Controversy revisited

OK, I'll call it a controversy as long as we identify it as the creationism controversy.  While there are certainly controversies within evolution (e.g. gradualism versus punctuated equilibrium) there's nothing controversial about evolution, at least in scientific circles.  The controversy has been created by people who are motivated to undermine scientific thought.  Here, the folks at Scientific American provide a state-by-state update on some current issues.  What's really interesting is how the nature of the controversy differs between regions.  Hover your mouse over California, and you'll find out that the University of California has been allowed to deny credit to applicants who took biology courses employing textbooks that reject evolution.  Visit Ohio, and you'll learn that a local school board has fired a teacher for teaching creationism in his science classroom.  But visit Louisiana and Tennessee, and you'll find lawmakers promoting bills that encourage the critical examination of scientific theories, with specific mention of biological evolution, the chemical origin of life, human cloning, and global warming.  If the inclusion of that last (scientifically) unrelated topic doesn't clearly illustrate that this all comes down to politics, nothing will.

Here in Alabama, home of Small Southern, it's a very rare high school science teacher that has the fortutide to teach the truth in his/her science classroom.  It requires real courage, a quality far too rare in education these days.  That's a shame.  There's a war going on, and the future of this country is at stake.  We're on the front lines - don't be a coward.

That time of year again

Last night, our chapter of Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society initiated some 25 new student members.  A good night for a great bunch of students.  A growing tradition are the little music videos that we do to compile some of our photos and experiences. We did one to remember our time on the water - we have a real preoccupation with water - as well as to advertise the upcoming Tombigbee River course that my colleague plans to offer this summer.  So, I give you...

Ornithologists

From xkcd comics.

The "controversy" continues

An update here on Scientific American from Jennifer Miller, one of the Dover, PA, science teachers who refused to read the statement undermining evolution and supporting "intelligent design" that the local school board had placed in the district's books.  This, of course, led to one of ID's more highly publicized failures when Judge John Jones ruled that ID was not only nonscientific, but that the whole episode was simply a ruse to allow the advancement of a creationist agenda in public school science classrooms.

Miller talks about her experiences in the classroom since Judge Jones' ruling.  She sounds like she's probably a very good science teacher.  Her comments remind me of the atmosphere my college-level evolution classes - there's no controversy and very little skepticism.  Once students have an understanding of how the process works, all but the most heavily propogandized are able to follow the weight of the scientific evidence.

More troubling is the discussion of what goes on in other classrooms.  Many (most?) of our high school science teachers continue to avoid the topic of evolution or, worse, confuse their students with false information and flawed logic.  Whatever your religion or philosophy, cowardice and hypocrisy are not admirable traits.  If you're one of those science teachers, do your job.  Or find another.

Morning music

It's Johnny's birthday...



Takes me back to a time when things were simpler. Or, at least, we thought they were.

Chris DiCarlo...

...was in Tuscaloosa tonight as part of the University of Alabama's ALLELE (Alabama Lectures on Life's Evolution) series.  I took a group up from Small Southern for the talk.  The science was a fairly low-level summary of what we know about our African origins.  The more interesting part of the talk dealt with the philosophical questions that rise from that knowledge.  Can scientific proof of our commonality save us? 

I have my doubts - we seem to be hard-wired for hatred.  Still, spreading the word can't hurt.  So, we're 95% similar, DNA-wise, to chimpanzees.  Well, we're a lot more similar to each other.  It's kin selection, guys.  We're carrying each others genes - let's look out for each other.  For the interested, here's a DiCarlo pub that summarizes his main points.

Although I enjoyed the DiCarlo talk, it was a toss-up between him and the stage production of Moby Dick.

Darwinian night music

Talking Darwin to the Honors group tomorrow.  Getting in the mood with Chris Smither.

Wait a minute....

...I was promised dolphins and coral reefs.

Two Brothers

In 2008, archaeologists discovered a large anchor in the shallow waters of French Frigate Shoal in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands.  All indications now are that the anchor is a link to a remarkable historical chapter, one that helped give rise to one of our greatest literary works. 

In 1820, the whaleship Essex, out of Nantucket and captained by George Pollard, Jr., was stove in by an enraged sperm whale and sank.  If the story sounds familiar, it should - it became the foundation for Herman Melville's Moby Dick.  Of course, Melville's Ishmael was picked up by the Rachel the day after Captain Ahab's Pequod went down. The survivors of the Essex disaster were not so lucky.  The drifted in their whaleboats for three months, reduced to drawing lots to determine who would survive and who would be cannibalized.  Captain Pollard himself helped execute, and eat, his own nephew.  Their trial by ocean is the subject of another truly great book, In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick.

After the Essex survivors eventual rescue, Pollard was granted another captaincy, this time on the Two Brothers.  His luck, however, had not improved.  In 1823, the Two Brothers struck a reef in the Hawaiian Islands and went down.  The crew survived, but Pollard's career ended.  He spent the rest of his days as a night watchman in Nantucket.

It is the anchor of the Two Brothers that was spotted in French Frigate Shoals in 2008.  The find has now been extensively investigated, and is the subject of this piece at National Geographic.  It's not biology, but it's pretty good stuff.

The attack begins

Today marks the beginning of the new Republican-led Congress' attack on a number of pieces of important environmental legislation.  It's predictable, and it's worrisome.  It's important, too.  If you'd like to follow it, The Wilderness Society is blogging live from Capitol Hill.  A number of key votes coming up tonight.  I suspect the folks at the Society would not object to my cutting and pasting of their "Threatened 13" - key elements of the attack on the environment.  Take a look - there's a recurring theme here:

From the Wilderness Society....

"The Threatened 13" are The Wilderness Society’s list of worst budget cuts proposed by House leadership. That list includes:


1.Eliminating the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). According to the Department of Interior’s budget brief for 2012, the $675 million that it requested for public land conservation “will contribute an estimated $1.0 billion in economic output and support about 7,600 jobs … Activities funded under the LWCF will continue to ensure public access to the outdoors, preserve natural resources and landscapes, and protect irreplaceable cultural and historic sites.”

2.Stopping science in its tracks. Driven by radical ideology, not proven facts, the House majority has decided to deny the existence of global warming by eliminating funding for climate change science. The legislation would cut at least $123 million for climate research -- funding needed to assess our vulnerability to climate disruptions and to develop the tools needed to adapt to climate extremes.

3.Eliminating forest planning that keeps the damage caused by offroad recreational vehicles under control. This impairs public safety for all national forest users and threatens drinking water resources, big game species, and other key resources.

4.Eliminating the EPA’s authority to hold polluters accountable when they foul our air and poison our water.

5.Closing National Parks and Wildlife Refuges.

6.Cutting back on forest rangers, youth outdoor education, and law enforcement.

7.Limiting access to hunting and fishing – slashing the local jobs those activities create. Putting off maintenance projects, fighting invasive plants, restoration work, timber cutting, and managing wildfire.

8.Putting off maintenance projects, fighting invasive plants, restoration work, timber cutting, and managing wildfire.

9.Preventing federal agencies from moving forward with their responsibility to protect wild lands, wildlife habitat, and watersheds.

10.Eliminating the Department of Interior’s ability to inventory, monitor and protect potential new Wild Lands (Wilderness areas).

11.Failure to adequately fund the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program, which would threaten drinking water supplied to 66 million people. The cut could also eliminate up to 2,500 jobs. The program funds road and trail improvements, maintenance work and road removal projects that improve the health of local watersheds.

12.Revoking the President’s ability to keep our wild places safe by using the Antiquities Act, which has protected iconic places like the Grand Canyon.

13.Weakening of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA is the most important conservation law that ensures that federal agencies take a careful look at the effects of their actions on the environment and that the public has an opportunity to provide input and information to federal decision makers. Without NEPA, the public’s ability to protect their communities would be largely silenced.

The linked page provides an opportunity for you to express your concerns to your legislators.  Take advantage of it.

Organic chemist...

...meets salt marsh.

Fresh meat

Working today in the marsh with two new student helpers.  Here's the "before" picture.

The Frankenstein syndrome

This semester, I'm helping out in a special topics class for our Honors Program which we call Science and Literature. We're investigating the interface between those two divergent aspects of human endeavor, and why the relationship so often appears antagonistic. We started with a reading of C.P. Snow's 1959 lecture The Two Cultures, and followed that up with an investigation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In that light, I thought the guys might be interested in this offering by Phillip Ball from New Scientist...

The Frankenstein syndrome: Why fear making humans? - life - 14 February 2011 - New Scientist

It discusses the reluctance of many to welcome new reproductive technology, relating it to mythological and literary depictions of human-making. As we've discussed in class, these inevitably end badly. Why is that? Does it reflect some deep wisdom, Kass' "wisdom of repugance"? Or does it just make for a better story?

Night music....

....Mumford & Sons.  I like it.

First numbers are in...

..for meiofauna from our sites in oiled/unoiled areas in Alabama coastal marshes.  They're interesting, to say the least, but just a first step.  We leave Monday to collect a second set of samples.  Hoping to see a bit more this month from the ongoing macrofauna collections in our weirs.  Progressively higher tides as we move into the spring should make the weir samples more interesting - not much to see in the first set.  Taking a couple of new victims, including a prospective thesis student, for their first exposure to the salt marsh. Thankfully, it looks like the bitter cold is passing.  Hopefully, our next thermal challenge will be an afternoon sampling in August.

Don't forget your booties...

...cause it's cold out there today.  It's cold out there every day.

It's Science Saturday, boys and girls.  Math version - Kandinsky Did, Can You? Think about it. Then work on the new ecology storage building, and prep for a coast trip. Back later to discuss.

Florida find

Not sure what's more interesting here, the video of the blanket octopus (which may show the greatest size difference betweent the sexes of any large animal), or the "ooh, that's scary" attitude of these so-called newspeople.

Catchy....

Evolution Made Us All from Ben Hillman on Vimeo.

Back on the road...

It's been a long, cold, winter (in multiple senses), and I haven't been very diligent with the morning run.  Bess and I are feeling the effects of our inactivity.  So, it's time for a new leaf.  Hopefully, that carries over to SKTS.  The book now is The Emperor of All Maladies:  A Biograhy of Cancer.  It's not my normal read (probably helping explain my lack of desire to run the Loop in the freezing pre-dawn), but the topic has hit close to home during the long winter.  Better the beast you know.  Add in the fact that most of my advisees see biology as simply an entry into medicine, and this is subject matter that I need to get into.

Experimenting...

...with the phone.

Being shit on isn't always bad...

Typically, having someone move into your home and shit on the floor is a bad thing.  Not always.  Here's a coevolutionary relationship between a woolly bat and a pitcher plant in which both benefit.

N-control? Not so much

Seagrass damage from the N-Control

This week NOAA reported findings from a 5-year monitoring of a patch of seagrass in the Florida Keys Marine Marine Sanctuary.  The seagrass was damaged in 2001 when a 45 foot motorboat, the ironically named N-Control, went aground.  The restoration effort included seagrass plantings and the installation of stakes for seabird roosting.  The rationale for attracting seabirds is the significant nutrient input provided by their droppings.  Indications are that the restored area is recovering faster than if left alone, but it's a slow process.  Coverage of the seagrass species in question, Thallasia testudinum  increased from less than 1% to over 12% in the restoration area.  T. testudinum coverage in adjacent, undamaged seagrass beds are close to 30%.  

Seagrass habitats are impacted by hundreds of groundings annually.  State and federal authorities have taken steps to deal with the problem.  Damage to seagrass habitats in the Sanctuary carry fines of $100 for incidents less than one square yard, and $75 for each additional square yard up to 10 square yards. Grounded vessls may incur damages of up to $100,000 per day.

I'm preparing...

...a rather lengthy summary of the adventures of the 2010 Subtropical Ecology class.  That will take a few days.  In the meantime...

Learning curve

This is the first t post ith the new phone. If the phone is smart, I'm not.

Coming back

Hope to be back with some regularity over the next few weeks.  My Subtropical Ecology class is gearing up for their big trip to all points Floridian, and we'll be relaying the events here.  Departure in the wee smalls this Friday.  Weighty itinerary including: Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Lake Okeechobee, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Everglades National Park, Ocala National Forest, and others.  Watch this space...

Good to know

Watermelon, watermelon, good for the heart.

There are side effects, of course...

Whale poop

A friend of mine (well, maybe it was me) used to be fond of the expression "lower than whale shit." The idea, of course, was that, since whale feces had to sink to the bottom of the deep ocean it, you just couldn't get much lower than that.  Turns out that would be, well, wrong.

Truth is, whale poop doesn't necessarily sink.  In fact, a significant component of it floats at the surface of the ocean and has a real impact on the productivity of fisheries.  Joe Roman (University of Vermont) and James McCarthy (Harvard), publishing October 11 in PLoS One, have determined that deep-feeding whales actually carry nutrients back to the surface in a an "upward biological pump", rather than sending nutrients on a one-way trek to the abyss.  They estimate the the nutrient input of whale excrement to the Gulf of Maine is greater than that of all rivers combined.  Roman and McCarthy go on to suggest that, historically, whales likely played a very significant role in providing a nutrient base for fisheries and that the decline in whale abundance may be one of many factors that have led to declining productivity.

And, a little night music...

Trying to return, with a manageable schedule.  We'll see.  Moondoggies...

New meat-eater



Durrell's vontsira.  Credit:
Photo from Durrell Wildlife
Conservation Trust

 The world's newest carnivore has surfaced in Madagascar.  Researchers at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have identified Durrell's vontsira (Salanoia durrelli), a small meat-eater belonging to a carnivore family known only from Madagascar.  The little guy weighs only about a pound, and immediately becomes not only the world's newest carnivore species, but one of its most endangered.  The mongoose-like animal was observed swimming in a lake in the Lac Alaotra marsh region.  After capture, it was determined to be distinct from the brown-tailed vontsira that is also found in the region.

Stealth predator

It's no secret that ctenophores, or comb jellies, are voracious predators on zooplankton.  They can make a serious dent in copepod densities, even though calanoid copepods aren't the easiest prey for most slow-moving predators.  This is because the copeods are highly attuned to the slighest motions of the water around them.  Ctenophores, however, have one-upped their crustacean prey.  The ctenophore Mnemiopsis uses tiny cilia within the oral lobes to produce a current of water that moves copepod prey very delicately into their gastrovascular cavity, before the copepods are aware that they're being consumed.  Here it is at PNAS.

The champ

The world's most fecund vertebrate.  Mola mola, the ocean sunfish, females of which may release as many as 300 million eggs at a time. 

Invasion ingestion

Lionfish are well established as an invader in the Western Atlantic, and the prognosis doesn't look good.  A new paper appearing in the journal Biological Invasions indicates that, to decrease populations, 27% of adults would have to be removed annually.  There is one bright spot, though, that could help stem the tide of the invasion.  Apparently, they taste great, with a flavor like that of grouper or snapper.  Hence, NOAA's "Eat Lionfish" campaign.

A couple of my students (one former, one current) have spent some time this summer catching lionfish.  Have to find out if they've tried them on the grill.

Last rhino

No, not the very last rhino.  The last adult at South Africa's Krugersdorp Game Reserve.  Shot and left to bleed to death after her horn was severed.  A horn made of essentially the same material as your fingernails, but valued as in traditional Chinese medicine.  And it's safe to predict that this is the fate that will, in fact, befall the very last one unless we somehow deal with these idiots.  Must say that I agree with P. Z. Myers' take on the solution.

Fixing it

Had an opportunity to meet yesterday with Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, who has been designated by the President to oversee the development of a long-term plan for the restoration of the Gulf Coast.  Don't be overly impressed - I was one of a couple of professorial peons in a room full of University Presidents, VPs for Research, and Program Administrators.  Still, it was an interesting meeting and an opportunity to see how these things happen.  Secretary Mabus is looking for ideas about what comes next - after the hole is plugged, after the oil is off the beaches.  How do we start putting the pieces back together?  How do we assess the damage to ecosystems and begin to restore them?  How do we address potential threats to human health?  How do we put the impacted people back to work?  And, significantly, do we consider ways to move the Gulf states away from their marriage to the oil industry?  He closed the meeting with a charge to, "Think big; think holistic."

The Secretary made an interesting point with his contention that, perhaps, the Gulf region might serve as a national or international model for dealing with disaster.  I've said for a while now that the biological communities of the Gulf might be uniquely adapted to survive disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon spill because of their long history of dealing with environmental stresses.  Hardy organisms - the ones that can handle hurricanes, low oxygen zones, high temperatues, and hydrocarbon seeps - have been selected for in the Gulf of Mexico.  I don't think it's a stretch to say the same for the human inhabitants of the region.  No, the folks that live along the Gulf don't own the franchise on hard times - there's been plenty of that to go around, geographically speaking.  But I don't think anyone would argue that we've had to deal with our share of disaster.  We know how.  Give us your best shot.  Blow away our homes.  Blast our economy.  Coat our waters with oil.  The believers among us will pray.  The profane among us will curse.  The passionate among us will shed a few tears and the drinkers will throw back a few.  Hell, we'll all throw back a few.  Then, as a people, we'll get up in the morning and go to work.  Just watch.

Final Fish Feast

Last lecture in Biology of Fishes, and the guys brought in various fish dishes.  Represented families - Engraulidae, Thunnidae, Centrarchidae, Cichlidae, Salmonidae, Pleuronectidae, Serranidae, and Gaddidae.  On the final, they'll match the fish to the dish.

Sounds good, but...

...I'd say the jury's out.  It appears possible that that warm temperatures and, perhaps, a biological community better equipped to deal with an influx of petroleum may lessen the potential impact of Deepwater Horizon.   However, there's also the possibility that dispersants like Corexit 9500 have simply turned a toxic threat into an invisible toxic threat.

We'll see.

Don't confuse me with facts...

The Livingston Parish School Board in Livingston, LA wants to explore the possibility of teaching creationism in their public school system's science classes.  Some of the pertinent quotes from school board members.

David Tate: "We let them teach evolution to our children, but I think all of us sitting up here on this school board believe in creationism."

Clint Mitchell:  "I agree.... You don't have to be afraid to point out some of the fallacies with the theory of evolution."

Board President Keith Martin (after noting an increase in discipline problems):  "Maybe it's time that we look at this."

 Dave again:  "Why can't we get someone with religious beliefs to teach creationism?"

Maybe this guy's available.  These are, after all, his old stomping grounds.  Hell, ole Dave probably hangs out with Jimmy at some of the roadhouses on Airline Highway.  After church.

None of these people, of course, know a damn thing about evolution.  Most of them probably don't know much about creationism either.  To be fair, some of them are just naive, and naive can be educated.  Others are just plain stupid, which is harder to cure.  But they're not all naive.  They're not all stupid.  Some are intelligent, and they're the ones that should be ticketed for that Hell they want so badly for you to be terrified of.  They're motivated by the very worst of human traits.  They want to use your fears to control you.  And they want to force you to think like they do.   Even if it hurts you.  They want to rob the children of Livingston and Denham Springs and Killian. 

We know what will happen, of course.  Livingston Parish will take its rightful place alongside the Daytons and Dovers of the country.  Another symbol of just how far we've failed to come.  But, if the ignorant and the naive and the malicious have their way for long enough (and clearly, there are a lot of them out there), the day may come when the judges of this country won't have the backbone to stand up for what's right.  And then, we'll be set back another 30 years while the rest of western civilization moves forward.  Don't stand for it.  It's time to quit playing nice.

For the good people of the Livingston Parish School Board.  They're playing your song....

Largest rat in history?

Take your pick...

Six kg rodent unearthed in East Timor.

Tony Hayward may be forced to step down at BP.

They're shrimping...

...in Mobile Bay.  Without much success at this point, but it's still good to know.

Can we learn?

This has been rehashed a thousand times over the last few months, but here's another synopsis from ScientificAmerican.com detailing the similarities between the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the collapse of the Ixtoc 1 rig - almost three decades ago.  It's sad that, almost always, a tragedy is required to focus our national attention on matters that we all know must be addressed.  The only way to make sure that something like this never happens again, and that we're able to maintain our standard of living into the forseeable future and beyond, is to address our national energy policy now.  The realization is growing that the time has come to put politics aside and actually DO something.  Let's strike while the iron is hot.

And...

...the return of night music.  I find myself desperately in need of something a little upbeat.

Gulf whale shark

Remarkable video from the Mobile Press-Register's Ben Raines.  Large whale shark about six miles off Alabama's Orange Beach.

Swimming with a whale shark off the Alabama coast

Unfortunately, these magnificent fish have been observed recently swimming and feeding in heavy oil.  They're unlikely to survive.

Worth knowing

Is BP attempting to buy up Gulf of Mexico marine scientists?  Appears so.

Pallid sturgeon

Here, Fisheries and Wildife officials from Montana discuss conservation efforts designed to increase stocks of the pallid sturgeon, Scaphrhynchus albus.  The pallid is one of some two dozen sturgeon species, most of which face a very uncertain future.  Pallids, natives of the Missouri and Mississippi River drainage systems, are similar to, albeit considerably larger than, the more common shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorhynchus).  That, in itself, is proving to be a bit of a problem for the big fish.



Researchers at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville have determined that the similarity of the pallid to the shovelnose may be helping push it toward extinction.  There is a thriving fishery for shovelnose sturgeon in Tennessee, where females are harvested for their eggs which are marketed for caviar.  The pallid sturgeon, which no longer reproduces in nature as a result of habitat alteration, is apparently also suffering from overexploitation through mistaken identity.  The researchers, in their observation of the shovelnose fishery, observed accidental by-catch of pallids.  Young individuals are virtually indistinguishable from the shovelnose, with the pale coloration typical of pallids showing up only in older fish.  Furthermore, pallids are occasionally killed in lost "ghost" nets left behind by shovelnose fishermen.

The USFWS has been asked to invoke the "Similarity of Appearance" provision allowed under the Endangered Species Act, which would shut down the shovelnose sturgeon fishery in Tennessee.  A decision is expected in September.

Sex ratios in reef fish

A new paper appearing in American Naturalist examines the impact of overfishing on reef fish populations, and comes to some interesting and, perhaps, unexpected conclusions.  Australian biologist Stefan Walker and his colleagues observed that, as population sizes declined, many reef fish were producing fewer young per individual.  This in spite of the fact that lower population sizes should mean more available resources.  To get at the cause of this phenomenon, the researchers tagged and followed over 200 cylindrical sandperches (Parapercis cylindrica) on the Great Barrier Reef.  These fish are sequential hermaphrodites, born female with some later changing to males.  Walker and team found that the frequency of sex changes was inversely related to fish density, resulting in a higher percentage of males, and therefore lower egg production, in more heavily impacted populations.  The researchers go on to tout their findings as further evidence that marine protected areas, which do a better job of densities, are a more effective way to conserving populations than fishing quotas.

That which does not kill us

It's been a long, tough, summer.  Seems they always are.  But it's almost over, and it's been life-changing.  Again, seems they always are.  A few more scars, a little more recognition of mortality.  I'm  promising myself that this will be the last one like this - seems I always I do that.

But, it's time to establish the old routine.  Watch this space.

They're here....

Wrote several months ago about the steadily increasing number of sightings of alligators as they continue to spread into their former range.  My field methods class was doing fish community work in a local stream yesterday, and came across this...

That's an alligator track, and not a small one.  The hind foot measures about 11.5" to the tip of the longest digit.  With a little regression and some literature work, we're estimating a total length of 9-10 feet.  The stream is not a big one, some thirty feet across, averaging 1-3 feet in depth.  But there are some deep holes, and it supports (supported?) good populations of gar and bowfin.  Lots of beaver and raccoon in the area as well.  A crocodilian could do worse.

I've been working this stream for 18 years, and this is the first gator sign I've seen.  It won't be the last.  Alligators, in my view, pose of much more significant threat than do sharks, and statistics seem to bear that out.  Let's be careful out there, guys.

A frightening view...

...of what human future may hold, from the perspective of an evolutionary psychologist.  Probably up to us to make sure this doesn't come to pass, or that we can at least stave it off.

What we're up against

From a 1996 video depicting a Dayton, Tennessee biology classroom.  Dayton, by the way, was the site of the 1925 trail of John Scopes who was convicted of violated a state statute against the teaching of evolution.  The intervening years should have put an end to this silliness.  They haven't. 

In fairness, this video is some 15 years old.  I wish I believed that things have changed in the classrooms of our region over that span.  I fear they have not.

Science teachers, do your jobs.  If you can't, find another occupation.

Sabertooth cats...

...were bad, bad, animals.  Four feet tall at the shoulder, and armed with foot-long serrated canines (in the case of Smilodon populator, the largest of the group).  And, apparently, massively strong in the forelimbs.  X-ray analysis reveals that the bones from the front legs of sabertooths were dramatically thicker, and presumably stronger, than those of similarly-sized modern cats.  The cats apparently used their powerful forelimbs to hold down their prey while they dispatched them with the canines.

Making it right

Grandmothers

Few female mammals live significantly past menopause.  We're glad they do of course, but it's still an interesting question - one that comes up routinely in my evolution class when we're discussing life histories.  It's a trait that humans share with killer whales and pilot whales, and a new paper appearing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and discussed here at Scientific American delves into what we might have in common with those species.  Good stuff.

So, there you go

Topic that came up in class tonight...  One of the "mini-project" topics that my students are addressing is the idea of "fish as pets", the idea being to find out a little about the natural history of the species that have come to be popular in people's homes.  A number of the fish that students have chosen to examine are tropical marine species, and we had a discussion tonight about the conservation impacts that the aquarium trade is having.  And then this.  A new paper appearing in Marine Policy examines just that issue, concluding that international law is not doing an adequate job of protecting reefs and reef species from decimation from collectors.  Collectors remove some 30 million fish per year, belong to perhaps 1,500 species.  Since many collected fish will die before reaching markets, collectors overharvest to be sure they have enough to meet their needs.  Some fish, like the Banggai cardinalfish, have disappeared from much of their previous range.  The authors recommend that to deal successfully with the issue, pressure must be exerted on the U.S. market which accounts for over half the trade in reef fish.

Day on the river

Fish guys and I spent the day on the Tombigbee yesterday.  Not terribly productive.  Shoreline waters over 90 degrees down to three feet or so - seining doesn't yield much.  We're trying some different techniques - more to come.

As some know...

...summer has not been kind thus far.  Long, hot days.  Long, too.  And hot.   And not terribly conducive to writing blog posts when I get in at 9 or 10.  However, a variety of clues have indicated that there are some folks out there, mainly students former and current, that actually look to see what I've put here.  Lately, that hasn't been much.  Gonna try to be better.  Do me a favor.  Drop  a comment occasionally, so I'll know that these aren't just Dear Diary entries.

What can you say?

Mimic octopus

Remarkable video floating around the biological twittersphere.

Sharks off Bon Secour

Video from Ben Raines from the Mobile Press Register.  Evidence that the oil is forcing baitfish, and their predators, into nearshore waters.

Submerged oil at Bon Secour shoreline

I guess we should have known...

...that it would come to this.

From someone you can trust

Here, David Biello of Yale Environment 360 interview Dr. Tom Shirley from Texas A&M - Corpus Christi regarding the Gulf oil spill.  I know Tom Shirley, having worked with him for a couple of summers when he was at the University of Alaska's fisheries facility in Juneau.  He's as good a biologist as you'll ever hear.  Here's what he has to say about the situation in the Gulf.

And, from an appearance at the National Press Club.

Humboldt squid

From William Gilly, who is currently blogging from the Gulf of California from a research expedition investigating the big squid.

Seeking shelter

Marine life is showing up along Gulf beaches in high densities, apparently as they retreat in the face of oncoming oil.  Unfortunately, they're running out of water.

At what point...

...does one cross over the line between party loyalist and downright dumbass?  Haley Barbour objects to the President's demand that BP set up a $20 billion dollar escrow account to pay claims to oil spill victims on grounds that it will prevent BP from paying claims to oil spill victims...

"If they take a huge amount of money and put it in an escrow account so they can't use it to drill oil wells and produce revenue, are they going to be able to pay us?"

The art of fish

One of the topics that my fish guys are investigating is the role of our finned friends in art, literature, and popular culture.  Here, Trishonna shares some information about one of the most accomplished fish illustrators out there.

Fish artist Joseph R. Tomelleri was born in Kansas City in 1958. He earned his B.S. and M.S. in Biology from Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Although broadly trained in aquatic biology, he previously worked as a botanist. However, in 1986, Tomelleri turned his full focus towards illustrations of fish. Since that time, he has traveled more than 150,000 miles to collect live fish species for his scientific renderings. Tomelleri has illustrated 800+ species. His drawings are executed in Berol Prismacolor pencil and detailed with graphite. His attention to detail and unparalleled mastery of color, textures and hues has earned him world-wide recognition as a pre-eminent illustrator. His gift is in capturing the details that distinguish the various fish species. This makes Tomelleri’s illustrations of fish very rare, because few artists have the talent to produce drawings that are technically accurate and beautiful as well. He has mastered the skill of illustration. His drawings are done in a manner that is impossible photographically. He captures the fishes faithfully with accurate life colors, scale and fin ray-counts, illustrating a full spread of the fins. He is recognized by many ichthyologists as the finest scientific illustrator of fishes in the world. While in the field, he preferreds to photograph fresh live-caught fish to draw and depict their true life colors. His methods of capturing the specimens included hook-and-line, gill netting, seining, electro-shocking, and trawling. Tomelleri’s art has been featured prominently in more than 350 publications and advertisements. Several of his illustrations were included in a book that he helped co-author with Mark Eberle, Fishes of the Central United States. A compilation of his work was also published in Trout and Salmon of North America, written by Bob Behnke.

Check out Joe Tomelleri's web site here.  And buy something.

Fish o' the Day - bowmouth guitarfish

Gradually catching up on processing my students work in their fish class.  Bear with me, guys.

Visitors to the Georgia Aquarium are usually queued up to see the whale sharks.  Personally, I thought the most fascinating fish in the building was this guy.  Contribution from Jason...
 
Located mostly in the shallow waters near coral reefs and mangroves is an odd-looking fish called the bowmouth guitarfish, Rhina ancylostoma. Looking closely at them, they have the appearance of half shark and half ray. The bowmouth guitarfish‘s flat, broad, arc-shaped head spreads into two distinct triangular pectoral fins. The nostrils, mouth, and gill slits are located on the ventral surface of the head and the eyes and large spiracles on the dorsal side. The jaws are heavily ridged with crushing teeth arranged in wave-like rows. Behind the head, the body tapers into a more streamlined shape, much like that of sharks. There are sturdy ridges of heavy, sharp thorns next to the eyes, in the middle of the back, and above the pectoral fins. It has two large, triangular dorsal fins, the second smaller than the first. The body terminates in a small but powerful caudal fin with an upper lobe that is larger than the lower. Dermal denticles cover the body giving the rough skin a velvety appearance.

The color of bowmouth guitarfish changes with age. Young fish have brown bodies, pale ring-shaped spots covering their pectoral fins, and black bars between the eyes. .The body of the adult is charcoal or pale gray body with small white spots. The face bars fade to dark gray with age, becoming faint and indistinct. Some adults have a bluish coloration. The white ventral side in both adult and juvenile phases provides these rays with protective counter-shading.  Bowmouth are viviparous and are aplacental, generally bearing around 4 pups. While they have been known to grow to lengths of 8 feet, most are closer 6.5 or 7 feet. Bowmouths prefer a relatively shallow habitat with a muddy or sandy substrate, and their primary food sources are crustaceans and mollusks. A quick look at their dentition might allow you to deduce that without ever seeing them in action.  Unlike many oceanic species, bowmouths are not cosmopolitan.  Found mostly in waters of Southeast Asia, they do range into the oceans off East African and are also found along the Indian coastline. 
They’re not currently on the IUCN red list, but there’s a push beginning to see that happen. They’re not fished for their meat, but rather for their dorsal fin. – often the living fish is thrown back into the water to die. In addition, bowmouths sometimes become entangled in gill nets due to their odd shape. 

One interesting idea is being kicked around in taxonomic circles. Bowmouths are often described as prehistoric in appearance, and are considered by some to be a ‘missing link’ between sharks and rays. This belief is based on the ray-like placement of the mouth and gill openings and disc shape of the front part of the body and the shark-like streamlined appearance of the rest of the body and the powerful tail. Is this true? Maybe.

The Strand

A highlight of the Subtropical Ecology field trip is our visit to Fakahatchee Strand, the "Amazon of North America," and park biologist Mike Owen.  That's a couple of my guys from a past class - we'll be there again in November.  Enjoy this from the Tuscaloosa News.

FOD...

...should return tomorrow.  I've turned that responsibility over to my students for the duration of the summer.  They meet tomorrow.

In the meantime, how about some night music.  Old Number 7.

Warm-blooded beasts

My fish guys will be talking out thermal relationships tomorrow, and we'll discuss the way in which certain fish like tuna are able to maintain body temperatures considerably higher than ambient.  This gives them a significant advantage in hunting down the other fish on which they feed.  Which makes this new Science paper particularly interesting.  Seems that some of the marine reptiles that were so dominant in Mesozoic seas may have used the same strategy.  The French researchers who led the work employed stable isotopes of oxygen in the phosphates of tooth enamel from fossil ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs.  They compared the ratios to those of fish fossils from the same time period.  Isotope ratios in the poikilothermic fish can be used as a gauge to water temperatures - 18O/16O ratios increase with decreasing water temperature.  The results demonstrated that the body temperature of the aquatic reptiles remained relatively constant, even in changing water temperatures.  The reptiles maintained body temperatures in the neighborhood of 35-39 degrees Celsius, while water temperatures ranged as low as 12 degrees.

No surprise...

...but discouraging nonetheless.  A research vessel from the University of Miami has detected a 23-mile long plume of oil off of Florida's southwestern coast.  The plume is being carried by the Loop Current toward the Dry Tortugas and the Florida Keys.

It would appear...

...that some of my friends in Louisiana are positioning themselves to spend BP's money examining the long-term impacts of the Deepwater Horizon spill.  LSU and the Louisisana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) have signed an MOU with Wood's Hole to form a consortium "to work cooperatively to plan, secure funding for, execute and report on a program of scientific research to describe and quantify the effects of the oil spill...". 

It's a beautifil marriage.  Combining the skills and political clout of WHOI with the regional influence and ideal positioning of the LUMCON facilities should generate some answers about just how much damage has been done to these fragile systems.  The project expects to receive "significant" support from BP. 

Hot

The last few days have been hot - really hot.  But we've been preparing for that, for a long time.  The thermal hypothesis of human evolution suggests that various aspects of our history, including bidedalism and the loss of fur, could be related to the extremely warm climates that we ultimately hail from.  Of course, for that idea to work we have to assume that our ancestral home was, in fact, hot as Hades.  That was the goal of a study by a group from Johns Hopkins, published recently in PNAS. 


Lead author Benjamin Passey and his group used a geochemical approach to evaluate past temperatures in the Turkana Basin on Kenya, a region that was home to ancestral hominids for much of our early history.  The group applied istopic analysis to carbonate minerals in the soil, looking specifically at ratios of Carbon-13 and Carbon-18.   This ratio provides a clue to the temperatures at the time of mineral formation.  The analysis revealed daytime temperatures over 90 degree Fahrenheit.  Temperatures such as this make the thermal hypothesis a viable idea.

Fish Art

One of the "mini-project" assignments that my fish guys will be doing this summer is a look at the role played by fish in art, literature, and popular culture.  More on that tomorrow.  For tonight, check this out.  Samuel Fallours lived, in the early 18th Century, on an island called Amdon in what today is Indonesia what is now Indonesia. He painted fish caught in the local waters, in a region known as the Coral Triangle and famed for the diversity of fish found there.  His catalogue of paintings is one of the world's rarest publications on natural history, but they have been collected in a new book, Tropical Fishes of the East Indies, by Theodore Pietsch.

Fallours had either a keen sense of humor or a great aptitude for marketing.  His paintings were fanciful, in some cases downright imaginary.  He also spun some remarkable tales as back stories.  Read about it here at NewScientist, and enjoy the slide show.

Lots of catching up to do...

...but it's a busy time right now. Some news items tonight, and tomorrow some contributions from the Fish Brigade.

A new offering from Current Biology examines the stereo component of shark olfaction.  It's no secret that sharks can "track" small concentrations of substances (like blood) in the water.  The new research led by Jayne Gardiner at the University of South Florida determines that the fish can sense small delays in the time required to reach one nostril compared to the other.  When they do so, they turn in the direction from which the odor is coming.  This contradicts the long-held notion that directionality was determined by concentration differences - and makes more sense.  The work is summarized here at Science Daily.

The fish you live with

And, a piece from Stewart in the Fish as Pets category, looking at the popular betta.

The Siamese fighting fish, or simply fighting fish as it’s commonly referred to in the US, is a fish that comes to us from the rice paddies of Thailand and Cambodia. The species, Betta splendens, earned it’s common name from the fighting behavior exhibited by the males. In nature. the fish are greenish-brown in color - through selective breeding, however, they have be one of the most colorful and sought-after species for freshwater aquaria. The fish typically grow to a length of 2 inches or so, although some varieties can be twice that.  Bettas typically live 2-5 years in captivity.  They belong to the Order Perciformes, which contains nearly 40% of all bony fishes, and are the gourami family (Osphronemidae).  Ahough there are nearly 50 more species in the Betta genus, B. splendens is the most popular species among aquarium hobbyists.

B. splendens has an upturned mouths and is, primarily, a carnivorous surface feeders. In the wild, they feed largely on the larvae of mosquitoes and other insects.  Their reproductive behavior is particularly noteworthy.  To reproduce, the male flares his opercula, spreads his fins, then twists his body when he finds a female of interest.  The female darkens in color and curves her body back and forth. Males build bubble nests on the surface of the water. Then, the “nuptial embrace” takes place as the male wraps his body around the female. Eggs are released from the female as the male releases milt into the water, fertilizing the eggs externally. At this point, the male chases the female out of his territory for fear of her consuming all the eggs as food, and he does the work of retrieving them from the bottom and depositing them into the nest on the surface. Talk about a workout...

A YouTube of spawning bettas...

What fish am I eating?

A contribution from Jake, in the Fish as Food category.

Many people go to restaurants and order fish, but do they really know what type of fish they are ordering? Different restaurants may well use different types of fish.  A popular fish that is being used today for items such as fish sticks and fish patties is the pollock, Theragra chalcogramma. These fish reach lengths to almost four feet and a weight of close to 50 pounds. Recent catches of pollock total close 1.5 million tons per year, representing nearly 1/3 of all marine fish caught annually in U.S. waters. Although the annual catch is large, abundance of pollock is decreasing rapidly due to over-fishing and predators. In 2008, pollock abundance was said to be the lowest in the history of the U.S.-managed fishery.

Even though the pollock numbers are decreasing, the fish is still used today in many well-known restaurants, including Long John Silver’s. Long John Silver’s was founded in 1969 and set trends with the quick-service seafood restaurant.  As the world’s most popular quick-service seafood chain, it has over 1,200 restaurants worldwide.  Although they have not always used them, pollock is the main fish that Long John Silver’s uses today. It is typically served fried, but the restaurant also serves grilled fish, also pollock. 

An endangered Fish o' the Day - pygmy madtom

As I mentioned earlier, I'll be including some posts authored by students in my summer Biology of Fishes course.  Among their other assignments, they're completing weekly "mini-projects" dealing with a number of topics, including Fish o' the Day in different categories (invasive, endangered, etc.), Fish in Art/Literature, Fish as Food, and others.  A couple from last night's session.

An entry from Jason on the endangered pygmy madtom.

The pygmy madtom (Noturus stanauli) is the smallest member of the family Ictaluridae. This family of fish is easily recognized due to the barbels that extend from its upper jaw. The pygmy reaches a total length of only 2 inches. Coloration of the fish is typically a dark brown on the dorsal side and a solid white on the ventral side. It is believed that they have a short life span of approximately one year, but they may spawn multiple times.

Very little is known about the pygmy due to the lack of success in collecting efforts. In the two Tennnessee rivers that they are known to inhabit, successful collection only occurs 25% of the time for the Duck River and 50% of the time for the Clinch River, making this one of the rarest if not the rarest fish in North America.

Where collection efforts have been successful, it is noted that their habitat is a relatively silt-free zone, with a stable substrate, and a very high water quality. This is probably related to the pygmy madtom’s decline. Siltation resulting from environmental changes in the area and degradation of water quality may have diminished the amount of suitable habitat for this species, leading to a struggle to remain viable. It seems that the pygmy could be going the way of the dodo.

One bright note is that the pygmy madtom has been successfully bred in captivity. On a collection effort for other fish, two pygmy madtoms were collected and transported into an aquarium modified for their environment. Two spawning individuals were observed during this time, and 13 offspring were able to reach adulthood. This could lead to reintroduction to areas as long as the habitat is suitable.

One thing to be noted about the pygmy is that, in the areas where it is found, there is always a diverse assemblage of species around it. In the Clinch River, 80 species of fish and 18 federally listed mussels are associated with it pygmy habitat. In the Duck River, 90 species of fish are associated with it. This leads one to believe that the presence of the pygmy madtom is an indicator of a healthier river and ecosystem.

Breaking news...

Flow from BP continues

Fish o' the Day - cobia

The last of our coastal fish, for the time being.  Tomorrow, I anticipate having some entries contributed by the students in my summer fish class.  Tonight, we'll look at the cobia, Rachycentron canadum, the only living member of its family, the Rachycentridae.  The genus (and family) name translates roughly to "stinging spines" a reference to the short, stout spines supporting the dorsal fin.  Like a couple of freshwater fish we've seen (the bowfin comes to mind), the cobia is known by many other names to those that encounter it in tropical and temperate waters.  On the Gulf Coast, ling and lemonfish are common nicknames.  Where they're encountered in the Pacific, they may be known as black kingfish or aruan tasek.  Wherever found, they're big, powerful fish, reaching a length of six feet and weighing as much as 100 pounds.  The body is long and sleek, with a flattened head and small eyes.  A chocolate brown dorsal coloration grades to a white belly.  A pair of bands on their sides are more pronounced during the spawning season.  The lower jaw protrudes a bit past the upper jaw, giving them a pugnacious look.  The body shape, along with the large pectoral fins, gives them a distinctly shark-like appearance, and cobia hanging beneath the surface are frequently mistaken for small sharks.

Surprisingly, cobia's closest relatives include the remoras in the Family Echeneidae.  As juveniles, they more closely resemble remoras, although they don't have their characteristic dorsal attachment structure.  Cobia are pelagic fish (making their lack of a swim bladder a little surprising).  They're typically solitary, except when they form spawning aggregations.  They're fond of structure, and can often be found beneath floating objects (debris, seaweed, etc.).  Cobia will feed on a variety of prey, but seem to be particularly fond of swimming crabs.  They're migratory, with a population wintering off south Florida and migrating north in the spring.  They're fished heavily at that time, and the first "ling" of the year is always big news.

Nice video here of a group of cobia.

Worth knowing

BP apparently has enough money in their PR budget to buy sponsored links on major search engines.  Try it out. 

Perhaps that money could be better spent providing some protection from the coastlines currently under assault from their incompetence.  That might be a more appropriate way of dealing with their image.

Sargassum

A nicely done piece from the Mobile Press-Register looking at a fragile, floating, Gulf ecosystem.

Backpedaling

"Well, when I said Autumn, what I meant was..."

Fish o' the Day - hardhead sea catfish

Discussion of surf-fishing in the Panhandle and the common fish along the beaches leads to a consideration of this one - Ariopsis felis. The hardhead belongs to the Family Ariidae, unlike our freshwater catfish in the Family Ictaluridae. The primary difference between the two families? Ictalurids have a set of barbels adjacent to the nostrils - they're lacking in the sea cats. Hardheads are one of the most common fish off our Gulf beaches, and in our bays too, for that matter. At times, it can be difficult to fish with live bait for anything else, because the catfish will have it within seconds of it reaching the bottom. I can't vouch for them as table fare - I've always been told that they weren't any good to eat, although some folks say differently. It certainly wouldn't be a problem to find out. Hardheads can reach a couple of feet in length, and can weigh up to 10 pounds. Considerably smaller is much more common.

They're known as hardheads because of a bone that extends rearward from the head toward the dorsal fin. They should be handled with care - the dorsal and pectoral fins are equipped with very sharp, serrated spines that can go through a glove or a tennis shoe. If they bury one of those in your flesh, the pain is excruciating. This is I can verify from personal experience. An interesting fact - they're mouth-brooders. The male carries the fertilized eggs in his mouth for a month or so prior to hatching.

And, from Otis Cam..., er, Haley Barbour...

It's not the oil, it's the media. Heck, ah use more oil 'n that on mah franch fries.

Till Autumn?

Admiral Thad Allen, the Coast Guard official in charge of the U.S. response to the BP oil spill, said on a number of news outlets today that the cleanup could last into the Fall. I assume that's just a ridiculously optimistic outlook.

Damn damsels

Until the 1980s, staghorn corals (Acropora sp.) were a dominant member of Caribbean coral reefs. They were hit hard by a variety of diseases, hurricanes, and anthropenic impacts. So hard that they're now endangered. There's been an unforeseen complication. The three-spot damselfish, Stegastes planifrons, kill portions of coral to culture algae and provide hiding spots. They're aggressive, and defend their gardens ferociously. When staghorn corals were abundant, the damselfish preferred to set up housekeeping among their branches, and the relatively fast-growing staghorns could stay ahead of the damage caused by the fish. In the absence of staghorns, damselfish have taken to slower-growing head corals, and they are wreaking havoc on the already stressed corals.

The impact of the damselfish has been recognized for some time, although it was believed that their increase in abundance and impact was the result of a release from predation resulting from overfishing of large fish like groupers. A new paper appearing in PLoS One identifies the changing nature of Caribbean coral reefs as the root of the problem.

Deep reefs at risk

We've heard a lot about the deep plumes of oil and dispersants that are drifting through the Gulf as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster (although I suppose that BP is still denying their existence). One ecosystem that may be particularly at risk are the deep-sea coral reefs found in the Gulf and the Florida Straits. In this article at Science Daily, researchers from the University of Miami discuss the threat that the deep plumes represent for these particularly fragile systems. Unlike shallow-water corals, the deep-sea species lack photsynthetic symbionts and are dependent on food particles sinking down from surface waters. If food from the top has to drift through an undersea plume of oil, it will likely be toxic to the deep-dwelling corals. The figure at left, produced by the folks at UM, illustrates the problem.

Night music for a Sunday morning

I wake up with Elizabeth Cook every morning. Of course, she doesn't know anything about it - she's hosting her show on Sirius XM radio and I'm driving to work with my coffee. But still....

A young lady who deserves a lot more attention.