Project description:Remote sensing allows an animal to extend its morphology with appropriate conductive materials and sensors providing environmental feedback from spatially removed locations. For example, the sector web spider Zygiella x-notata uses a specialized thread as both a structural bridge and signal transmitter to monitor web vibrations from its retreat at the web perimeter. To unravel this model multifunctional system, we investigated Zygiella's signal thread structure with a range of techniques, including tensile testing, laser vibrometry, electron microscopy and behavioural analysis. We found that signal threads varied significantly in the number of filaments; a result of the spider adding a lifeline each time it runs along the bridge. Our mechanical property analysis suggests that while the structure varies, its normalized load does not. We propose that the signal thread represents a complex and fully integrated multifunctional structure where filaments can be added, thus increasing absolute load-bearing capacity while maintaining signal fidelity. We conclude that such structures may serve as inspiration for remote sensing design strategies.
Project description:Chromis notata (Temminck and Schlegel, 1843), commonly known as the pearl-spot chromis, is a damselfish that inhabits the northwestern region of the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea. Interestingly, C. notata has been found to have morphological variations depending on the geographical area of collection. However, because there are insufficient molecular studies on C. notata, in this study, we determined its complete mitochondrial genome using PCR and phylogenetic analyses. The mitochondrial genome of C. notata was found to be 16,600 bp long, which consisted of 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, and 1 control region (D-loop). The base composition was 27.6% A, 24.8% T, 31.0% C, and 16.6% G. A phylogenetic tree reconstructed with the neighbor-joining method depicted a clone relationship with seven species of family Pomacentridae and our previous study based on CO1 gene sequences. The complete mitochondrial genome is a valuable resource in classifying and conserving C. notata.