Invertebrate Spotlight: Larvaceans

Mucus house of a Larvacean

Invertebrate Spotlight: Larvaceans

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology Lab

Today in the Marine Invertebrate Zoology we learned about one of the most interesting marine animals.  Larvaceans (Class Larvacean) are unique animals in the phylum Chordata along with their close relatives sea-squirts (Class Ascidiacea) and slightly more distant relatives humans (Subphylum Vertebrata).   These chordates retain their tadpool larva form and excrete a mucus house from specialized cells located on their head.  This house starts off as a small balloon like structure, the tadpole Larvacean whips its body to inflate the balloon with water, then when it is big enough the animal crawls inside, and whips its tail to continue to inflate the house.  Larvaceans will also eat with the help of their house which also contains screens set up to filter water, water is then further filtered by the animal so that it can eat bacteria sized particles.

A schematic of a larvacean in its house with the screens and showing water current flow. Photo Credit: Earthlife.net

They live in this house until the screens become clogged and then they swim out of it start to make a new one.  They discard their old house with sinks to the ocean floor as marine snow.  Marine snow is considered a big source of nutrients to the deep sea, to learn more about how larvaceans contribute to marine snow check out MBARI’s website.

Larvacean photo, screens shown in red tint, white folds are more filtering tools, and the animal itself is in the center of it’s house. Photo Credit: Arctic Exploration 2002, Per Flood, NOAA/OER

Tis the season for MLML Open House

The vertebrate ecology lab’s recreation of the inside of a whale. (photo by The Moss Lander).

Tis the season for MLML Open House

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab

The spring semester is buzzing with activity from classes, field trips, and preparing for Open House.

Have you ever walked inside the belly of a whale?  Want to know how long turtles live or what seastars eat?  This year’s Open House will answer these and so many more of your ocean questions.  Be there Saturday April 20th and Sunday April 21st from 9am to 5pm.  As a FREE EVENT we offer a marine adventure puppet show, education presentations by students and faculty, live touch tanks, a sea lion show, raffle and prizes, and so much more.  There is so much to see you will need to come back both days!

Entry Way to MLML. Dive into Open House! April 20th and 21st
Photo by: Scott Gabara

What’s that on the rock?

What do you see on the rock?

What’s that on the rock?

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology Lab

The invertebrate zoology class took a field trip to Asilomar State Beach last week to look for cool creatures.  Professor Jon Geller encouraged us to turn over rocks looking for flatworms, the topic of this week’s lecture.  As I overturned one rock I noticed something quickly hunker down.  It was this tiny octopus that tried to camouflage itself with the rock.   An octopus’s boneless body is well suited for changing its shape and its ability to mimic other animals, algae, and rocks or sand can be quite impressive.  Check out this video of an octopus camouflaging itself (‘Where’s the Octopus?‘).  These extraordinary animals are different from other camouflaging animals because they not only change their color and shadow but they also change the texture of their skin to match their background and they do all of this by sight!

Their very kein eyes detect the object they wish to look like and control over 30 million chromatograms (color producing cells) and papilla (cause the three dimensional shape of the skin).  Octopus’s do this while color blind which mystifies scientists.

Small octopus found at Asilomar State Beach hiding under a rock at low tide.

This octopus I found is likely a Pacific red octopus (Octopus reubescens), though it swam away before I could get a good look (no animals were harmed in the making of this blog post).  This is so far the coolest creature I have seen in the intertidal.  Get outside and see what you can find!

My little buddy swimming away.

Water, water everywhere but not a drop in my suit!

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology

Breakwater Cove dive spot in Monterey where DUI had set up their Demo Day. Photo by: Pamela Neeb Wade

Scuba diving on the central coast means you get to see amazing kelp forests and underwater geological formations but it also often means you are getting in the sometimes frigid waters of Monterey Bay.  At depth, the water can get very cold, I experienced a dive at Big Creek, Big Sur where the temperate was only 8 Celsius (~46 degrees Fahrenheit)!  At that temperature my wimpy 7 millimeters feels like wearing shorts in a blizzard and gets even thinner as the pressure compresses all the neoprene bubbles in my suit.   Over the years I have seen many other divers in thicker wetsuits (up to 20 millimeters on their core) and dry suits.  That is right scuba diving without getting wet.  When a company that makes dry suits (DUI) offered a demo day at a local dive spot my labmate Pamela and I leaped at a chance to jump in the water without getting wet.

Life After MLML: News from the tropics

By: Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology

After graduating from MLML, former students go on to do great research at their new jobs or in Phd programs.   One of these former students is Paul Tompkins of the phycology lab, who took a phd position at Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) in Bremen, Germany.   Paul is conducting research the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos.  Beyond the famous finches and the oldest tortoises, the Galapagos also boasts an impressive marine system protected by their national park.   As part of a larger, ongoing project Paul is studying the role of algae in the food web and the response to climate change including El Nino events.

Spotted rose snapper (Lutjanus guttatus) and other Galapagos reef fish during a dive at Punta Nunez
Photo by: David Acuna

While collecting preliminary data of the system, using underwater transects and estimates of percent cover, a diver (David Acuna) helping Paul monitor Punta Nunez came across a fish species he did not recognize.  The possible identity of this fish is the species Lutjanus guttatus, Spotted rose snapper, which was cited for the first time in the Galapagos from catch data in Puerto Villamil in pervious years.  If the identity of this mystery fish is confirmed it would be a new record of the species and help scientists monitor populations of fish in the area.  It just goes to show that you always have to keep your eyes open for new discoveries.

A close up shot of the spotted rose snapper. Photo by: David Acuna (Charles Darwin Foundation)

Life’s a Beach

MLML bloggers Michelle, Diane, and Catherine volunteer with Young Women In Science

By Catherine Drake and Michelle Marraffini, Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab

Photos by: Diane Wyse, Physical Oceanography Lab

Summer is here on the Central Coast and MLML students as well as a few MBARI interns took some time off to play hooky for a cause.    We volunteered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Young Women in Science (YWS) program to help middle school girls in this summer camp monitor the beach for sand crabs and learn how to boogie board.    The camp’s aim is help empower young girls interested in science to be guardians of the ocean.   Many of these girls have never been swimming in the ocean before and fellow bloggers Diane, Catherine, and myself showed the girls the joys of splashing in the surf.

Lifeguards explaining some water safety ideas before we head into the water

Catherine catching a wave with the girls of YWS

We spent half of the day using the scientific method and sampling along a transect to look for sand crabs.  The campers were encouraged to form hypotheses about where the crabs were living and use results to think about larger food webs and ecosystem processes.   After lunch and a safety lesson on currents and waves from the lifeguards, girls rushed towards the ocean with boogie boards in tow ready to conquer this new frontier.  We ran in after them and helped them learn to catch a wave and dive under ones that were too big.   This was the first time being in the ocean for many of these young ladies, and they were so brave as they dominated the large waves.  When it was time to go, many of the girls had enjoyed their time in the water so much that they insisted on catching one final wave.  It was inspirational to see the girls having so much fun making observations about sand crabs and trying to catch every wave they could.  We had a great time volunteering for this essential program, and can’t wait to help out again!

Michelle riding a wave and showing the girls of YWS how much fun boogie boarding is

Never a dull day for a Marine Biologist in Monterey Bay, Catherine models some giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, while boogie boarding

 

That’s Not a Seashell!

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology

Massive dock from Japan that washed ashore in Oregon. Photo by Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department.

At 66 feet long, 19 feet wide, and 7 feet tall, the massive dock that washed ashore on Oregon’s Agate Beach is larger then anything I have ever found on the beach.   This dock is one of the first large pieces of debris to make it across the Pacific ocean from Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in March of 2011.   According to news reports, the debris came from the northern Japanese city of Misawa, arrived almost nine months earlier than officials originally thought.

Hitchhikers from Japan made it alive and well despite the almost 5000 mile journey.
Photo by Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department

But this dock did not arrive alone.   Many organisms hitched a ride on this dock for the almost 5,000 mile journey across the ocean.   Floating docks and other harbor structures provide habitat for many invertebrates and algae.   The movement of these organisms to the Pacific Northwest, many of which are not native to this coast, may pose a threat to the diversity of native species that live there.   To prevent these possible problems, scientists and managers took samples of organisms that arrived on the dock then scrapped the remaining organisms, buried them deep in the sand up the beach, and then used blow torches to dock to remove all remnants and reproductive material of the organisms.

Battle Under the Docks

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology Lab

With continued global expansion of humankind and climate change, how will native communities be affected by introduced species?  Recent state surveys identified at least 312 non-native species in California coastal waters, many of which are known to have strong negative impacts on shipping, recreational and commercial fishing, and native habitats and local species (CDFG, 2008).  Factors regulating the success of non-indigenous species are of interest to scientists and managers.

A view of boats that use Monterey Harbor and may unknowingly transport invertebrates from other marinas and harbors.

Artificial habitats like floating docks and pontoons act as ground zero for newly arrived non-indigenous species.  These species arrive though many mechanisms, such as ballast water and fouling on the bottom of boats; we heard all about ballast water from fellow MLML student Catherine Drake, The Ballast Water Balancing Act.  Species that settle in marinas and harbors can than travel along the open coast and into estuaries, where they may outcompete native species for resources and become dominant on human structures such as water pipes, sewer grates, and aquaculture cages.

Dockside view of my thesis installation with helpers Hannah and Heather. Photo by Scott Gabara

Under the floating docks of Monterey Harbor animals are battling for space. For my thesis at MLML, I am studying the role of native invertebrate species on invasion success.   I will look at the sessile invertebrates like tunicates (Phylum Chordata), mussels (Phylum Mullusca), bryozoans (Phylum Byrozoa), hydrozoans (Phylum Cnidaria), feather-duster worms (Phlyum Annelida) and anemones (Phylum Cnidaria).   By making experimental treatments that vary the number of species, the amount of native verse non-native species, and the amount of open space in artificial communities hopefully I can untangle part of the story about how non-native species become established.

Take a look under the dock as the battle is under way and stay tuned for the winner!

Diver, Heather Hawk helps steady treatment plots of native and non-native sessile invertebrates Photo by Scott Gabara

Welcome to Moss Landing Marine Labs!

Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology and Molecular Ecology

Have you ever wondered about the secret life of deep sea fishes?  Or what the inside of a whale looks like?  Have you touched one of the largest sea slugs in the world?  Well, visitors to this year’s Open House at MLML got a chance to do all of this and more!   Over the course of this two day event students, faculty, and staff opened their labs and their minds to over 2300 visitors of all ages from around the Monterey Bay area.  If you missed it come on a tour with me and walk through the labs.  At the first stop we see a large mahi mahi fish and skeletons of local and far away fish.

Mahi Mahi on display at Open House

Fish skeleton to be viewed but not touched in the Ichthyology Lab

Lights, Camera, Action!

By Michelle Marraffini

Invertebrate Zoology

MLML’s annual Open House is fast approaching and our students are busy trying to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.  One of our main attractions is the marine adventure themed puppet show.   Students invite the audience to dive into the ocean with a much anticipated, “Welcome to the Moss Landing Marine Labs Open House Puppet show!”  This puppet show aims to teach the audience about the ocean and get them really excited about studying and conserving it.

Check out previous puppet show here

To learn more about how the creators of this year’s show feel about the show I asked each of them a few questions.

What is the best thing about the puppet show?

Nicole: The creative process that brings the whole show together; writing songs, developing choreography, crafting sets and props, all for the purpose of educating visitors about marine life in a super fun way!!

Marilyn: The best part of the show for me has to be people coming up afterwards to tell us how much they learned from and enjoyed the show, especially when we’re able to reach both kids and adults. It means a lot when we’re able to communicate crazily complex scientific concepts to everyone in a fun and accurate way. And the singing and dancing, of course. And writing the songs. Wait. That was more than one best thing…