Lauren Nadler

University of Southampton · National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS)

Many animals live in groups because of the potential benefits associated with defense and foraging. Group living may also induce a 'calming effect' on individuals, reducing overall metabolic demand. This effect could occur by minimising the need for individual vigilance and reducing stress through social buffering. However, this effect has proved d...

Individuals of gregarious species often group with conspecifics to which they are phenotypically similar. This among-group assortment has been studied for body size, sex and relatedness. However, the role of physiological traits has been largely overlooked. Here, we discuss mechanisms by which physiological traits—particularly those related to meta...

Metabolic costs associated with parasites should not be limited to established infections. Even during initial exposure to questing and attacking parasites, hosts can enact behavioural and physiological responses that could also incur metabolic costs. However, few studies have measured these costs directly. Hence, little is known about metabolic co...

As climate-driven heat waves become more frequent and intense, there is increasing urgency to understand how thermally sensitive species are responding. Acute heating events lasting days to months may elicit acclimation responses to improve performance and survival. However, the coordination of acclimation responses remains largely unknown for most...

Using social groups (i.e. schools) of the tropical damselfish Chromis viridis, we test how familiarity through repeated social interactions influences fast-start responses, the primary defensive behaviour in a range of taxa, including fish, sharks, and larval amphibians. We focus on reactivity through response latency and kinematic performance (i.e...

Animals use social grouping for numerous fitness-enhancing processes, such as foraging, social learning, defense, and energy expenditure. One broadly referenced negative consequence of social grouping is the increased risk of exposure to parasites, which are defined broadly here as organisms with obligate, persistent, and harmful consumer associati...

Escaping predation is essential for species survival, but prey must effectively match their response to the perceived threat imposed by a predator. For social animals, one mechanism to reduce risk of predation is living in larger group sizes, which dilutes each individuals risk of capture. When a predator attacks, individuals from a range of taxa (...

Some parasites manipulate their host's phenotype to enhance predation rates by the next host in the parasite's life cycle. Our understanding of this parasite-increased trophic transmission is often stymied by study-design challenges. A recurring difficulty has been obtaining uninfected hosts with a coevolutionary history with the parasites, and con...

Researchers from diverse disciplines, including organismal and cellular physiology, sports science, human nutrition, evolution and ecology, have sought to understand the causes and consequences of the surprising variation in metabolic rate found among and within individual animals of the same species. Research in this area has been hampered by diff...

Researchers studying animal phenotypes often overlook the potential influence of parasites hiding inside their study organisms. Yet, most wild animals host parasites, which can alter individual phenotypes (e.g. morphology, physiology, behaviour). Infection‐induced phenotypes stem from several nonmutually exclusive mechanisms (i.e. adaptive host def...

Parasites can have profound effects on intra‐ and interspecific interactions at the population and community levels through their influence on host behaviour, physiology and fitness. While host phenotypic changes are typically thought of in terms of established infections, parasite encounters may be sufficient to induce behavioural changes, even wh...

Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster spp.) is reported to have exceptional reproductive capacity, but this has been largely inferred based on the overall weight of gonads (and mostly for females), and there are limited estimates of the concentration of gametes within gametogenic tissues. This study quantified gamete concentrations for both male an...

Although individuals within social groups experience reduced predation risk and find food patches more consistently, there can be competition for food among groupmates. Individuals with a higher standard metabolic rate (SMR) may be less social, to prioritize food acquisition over defense, while a greater maximum metabolic rate (MMR) may modulate so...

The blazing lights of Times Square in New York City may be impressive for tourists, yet this blindingly bright attraction can cause problems for urban wildlife. Artificial light at night, typical of cities and suburban areas around the globe, can cause problems for the animals that we share space with, although the impact on local wildlife is often...

How do you find the newest, trendiest restaurants with the best food in your neighborhood (that is, of course, during non-pandemic times when restaurants are all open)? Well, one way that you may notice the new hip spot is to follow the crowds. If you wander by a spot filled with folks enjoying mouth-wateringly delicious food, you will likely be dr...

Modulation of brain serotonin (5-HT) signalling is associated with parasite-induced changes in host behaviour, potentially increasing parasite transmission to predatory final hosts. Such alterations could have substantial impact on host physiology and behaviour, as 5-HT serves multiple roles in neuroendocrine regulation. These effects however remai...

Research conducted on model organisms may be biased due to undetected pathogen infections. Recently, screening studies discovered high prevalence of the microsporidium Pseudoloma neurophilia in zebrafish (Danio rerio) facilities. This spore-forming unicellular parasite aggregates in brain regions associated with motor function and anxiety, and desp...

In the grand scheme of the animal kingdom, insects are often overlooked for their impressive locomotor skills. They can walk forwards, backwards and even upside down, traversing challenging environments with relative ease. But how do insects achieve this coordination? Clare Howard (Columbia University) and colleagues teach us that the insect nervou...

Some parasite species alter the behavior of intermediate hosts to promote transmission to the next host in the parasite’s life cycle. This is the case for Euhaplorchis californiensis, a brain-encysting trematode parasite that causes behavioral changes in the California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis). These manipulations increase predation by the...

When you think about human social behaviour, what animals do you immediately think of as most similar to us? Apes, dolphins, wolves? Sure, these animals display incredibly complex social interactions, just like us. But Eric Edsinger from the Marine Biological Laboratory, USA, and Gül Dölen from Johns Hopkins University, USA, teach us in their lates...

Animals are exposed to variable and rapidly changing environmental flow conditions, such as wind in terrestrial habitats and currents in aquatic systems. For fishes, previous work suggests that individuals exhibit flow-induced changes in aerobic swimming performance. Yet, no one has examined whether similar plasticity is found in fast-start escape...

Research on the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) has waxed and waned over the last few decades, mostly in response to population outbreaks at specific locations. This review considers advances in our understanding of the biology and ecology of CoTS based on the resurgence of research interest, which culminated in this current special is...

The movement capacity of the crown-of-thorns starfishes (Acanthaster spp.) is a primary determinant of both their distribution and impact on coral assemblages. We quantified individual movement rates for the Pacific crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster solaris) ranging in size from 75–480 mm total diameter, across three different substrates (sand,...

Research on the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (CoTS) has waxed and waned over the last few decades, mostly in accordance with the occurrence of population outbreaks at key locations, such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. This review considers advances in our understanding of the biology and ecology of CoTS based on the latest resurgence o...

In the UK, the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) supports its most important shellfish fishery. Nephrops are sold either whole, or as “tails-only” for the scampi trade. In the “tailing” process, the “head” (cephalothorax) is discarded as waste. A smaller crustacean species, the Antarctic krill Euphasia superba, represents an economically valuabl...

Atmospheric CO2 is expected to more than double by the end of the century. The resulting changes in ocean chemistry will affect the behaviour, sensory systems and physiology of a range of fish species. Although a number of past studies have examined effects of CO2 in gregarious fishes, most have assessed individuals in social isolation, which can a...

Like kids in a classroom, fish have to carefully choose their position in the group to maximise the benefits of collective-living, while limiting its tradeoffs. Collective group-living is particularly common in the marine environment, with over half of all fish species in the world’s oceans living in coordinated fish groups, called schools, at some...

1. Predation theory and empirical evidence suggest that top-predators benefit the survival of resource prey through the suppression of mesopredators. However, whether such behavioural suppression can also affect the physiology of resource prey has yet to be examined. 2. Using a three-tier reef fish food-web and intermittent-flow respirometry, our...

Australia’s coral reefs are currently under threat from a range of short- and long-term stressors. The ability of corals to recover from acute disturbance events, such as bleaching, cyclones and crown-of-thorns seastars outbreaks, is greatly influenced by the multitude of stressors reefs are currently experiencing (1). Since healthy coral habitat i...

This study compares the critical oxygen saturation (O2crit) levels of the shiner perch Cymatogaster aggregata obtained using two different methods wherein hypoxia is induced either by the fish's respiration (closed respirometry) or by degassing oxygen with nitrogen (intermittent-flow respirometry). Fish exhibited loss of equilibrium at a higher O2...

As coral reefs are home to dense aggregations of a variety of species, aggressive territoriality is often a critical component of individual behavior. Identification and assessment of the risk posed by intruders is crucial to defending a territory, and fishes on coral reefs have been found to attend to body shape, body size, and coloration when res...

For coral reef fish with an obligate relationship to their habitat, like Pomacentrid damselfish, choosing a suitable home amongst the reef structure is key to sur-vival. A surprisingly small number of studies have ex-amined patterns in adult damselfish distributions com-pared to other ontogenetic phases. The aim of this study was to determine which...