Ichthyology & Herpetology Volume 106: Issue 3

Bering Cisco Coregonus laurettae is an anadromous coregonine species known almost exclusively from northwestern North America and with only three documented spawning populations, all in Alaska. Previous studies of Bering Cisco phenotypic variation examined individuals collected primarily in coastal rearing habitats where population affiliation was not known. Here we compare meristic counts and morphometric ratios of pre-spawning adults among the three known populations: one each in the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Susitna rivers in Alaska. We also compare meristic data with those previously reported for this species. Populations in the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers were very similar, while the population in the Susitna River was significantly divergent for certain meristic counts and morphometric ratios. Our findings are consistent with recent genetic analyses that found the Susitna River population to be the most divergent of the three populations. While the Yukon and Kuskokwim river populations survived the Wisconsinan Ice Age in the Beringian Refugium, the Susitna River population colonized the drainage following ice retreat sometime in the last few thousand years. The population's divergence from the source population in the Yukon or Kuskokwim river could be due to a founder effect or adaptation to different environmental conditions.

The Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) is a small, grassland-dependent rattlesnake species declining throughout its native range, and is thus a species of high conservation priority. In Illinois, only a single population remains of a once widespread distribution. We documented genetic diversity in this population over a ten-year period and assessed levels of heterozygosity, allelic diversity, inbreeding (F_IS), and effective population size (N_e). Neither heterozygosity nor levels of inbreeding differed significantly among periods. We identified 21 alleles that occurred in a single time period, some of which may have been lost from the population given our estimated detection probability of 93%. Effective population size (N_e) was numerically small and showed a decreasing trend through time. Despite small population size and a lack of connectivity, there was no significant decline in genetic diversity over the ten-year study. Aspects of life history, coupled with a preference for a historically patchy habitat, may mitigate the loss of genetic diversity in the species and promote their persistence in the fragmented habitats of the Anthropocene. However, continued genetic monitoring is recommended, and population recovery measures should be implemented as soon as possible to mitigate the deleterious effects of small population size.

The behavioral variation in alligator nest attendance has characterized the species as iconic in common lore and perplexed biologists for decades. Here, we quantify patterns in nest attendance among mothers as well as variation in such patterns throughout two nesting seasons. We employed camera traps controlled by circuit boards to capture time-lapse photographs of alligator nest areas for the duration of each nesting season. Data revealed a bimodal pattern of nest attendance over time that significantly varied across incubation days in both 2011 and 2012, and also differed between years. Nest attendance also differed among hours in the diel cycle, and this pattern was the same for both years. Nest visits were frequent immediately after the eggs were laid, and attendance behavior attenuated rapidly after the first week of incubation. Nest visitation then increased near the end of the incubation period with the largest portion of visits recorded during hatching and the maternal movement of hatchlings away from nest sites. While the extent of this pattern varied between years, the pattern itself did not. The majority of attendance behavior occurred during night hours, with little visitation recorded between 1000 and 1600 hours. Our study is the first to document temporal variation in alligator nest attendances at daily, seasonal, and annual temporal scales, and our findings suggest nighttime visits during oviposition and hatching periods are consistent among years.

Thomas F. Tyning,

Environmental Science Department, Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201; Email: ttyning@berkshirecc.edu.

America's Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber Rattlesnake

Perhaps only Ted Levin, a well-known and accomplished natural history writer, could have written this book; most likely nobody he highlights (or sometimes lowlights) could have produced an equal volume. Nor would they attempt to. Levin offers his glimpse into a small world of local researchers, biologists, field naturalists, and state employees, all of whom are fascinating characters hewn from a combination of time, location, and historic circumstances. The book is as much about

Morphological Variability among Spawning Populations of Bering Cisco Coregonus laurettae

Temporal Patterns of Genetic Diversity in an Imperiled Population of the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus)

Nest Attendance Patterns in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

Improving Vertebrate Skeleton Images: Fluorescence and the Non-Permanent Mounting of Cleared-and-Stained Specimens

Activity Level and Predation Risk in the Least Killifish, Heterandria formosa

An Inconvenient Monophyly: An Update on the Taxonomy of the Groupers (Epinephelidae)

Predator Effects on Metamorphosis: The Effects of Scaring Versus Thinning at High Prey Densities

Energetic Consequences for a Northern, Range-Edge Lizard Population

Geographic Variation in Somatic Growth Rate of Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta)

A New Species of the Genus Calamaria (Squamata: Colubridae) from Yunnan Province, China

Apparent Maladaptive Oviposition Site Choice of Cope's Gray Treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis) When Offered an Array of Pond Conditions

Testing for Microgeographic Effects on the Strength of Interspecific Competition

Two New Blind Snake Species of the Genus Liotyphlops Peters, 1881 (Serpentes: Anomalepididae), from Central and South Brazil

Life History of the Mottled Scorpionfish, Pontinus clemensi, in the Galapagos Marine Reserve

Biogeography and Distribution of the Cryptic Species Rosyface Shiner Notropis rubellus and Carmine Shiner Notropis percobromus in Illinois

Localized Defecation in Territorial Herbivorous Fishes

Late-Season Movement and Habitat Use by Oregon Spotted Frog (Rana pretiosa) in Oregon, USA

Morphological Divergence among Populations of Xantusia riversiana, a Night Lizard Endemic to the Channel Islands of California

Book Reviews

America's Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber Rattlesnake

Editorial Notes and News

HENRY S. FITCH AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN HERPETOLOGY—CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Field Thermoregulatory Behavior in the African Spiny-Tailed Lizard Uromastyx acanthinura

Description of a New Species of Hyphessobrycon (Characiformes: Acestrorhamphidae) from Rio Madeira, a Greatly Impacted Region of the Amazon Rainforest, Apuí, Brazil

Phenological Differences of Two Sympatric Ranid Frogs in the Southeastern United States

Mapping an Unseen Landscape: An Analysis of Scale Texture in Two Darter Fishes

Temperature Manipulation Induces Ecdysis in Lab-Held Rattlesnakes