The increasing awareness of the extent of urchin barrens and impacts of sea urchin overgrazing on rocky reefs in Aotearoa New Zealand has led to a rapid increase in the use of sea urchin removal as a tool for kelp forest restoration. Here, we review these restoration projects, focusing on three case studies, with the aim to provide context on what urchin removal does and does not achieve and guidance on when, where and how it...

Knowledge of the dietary composition of Atlantic marlins, especially for recently acknowledged species such as roundscale spearfish ( Tetrapturus georgii ), is limited, as sample access is constrained by international quotas and intermittent landing rates. A series of annual offshore recreational fishing tournaments target Atlantic blue marlin ( Makaira nigricans ), white marlin ( Kajikia albida ) and roundscale spearfish on t...

Our sense of hearing commences in the cochlea, the peripheral sensory organ for hearing. Spiral ganglion neurons (SGN) in the cochlea are primary auditory neurons responsible for auditory neurotransmission. There are two classes of SGNs: type I SGNs, which make up 90-95% of the SGN population, and type II SGNs, which make up the remainder. Previous studies have shown that SGNs express a combination of purinergic (P2X, P2Y and...

Our sense of hearing starts in the inner ear organ, the cochlea, which contains two types of auditory hair cells for signal transduction. Earlier research showed that the complex cochlear physiology is regulated in part by purinergic signalling through activation of purine-mediated P2X, P2Y and adenosine receptors expressed in the cochlea. This study aims to extend our knowledge of purinergic signalling in the cochlea by compr...

Coral reefs play vital roles in global marine systems and are currently facing increased threats of bleaching. Coral bleaching is heavily influenced by the host-associated microeukaryote community – most notably the dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae. The apicomplexan family Corallicolidae, is the second most abundant member of the microeukaryote community, yet their role in coral health is largely unknown. To explore the r...

Geroscience has helped to usher in a new and exciting era of aging drug development and evaluation of novel and repurposed agents, as well as natural compounds purported to target one or more aging hallmarks. Among the latter, curcumin has long been pursued as a promising strategy but has failed to provide convincing evidence in human trials. Oral intake is the typical route of administration tested for the vast majority of ge...

Cerambycid species of the Spondylidinae subfamily are distributed worldwide and are known for being prolific invaders that infest conifers. In New Zealand, Arhopalus ferus (Mulsant), the burnt pine longhorn beetle, is well-established and requires monitoring at high-risk sites such as ports, airports, and sawmills as part of the requirements to meet pine log export standards set by the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industrie...