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

1. October 2012
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
Push to create a million UK ponds
Mercury in water, fish detected with nanotechnology
Invasive crayfish smuggled alien species overseas
Why bother saving nature?
Surprises in evolution of frog life cycles
It pays to keep salmon fit
Trout to become extinct in the Iberian Peninsula in less than 100 years?
Goby fish 6,000km apart share eyeless common ancestor
Small fish use high aggression strategy
Survival without water: A key trait for aquatic invaders
What’s happening at the FBA?
Gilson Award 2013: applications invited 15 Oct to 15 Nov
A reminder to FBA members that those wishing to apply for the Hugh Cary Gilson
Memorial Award 2013 should submit their application between 15 October and 15
November 2012. The Gilson Award is an annual grant (up to £4000) given by the
FBA to support scientific research into freshwater biology. The 2013 award will be
made in April 2013 and last for a period of 12 months. Application is open to FBA
members in good standing who joined the FBA on or before 1 July 2012. Visit
the FBA website for terms and conditions, and more details about the application
process (http://www.fba.org.uk/the-hugh-cary-gilson-award).
Getting involved - the FBA Grants & Awards Committee
As well as offering the Gilson Award (above), the FBA also supports science
through a programme of collaborative PhD and MSc studentships. If you’re an
FBA member and are interested in helping us with this side of our work, have
you considered sitting on the committee that awards and monitors these grants
and studentships? As reported earlier this year in FBA News, there will shortly
be two vacancies on the FBA Grants & Awards Committee. The time commitment
is modest – business is mostly by correspondence, with normally one meeting
per year in early January at the FBA in Windermere, for which expenses are
reimbursed. FBA members will normally sit on the Committee for a maximum of
three years. Any FBA member can volunteer to sit on the Committee, provided
they have an interest in assessing applications for research and monitoring the
subsequent progress of award-holders, including studentships. Working on the
Committee can also be a useful introduction to the work of the FBA, for those with
a future interest in standing for FBA Council. If you are interested, please contact
Karen Rouen at the FBA (krouen@fba.org.uk) by the end of October, giving some
brief background details about yourself.
This month’s articles
Push to create a million UK ponds
Details of the second phase of the Million Ponds Project were announced by Pond
Conservation this month. The project will see the creation of 30,000 clean water
ponds over the next 7 years, providing new habitat for endangered freshwater
plants and animals. With many of the freshwater habitats in the county currently
affected by water pollution The Million Ponds Project was developed as a way of
providing clean waters within the landscape.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19624009

2. Mercury in water, fish detected with nanotechnology
Research published in Nature Materials this month details a new system that is
able to detect mercury and other heavy metals using a relatively inexpensive
probe engineered using nanoparticles. The device will allow scientists to detect
even low levels of potentially harmful substances and so take action before they
build to toxic levels.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/nu-miw091212.php
Invasive crayfish smuggled alien species overseas
When the Red Swamp crayfish invaded Europe more than 30 years ago it may
have brought another species, the ostracod Ankylocythere sinuosa, along for
the ride. The ostracod needs the crayfish to survive, laying their eggs on it then
clinging on as they develop. In return the ostracods may help the crayfish by
removing parasites but the exact relationship is unclear.
http://www.livescience.com/23081-invasive-crayfish-smuggled-alien-species-
overseas.html
Why bother saving nature?
A list of the world’s 100 most threatened species, 29 of which occur in freshwater,
was released this month to coincide with the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress.
The report, “Priceless or Worthless?”, examines not only the threats to species but
the ways that they can be saved.
http://biofreshblog.com/2012/09/11/why-bother-saving-nature/
Surprises in evolution of frog life cycles
Research published this month in Evolution reveals that not all frogs start life
as tadpoles. In a review of 720 species of fogs researchers found an incredible
diversity of life-cycles. Of the species examined around half had a life cycle that
started with the eggs in water, the remainder exhibited an incredible diversity
including hundreds of species with no tadpole stage at all.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120910142632.htm
It pays to keep salmon fit
Putting young salmon through an exercise regime before transferring them to sea
cages could save salmon farmers huge sums of money by improving the fish’s
health. With proper exercises in the final few months before being transferred,
smolts develop larger heart muscles and a stronger immune system, reducing
mortality as they mature.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120905083908.htm
Trout to become extinct in the Iberian Peninsula in less than 100 years?
Climate change, pollution and water abstraction will lead to the loss of trout from
the Iberian Peninsula over the next 100 years according to a study published this
month in Global Change Biology. As well as representing an important resource
due to the fish’s value for recreational fishing, the area is also a hotspot of genetic
diversity within the trout populations of Europe as it acted as a refuge for the
species during the Pleistocene ice ages.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120905083859.htm
Goby fish 6,000km apart share eyeless common ancestor
A study published this month in PLoS One shows that that two eyeless, cave-
dwelling fish species separated by an ocean are in fact closely related. Using DNA
sequences to rebuild the family tree researchers found that the two goby species,
one of which live in Australia and the other Madagascar, are more closely related
to each other than any other goby. Rather than evolving the traits independently,
the results suggest the fish shared a common ancestor millions of years ago.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19440500
Small fish use high aggression strategy
Male desert gobies exhibit a “Napoleon complex” with the small males acting more
aggressively than larger ones to defend their nest. The strategy is thought to be
beneficial to the smaller fish as it prevents them from being sized up revealing
their inferiority to intruders.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120901000614.htm

3. Survival without water: A key trait for aquatic invaders
Research into the dispersal abilities of an invasive New Zealand mudsnail
published in the open access journal NeoBiota has provided simple and cost
effective methods for controlling its spread. The researchers found that the spread
of the snail was related to its ability to survive desiccation for up to 48 hours. By
taking simple precautions such as drying fishing equipment for over 53 hours the
spread of the snail from infected waters can be stopped.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120822112206.htm
Please forward this bulletin to any of your colleagues who may be
interested!