Update Date: February 10, 2009

The 2006 Zoological Science Editorial Board (Yoshitaka Nagahama, Editor-in-Chief) selected the candidate papers for the 2007 ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE AWARD. Upon receiving this proposal, the Board of Directors and the Council deliberated and decided on the 2007 ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE AWARD as follows.

ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE AWARD

1) Section: Reproductive Biology
Induction of Female-to-male Sex Change in the Honeycomb Grouper (Epinephelus merra) by 11-ketotestosterone Treatments.
Ramji K. Bhandari, Mohammad A. Alam, Kiyoshi Soyano and Masaru Nakamura
Zoological Science 23 (1): 65-69 (2006)
Groupers undergo sex change from female to male. To elucidate the endocrine regulatory mechanism of this sex reversal, females were treated with 11-ketotestosterone, a natural androgen in fish. It was revealed that the ovaries of all treated individuals transformed into males with mature testes. We proved that the sperm of these males can fertilize mature eggs from normal females. Thus, this paper is of high value in clarifying that androgens play a crucial role in sex change. Furthermore, it contributes to applications in fish aquaculture.

2) Section: Ecology
Long Tails Affect Swimming Performance and Habitat Choice in the Male Guppy.
Kenji Karino, Kazuhiro Orita and Aya Sato
Zoological Science 23 (3): 255-260 (2006)
The striking colorful patterns and long caudal fins of male freshwater guppies have been studied as a model of sexual dimorphism evolved through sexual selection. However, the reproductive benefits and survival costs theoretically assumed in the field of evolutionary ecology are exceptionally difficult to reliably measure in practice. In this paper, the authors clearly demonstrate, for the first time through measured values under artificial and natural conditions, the interaction between the microhabitat and the cost associated with the long caudal fin, which had merely been believed to exist. It will likely be cited in textbooks for a long time to come.

3) Section: Animal Diversity and Evolution
Round-trip Catadromous Migration in a Japanese Amphipod, Sternomoera rhyaca (Gammaridea: Eusiridae).
Keiko Kuribayashi, Haruo Katakura, Masaki Kyono, Matthew H. Dick and Shunsuke F. Mawatari
Zoological Science 23 (9): 763-774 (2006)
This paper offers an evolutionary perspective on an interesting amphipod behavior encountered during taxonomic work. While its methodology is not particularly novel, it is an exciting paper. Unlike so many formulaic papers—taxonomy consisting of species description papers and phylogenetics consisting of DNA sequence comparisons, regardless of the target taxonomic group—this paper fully captures the true thrill of discovery in field research, reminiscent of the "natural history" studies of the past, and is of high quality.

4) Section: Developmental Biology
Early Development of Zooxanthella-containing Eggs of the Corals Porites cylindrica and Montipora digitata: The Endodermal Localization of Zooxanthellae.
Mamiko Hirose and Michio Hidaka
Zoological Science 23 (10): 873-881 (2006)
To understand the dynamics of zooxanthellae symbiosis in corals, specifically the mechanism of symbiosis initiation during ontogeny, the authors investigated in detail the distribution of zooxanthellae during the early development of two coral species, Porites cylindrica and Montipora digitata. The results showed that the distribution mechanism of zooxanthellae exhibits species-level differences associated with the type of gastrulation mechanism. This is an interesting paper of extremely high quality from the perspective of comparative zoology.

5) Section: Animal Diversity and Evolution
Time Scale for Cyclostome Evolution Inferred with a Phylogenetic Diagnosis of Hagfish and Lamprey cDNA Sequences.
Shigehiro Kuraku and Shigeru Kuratani
Zoological Science 23 (12): 1053-1064 (2006)
This paper provides an evolutionary discussion based on in silico analysis using cDNA sequence information from hagfish and lampreys regarding the timescale of cyclostome evolution. From this discussion, it draws the conclusion that the two groups diverged relatively quickly after the common ancestral lineage of cyclostomes split from the agnathan lineage. This research is highly praised for sharply tackling the major evolutionary question of cyclostomes, which is of great zoological significance, using a novel methodology.