Sticklefest 2012 now a special issue

In August 2012, I had the great fortune to attend the seventh annual Stickleback meeting, organized by Katie Peichel and held on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. Here is the blog I wrote about it.

 

Since that time, Katie and I have worked to edit the special issue from the meeting. It appears in my favorite journal Evolutionary Ecology Research. This post is simply to announce the special issue and to make everyone aware of its contents. I first repeat the start of our introductory paper written with great help from Patrik Nosil, Jenny Boughman, and Blake Matthews. Then I list the full contents with links to each paper. Enjoy.

From the introductory article “Stickleback research: the now and the next”

Institutions and programs periodically subject themselves to progress reports and strategic plans. Flattering summary statistics are compiled, exciting discoveries are trumpeted, and far-reaching and ambitious goals and visions are made flesh. At the risk of stretching an analogy, stickleback have become an institution and research on stickleback has become a program, and so perhaps it is time for a progress report and strategic plan. Our goal here is to provide this assessment – or at least a semblance of it. Although summary statistics are easily compiled (‘stickleback’ appears in the title of 1846 papers in Web of Science as of 12 March 2013), we prefer to focus on the state and future of the institution and program by selecting and discussing several major discoveries (the now) and postulating areas where stickleback are poised to make important new contributions (the next).

The occasion and excuse for attempting a progress report and strategic plan for stickleback research was the Seventh International Conference on Stickleback Behaviour and Evolution hosted by Katie Peichel in Seattle from 29 July to 3 August 2012. During the course of this meeting, we heard many talks that summarized the state of various research areas and that were on the cusp on new and exciting approaches and discoveries. In discussing these talks, we realized that much could be gained – for us at least – in summarizing the field and in attempting to prognosticate the future. In conjunction, Andrew Hendry and Katie Peichel commissioned and edited the current special issue of Evolutionary Ecology Research so as to represent the diverse and exciting ideas emerging from presentations at the Conference.

 Stickleback Behaviour & Evolution: contributions from the Seventh International Conference
Edited by Andrew P. Hendry & Catherine L. Peichel

Part I

Mackie Lake stickleback - photo by Andrew Hendry

Stickleback research: the now and the next.
Andrew P. Hendry, Catherine L. Peichel, Blake Matthews, Janette W. Boughman & Patrik Nosil — 2013(2) (Andrew.Hendry@McGill.ca)

Divergence in thyroid hormone levels between juveniles of marine and stream ecotypes of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).
Jun Kitano & Sean C. Lema — 2013(2) (jkitano@lab.nig.ac.jp)

Pelvic girdle reduction and asymmetry in threespine stickleback from Wallace Lake, Alaska.
Emily A. Lescak, Frank A. von Hippel, Richard R. Bernhardt & Michael A. Bell — 2013(2) (elescak@alaska.edu)

Female life-history traits in a species pair of threespine stickleback in Mud Lake, Alaska.
Anjali D. Karve, John A. Baker & Frank A. von Hippel — 2013(2) (anjali.karve@mail.utoronto.ca)

No evidence that stickleback spines directly increase risk of predation by an invertebrate predator.
Kenyon B. Mobley, Rocio Colas Ruiz, Frank Johansson, Göran Englund & Folmer Bokma — 2013(2) (mobley@evolbio.mpg.de)

Sensory exploitation and indicator models may explain red pelvic spines in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans.
Andrew Hodgson, A. Ross Black & Ryan Hull — 2013(2) (noonemaycomehere@gmail.com)

Spatial learning ability of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in relation to inferred ecology and ancestry.
Peter J. Park — 2013(2) (peter.park@nyack.edu)

 

Part II

Ninespine stickleback Pungitius pungitius; photo by Kenyon Mobley

Natural selection and the adaptive radiation of Haida Gwaii stickleback.
Thomas E. Reimchen, Carolyn Bergstrom & Patrik Nosil — 2013(3) (reimchen@uvic.ca)

On Irish stickleback: morphological diversification in a secondary contact zone.
Mark Ravinet, Paulo A. Prodöhl & Chris Harrod — 2013(3) (mravinet01@qub.ac.uk)

Are Japanese freshwater populations of threespine stickleback derived from the Pacific Ocean lineage?
Lara M. Cassidy, Mark Ravinet, Seiichi Mori & Jun Kitano — 2013(3) (jkitano@lab.nig.ac.jp)

The implications of pelvic reduction in threespine stickleback for long-term persistence of populations.
John A. Baker, Lauren A. Ackein, David C. Heins, Richard W. King & Susan A. Foster — 2013(3) (jbaker@clarku.edu)

The potential additive and non-additive benefits of mate choice in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).
Carl Smith & Rowena Spence — 2013(3) (cs101@st-andrews.ac.uk)

Hendry Vineyard stickleback: testing for contemporary lake-stream divergence.
Andrew P. Hendry, Aspen S. Hendry & Cedar A. Hendry — 2013(3) (andrew.hendry@mcgill.ca)

anyFish: an open-source software to generate animated fish models for behavioural studies.
Thor Veen, Spencer J. Ingley, Rongfeng Cui, Jon Simpson, Mohammad Rahmani Asl, Ji Zhang, Trisha Butkowski, Wen Li, Chelsea Hash, Jerald B. Johnson, Wei Yan & Gil G. Rosenthal — 2013(3) (veen@biodiversity.ubc.ca)


Part III

Alizarin-red-stained stickleback; photo by Catherine L. Peichel

Contemporary evolution, allelic recycling, and adaptive radiation of the threespine stickleback.
Michael A. Bell & Windsor E. Aguirre — 2013(4) (mabell@life.bio.sunysb.edu)

Regressive evolution of the pelvic complex in stickleback fishes: a study of convergent evolution.
Tom Klepaker, Kjartan Østbye & Michael A. Bell — 2013(4) (Tom.Klepaker@bio.uib.no)

Can ecotypic differences in male courtship behaviour be explained by visual cues provided by female threespine stickleback?
Lily C. Hughes, Susan A. Foster & John A. Baker — 2013(4) (lilychughes@gmail.com)

Correlates of red throat coloration in female stickleback and their potential evolutionary significance.
Lengxob Yong, Ruqing Guo, Daniel S. Wright, Samantha A. Mears, Michele Pierotti & Jeffrey S. McKinnon — 2013(4) (mckinnonj@ecu.edu)

Genetic and plastic contributions to trait divergence between parapatric habitats: female life-history traits in threespine stickleback within the Misty Lake system.
John A. Baker, Katja Räsänen, Jean-Sébastien Moore & Andrew P. Hendry — 2013(4) (jbaker@clarku.edu)

Testing for local adaptation in the Gasterosteus–Gyrodactylus host-parasite system.
Nellie Konijnendijk, Joost A. M. Raeymaekers, Sandra Vandeuren, Lize Jacquemin & Filip A. M. Volckaert — 2013(4) (Nellie.Konijnendijk@bio.kuleuven.be)