This monthly bulletin from the Freshwater Biological Association summarizes recent freshwater news from around the world. It provides updates on events at the FBA, including their 2013 course program and recently published issues of their journals Freshwater Reviews and Inland Waters. The bulletin also summarizes 10 recent news articles on topics like the destruction of biodiversity in a Scottish loch by invasive crayfish, research revealing how crocodile jaw shape relates to prey size, and efforts to save endangered Panamanian frog species through genetic testing to prevent interbreeding.

1. February 2013
Freshwater Matters
Freshwater Matters is a monthly electronic bulletin of the most recent
freshwater news from around the world, compiled by the Freshwater Biological
Association (FBA). It includes updates of what is happening at the FBA and ways
to get involved.
Contents
What’s happening at the FBA?
This month’s articles
Loch Ken’s biodiversity ‘destroyed’ by invasive crayfish
Removing doubt over croc snout clout
Trading wetland no longer a deal with the devil
The politics of freshwater science
Salmon runs boom and bust over centuries
Secret of fish’s climbing ability revealed
Dragonfly shows human like power of concentration
New fish named after author of Darwin’s Dreampond
Genetic matchmaking saves endangered frogs
The one that didn’t get away
What’s happening at the FBA?
FBA 2013 Course Programme
We offer a range of courses developed for both enthusiasts and professionals
including a wide range of identification courses on freshwater invertebrates
including our first course in March on general freshwater invertebrate
identification; and a number of fish health and disease courses. Other
identification and specialist courses include: Chironomid Pupal Exuvial Technique
(CPET); entomology for anglers Level 1 and Level 2; River InVertebrate Prediction
And Classification System (RIVPACS)/River Invertebrate Classification Tool
(RICT) bioassessment training. We also offer an accredited course - invertebrate
identification for biotic assessment (including examination). NEW FOR 2013 –
Identifying chironomid larvae
For more information and to book a place, please contact us at events@fba.org.uk.
For a full course programme and downloadable booking form, please visit www.
fba.org.uk/fba-training-courses.
Latest issue of Freshwater Reviews published
The latest issue of the FBA journal Freshwater Reviews (Vol 5(2)) was published
in December, with papers on the effects of temperature on phytoplankton,
carbon sources supporting large river food webs, the visual representation of
phytobenthos to help understand ecological status, the use of airborne remote
sensing, and the effects of on rivers when motorway crossings are constructed. A
list of contents and abstracts can be viewed online at: https://www.fba.org.uk/
journals/index.php/FRJ/issue/view/109. Full-text articles can be downloaded by
subscribers, with all articles made open access after 36 months. If you do not
currently subscribe and wish to have access to the journal, please email info@
fba.org.uk or recommend the journal to your library at https://www.fba.org.
uk/journals/index.php/FRJ/user/recommendLibrary. Individuals who are FBA
members can subscribe to online access for only £20, and Corporate Members are
entitled to free online access. So why not subscribe today?
Latest issue of Inlands Waters now published
The latest issue of Inland Waters – Journal of the International Society of
Limnology (Vol 3(1)) has now been published, including the first four papers on
a special theme of Lake Simcoe, Canada (to be continued in the next issue). A
list of contents and abstracts can be viewed online at: https://www.fba.org.uk/
journals/index.php/IW/issue/view/110. Full-text articles can be downloaded by
subscribers and SIL members. If you do not currently subscribe or are not a
SIL member and wish to have access to the journal, please either take out an

2. individual subscription (complete the subscription leaflet at https://www.fba.org.
uk/journals/GuidanceDocs/IWSubscriptionLeaflet_2013ForWebsite.pdf and return
to the SIL Business Services Coordinator) or recommend the journal to your
library at https://www.fba.org.uk/journals/index.php/IW/user/recommendLibrary.
This month’s articles
Loch Ken’s biodiversity ‘destroyed’ by invasive crayfish
As the Scottish government updates its biodiversity strategies to meet the target
of halting biodiversity loss by 2020, a member of the parliament has said that
the biodiversity in Loch Ken has been almost wiped out by the invasive North
American signal crayfish. This is despite the fact that the loch lies within the
Galloway and South Ayrshire biosphere, recently recognised by UNESCO as ‘a
good way to demonstrate good nature conservation’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-21078480
Removing doubt over croc snout clout
A study published this month in PLoS One examines the relationship between the
shape of a crocodile’s jaw and the prey they feed on. Using complex 3D models
and computer simulations the team from Monash University showed that the
shorter snouted crocodiles had jaws adapted for large prey, whereas the jaws of
longer snouted relatives were more likely to break under comparable strains.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130118235050.htm
Trading wetland no longer a deal with the devil
Currently when a wetland is lost to development it is often stipulated that the
loss should be offset by restoration of a wetland at another site. However, if the
wetlands are not comparable this can lead to loss of species and little benefit. Now
researchers have developed a framework based on three factors that are key to
the success of such offset schemes that they hope can guide practitioners and so
realise benefits for biodiversity.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uoic-twn011713.php
The politics of freshwater science
The Canadian Government have announced the decision to close the Experiment
Lakes Area (ELA) to widespread protests from scientists and the general public.
The ELA has been at the forefront of much aquatic science and has produced
almost 750 peer reviewed papers over its lifetime.
http://biofreshblog.com/2012/12/04/the-politics-of-freshwater-science-why-the-
closure-of-canadas-experimental-lakes-area-matters-to-us-all/
Salmon runs boom and bust over centuries
Over the last 20 years there has been a growing understanding that salmon runs
not only vary year on year, but also over decade-long cycles. Now work led by
University of Washington researchers published in this month’s Proceedings of
the National Academy of Science suggests that these decade-long cycles may
themselves be overlayed by century-long cycles which influence fish productivity.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130114153426.htm
Secret of fish’s climbing ability revealed
Researchers studying the Nopili rock-climbing goby (Sicyopterus stimpsoni) have
found that the fish uses the same sets of muscles for both climbing and eating.
The authors suggest that as the fish evolved it began to use its specialised feeding
mechanism to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130104203850.htm
Dragonfly shows human like power of concentration
Research published in Current Biology suggests that dragonfly’s brains have the
ability to screen out useless visual information and focus on a specific target, a
process called selective attention. This is the first time that this ability has been
found in an invertebrate animal.
http://news.yahoo.com/dragonfly-shows-human-power-concentration-000311471.
html

3. New fish named after author of Darwin’s Dreampond
A newly discovered fish found in Lake Victoria has been named after Tijs
Goldschmidt, the author of Darwin’s Dreampond. The book documented the
dramatic extinction of hundreds of cichlid species in the lake following the
introduction of Nile perch together with other environmental pressures.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/pp-anf010213.php
Genetic matchmaking saves endangered frogs
Researchers in Panama are using genetic tests to avert mating mix-ups between
species that may look very similar but which are actually different species. The
researchers hope that using this technique will reduce the risk of creating hybrids
that are not genetically suited to their environment, thereby reducing the chances
that they can be successfully re-introduced.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/stri-gms010813.php
The one that didn’t get away
One hungry pike bit off more than it could chew when it attempted to eat a
Zander three-quarters its own size. A boat owner in Norway found the fish locked
together and took some amazing but slightly gruesome pictures.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20971848
Please forward this bulletin to any of your colleagues who may be
interested!