Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous contaminants in the marine environment. The potential pathway through the food web to humans is a general public concern. Commonly consumed marine organisms have never been studied for the presence of MPs as an entry route into the food chain. This study selected Penaeus monodon (tiger prawn) and Metapenaeus ensis (greasyback shrimp) because of their commercial importance, high consumption ra...

The African big-headed ant, Pheidole megacephala , is one of the most destructive invasive ant species, posing a significant threat to native biodiversity and ecosystem function, particularly in island ecosystems. Despite recent efforts to characterize pathogens in other major invasive ants, P . megacephala has received comparatively little attention. In this study, we characterized five novel RNA viruses actively replicating...

Allopatric speciation is a widely accepted hypothesis for species distributed across geographic barriers. Meanwhile, niche conservatism, the tendency of species to retain their ancestral ecological traits, helps reinforce genetic differentiation by stabilising species distributions over time and reducing the role of competition in shaping range boundaries. In contrast, hybridisation can occur at the edges of distribution after...