36 posts · 13,225 views
Marine biologist and invertebrate zoologist.
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- August 30, 2010
- 03:30 PM
- 35 views
Yicaris – Progenitor of the Crustacea
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Finding any new fossil is rare. Finding invertebrate fossils is made even more rare because of the squishy nature of most invertebrates. Sometimes the wandering paleontologist, toiling away with utmost care through dust and debris, can find parts of squishy invertebrates like scolodonts (polychaete jaws), coral rubble, carbonate shell cement, or maybe sea star or sponge . . . → Read More: Yicaris – Progenitor of the Crustacea... Read more »
Zhang, X., Siveter, D., Waloszek, D., & Maas, A. (2007) An epipodite-bearing crown-group crustacean from the Lower Cambrian. Nature, 449(7162), 595-598. DOI: 10.1038/nature06138
- August 25, 2010
- 09:00 PM
- 49 views
Mahjong-Induced Seizures
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Mahjong indoctrination starts early in China.
Anyone that knows me outside of the blogosphere, knows I won’t turn down a good game of Mahjong. Part of the fun is figuring out which scoring system your host is going to use, because I swear to to this day it changes by the minute. “Oh, is that a [...]... Read more »
Chang RS, Cheung RT, Ho SL, & Mak W. (2007) Mahjong-induced seizures: case reports and review of twenty-three patients. Hong Kong medical journal, 13(4), 314-8. PMID: 17664536
- August 21, 2010
- 08:42 AM
- 94 views
Myrmecomorphy
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
I absolutely adore the theory of evolution. It has a divine predictive, the results so wondrous in and of themselves. During my studies into symbiosis I have seen alot of strange and unusual adaptations, but the deeper I dig they more they keep getting stranger and stranger. The word this week is:
Myrmecomorphy
Top: [...]... Read more »
Nelson, X., & Jackson, R. (2007) Complex display behaviour during the intraspecific interactions of myrmecomorphic jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae). Journal of Natural History, 41(25), 1659-1678. DOI: 10.1080/00222930701450504
- August 19, 2010
- 08:17 AM
- 40 views
Jumping Spiders Prefer Vegetated Corridors
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Barriers to dispersal come in all shapes and sizes and not all are obvious. Baker conducted experiments with jumping spiders, Phidippus princeps (Salticidae) in which he manipulated corridors connecting patches of old growth fields (clover and alfalfa). Patches were either not connected (bare corridors), all connected, or partly connected by vegetated corridors (see schema [...]... Read more »
Baker, L. (2007) Effect of corridors on the movement behavior of the jumping spider Phidippus princeps (Araneae, Salticidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 85(7), 802-808. DOI: 10.1139/Z07-061
- August 15, 2010
- 04:16 PM
- 65 views
Wolf Spider Leg Regeneration Impairs Foraging
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Study organism, photo from Uetz Lab (click through).
Wrinn & Uetz studied how leg loss and regeneration affected the condition, growth and development time of the wolf spider, Schizocosa ocreata (Lycosidae, photo at left). Spiders may amputate their legs as a defense strategy, but it’s not clear what trade-offs exist. For instance, if a spider [...]... Read more »
Wrinn, K., & Uetz, G. (2007) Impacts of leg loss and regeneration on body condition, growth, and development time in the wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 85(7), 823-831. DOI: 10.1139/Z07-063
- August 10, 2010
- 09:08 PM
- 56 views
Some Snails Prefer Doing It Anti-Chiral
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Most snails walk the line and stick with doing the dirty deed missionary-style. No one even thinks about any of that kinky, low-down, unholy ways of propagating the world. But Schilthuizen and colleagues report in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology (open access!) that one disgusting species of snail actually [...]... Read more »
SCHILTHUIZEN, M., CRAZE, P., CABANBAN, A., DAVISON, A., STONE, J., GITTENBERGER, E., & SCOTT, B. (2007) Sexual selection maintains whole-body chiral dimorphism in snails. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20(5), 1941-1949. DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01370.x
- July 23, 2010
- 11:47 PM
- 74 views
Jellyfish: Pretty from a Distance
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Photo from Dan Herschman's Flickr Stream (Click on Image).
A link from one of readers (thanks Ashley!) pointed us to a story on MSNBC about a very large Lion’s Mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) that broke apart and stung up to 100 people on a New Hampshire beach last Wednesday. Lion’s Manes can get very big, their . . . → Read More: Jellyfish: Pretty from a Distance... Read more »
Nüchter, T., Benoit, M., Engel, U., Özbek, S., & Holstein, T. (2006) Nanosecond-scale kinetics of nematocyst discharge. Current Biology, 16(9). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.03.089
- July 15, 2010
- 02:05 PM
- 94 views
Determining the Fate of Carbon in a Mixotrophic Anemone
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
It has been known for a long time that some anemones form symbiotic relationships with Zooxanthellae. For a while it was assumed that the anemones mainly persisted by utilizing carbon translocated from its symbionts, called autotrophy, but they can may supplement this by heterotrophic feeding on plankton. A study by . . . → Read More: Determining the Fate of Carbon in a Mixotrophic Anemone... Read more »
BACHAR, A., ACHITUV, Y., PASTERNAK, Z., & DUBINSKY, Z. (2007) Autotrophy versus heterotrophy: The origin of carbon determines its fate in a symbiotic sea anemone. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 349(2), 295-298. DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2007.05.030
- July 2, 2010
- 01:34 AM
- 128 views
Female Urochordates Have Few, If Any, Inhibitions
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Photo of Botryllus schlosseri from the Swalla Lab website
Yep, that’s right. They get it on with any male gamete that passes their way. They just don’t give a [rhymes with duck]. Boom chaka-laka-boom. These loose lizzies are all about increasing genetic diversity if you know what I mean. OH, I know you know . . . → Read More: Female Urochordates Have Few, If Any, Inhibitions... Read more »
JOHNSON, S., & YUND, P. (2007) Variation in multiple paternity in natural populations of a free-spawning marine invertebrate. Molecular Ecology, 16(15), 3253-3262. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03366.x
- June 23, 2010
- 12:02 AM
- 148 views
Pouring Oil on ‘Troubled Waters’
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
We love getting interesting emails from our readers. Some are complaints about our (mostly mine) colorful language, many are emails telling us how they appreciate what we do, several even come from our colleagues who would like us to know about some recent research or a new expedition, and we get many readers asking us specific . . . → Read More: Pouring Oil on ‘Troubled Waters’... Read more »
Franklin, B. (1774) Of the Stilling of Waves by means of Oil. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 445-460. DOI: 10.1098/rstl.1774.0044
MacDonald, I., Leifer, I., Sassen, R., Stine, P., Mitchell, R., & Guinasso, N. (2002) Transfer of hydrocarbons from natural seeps to the water column and atmosphere. Geofluids, 2(2), 95-107. DOI: 10.1046/j.1468-8123.2002.00023.x
Wyckoff, Lieut. A.B. (1886) The use of oil in storms at sea. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 23(123), 383-388. info:/
- June 15, 2010
- 11:18 PM
- 122 views
Why Oil-Laden Prey is Bad for Sea Birds
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Oil is bad for wildlife. Period. But we really do not understand how it is bad. What does it do? Can marine organisms respond physiologically to oil in diets? For instance, translocate the toxic components to feathers and molt it off, much like some crabs, or have other physiologically mechanisms to . . . → Read More: Why Oil-Laden Prey is Bad for Sea Birds... Read more »
Pérez, C., Lores, M., & Velando, A. (2010) Oil pollution increases plasma antioxidants but reduces coloration in a seabird. Oecologia. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-010-1677-2
- June 7, 2010
- 02:17 PM
- 1,077 views
What in Darwin’s Name Are Chaetognaths?!
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Lynn Margulis classified the Chaetognaths, known as arrow worms, as deuterostomes. Deuterostomy is characterized by several developmental characteristics including radial, indeterminate cleavage, a posterior position of the blastopore (deuterostomy=”second mouth”), enterocoelous coelom formation and a tripartite adult body plan . . . → Read More: What in Darwin’s Name Are Chaetognaths?!... Read more »
Ball, E., & Miller, D. (2006) Phylogeny: The Continuing Classificatory Conundrum of Chaetognaths. Current Biology, 16(15). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.07.006
Chen, J.-Y., & Huang, D.-Y. (2002) A Possible Lower Cambrian Chaetognath (Arrow Worm). Science, 298(5591), 187-187. DOI: 10.1126/science.1075059
Marlétaz, F., Martin, E., Perez, Y., Papillon, D., Caubit, X., Lowe, C., Freeman, B., Fasano, L., Dossat, C., & Wincker, P. (2006) Chaetognath phylogenomics: a protostome with deuterostome-like development. Current Biology, 16(15). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.07.016
- May 27, 2010
- 07:44 AM
- 151 views
Huge Silicate Sponge Spicules and the Evolution of Calcification
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Picture is copyright Emily S. Damstra and used by permission.
The deep-sea sponge Monorhaphis chuni (Hexactinellida) has the world’s largest known biosilica structure! A silicate spicule that can grow up to 3 meters long. That’s at least a meter longer . . . → Read More: Huge Silicate Sponge Spicules and the Evolution of Calcification... Read more »
Jackson, D., Macis, L., Reitner, J., Degnan, B., & Worheide, G. (2007) Sponge Paleogenomics Reveals an Ancient Role for Carbonic Anhydrase in Skeletogenesis. Science, 316(5833), 1893-1895. DOI: 10.1126/science.1141560
Müller, W., Eckert, C., Kropf, K., Wang, X., Schloßmacher, U., Seckert, C., Wolf, S., Tremel, W., & Schröder, H. (2007) Formation of giant spicules in the deep-sea hexactinellid Monorhaphis chuni (Schulze 1904): electron-microscopic and biochemical studies. Cell and Tissue Research, 329(2), 363-378. DOI: 10.1007/s00441-007-0402-x
- May 26, 2010
- 03:40 PM
- 200 views
Tahitian Tree Snail Avoid Extinction by Heading for the Mountains
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Partula spp. from Society Islands. Photo Credit: Marc Agren
In a short, but sweet, paper by Lee et al. published in the Current Biology, there is a “glimmer of hope” for montane tahitian tree snails (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Partulidae, Partula spp.). They examined the mitochondrial haplotype diversity of tree snail specimens locked away [...]... Read more »
LEE, T., BURCH, J., JUNG, Y., COOTE, T., PEARCEKELLY, P., & OFOIGHIL, D. (2007) Tahitian tree snail mitochondrial clades survived recent mass extirpation. Current Biology, 17(13). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.05.006
- April 20, 2010
- 12:00 PM
- 868 views
Guest Post: The Largest Habitats on Earth
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Peter Etnoyer is a deep sea coral habitat specialist with NOAA’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) in Charleston, SC. He returns to Deep Sea News to deliver this important report on an exciting new development in deep sea science. The journal Oceanography published a new full-color thematic issue [...]... Read more »
Etnoyer, Peter J., Wood, J., & Shirley, T.C. (2010) How large is the Seamount Biome?. Oceanography, 23(1), 206-209. info:other/
Staudigel, H., Koppers, A.A.P., Lavelle, J.W., Pitcher, T.J., & Shank, T.M. (2010) Defining the word ‘Seamount’. Oceanography, 23(1), 20-21. info:/
- April 13, 2010
- 12:17 PM
- 245 views
Fiddler Crabs Moult for a Breathe of Fresh Air
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Everyone knows that all crabs moult. Its no secret. When you wear you skeleton on the outside, its difficult to find the room to grow. Every now and then crabs and other arthropods (as well as a few other phyla) shed their exoskeleton or cuticle, resorbing the Calcium held in it. They secrete a new [...]... Read more »
BERGEY, L., & WEIS, J. (2007) Molting as a mechanism of depuration of metals in the fiddler crab, Uca pugnax. Marine Environmental Research, 64(5), 556-562. DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2007.04.009
Weihrauch, D., Morris, S., & Towle, D.W. (2004) Ammonia excretion in aquatic and terrestrial crabs. Journal of Experimental Biology, 207(26), 4491-4504. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.01308
- April 1, 2010
- 06:12 PM
- 336 views
The ‘Eye’ of the Vent Shrimp
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
*Not to be confused with the hit song by Survivor.
The vent shrimp Rimicaris exoculata (literally the Rift-shrimp deprived of eyes) swarms hydrothermal chimneys, with temperatures reaching over 350 C, en masse in the darkness of the deep sea. It has a certain peculiarity in that its eyes are completely absent yet there is a high [...]... Read more »
Chamberlain, S. (2000) Vision in hydrothermal vent shrimp. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 355(1401), 1151-1154. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2000.0657
Nuckley, D., Jinks, R., Battelle, B., Herzog, E., Kass, L., Renninger, G., & Chamberlain, S. (1996) Retinal Anatomy of a New Species of Bresiliid Shrimp from a Hydrothermal Vent Field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Biological Bulletin, 190(1), 98-110. DOI: 10.2307/1542679
Pelli, D., & Chamberlain, S. (1989) The visibility of 350 C black-body radiation by the shrimp Rimicaris exoculata and man. Nature, 337(6206), 460-461. DOI: 10.1038/337460a0
- March 22, 2010
- 12:00 PM
- 345 views
Dispatches from Antarctica – Farewell Weddell Sea
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
David Honig is a graduate student in marine science at Duke University in the lab of Dr. Cindy Van Dover. He is participating in LARISSA, a 2 month multinational expedition to study the causes and consequences of the ice shelf collapse. He will be posting regular updates on the expedition exclusively for [...]... Read more »
Domack, E., Ishman, S., Leventer, A., Sylva, S., Willmott, V., & Huber, B. (2005) A Chemotrophic Ecosystem Found Beneath Antarctic Ice Shelf. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 86(29), 269-276. DOI: 10.1029/2005EO290001
H. Niemann1, D. Fischer, D. Graffe, K. Knittel1, A. Montie, O. Heilmayer, K. Nöthen, T. Pape, S. Kasten, G. Bohrmann.... (2009) Biogeochemistry of a low-activity cold seep in the Larsen B area, western Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Biogeosciences Discussions, 2383-2395. info:other/
- March 14, 2010
- 12:40 AM
- 302 views
Say Hello to My Little Friend
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
What looks like a worm, is completely symmetrical in cross-section, and in the words of Dr. Peter Holland:
“It has no mouth, no gut, no brain and no nerve cord. It doesn’t have a left or right side or a top or bottom – we can’t even tell which end is the front!” (quoted from Physorg)
Its [...]... Read more »
Jimenez-Guri, E., Okamura, B., & Holland, P. (2007) Origin and evolution of a myxozoan worm. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 47(5), 752-758. DOI: 10.1093/icb/icm026
- March 12, 2010
- 03:05 PM
- 266 views
Isopods Cause Reproductive Death in Shrimp
by Kevin Zelnio in Deep Sea News
Isopods, you know them as those adorable little roly-poly bugs under rocks in the forest or the gigantic Bathynomus of the deep sea. They are also those cute and cuddly parasites in the gill chamber of shrimp too! Awww, How special! In a recent issue of JMBA-UK, Calado et al. describe how these fuzzy wittle [...]... Read more »
Calado, R., Bartilotti, C., Goy, J., & Dinis, M. (2008) Parasitic castration of the stenopodid shrimp Stenopus hispidus (Decapoda: Stenopodidae) induced by the bopyrid isopod Argeiopsis inhacae (Isopoda: Bopyridae). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 88(02). DOI: 10.1017/S0025315408000684
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