Opwall Science
@opwallscience.bsky.social
The dedicated account for science and research news from Operation Wallacea's global network of field sites.
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Opwall Science
@opwallscience.bsky.social
· Dec 27
Welcome to Opwall Science! This account is dedicated to sharing research news from our global network of fieldwork sites, as well as to highlight news and stories that might be of broad interest to the biodiversity and conservation science community.
New open-access paper by Sam Jones et al. examining the mechanisms governing elevational range limits in the bird communities of Cusuco National Park, Honduras. Results show habitat and behaviour are likely to be more important than physiology in governing altitudinal limits: tinyurl.com/393byxx6
November 12, 2025 at 10:20 AM
New open-access paper by Sam Jones et al. examining the mechanisms governing elevational range limits in the bird communities of Cusuco National Park, Honduras. Results show habitat and behaviour are likely to be more important than physiology in governing altitudinal limits: tinyurl.com/393byxx6
New paper in Coral Reefs by Rebecca Cramp et al. documenting Diadema urchin declines between 2014-2022 in two ecologically-different Caribbean study sites (Utila and Tela), and examining the impacts of these declines on the benthic communities in these sites: tinyurl.com/5bb4khur
November 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
New paper in Coral Reefs by Rebecca Cramp et al. documenting Diadema urchin declines between 2014-2022 in two ecologically-different Caribbean study sites (Utila and Tela), and examining the impacts of these declines on the benthic communities in these sites: tinyurl.com/5bb4khur
New spider described by Brogan Pett et al. from the Mariarano forest, Madagascar! Welcoming to the World Paccia haddadi – a ground-sac spider that endemic to the dry forest ecosystems of north-western Madagascar, and the 8th spider species described from the site to date tinyurl.com/2f5t6a5b
On the genus Paccius (Araneae, Trachelidae) in Madagascar: two new species, redescriptions, and a key to the species
| Zootaxa
www.mapress.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:40 PM
New spider described by Brogan Pett et al. from the Mariarano forest, Madagascar! Welcoming to the World Paccia haddadi – a ground-sac spider that endemic to the dry forest ecosystems of north-western Madagascar, and the 8th spider species described from the site to date tinyurl.com/2f5t6a5b
Congratulations to Rachel Gunn et al. for their new Aquatic Biology paper which, from examining cleaner gobies on the reefs of Utila, Honduras, shows that cleaner behaviour is complex ,being influenced by a range of behavioural and ecological variables tinyurl.com/ys2bwdw8
November 4, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Congratulations to Rachel Gunn et al. for their new Aquatic Biology paper which, from examining cleaner gobies on the reefs of Utila, Honduras, shows that cleaner behaviour is complex ,being influenced by a range of behavioural and ecological variables tinyurl.com/ys2bwdw8
Congratulations to Joseph Oakley & Natalia Argüelles-Valle for their new note documenting the first record of the Salamander Bolitoglossa dofleini in Mexico! This extends the northern range of the species by >100km tinyurl.com/ycyuwttf
Photo: Joseph Oakley
Photo: Joseph Oakley
October 19, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Congratulations to Joseph Oakley & Natalia Argüelles-Valle for their new note documenting the first record of the Salamander Bolitoglossa dofleini in Mexico! This extends the northern range of the species by >100km tinyurl.com/ycyuwttf
Photo: Joseph Oakley
Photo: Joseph Oakley
Reposted by Opwall Science
Raman was one of our @opwall.bsky.social research assistants in Croatia a couple of years ago, and watching her impact as a young conservationist makes me so proud!!
Winner of The Marsh Award for Young Ornithologist is Ramandeep Nijjar! Ramandeep has put tremendous effort into promoting ornithology through various platforms including as a BTO Youth Rep, an organiser of local events and through public speaking, podcasts and webinars. @marshawards.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Raman was one of our @opwall.bsky.social research assistants in Croatia a couple of years ago, and watching her impact as a young conservationist makes me so proud!!
Great new paper by Richard Bodmer et al. examining the ecology of River dolphins at fish aggregations in Amazonian Peru. It found that Pink dolphins formed feeding aggregations in both small and large rivers, while Grey dolphin aggregations largely occurred in large rivers; tinyurl.com/ezxjtmaa
October 3, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Great new paper by Richard Bodmer et al. examining the ecology of River dolphins at fish aggregations in Amazonian Peru. It found that Pink dolphins formed feeding aggregations in both small and large rivers, while Grey dolphin aggregations largely occurred in large rivers; tinyurl.com/ezxjtmaa
Nice review by @thereremouse.bsky.social et al. of a new harp design that was extensively field-tested by the Croatia bat team in our Krka National Park field site this summer:
Our @opwall.bsky.social bat survey team in Croatia had the opportunity this summer to really put some Hunbat carbon fibre harp traps through their paces. Here's our review in @insideecology.bsky.social magazine. #bats #fieldwork #research #chiroptera #harptraps 🦇
Making light work of bat trapping – the Hunbat Harp Trap review #nature #wildlife #biodiversity #ecology #habitats #conservation #climatechange #bats insideecology.com/2025/09/23/m...
September 25, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Nice review by @thereremouse.bsky.social et al. of a new harp design that was extensively field-tested by the Croatia bat team in our Krka National Park field site this summer:
An extremely strong month for the Utila marine research team! Congratulations to @jamesboon.bsky.social, @salkeith.bsky.social et al. on another great paper, this one examining how reef structure influences fish anti-predation behaviour!
Field of view affects damselfish anti-predator responses BUT other metrics of structural complexity do not. Implications for how we measure structure & predict its effects academic.oup.com/beheco/advan...
@jamesboon.bsky.social is on fire today! @lec-reefs.bsky.social @envisiondtp.bsky.social
@jamesboon.bsky.social is on fire today! @lec-reefs.bsky.social @envisiondtp.bsky.social
Site-level variation in field of view is associated with altered anti-predator responses in farming damselfish
The structure of a habitat affects how animals respond to predators. By recording the anti-predator behaviour of reef fish at sites with different levels o
academic.oup.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
An extremely strong month for the Utila marine research team! Congratulations to @jamesboon.bsky.social, @salkeith.bsky.social et al. on another great paper, this one examining how reef structure influences fish anti-predation behaviour!
Great new open-access by @jamesboon.bsky.social, @salkeith.bsky.social, et al. showing high taxonomic and functional turnovers in the deep reef fish communities off Utlia, Honduras - a very interesting finding given deeper reefs have often been assumed to be more stable than shallower reefs!
New PAPER shows greater depths NOT correlated with more stable communities on Caribbean reefs, contrary to expectations. Led by @jamesboon.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1... @lec-reefs.bsky.social @envisiondtp.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social
Deeper Caribbean reef fish communities show greater taxonomic and functional change in dominance structure over a nine-year period - Coral Reefs
Fish communities at greater depths on a reef are thought to be less affected by disturbances that more strongly impact shallower areas. As a result, these deeper communities might be expected to show ...
link.springer.com
September 17, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Great new open-access by @jamesboon.bsky.social, @salkeith.bsky.social, et al. showing high taxonomic and functional turnovers in the deep reef fish communities off Utlia, Honduras - a very interesting finding given deeper reefs have often been assumed to be more stable than shallower reefs!
New paper by Catherine Sheppard et al. examining aggressive behaviour in damselfish in the coral reefs of Honduras. Results showed predicting aggressive responses can be complex, extending beyond simply whether the subject of the aggression is a “neighbour” or a “stranger”: tinyurl.com/mr3vhef9
Familiarity mediated by body size predicts intraspecific aggression in farming damselfishes - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Abstract Aggressive territoriality can have significant benefits for resource acquisition yet is a costly behaviour. Selection should therefore favour mechanisms that allow individuals to modify their...
tinyurl.com
September 3, 2025 at 5:56 PM
New paper by Catherine Sheppard et al. examining aggressive behaviour in damselfish in the coral reefs of Honduras. Results showed predicting aggressive responses can be complex, extending beyond simply whether the subject of the aggression is a “neighbour” or a “stranger”: tinyurl.com/mr3vhef9
Reposted by Opwall Science
The most gorgeous of larvae
These are immature Simuliidae - black flies. They sucker on to a fast-flowing river bottom & filter feed. They have beautiful cephalic fans which are filtering fans
@opwallscience.bsky.social @opwall.bsky.social #Honduras
#FlyFriday
These are immature Simuliidae - black flies. They sucker on to a fast-flowing river bottom & filter feed. They have beautiful cephalic fans which are filtering fans
@opwallscience.bsky.social @opwall.bsky.social #Honduras
#FlyFriday
July 11, 2025 at 12:34 PM
The most gorgeous of larvae
These are immature Simuliidae - black flies. They sucker on to a fast-flowing river bottom & filter feed. They have beautiful cephalic fans which are filtering fans
@opwallscience.bsky.social @opwall.bsky.social #Honduras
#FlyFriday
These are immature Simuliidae - black flies. They sucker on to a fast-flowing river bottom & filter feed. They have beautiful cephalic fans which are filtering fans
@opwallscience.bsky.social @opwall.bsky.social #Honduras
#FlyFriday
Reposted by Opwall Science
Check out the most badass of larva - this is an immature lacewing
How cool is nature - from the cloud forests of Honduras @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social
#NationalInsectWeek @royentsoc.bsky.social
How cool is nature - from the cloud forests of Honduras @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social
#NationalInsectWeek @royentsoc.bsky.social
June 27, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Check out the most badass of larva - this is an immature lacewing
How cool is nature - from the cloud forests of Honduras @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social
#NationalInsectWeek @royentsoc.bsky.social
How cool is nature - from the cloud forests of Honduras @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social
#NationalInsectWeek @royentsoc.bsky.social
Reposted by Opwall Science
For #Flyfriday & #NationalInsectWeek, Check out this golden boy
Eliozeta helluo (Fabrioius, 1805) is found across Europe, scattered parts of Russia, China, the Middle east, Korea, Japan & Mongolia!
This one was found in Romania, collected on an @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social trip
Eliozeta helluo (Fabrioius, 1805) is found across Europe, scattered parts of Russia, China, the Middle east, Korea, Japan & Mongolia!
This one was found in Romania, collected on an @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social trip
June 27, 2025 at 9:21 AM
For #Flyfriday & #NationalInsectWeek, Check out this golden boy
Eliozeta helluo (Fabrioius, 1805) is found across Europe, scattered parts of Russia, China, the Middle east, Korea, Japan & Mongolia!
This one was found in Romania, collected on an @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social trip
Eliozeta helluo (Fabrioius, 1805) is found across Europe, scattered parts of Russia, China, the Middle east, Korea, Japan & Mongolia!
This one was found in Romania, collected on an @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social trip
Congratulations to @thereremouse.bsky.social et al. for their fantastic new paper provided a much-needed update to the terrestrial mammal inventory for Krka National Park, Croatia! Great output that should be highly useful for Park managers! Open access too so please take a look!
Our latest paper from the Croatian @opwall.bsky.social science team: Updated checklist of the terrestrial #mammals of Krka National Park!
You can read the open access manuscript here: publikace.nm.cz/en/file/7b9f...
You can read the open access manuscript here: publikace.nm.cz/en/file/7b9f...
May 14, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Congratulations to @thereremouse.bsky.social et al. for their fantastic new paper provided a much-needed update to the terrestrial mammal inventory for Krka National Park, Croatia! Great output that should be highly useful for Park managers! Open access too so please take a look!
New blog post out; our "fieldwork dictionary" summarizing the main survey methodologies used at our terrestrial and marine fieldwork sites: www.opwall.com/article/the-...
May 8, 2025 at 12:57 PM
New blog post out; our "fieldwork dictionary" summarizing the main survey methodologies used at our terrestrial and marine fieldwork sites: www.opwall.com/article/the-...
New paper out highlighting the threat tropical storms pose to global island biodiversity. It shows the Caribbean especially has many species likely to be at risk of extinction from storms, and identifies 60 'high-risk' species that could be wiped by a single future storm event: shorturl.at/EAqOS
April 29, 2025 at 4:32 PM
New paper out highlighting the threat tropical storms pose to global island biodiversity. It shows the Caribbean especially has many species likely to be at risk of extinction from storms, and identifies 60 'high-risk' species that could be wiped by a single future storm event: shorturl.at/EAqOS
New open-access paper by Asela Buenfil-Rojas et al. describing a method to extract RNA from Morelet's Crocodile scuts (partly based on samples obtained from our Calakmul site), just out in MethodsX - shorturl.at/PXBFO
April 18, 2025 at 10:02 AM
New open-access paper by Asela Buenfil-Rojas et al. describing a method to extract RNA from Morelet's Crocodile scuts (partly based on samples obtained from our Calakmul site), just out in MethodsX - shorturl.at/PXBFO
Great new blog post by Glenn Shiach discussing the recent taxonomic spider discoveries from our research site in the dry forests of Madagascar: www.opwall.com/article/scie...
Operation Wallacea | New Spider Species Descriptions in Madagascar
Some incredible work in Madagascar has led to the identification of 5 new species to science this year!
www.opwall.com
April 15, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Great new blog post by Glenn Shiach discussing the recent taxonomic spider discoveries from our research site in the dry forests of Madagascar: www.opwall.com/article/scie...
New paper by Rodney Roundtree et al. examining the acoustical ecology of dolphins and fish in the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, Peru. They document distinct dolphin sounds seemingly used in different situations, and show a correlation between dolphin & fish acoustical activity: shorturl.at/gxerkhttps:/...
April 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
New paper by Rodney Roundtree et al. examining the acoustical ecology of dolphins and fish in the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, Peru. They document distinct dolphin sounds seemingly used in different situations, and show a correlation between dolphin & fish acoustical activity: shorturl.at/gxerkhttps:/...
New Opwall blog post introducing Andrew and Annika at RARElab, who we hope to be collaborating with on many interesting things in the near future! www.opwall.com/article/rare...
Operation Wallacea | RARElab: A new Opwall collaboration
RARElab: A new Opwall collaboration towards Rediscovering and Protecting Lost and Understudied Species
www.opwall.com
March 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM
New Opwall blog post introducing Andrew and Annika at RARElab, who we hope to be collaborating with on many interesting things in the near future! www.opwall.com/article/rare...
Amazing species to be found in the cloud forests of Honduras!
Todays best animal goes to this baby cranefly - yep this is a Tipulidae larvae & it was found in the streams high up in the Honduran cloud forests
How cool is nature?!?!?
@opwallscience.bsky.social
How cool is nature?!?!?
@opwallscience.bsky.social
March 25, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Amazing species to be found in the cloud forests of Honduras!
Frederico Barosso - our new Research and Education officer - giving a great overview of his thermal ecology research in a new blogpost here: www.opwall.com/article/test...
Operation Wallacea | Testing methods to study reptile thermal ecology
Fred describes his PhD research in Mexico with Opwall where he was testing new methods to study reptile thermal ecology!
www.opwall.com
March 2, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Frederico Barosso - our new Research and Education officer - giving a great overview of his thermal ecology research in a new blogpost here: www.opwall.com/article/test...
New paper by Hrvoje Čižmek et al. on the ecology of the Critically Endangered Noble Pen Shell off Miljet, Croatia. Results show the population to be dominated by older individuals, making it vulnerable to the mass mortality events posing a particular risk to the species: www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...
February 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
New paper by Hrvoje Čižmek et al. on the ecology of the Critically Endangered Noble Pen Shell off Miljet, Croatia. Results show the population to be dominated by older individuals, making it vulnerable to the mass mortality events posing a particular risk to the species: www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...
New paper showing patterns in neotropical monitoring programs (incorporating relevant Opwall sites). Results indicate spatial and taxonomic bias in these programs, and crucially that many span <10 years in duration, meaning they may not pick up important ecological trends shorturl.at/alx37
Bias in neotropical and reef biodiversity monitoring programs may prevent detecting changes in species diversity through time
Biodiversity monitoring networks are essential to quantify changes in biodiversity over time. Despite the importance of monitoring, studies using thes…
shorturl.at
February 21, 2025 at 4:29 PM
New paper showing patterns in neotropical monitoring programs (incorporating relevant Opwall sites). Results indicate spatial and taxonomic bias in these programs, and crucially that many span <10 years in duration, meaning they may not pick up important ecological trends shorturl.at/alx37