Global ETD Search

11	Mate preference in female weakly electric fish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus Bargelletti, Olivia. January 2007 (has links) This study explores the morphology and electrical behavior of breeding weakly electric fish. Wave-type electric fish communicate by means of a continuous oscillatory electric signal produced by an electric organ. The electric organ discharges at frequencies which are sexually dimorphic in many species of electric fish. This dimorphism is thought to be attributed to female mate choice, although to date, there is no evidence for mate choice or intrasexual competition to have driven the evolution of this signaling dimorphism in wave-type electric fish. Here, I have tracked changes in body shape and electric organ discharge (EOD) frequency of A. leptorhynchus throughout a breeding conditioning period. I find that only females alter the shape of their bodies, presumably to account for increasing egg mass, during the breeding conditioning period. Throughout this period, both females and males do not alter their EOD frequencies significantly. Gravid females were used in an unforced preference test, where they were presented with two live, male A. leptorhynchus. Female preference was indicated by a passage of the female into one of the two male compartments. I find that females show a preference for higher EOD frequency males, while no preference is shown for longer, heavier or larger-amplitude males. Further investigations are needed to dissociate the role of EOD frequency from potentially correlated male traits, such as rate and type of modulations of EOD frequency. The finding of this study that female A. leptorhynchus prefer males of higher EOD frequency establishes wave-type weakly electric fish as a promising model system for the study of the evolution and the sensory mechanisms of female choice. Courtship in animals. Sexual selection in animals.
12	Communication in the weakly electric brown ghost knifefish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus Triefenbach, Frank Alexander, January 1900 (has links) (PDF) Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.
13	Mate preference in female weakly electric fish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus Bargelletti, Olivia. January 2007 (has links) No description available. Courtship in animals. Sexual selection in animals.
14	Phylogeny and Molecular Evolution of the Voltage-gated Sodium Channel Gene scn4aa in the Electric Fish Genus Gymnotus Xiao, Dawn Dong-yi 19 March 2014 (has links) Analyses of the evolution and function of voltage-gated sodium channel proteins (Navs) have largely been limited to mutations from individual people with diagnosed neuromuscular disease. This project investigates the carboxyl-terminus of the Nav paralog (locus scn4aa 3’) that is preferentially expressed in electric organs of Neotropical weakly-electric fishes (Order Gymnotiformes). As a model system, I used the genus Gymnotus, a diverse clade of fishes that produce species-specific electric organ discharges (EODs). I clarified evolutionary relationships among Gymnotus species using mitochondrial (cytochrome b, and 16S ribosome) and nuclear (rag2, and scn4aa) gene sequences (3739 nucleotide positions from 28 Gymnotus species). I analyzed the molecular evolution of scn4aa 3’, and detected evidence for positive selection at eight amino acid sites in seven Gymnotus lineages. These eight amino acid sites are located in motifs that may be important for modulation of EOD frequencies. phylogeny systematics molecular evolution evolution voltage-gated sodium channel scn4a Nav1.4 sodium channel gene protein fish electric fish knifefish Neotropical fish Gymnotiform Gymnotus electric organ discharge electric field electric organ electric signal cytochrome b 16S ribosome phylogenetic reconstruction phylogenetic tree evolutionary history positive selection patterns of selection neuromuscular disease gene duplication differential expression maximum parsimony parsimony PAUP* Bayesian inference MrBayes Bayesian maximum likelihood PAML 0307
15	Phylogeny and Molecular Evolution of the Voltage-gated Sodium Channel Gene scn4aa in the Electric Fish Genus Gymnotus Xiao, Dawn Dong-yi 19 March 2014 (has links) Analyses of the evolution and function of voltage-gated sodium channel proteins (Navs) have largely been limited to mutations from individual people with diagnosed neuromuscular disease. This project investigates the carboxyl-terminus of the Nav paralog (locus scn4aa 3’) that is preferentially expressed in electric organs of Neotropical weakly-electric fishes (Order Gymnotiformes). As a model system, I used the genus Gymnotus, a diverse clade of fishes that produce species-specific electric organ discharges (EODs). I clarified evolutionary relationships among Gymnotus species using mitochondrial (cytochrome b, and 16S ribosome) and nuclear (rag2, and scn4aa) gene sequences (3739 nucleotide positions from 28 Gymnotus species). I analyzed the molecular evolution of scn4aa 3’, and detected evidence for positive selection at eight amino acid sites in seven Gymnotus lineages. These eight amino acid sites are located in motifs that may be important for modulation of EOD frequencies. phylogeny systematics molecular evolution evolution voltage-gated sodium channel scn4a Nav1.4 sodium channel gene protein fish electric fish knifefish Neotropical fish Gymnotiform Gymnotus electric organ discharge electric field electric organ electric signal cytochrome b 16S ribosome phylogenetic reconstruction phylogenetic tree evolutionary history positive selection patterns of selection neuromuscular disease gene duplication differential expression maximum parsimony parsimony PAUP* Bayesian inference MrBayes Bayesian maximum likelihood PAML 0307

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