Abstract The increasing use of 3D imaging technologies in biological sciences is generating vast repositories of anatomical data, yet significant barriers prevent these data from reaching its full potential in educational and collaborative contexts. While sharing raw computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans has become routine, distributing value‐added segmented datasets—where anatomical structures are precisely labelled and delineated—remains difficult and rare. Current repositories function primarily as static archives, lacking mechanisms for iterative refinement, community‐driven curation and the controlled terminology essential for downstream computational applications, including artificial intelligence (AI). We propose that segmented 3D morphological datasets should be reconceptualized as collaborative, version‐controlled projects rather than static archival products. We introduce MorphoDepot, a framework that adapts the ‘fork‐and‐contribute’ model—a cornerstone of modern open‐source software development—for collaborative management of 3D morphological data. By integrating git version control and GitHub's collaborative infrastructure with 3D Slicer and its SlicerMorph extension, MorphoDepot transforms segmented anatomical datasets into dynamic, community‐curated projects. By treating each anatomical dataset as an individual repository that can be forked, modified, reviewed and merged, MorphoDepot enables communities of researchers, educators and students to co‐create high‐quality, standardized anatomical atlases through a transparent, auditable process. This approach directly addresses the challenges of distributed collaboration, enforces transparent provenance tracking and creates high‐quality, standardized training data for AI model development. The result is a system that embodies FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data principles while creating powerful new opportunities for remote learning and collaborative science. We argue that format accessibility and collaborative curation are inseparable, genuine community‐driven data refinement requires open formats and open tools as prerequisites for participation.

Noise from human activities has increased and been shown to negatively impact marine animals. Marine mammals and fish are vulnerable to anthropogenic noise because they rely on sound to communicate, find food, avoid predators and sense their environment. Forage fish are small schooling pelagic fish, important to many predators and instrumental in moving energy to higher trophic levels. There are limited studies investigating how noise influences forage fish behaviour, especially their anti-predator behaviour. Here, we investigate how noise from boats, pile driving and wind farms affects the anti-predator behaviour of Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes personatus, PSL), a key forage fish in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. We exposed PSL to four different noise playbacks and documented anti-predator behaviour (i.e., burying in the sand and startling). We hypothesized that exposure to anthropogenic noise would increase anti-predator behaviour in PSL. Contrary to our hypothesis, exposure to boat noise and pile driving noise decreased startling behaviour and burying behaviour, while wind farm noise increased both. These results suggest that different noise sources may impact behaviour through different mechanisms such as noise-induced stress or distraction and, as a consequence, can both increase PSL short- term availability in some contexts while decreasing availability overall. Understanding how fish and their predators respond to different noise sources over longer periods of time is critical in understanding the effects of noise on marine communities and necessary to facilitate recommendations on the management of marine anthropogenic stressors and highlight conservation efforts for coastal areas.

Dermal armor serves a variety of functions across animal lineages including defense, offense, display, and prehension. Small differences in armor structure, plate size, or overlap may complement large differences in behavior or ecology. We characterized damage to an armored fish-the gray starsnout poacher (Bathyagonus alascanus) to probe whether there are differences in plate function within a single species. We quantified damage to poacher armor and skeleton under different force modes, including crushing, puncture, abrasion, and blunt impact, using micro-computed tomography, scanning electron microscopy, and material testing. Armor in the posterior region of the fish can withstand higher stress during crushing, suggesting they are well protected while fleeing from a crushing predator. It takes more work to puncture the anterior armor, perhaps poachers tend to face an animal threatening a puncturing attack. The dorsal plate spines are often eroded away from abrasion and/or blunt impact; we posit that the spineless ventral plates are smooth because strong sub-tidal currents cause collisions with a rocky substrate that would quickly destroy ventral spines if the plates were so equipped. The imbricated armor of B. alascanus has a diversity of performance against different threats, and this varies with location.

Sea star armor comes in the form of a highly articulated endoskeleton made up of individual elements called ossicles. Many descriptive studies have been conducted on the basic patterning of sea star skeletons, with differences in ossicle shape forming the basis of some echinoderm phylogenies. However, ossicle function is not related only to individual element morphology, but rather the whole system. In this study, we use micro-computed tomography (CT) to describe and compare skeletal anatomy of nine sea star species from the Salish Sea, Washington, USA. We quantified 14 morphological traits and tested whether or not they were predictors of ecology. We expected to see that differences in the amount of armoring (relative volume of skeleton) arise from varying arrangement and shape of ossicles across distinct regions of the body. For broad comparability, we grouped skeletal elements into five basic types of ossicles. The amount of skeletal armoring across the body varied by at least an order of magnitude across species and differed in its distribution across ossicle types. Heavily armored sea stars invest in larger, boxy body wall ossicles, whereas a reduction in armor volume was often paired with more intricately-shaped body wall ossicles and an increase in the number and complexity of spines.

Anthropogenic noise is a pervasive environmental pollutant that continues to expand and increase globally, especially in marine environments, affecting many marine animals, especially fish. Although interest and concern regarding the effects of noise on fish has increased, most studies still focus on the effects noise has on individual species, often overlooking wider system-level consequences. This is particularly true of trophically important species such as forage fish. We investigated how different types of anthropogenic noise affect the quality of an important forage fish species, Pacific sand lance, Ammodytes personatus, which could impact the many species that rely on them. We found that, compared to controls, fish in noisy environments had lower energy density and lower weight at a given length. These results suggest that even over shorter periods of time the anthropogenic noise could reduce sand lance quality, which in-turn could cascade up the food chain causing drastic ecosystem-level consequences.

The morphology of a skeletal structure is driven in part by the forces it endures over evolutionary time. We demonstrate that generative design, an iterative engineering tool, can yield insight into the loading regimes of complex skeletal elements. With only a simple model of the spatial constraints and potential forces seen by a skeletal element, we generated analogous structures. We used this technique to provide insights into the specialization of the radial elements of batoid pectoral fins, a case that would be challenging to analyse by conventional means. Particular configurations of generative designs resulted in structures with a morphology remarkably similar to that of real radials. We suggest that these cases reveal the loading configurations that the real radials have evolved to withstand.

Frugivorous vertebrates engage in a mutualism with fruiting plants: the former receive a nutrient subsidy, and the latter benefit by having their seeds dispersed far from parent plants. Vertebrate frugivores like primates and bats have particular morphologies suited for gripping fruit and then pulverizing fruit soft tissues; however, variation among frugivores and fruits has made the identification of common frugivore phenotypes difficult. Here, we evaluated the performance of frugivorous fish (pacu and piranha; Serrasalmidae) dentitions when puncturing fruits and seeds and compared specialist frugivorous species to facultative frugivorous and non-herbivorous relatives. We also explored how fruit characteristics affect puncture performance and how the indentation of fruit differs mechanically from harder foods like nuts. Based on expectations from studies on frugivorous bats and primates, we expected that frugivore dentitions would exhibit low force and then high work when engaging fruit tissues. Aligning with our expectation, the specialized frugivorous pacu, Colossoma , had dental performance that matched this low force, high work prediction. We also document how frugivory in omnivorous piranhas may be driven more by seed predation than a focus on softer fruit tissues like pulp. Overall, this study demonstrates remarkable similarity in the form and function of frugivore dentitions across vertebrates.

Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) is an iconic Neogene shark, but the lack of well-preserved skeletons has hampered our understanding of various aspects of its biology. Here, we reassess some of its biological properties using a new approach, based on known vertebral specimens of O. megalodon and 165 species of extinct and extant neoselachian sharks across ten orders. Using the median neurocranial and caudal fin proportions relative to the trunk proportion among non-mitsukurinid/non-alopiid lamniforms, we show that O. megalodon could have had a slender body and possibly reached about 24.3 m in length. Allometric considerations indicate that a stout body plan like the extant white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) for O. megalodon could have incurred excessive hydrodynamic costs, further supporting the interpretation that O. megalodon likely had a slenderer body than C. carcharias. A 24.3-m-long O. megalodon may have weighed around 94 t, with an estimated cruising speed of 2.1-3.5 km h-1. A reanalysis of vertebral growth bands suggests a size at birth of 3.6-3.9 m for O. megalodon, supporting the previous interpretations of its ovoviviparity and embryos' intrauterine oophagous behavior, but less likely the need for nursery areas. Additional inferred growth patterns corroborated by the known fossil record support the hypothesis that the emergence of C. carcharias during the Early Pliocene is at least partly responsible for the demise of O. megalodon due to competition for resources. These interpretations are working hypotheses expected to serve as reasonable reference points for future studies on the biology of O. megalodon.