Estimating egg deposition for Atlantic salmon population assessments is made difficult by their lack of sexual dimorphism prior to the autumn spawning season. We quantified the effect of sex misclassification from subjective examination of external morphology on egg deposition estimates in four Atlantic salmon populations across multiple years. Sex classification of Canadian salmon using the genetic sex marker ( sd Y) was accu...

Pig keeping is important to the livelihoods of many rural Ugandans. Pigs are typically sold based on live weight or a carcass weight derived from this; however this weight is commonly estimated due to the lack of access to scales. Here, we explore the development of a weigh band for more accurate weight determination and potentially increased farmer bargaining power on sale price. Pig weights and varied body measurements (hear...

Engineering signalling between plants and microbes could be exploited to establish host‐specificity between plant‐growth‐promoting bacteria and target crops in the environment. We previously engineered rhizopine‐signalling circuitry facilitating exclusive signalling between rhizopine‐producing ( RhiP ) plants and model bacterial strains. Here, we conduct an in‐depth analysis of rhizopine‐inducible expression in bacteria. We ch...

As the global climate warms, the fate of lacustrine fish is of huge concern, especially given their sensitivity as ectotherms to changes in water temperature. The Arctic charr ( Salvelinus alpinus L.) is a salmonid with a Holarctic distribution, with peripheral populations persisting at temperate latitudes, where it is found only in sufficiently cold, deep lakes. Thus, warmer temperatures in these habitats particularly during...

A simple approach is proposed to fit a body growth model for the European eel Anguilla anguilla to data‐poor case studies. The model is a modified von Bertalanffy curve allowing for delayed sex determination and sexual dimorphism. The proposed procedure provides preliminary estimates of model parameters on the basis of average age and body length of silver eels.

Given the health and economic burden associated with the widespread occurrence of co‐infections in humans and agricultural animals, understanding how co‐infections contribute to host heterogeneity to infection and transmission is critical if we are to assess risk of infection based on host characteristics. Here, we examine whether host heterogeneity to infection leads to similar heterogeneity in transmission in a population of...

This study is the first comprehensive documentation of the geographical range of Anguillicola crassus in its host, the European eel Anguilla anguilla , in the Republic of Ireland. The prevalence and intensity of infections across 234 sites and 93 river basins in Ireland comprising rivers, lakes and transitional waters (estuaries) were analysed. While only 32% of the river basins were affected by this nematode, they correspond...

Migrations between different habitats are key events in the lives of many organisms. Such movements involve annually recurring travel over long distances usually triggered by seasonal changes in the environment. Often, the migration is associated with travel to or from reproduction areas to regions of growth. Young anadromous Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) emigrate from freshwater nursery areas during spring and early summer...

A flexible panel consisting of 38 informative microsatellite markers for Salmo trutta is described. These markers were selected from a pool of over 150 candidate loci that can be readily amplified in four multiplex PCR groups but other permutations are also possible. The basic properties of each markers were assessed in six population samples from both the Burrishoole catchment, in the west of Ireland, and Lough Neagh, in Nort...