The Clownfish – Better known as Nemo

I recently saw Dr. Peter Buston from Boston University speak about his research on the clownfish Amphiprion percula. The talk reminded me of some fun clownfish facts.

Clownfish can live over 30 years. That means there are clownfish out there older than me!

Clownfish live in anemones that keep them protected from predators with their stinging cells. The fish are immune to those stings and predation is pretty much a non-issue because of this relationship. Maybe that is how they live so long!

When eggs hatch the larvae are dispersed into the water and rarely settle on their family anemones (this makes sense when you think about genetic diversity). Makes you wonder how Nemo ended up in the same anemone as Marlin in “Finding Nemo.”

Each anemone can have a group of clownfish living in it – a breeding pair and possibly some others. The group dynamic is based on a size hierarchy – the largest and most powerful fish is the breeding female. In these pictures from Horn Point Lab you can see that the size difference in breeding pairs.

If the female dies, the next largest male then rises to the occasion – literally. The male will turn into a female and the most dominant fish in the group! That gives a whole new twist to “Finding Nemo” – Marlin would have become Mandy after Coral got eaten by the barracuda at the beginning of the movie.

When I worked at Horn Point during college (the same place I learned more about Blue Crabs) we had a few projects going on with clownfish. The lab was doing feeding studies to learn what food would make the clownfish grow the fastest and have the best coloration. The idea was to figure out how to breed the best-colored clownfish fast for the aquarium trade. Using aquaculture to breed clownfish is a better option for aquarist because the fish aren’t taken from reefs in the wild – sometimes by environmentally damaging methods like cyanide fishing.

The clownfish were by far the favorite animal of the school kids who came through to visit over the summer. One thing I remember about the clownfish is that they were quite territorial. We would put terracotta tiles in the tanks for the females to lay their eggs on – mimicking the hard surface that an anemone would attach to in the wild. Then the female would lay her eggs and after several days we had to take the tiles out of the tank, transfer them to another tank, and count all the eggs. 


It was the lab joke to have the newest person reach in to take out the tiles – without telling them that the fish would fight for it! I remember them drawing blood a few times. In high salinity water, that wasn’t a good time but watching the babies hatch out and grow was totally worth it.

Visit Dr. Buston’s website to learn more about his research.

Photos by Sara K. MacSorley

Scallops

Last week I was invited to be a speaker at the Girls Interested in Real Life Science (GIRLS) Program at the Ocean Explorium in New Bedford - a great aquarium and education center with a shark and ray touch tank and a huge salt-water fish and coral tank. GIRLS is about getting middle school girls interested in marine science and giving them something positive to do after school. 

My talk was about the importance of mentors for women in science. I also had an inspiring amount of support from women in science friends and colleagues around the world who let me use them as examples to show the students the range of what science careers are possible. Thank you ladies! 

Before the talk, the girls and I got to learn more about local fisheries. The ocean and Buzzards Bay have been of great importance to New Bedford’s economy throughout the city’s history. During the 19^th Century, New Bedford was a whaling capitol. Now, the city is known for bringing in the majority of scallops in the fishing industry worldwide.

We had a speaker from the School for Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth who gave us a fisheries presentation, walked us through the fishing docks explaining the different types of boats and equipment, and then led a scallop dissection.

Each student got to dissect an Atlantic Sea Scallop (Placopecten magellanicus). There are several types of scallops; you can see them both in the market and both are important to New Bedford’s waters and economy. Sea scallops have smooth shells and are relatively large. Bay scallops are smaller and have “scalloped” shells.

We were guided through identifying all the parts of the scallop. The adductor muscle is the large muscle that connects the two shells – it’s also the part that you eat. Along the edges of the shell you’ll see little black dots along the mantle. These are the eyes of the scallop. They aren’t as complex and developed as our eyes but they do sense light. Scallops have a large black liver that they use to filter feed. You can also see the gills they use to get oxygen out of the water.

The students had to tell us whether they had a male or female scallop too.  The males have a white sex organ and in the females it’s pink. How appropriate!

After we finished the dissection, we cooked up the scallops and had a snack. Since we only ate the adductor muscle and didn’t want anything to go to waste, we fed the fish at the Ocean Explorium with the rest of the scallop. The fisherman at sea do the same thing, they shuck out the adductor muscle and throw the rest overboard so it goes back into the food chain.

Scallops are an important food for us as people (as long as the fishery uses sustainable practices) and for other marine animals like sea stars. Sea stars can actually push their stomach outside their own body and through the two scallop shells to digest the meat! In addition to being a yummy source of protein, scallops are also critical to the Buzzards Bay ecosystem. They feed by filtering the water and help keep the Bay clean. Unfortunately, human actions are effecting the scallop population in the Bay. Increased nitrogen in the water from septic systems and overall development are causing a decline in eelgrass – an important environment for scallops.

You can learn more about the nitrogen pollution in Buzzards Bay and how people can help mitigate the problem at the Buzzards Bay Coalition. Take a trip to visit the Wheeler Learning Center in downtown New Bedford or check out the resources on their website - http://www.savebuzzardsbay.org/

If you’re in New Bedford be sure to check out the Whaling Museum for a real history lesson - http://www.whalingmuseum.org/

You can also learn more about the School for Marine Science and Technology here if you’re interested in their programs - http://www.smast.umassd.edu/

Photos and anatomy diagram by Sara K. MacSorley

Letter to My Younger Self

If you could tell your younger self what you know now, what would you say? 


This was exactly the question to answer in this Letter to Your Younger Self project for the Science Club for Girls. 


As a woman in science, what would you tell your younger self about the challenges and issues they will face? What have you learned? 


Here is a quote from my letter: 

"Second, talk to the people who do the jobs you think are interesting. I can’t stress enough how important mentors have been in my life. Talking to people in the area you want to be in is a great way to learn if that is what you really want to do and how to get there. How do you get a mentor? Find out who does the jobs that you’re interested in and then let them know you admire what they do; this will start a conversation. Ask questions about their research or recommend a good book or documentary on shared topics of interest.

My mentors in marine science and education have helped me find a path to graduate school, helped me get jobs, and helped me network with other great people all over the country. Some have become colleagues and many have become friends." 

Its important for us women in science to advocate for each other and encourage and support the next generation. Who can you mentor? 

Read my entire letter here at the Science Club for Girls website. 

Sharks!

Sharks have a bad wrap for being huge, aggressive man eaters when the truth is that they have more reason to be afraid of humans than the other way around. Shark attacks are rare, deaths from attacks even more so at only about five per year. There are only a few species of sharks, out of over 440, that a known to be aggressive towards people - the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), and the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier).

On the other hand, humans kill over 70 million sharks every year. There is a large (and in some places illegal) market for shark fins to be used in soup. Many sharks are caught, have their fins cut off, and have their bodies tossed back in the ocean to die. Finning has been an increasing problem for shark populations. Since sharks are predators at the top of the food chain, their declining numbers have implications for the entire marine ecosystem. 

Watch this public service announcement about a few of the ways you are more likely to die than from a shark attack. 

Its too bad so many people are afraid of sharks because they are incredible fish. They have been around since dinosaurs roamed the planet and have survived that whole time without having any bones! Sharks are cartilaginous, that is they are completely made out of cartilage like that on your ears and tip of your nose.

The largest shark is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus). They average 30 feet long and 20,000 pounds, the largest on record was over 40 feet long and weighed over 47,000 pounds! Sound scary? Maybe a little, but not really when you learn that they are filter feeders and only eat small plankton and fish. They are docile creatures and swimming with them can sometimes be a tourist attraction when visiting their warm tropical homes.

Most sharks are much smaller than the whale sharks and great whites, some being less than a foot long. This little guy, known as a chain catshark or dogfish (Scyliorhinus retifer), is a small species that grows to about a foot long. This one is a guest at the New England Aquarium. Special thanks to Jack Szczepanski, graduate student at the University of Rhode Island, for helping identify his species.

You can learn more about sharks during the Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week. There are a bunch of online resources.

Photos by Sara MacSorley

In Memory of Mike deGruy

The world lost a great ocean enthusiast and science communicator this weekend. Mike deGruy, a zoologist turned film maker, was killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday, February 4, 2012.

I was introduced to Mike's work through National Geographic television specials and then his work on The Blue Planet series. The first time I saw a show with his commentary, I was hooked. He was the epitomy of a science communicator and I knew I could learn from his work.

The combination of his background knowledge of marine science and his storytelling ability made Mike quite a character to watch. You couldn't help but get excited about his beautiful photography and video of marine animals, often capturing unique aspects of their behavior.

Here, I've shared his TED Talk: Hooked by an Octopus. His enthusiasm and passion are palpable.

Mike, you will be missed by many. Your message and legacy live on in your work to protect our oceans.

To learn more about Mike and his work, you can visit his website.

How you can reduce your ocean footprint?

Shared from The Marine Mammal Center - www.marinemammalcenter.org

When you throw something "away", where is away? Everything we manufacture has to go somewhere when we are finished with it. That somewhere is in the land or out at sea. Although the problem of ocean trash can seem overwhelming, there are some simple things you can do every day to minimize your impact on the ocean. If you think it isn’t worth the time and energy, remember the animals who make the ocean their home. Afterall, everything we do, not only affects them, it filters down to us - we eat the same food and we swim in the same water - and the ocean is the planet's biggest life source.

Cut apart those six-pack plastic soda can rings.  If left uncut in the trash, they can make their way to the ocean and trap an unsuspecting, innocent animal. 

Reduce the toxins you use in your yard, as those affect the waterways via run-off.

Bring your own reusable shopping bags whenever you shop.

Be sure to properly dispose of fishing lines and lures, as animals can mistake them for food if they end up in the water.

Try not to use helium balloons as both the balloons and their accompanying strings often end up in the water. Choose another way to decorate a party instead.

Select re-usable items whenever possible and repurpose old items.

Buy in bulk and bring your own container to the store for flour, rice, beans and other dry goods. 

Try buying milk and yogurt in glass and ceramic containers that can be returned to the grocery store.

Recycle everything.  More and more items can be recycled if you take advantage of proper recycling stations and centers.

Bring your own re-usable cup to the café when you buy that morning latte. 

Carry a re-usable water bottle to work and school. 

Choose a product that has less packaging over those that are individually wrapped.  Better yet, can you buy it in bulk?

Whatever you do, remember the 4 R's - REDUCE, REFUSE, RECYCLE & REUSE.

Nudibranchs

Nudibranchs are snails without shells, basically the underwater version of a slug. Their name comes from Latin and Greek and means “naked gills.”

Every color of the rainbow can be found in the over 3,000 species of nudibranchs. A quick Google image search will show you the incredible beautify of these animals. In the animal kingdom bright colors often signify a warning, “don’t eat me, I might make you sick.” This is true for nudibranchs too as you can see in these pictures of the zebra nudibrach, Hypselodoris zebra.

Nudibranchs are carnivores. A fun fact about nudibranchs is that they often have a diet of toxin-filled animals, like sponges. Not only do the toxins not injure the nudibranch, but the nudibranch incorporates the toxins into its own skin! Some who eat animals with nematocysts (stinging cells) like anemones or jellyfish can even incorporate those into their bodies! Talk about self-defense!

I did my research project on the zebra nudibranch when I was at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. The project didn’t work out as planned, but I got to learn a lot more about these fascinating and beautiful underwater snails.

They have horns on their head called rhinophores that are used to sense tastes or scents. Those sorts of receptors are called chemosensory organs. For protection, some nudibranchs can suck in their rhinophores to keep them safe.

One of the most interesting things about nudibranchs is their sex life. They are simultaneous hermaphrodites – both male and female at the same time! This is a benefit for the nudibranchs because if they can mate with any individual they happen to run into. After mating the nudibranchs produce a clear jelly-like band that houses their eggs. In the zebra nudibranch the eggs are bright red as seen here. They make spirals of these egg bands on hard surfaces like corals or the side of a tank like here. Then, the baby nudibranchs hatch.

You can learn more about nudibranchs by watching this great video.

Photos by Sara MacSorley