particularly true when these technologies are deployed to monitor species in hard‐to‐access locations.Here, we develop a novel approach to analyzing acoustic telemetry data, using the timing and duration of gaps between animal detections to infer different behaviors. Using the durations between detections at the same and different receiver locations (i.e., detection gaps), we classify behaviors into “restricted” or potential wider “out‐of‐range” movements synonymous with longer distance dispersal. We apply this method to investigate spatial and temporal segregation of inferred movement patterns in two sympatric species of reef shark within a large, remote, marine protected area (MPA). Response variables were generated using network analysis, and drivers of these movements were identified using generalized linear mixed models and multimodel inference.Species, diel period, and season were significant predictors of “out‐of‐range” movements. Silvertip sharks were overall more likely to undertake “out‐of‐range” movements, compared with gray reef sharks, indicating spatial segregation, and corroborating previous stable isotope work between these two species. High individual variability in “out‐of‐range” movements in both species was also identified.We present a novel gap analysis of telemetry data to help infer differential movement and space use patterns where acoustic coverage is imperfect and other tracking methods are impractical at scale. In remote locations, inference may be the best available tool and this approach shows that acoustic telemetry gap analysis can be used for comparative studies in fish ecology, or combined with other research techniques to better understand functional mechanisms driving behavior., Financial and logistical constraints may lead to imperfect in‐field acoustic receiver array designs which can result in acoustic telemetry data with long detection gaps. We present a novel gap analysis of telemetry data to help infer differential movement and space use patterns where acoustic coverage is imperfect and other tracking methods impractical

Natural history documentary films can be a powerful tool for wildlife conservation, providing an accessible means to increase public knowledge of the natural world. There has been an increasing focus in documentary films on the threats to biodiversity in recent years that has positively aided conservation efforts. However, potential ethical and welfare implications of natural history film making are often overlooked. Here, we consider the design and impact of the narratives used and the filming methods employed in natural history film making and their potential implications for conservation. Although these programmes are often lauded for their cinematography, filming techniques and practices should satisfy high ethical standards and should be evaluated to assess disturbance caused to wildlife and any associated negative behavioural and physiological impacts. This evaluation should include the direct impact of the filming, as well as considering the risk of viewers replicating human-wildlife encounters they see on film. Trends towards the use of highly dramatized storytelling, anthropomorphism and the inclusion of inaccurate information should also be addressed. Although some production companies have filming guidelines in place, this is not standard industry practice. Natural history films are an important means of educating and enthusing people about nature and its conservation; however, it is vital that films are made responsibly. To facilitate this discussion, we propose recommendations, including standardised industry-wide guidelines, codes of conduct and independent ethical reviews, for natural history film makers to mitigate and avoid negative impacts.

Coral reefs are critical ecosystems globally for marine fauna, biodiversity and through the services they provide to humanity. However, they are significantly threatened by anthropogenic stressors, such as climate change. By combining 9 environmental variables and ecological and health-based thresholds obtained from the available literature, we develop, using fuzzy logic (discontinuous functions), a Coral Reef Stress Exposure Index (CRSEI) for remotely monitoring coral reef exposure to environmental stressors. Our approach capitalises on the abundance of readily available satellite Earth Observation (EO) data available in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-based geospatial processing platform. CRSEI values from 3157 distinct reefs were generated and mapped across 12 important coral reef ecosystem regions. Quantitative analyses indicated that the index detected significant temporal differences in stress and was, therefore, able to capture historic change at a global scale. We also applied the CRSEI to three case-study reef ecosystems, previously well-monitored for stress and disturbance using other methods. PCA analysis indicated that depth, current, sea surface temperature (SST) and SST anomaly accounted for the greatest contribution to the variance in stress in these three regions. The CRSEI corroborated temporal and spatial differences in stress exposure from known disturbances within these reference regions, in addition to identifying the potential drivers of inter- and intra-region differences in stress, namely depth, degree heating weeks and SST anomaly. We discuss how the index can be further improved in future with site-specific thresholds for each stress variable, and the incorporation of additional variables not currently available in GEE. This index provides an open access tool, built around a free and powerful processing platform, that has broad potential to assist in the regular monitoring of our increasingly imperilled coral reef ecosystems, and, in particular, those that are remote or inaccessible.

Given the recent trend towards establishing very large marine protected areas (MPAs) and the high potential of these to contribute to global conservation targets, we review outcomes of the last decade of marine conservation research in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), one of the largest MPAs in the world. The BIOT MPA consists of the atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, interspersed with and surrounded by deep oceanic waters. Islands around the atoll rims serve as nesting grounds for sea birds. Extensive and diverse shallow and mesophotic reef habitats provide essential habitat and feeding grounds for all marine life, and the absence of local human impacts may improve recovery after coral bleaching events. Census data have shown recent increases in the abundance of sea turtles, high numbers of nesting seabirds and high fish abundance, at least some of which is linked to the lack of recent harvesting. For example, across the archipelago the annual number of green turtle clutches (Chelonia mydas) is ~ 20,500 and increasing and the number of seabirds is ~ 1 million. Animal tracking studies have shown that some taxa breed and/or forage consistently within the MPA (e.g. some reef fishes, elasmobranchs and seabirds), suggesting the MPA has the potential to provide long-term protection. In contrast, post-nesting green turtles travel up to 4000 km to distant foraging sites, so the protected beaches in the Chagos Archipelago provide a nesting sanctuary for individuals that forage across an ocean basin and several geopolitical borders. Surveys using divers and underwater video systems show high habitat diversity and abundant marine life on all trophic levels. For example, coral cover can be as high as 40–50%. Ecological studies are shedding light on how remote ecosystems function, connect to each other and respond to climate-driven stressors compared to other locations that are more locally impacted. However, important threats to this MPA have been identified, particularly global heating events, and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activity, which considerably impact both reef and pelagic fishes.

BACKGROUND Five-year overall survival (OS) for patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is poor. Until recently, a standard of care was concurrent chemoradiation alone. Patients with metastatic NSCLC treated with anti-programmed death 1 antibodies have demonstrated improved OS. This trial evaluated pembrolizumab as consolidation therapy after concurrent chemoradiation in patients with unresectable stage III disease. METHODS Patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC received concurrent chemoradiation with cisplatin and etoposide, cisplatin and pemetrexed, or carboplatin and paclitaxel and 59.4 to 66.6 Gy of radiation. Patients with nonprogression of disease were enrolled and received pembrolizumab (200 mg intravenously every 3 weeks for up to 12 months). The primary endpoint was the time to metastatic disease or death (TMDD). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS) and OS. RESULTS The median follow-up for 93 patients (92 for efficacy) was 32.2 months (range, 1.2-46.6 months). The median TMDD was 30.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 18.7 months to not reached), which was significantly longer than the historical control of 12 months (P

Background There are now a wide array of field and laboratory techniques available for gaining insight into the movement and behaviour of sharks. Although acoustic telemetry may lack the fine-scale resolution of satellite telemetry, the low cost and longer battery life make it a powerful tool for investigating elasmobranch behaviour. Here, in the absence of satellite tracking data, we develop a novel approach to analysing acoustic telemetry data, using detection gaps to infer movement patterns to and from monitored reef habitats, to investigate spatial and temporal segregation between two sympatric shark species in a large remote MPA. Methods A total of 102 grey reef and 76 silvertip sharks were fitted with long-term acoustic transmitters and tracked inside a large acoustic array of reef-based receivers in the British Indian Ocean Territory MPA, between 2014 and 2018. From the resulting dataset (768,081 movements), movements between receivers and recursive loops to the same receiver were identified. Using the durations of inter-receiver movements (i.e. detection gaps), individual behaviours were classified into ‘restricted’ or ‘wider ranging’ movements. Drivers of these movements were identified using network analysis, generalised linear mixed models and multi-model inference starting from an a priori set of explanatory variables. Results In general, silvertip sharks were more likely to undertake ‘wider ranging’ movements than grey reef sharks. ‘Wider ranging’ movements were more common at night compared to during the day, and during the wet season compared to the dry season. In addition, the difference in ‘wider ranging’ movements between the two species increased at night. These results suggest spatial segregation and temporal segregation of movements between grey reef and silvertip sharks in the region. Conclusions We present a novel analysis of detection gaps from acoustic telemetry data to infer differential movement patterns and describe how species organise in space and time. Furthermore, this approach shows that acoustic telemetry gap analysis can be used for comparative studies, or combined, with other research techniques to better understand the functional role of sharks in reef ecosystems, moving towards more informed strategies for the conservation and management of the marine environment.

When conducting biological investigations on shark species, capture and brief restraint procedures may be required in order to collect ecological, behavioral and physiological data. Tonic immobility is an innate, reversible, coma-like stasis displayed by a large number of taxa, including sharks, and has been used for brief restraint, but is rarely used during capture itself. Here, we present a novel, non-lethal capture method of zebra sharks, Stegostoma fasciatum, using tonic immobility, in the field. Zebra sharks were caught by free diving, and on SCUBA, inducing a state of tonic immobility by quickly applying tight-fisted manual pressure to the caudal fin, instead of the dorso-ventral inversion method. Divers were then able to collect tissue samples for genetic analysis, and in some cases, maintain the animals in a state of tonic immobility during transport up to the research vessel for additional data collection. Decreased duration of anthropogenic intervention, and minimal physical struggle associated with this capture and restraint method is expected to reduce physiological markers of distress. Tonic immobility induction and other methods of non-lethal capture deserve continued investigation.

Climate change is predicted to have profound consequences for marine ecosystems. Due to the growing political and social drive to address its impacts, monitoring and mitigating climate change is a priority in marine policy in the UK. Cetaceans have been proposed as informative sentinel species for monitoring ocean health. Here, strandings data from four UK cetacean species were assessed for their use as a tool to aid policy makers monitoring climate change in marine environments. Data on stranded cetaceans were collected from 1990 to 2018 and differences in the proportions of stranded cold water adapted and warm water adapted species assessed using Generalised Linear Models (GLM), with 6-year periods and four regions of the UK included as explanatory variables. This modelling approach showed an increase in the proportion of stranded warm water adapted species over time across the UK and that differences in proportion of strandings between cold water and warm water adapted species can be detected between regions and 6-year periods, chosen as metrics to coordinate with reporting cycles for policy assessment needs. As such, these results show the potential for utilising strandings data to identify changing oceanic trends at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales for policy reporting in the UK. However, development of these analyses with a more detailed examination of these data at a finer resolution, incorporating other data sources, such as distribution trends and dietary stable isotope data, may be required before it is applicable as an indicator for trends in changes in climate.

As part of their social sound repertoire, migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) perform a large variety of surface-active behaviors, such as breaching and repetitive slapping of the pectoral fins and tail flukes; however, little is known about what factors influence these behaviors and what their functions might be. We investigated the potential functions of surface-active behaviors in humpback whale groups by examining the social and environmental contexts in which they occurred. Focal observations on 94 different groups of whales were collected in conjunction with continuous acoustic monitoring, and data on the social and environmental context of each group. We propose that breaching may play a role in communication between distant groups as the probability of observing this behavior decreased significantly when the nearest whale group was within 4,000 m compared to beyond 4,000 m. Involvement in group interactions, such as the splitting of a group or a group joining with other whales, was an important factor in predicting the occurrence of pectoral, fluke, and peduncle slapping, and we suggest that they play a role in close-range or within-group communication. This study highlights the potentially important and diverse roles of surface-active behaviors in the communication of migrating humpback whales.

Global elasmobranch populations have declined dramatically over the past fifty years, and continued research into the drivers of their habitats and distributions is vital for improved conservation and management. How environmental factors influence elasmobranch behavior, habitat use, and movement patterns is still relatively poorly understood, in part because of the scale over which many of these animals roam and the remote nature of the marine ecosystems they inhabit. In the last decade there has been an explosion of satellite remote sensing (SRS) technologies that can cover these vast spatial scales for the marine environment. Consequentially, SRS presents an opportunity to analyze important environmental drivers in elasmobranch ecology and to aid management decisions for the conservation of declining populations. A systematic literature review was undertaken to synthesize the current use of SRS environmental data in elasmobranch research. In addition, to facilitate the use of SRS in this field moving forward, we have compiled a list of popular SRS data sources and sensors for common environmental variables in marine science. Our review of 71 papers (55 published in the last 10 years) identified ten SRS-derived environmental variables that have been used in elasmobranch studies, from a range of satellite sensors and data sources. Sea surface temperature and ocean productivity were the most frequently used variables. Articles primarily analyzed variables individually or in pairs, with few studies looking at a suite of interacting variables. Here, we present a summary of the current state of knowledge on the application of SRS, current gaps and limitations, and discuss some of the potential future directions in which we envisage this field developing. Threatened elasmobranch populations inhabit some of the world’s most remote marine ecosystems. With often global coverage, SRS presents an opportunity to analyze the important environmental drivers of elasmobranch ecology to aid management decisions for the conservation of declining and threatened populations.

Small research vessels are often used as platforms for tagging activities to collect behavioral data on cetaceans and they have the potential to disturb that group or individual. If this disturbance is ignored, results and conclusions produced by that study could be inaccurate. Here land-based behavioral data of migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (n = 29) were used to determine the effect of close approaches for tagging by research vessels on their diving, movement and surface behaviors. Groups of whales were tagged, using digital recording tags, by small research vessels, as part of a behavioral response study. In groups that were approached for tagging, temporary changes in movement behaviors during close approaches were found, with subsequent recovery to “pre-approach” levels. In female-calf groups more long-term changes in travel speed were found. Results suggest that, although close approaches for tagging by small vessels may cause behavioral changes in humpback whales, this change may be small and temporary. However, in female-calf groups, the behavioral change may be greater and longer lasting. This study shows that when using small vessels for behavioral research, disturbance, and recovery should be measured to ensure integrity of data used for other analyses.

Resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) with activating EGFR mutations generally involve development of acquired secondary or tertiary EGFR mutations, such as T790M or C797S. However, case reports have demonstrated that actionable receptor tyrosine kinase fusions such as EML4-ALK, CCDC6-RET, and FGFR3-TACC3 can potentially confer resistance to EGFR TKIs. We seeked to identify the prevalence of FGFR3-TACC3 fusion transcripts as resistance mechanism to EGFR TKIs. Hybrid-capture based genomic profiling was performed on FFPE tissue samples and circulating tumor DNA isolated from peripheral whole blood in the course of clinical care. We performed a comprehensive survey of 17,319 clinical NSCLC samples (14,170 adenocarcinomas and 3149 NSCLC not otherwise specified (NOS)) and identified 5 cases of FGFR3-TACC3 containing the intact kinase domain of FGFR3 and the coiled-coil domain of TACC3 emerging after treatment with EGFR TKIs, including one previously reported index case. Of the 4 novel cases of FGFR3-TACC3, one emerged after erlotinib, one after afatinib, one after osimertinib, and one after ASP8273. These 5 cases of FGFR3-TACC3 fusions acquired post-EGFR TKI, while rare, indicate that FGFR3-TACC3 is a recurrent resistance mechanism, which can bypass EGFR blockade by all generations of EGFR TKIs in NSCLC. Routine re-biopsy and genomic profiling using platforms capable of detecting kinase fusions has the potential to inform new therapeutic strategies for patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC progressing on TKIs.

In order to identify amino acid residues of Ste4p involved in receptor recognition and/or receptor-G protein coupling, we employed random in vitro mutagenesis and a genetic screening to isolate mutant Ste4p subunits with altered pheromone response. We generated a plasmid library containing randomly mutagenized Ste4 ORFs, followed by phenotypic selection of ste4p mutants by altered alpha pheromone response in yeast cells. Subsequently, we analyzed mutant ste4-10 which has a replacement of the almost universally conserved leucine 132 by phenylalanine. This residue lies in the first blade of the beta propeller structure proposed by crystallographic analysis. By overexpression experiments we found that mutant ste4p subunit triggers the mating pathway at wild type levels in both wild type and receptorless strains. When expressed in a ste4 background, however, the mutant G protein is activated inefficiently by mating pheromone in both a and alpha cells. The mutant ste4-10p was tested in the two-hybrid system and found to be defective in its interaction with the Gpa1p, but has a normal association with the C-termini end of the Ste2p receptor. These observations strongly suggest that the Leu-132 of the Ste4p subunit is essential for efficient activation of the G protein by the pheromone-stimulated receptor and that this domain could be an important point for physical interaction between the Gbeta and the Galpha subunits.