Reef Ramblings

First announced in 2004, the Olympus BioScapes International Digital Imaging Competition, sponsored by Olympus America Inc. has become a yearly event honouring the world’s most extraordinary microscope images of life science subjects.

The competition recognizes outstanding images of life science specimens captured through light microscopes, using any magnification, any illumination technique and any brand of equipment.

“Microscope images forge an extraordinary bond between science and art,” said Hidenao Tsuchiya, President, Olympus Corporation of the Americas. “We founded this competition to focus on the fascinating stories coming out of today’s life science research laboratories.” Adding, “We look at BioScapes and these beautiful images as sources of education and inspiration to us and the world.”

2012 competition – aquatic organisms.

Aquatic organisms are often the subjects of competition entries, five out of the ten winners along with 19 out of the 64 honourable mentions featured aquatic subjects. The resultant images represent a meeting of biological science and art; they are often beautiful, sometimes bizarre, but nevertheless interesting, giving us a glimpse into the usually unseen world of the microscopic.

I’ve searched through the winners and honourable mentions from this year’s competition, announced in early December 2012, to bring you the following collection of aquatic images, adding explanatory comments about the organism in question wherever possible.

Winners

1st

Mr. Ralph Grimm

Video of colonial rotifers showing eyespots and corona, magnification 200x – 500x.

To learn more about rotifers in connection to the reef aquarium, see Reef Ramblings.

 



2nd

Scagelia is a genus of Rhodophyta or red algae.

 

 



4th

Phronima species are deep-sea amphipods and, according to German wildlife photographer Solvin Zankl, provided the inspiration behind the creature in the Alien movies.

5th

The genus Micrasterias belongs to the Desmidiales an order of green algae found mostly in fresh water and often referred to as Desmids. Around 0.35mm in size, they display an attractive bilateral symmetry, with two mirror-image sections joined by a narrow bridge containing the nucleus.

6^th

A common, free-living reef aquarium coral. To learn more see, ‘The Fungiids – the Plate or Mushroom Corals‘

Honourable mentions

The zebrafish, Danio rerio, a tropical freshwater fish, is an important model organism, widely used in scientific and medical research.

Vorticella is a genus of protozoa, mostly freshwater. They are inverted, bell-shaped ciliates, anchored to a substrate by a stalk.

Autofluorescence is natural emission of light; the colouration is not artificially induced.

 Diatoms are a major group of algae, and are one of the most common types of phytoplankton. They are characterised by a cell wall made of silica.

A common freshwater planktonic crustacean belonging to the order Cladocera

Volvox aureus colonies moving and turning; a daughter colony leaves a big colony.

Volvox is a genus of freshwater green algae that forms spherical colonies of up to 50,000 cells.

Birefringence, or double refraction, is the property or capacity of splitting a beam of light into two beams, each refracted at a different angle, and each polarized at a right angle to the other. Certain crystals such as calcite and quartz have this property.

Species of the genus Pyxicola are sessile, freshwater ciliates with an elongated, vase-shaped appearance. Size around 70-120 microns in height and 25-40 microns in width.

A typical adaptation in filter feeding species

Stentor is a genus of freshwater filter feeding, heterotrophic ciliate protists, usually horn-shaped, and reaching lengths of up to two millimetres.

To reef keepers the most familiar tunicates are the Ascidiacea, or Sea squirts, that have a sessile lifestyle. Less well known are the free swimming or pelagic classes of tunicates, the Thaliacea (Pyrosomida, Doliolida, and Salpida) and the Appendicularia (Larvacea).

A genus of sessile, rather than free-swimming, rotifers.

Obelia is a genus of hydrozoan in the phylum Cnidaria, hence related to corals. Hydrozoans differ from corals in having both polyp and medusa stages in their life cycle.

All image copyrights belong to the individual contestants.

2013 competition.

Entry deadline for the 2013 competition is September 30, 2013.

First prize is the winner’s choice of Olympus microscope or camera equipment valued at $5,000. Nine additional winners will also receive prizes, and many more will receive recognition as honourable mentions.

Each entrant can submit up to five movies, images, or image sequences. Entries must include information on the importance or “story” behind the images. Winners are notified in late October and are announced publicly in November or December. Selected winning images also become part of a travelling exhibit tour of museums and academic institutions.

To learn more about the BioScapes competition and to see winning entries from previous years, go to http://www.olympusbioscapes.com

Edited and compiled by Tim Hayes

Reef Ramblings

©2012

14^th October 2012

The Seahorse Trust has managed to achieve a ban on the sale of seahorses on eBay by working with the multinational online shopping website.

eBay has prohibited the sale of seahorses on all of its EU sites and restricted the US to domestic sales only (although the Seahorse Trust is lobbying its US members with the aim of getting greater regulation there too.)

The Seahorse Trust, based near Honiton, Devon, was established in 1999 as an organisation to preserve and conserve the marine environment using seahorses as its flagship species. It is an eBay registered charity and receives donations via the online retailer.

Neil Garrick-Maidment, director of the Seahorse Trust, said he had been alerted by supporters to the fact that dozens of eBay sellers were offering seahorses and seahorse curios. “All seahorses are legally protected and much of the eBay trafficking was illegal under EU and other international regulations. The sellers were based all round the world and were dealing in everything from living seahorses to seahorses entombed in paperweights and hideous baskets full of dried seahorses.” he said.

Mr Garrick-Maidment said the quantities were enough to concern him as the numbers of animals involved must have been in the region of half-a-million per annum.

Mike Carson of eBay said, “We are aligning our enforcement to reflect the regulations in the EU and US. We are therefore prohibiting the sales of real seahorses on our EU sites and only allowing the sale of these items on the US site with domestic shipping.”

Go to the Seahorse Trust to find out more about its conservation work.

Tim Hayes

Reef Ramblings

©2012

 

A new species of scleractinian or stony coral in the genus Leptoseris  has been described.

Dr. Bert W. Hoeksema of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, has published the description of a new species of Leptoseris that lives on the ceilings of caves in Indo-Pacific coral reefs. Unlike other members of the genus the new species, Leptoseris troglodyta, is azooxanthellate, having no symbiotic photosynthetic algae, and has a smaller size of polyp.

The genus Leptoseris is a member of the family Agariciidae. Up until now all the corals in this genus, although preferring lower light conditions, have proven to be zooxanthellate. Generally they are found on lower reef slopes, walls, or overhangs, exhibiting a wide range of forms such as encrusting, leafy, or vase-like with the morphology dependent on local environmental conditions.

Although Leptoseris species can occur deeper than 40 metres the new species has not so far been found deeper than 35 metres.

SeaLife Base lists 17 species under Leptoseris, other sources suggest 15 species.

The species description is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Tim Hayes

Reef Ramblings

©2012

 

I was intrigued by a recent Newquay Blue Reef Aquarium press release mentioning special events and activities to celebrate World Octopus Day this coming Monday.

Not having previously heard of World Octopus Day I decided to do a bit of research. It turns out that it is not one of those officially sanctioned ‘World Days’, indeed its true name turns out not to be World Octopus Day, but rather International Cephalopod Awareness Day.  It was established in 2007 by members of TONMO, The Octopus News Magazine Online forum, to bring attention to the diversity, conservation and biology of the world’s cephalopods. October 8 was chosen as an auspicious occasion for appreciating animals with a combination of 8 or 10 appendages – Octopus have eight arms while squid and cuttlefish have eight arms and two tentacles – the eighth day of the tenth month seeming an appropriate choice of date.

To increase the scope of the celebration four more days were added:

• October 8 – Octopus Day, for all the eight-armed species
• October 9 – Nautilus Night, a time for all the lesser-known extant cephalopods
• October 10 – Squid Day/Cuttlefish Day, or Squidturday, covering the tentacular species
• October 11 – Myths and Legends Day, for all the fantastical cephalopods of movies, literature and legend.
• October 12 – Fossil Day (to coincide with National Fossil Day), for all the incredible suckers that have gone extinct.

To find out more about this celebration of the world’s most intelligent invertebrates, go to the Cephalopod Awareness Day facebook page.

Tim Hayes

Reef Ramblings

8/10/2012

Today while I was doing some house keeping on the Reef Ramblings website I was surprised to discover that it has now been going for five years.

The first Reef Ramblings online was published on the 10^th February 2007 at 17.05 and entitled, ‘Reef Ramblings Revived!’ and featured the following subtitle…

Reef Ramblings.

or …

A philosophy of sorts, on all things reef …

Reef Ramblings was originally a print column in Practical Fishkeeping magazine at a time when I provided the bulk of its reef content, offhand I can’t recall the date of the first column, probably sometime during 2004 or 2005, and ran until late 2006.  I then had numerous queries about what had happened to the column so, as a result of the interest shown, decided to resurrect the column online.

Over the last five years more than 220 articles of one sort or another have been published here, that’s around 44 per year, considerably more than the 60 columns that would have appeared in print over that time.

It remains a fairly eclectic mix of content with news about the natural environment, issues concerning reef keeping, talking about new equipment, commenting on different ways of running a reef, and now features a lot more coverage of the ethics and responsibilities of the hobby.

I don’t know how many of you out there actually read these articles but I hope you have enjoyed them to date and found some value in them, I also hope that you’ll agree that I’ve stayed true to my introduction in the first ever column where I promised an occasional series of incoherent ramblings on all things reef! I just hope its not been too incoherent…

 

Tim Hayes

Midland Reefs

©2012-02-12

For those of you whose interest in seeing footage of coral reefs was awakened by the recent BBC2 Great Barrier Reef series, here’s chance to take a glimpse at a healthy Caribbean reef.

Back in December 2011 prestigious CBS news magazine ‘60 Minutes’ showed a 12 minute feature focusing on the plight of the world’s coral reefs, Correspondent Anderson Cooper visited Cuba’s Jardines de la Reina (Gardens of the Queen) with the Ocean Foundation’s Senior Fellow, Dr. David E. Guggenheim to take a look at a uniquely preserved ecosystem that illustrates the way a healthy coral reef looked like compared to the majority of reefs in the region which have becoming seriously degraded over the past 50 years.

The Gardens of the Queen have been described as one of the world’s most vibrant coral reefs, an anomaly at a time when many of the world’s reefs are in danger – or already dead.

Click on the link to below  to view the 12 minute feature:

The Gardens of the Queen

This is interesting viewing for reef aquarists for many reasons.

Caribbean coral reefs, along with the rest of the reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, are markedly different to those of the Indo Pacific. Alcyoniidae, the leather corals that we are familiar with from the Indo Pacific are largely absent; in their place are an abundance of Holaxonia, the sea fans and gorgonians.

It is an inspiring program to watch if you are contemplating putting together a biotope based on this region. Although we don’t have access to stony corals from the area there are plenty of other interesting invertebrates and colourful fishes available that can be made into a fascinating reef display refreshingly different from the usual mishmash of Indo Pacific species.

It is encouraging to see a healthy reef, showing little degradation, although on reflection most reefs shown on television are either ‘pristine’ or devastated.

This program caused much debate amongst coral reef scientists, some of it nit-picking, but I think the consensus was that it was a positive event with at least 18 million Americans seeing this film on the night it was broadcast. The biggest problem facing coral reefs today continues to be the lack of awareness among the general public regarding their deteoriating condition and the causes of that condition. Anything that helps to get this message across, as with the recent BBC2 Great Barrier Reef series, is invaluable to reef conservation.

The fish, particularly the groupers are stunning. Also watch out for the short segment showing what looked to be Periclimenes species shrimps engaged in cleaning activity.

Again, one to watch and to recommend to friends and colleagues to increase their appreciation of coral reefs, and their awareness of the issues affecting them.

Additional links:

CBS ’60 Minutes’ – The Gardens of the Queen

Dr. David E. Guggenheim

Tim Hayes

Midland Reefs

©2012

 

 

Friday 30th December 2011.

Watch out for the new BBC2 series about the Great Barrier Reef, ‘Nature’s Miracle’, starting at 8pm on Sunday 1^stJanuary 2012.

The three-part series presented by Monty Halls explores the 2000-kilometre length of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world and the largest living structure on our planet.

The first film explores the complex structure of the coral reef itself, the wildlife that lives on it, and features underwater photography showing scenes that have never been filmed before.

To find out more about this new series see BBC Great Barrier Reef.

If you go to Great Barrier Reef clips you can see 18 videos connected to the series ranging from just under a minute to a series preview of almost eight minutes in length. Included are some web exclusive videos.

Part of the success of the series was due to a partnership with James Cook University in Cairns. Their scientific research facilities include a giant reef tank where a variety of reef animals are studied.

The facilities here enabled the team to capture specialist close-up shots that would not be possible in the wild. Look out for the sequence capturing the first stages of a coral’s life when a free-swimming coral polyp settles and begins growing its stony skeleton.

Being able to precisely control light and nutrient levels, whilst leaving cameras running for days at a time, enabled series cameraman and marine biologist Richard Fitzpatrick to film time-lapse sequences of corals. A first here is footage showing how corals bleach, expelling their symbiotic partners, the zooxanthellae that give them their colour, a feat that hasn’t been achieved before in a wildlife documentary.

Please tell your friends, family, and colleagues about this new series highlighting the many wonders of the reef environment.

Tim Hayes

Midland Reefs

Marine aquarium fish collector Steve Robinson was sentenced to 45 days in prison on Thursday15th December for smuggling dozens of exotic fish from a small island near Mexico. He is facing prison after pleading guilty to smuggling a rare species of fish that can worth up to $10,000 per animal by claiming they were a more common species.

© D Ross Robertson, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Federal prosecutors accused Robinson of collecting 52 Clipperton angelfish in April 2009 off Clipperton Island. The Clipperton angelfish Holacanthus limbaughi is endemic to the area, growing to 25 cms total length, and is listed by the IUCN as Near Threatened (NT). Clipperton Island is an uninhabited atoll southwest of Mexico under French authority where fishing requires permission from the French government.

Federal fish and wildlife investigators found that Robinson then imported the fish into the United States while falsely claiming to authorities that they were a different, more common species.

Robinson pleaded guilty in August and is scheduled to begin serving the sentence January 30. The presiding United States Magistrate also ordered Robinson to pay a $2,000 fine and a one-year period of supervised release.

Tim Hayes,

Midland Reefs

©2011

Over the 14-16th December the European annual quota will be announced in front of the world’s press in Brussels.

The Fish Fight team is placing their Fish Fight Counter as close to the proceedings as possible so that it sits in view in the back of news clips.  They need the number on the counter (i.e. number of people who have signed the Fish Fight petition) to rise as much as possible over that time.

If you’ve not yet signed the petition (see link below), I would urge you to do so. Please pass the link to the petition on to your friends and colleagues, and ask them to sign up too!

After you’ve signed up your name will be displayed on the fish fight counter outside the European Parliament building in Brussels!

www.fishfight.net

 Thursday 15^th December 2011

FISH FIGHT has gone live this morning with the ‘Send a letter to your MEP’ appeal.

At the time of posting nearly 50,000 letters have been sent so far!

It’s currently a key moment in the next stage of the reform process as MEPs debate the details of the new Common Fisheries Policy.  FISH FIGHT would like you all to email your MEP letting them know how strongly you feel about a radical reform of the laws that govern our oceans.

FISH FIGHT has made this really easy to do. All you have to do is follow the 3 step guide at http://www.fishfight.net/meps

• First enter your name and address.
• Then choose which of your MEPs you want to write to.
• Then either write your own message, or use the template provided.

Your E-Mail Could Make All the Difference!

Please circulate this call to action to as many of your friends and colleagues as you can.

Tim Hayes

Midland Reefs

I’ve just received my copy of the January 2012 issue of Aquarium Fish International featuring the first edition of my new regular column, ‘The Mariculturist’. The column looks at all aspects of breeding and propagation, covering fish, cnidarians and mobile invertebrates.

 

For this issue’s table of contents, see: AFI January 2012

You can read the Editor’s Note for this issue by going here.

Also there is some additional online content connected to my column, ‘Fish and Invertebrates Spawned in Captivity’ disappointingly this is an abbreviated version of my full (and ongoing) list, which you can see in full here: List of Ornamental Marine Fishes Bred in Captivity

If there are any areas of mariculture that you’d like to see covered in the column, please get in touch.

Similarly, if you know of any species of ornamental marine fish or invertebrate not included in my list  that has been spawned in captivity, please let me know by contacting me through Reef Ramblings.  Please include any supporting evidence you have, including photos or a reference from a scientific journal.

Update December 15th 2011

I’m happy to say that the list has now been updated on the AFI website.

Tim

Tim Hayes

Midland Reefs

©2011