Barber Lab Quartet

(Power outages due to multiple summer storms... between trying to beat the heat and stay ahead on my work, I've gotten a bit behind on the fun...)

This is great. A clever spin on evolution in the 'Coral Triangle' which has been found to be home to the largest diversity of fishes on Earth. Science set to music with a few funny inside jokes thrown in... Every researcher dreams of finding new species ~!
>

New Species in Our Own Back Yard

Photo credit: P. Wirtz

This is amazing to me...

Carl Linnaeus established the cornerstone of taxonomy (the separation of plants and animals into separate taxa) some 350 years ago. The Linnaean method uses anatomy, appearance, and in some cases, behavior to describe plants and animals. Until the 1990s, scientists had to rely soley on the Linnaean method to group or separate species, and this method is still largely used today. But, the advent of DNA analysis has not only blurred the lines that separate species, it has also allowed for further separatation of species.

For example: Fish 1 and Fish 2 were long been thought to be the same species because they posess almost identical physical attributes; with new DNA analysis, Fish 1 and Fish 2 are found to be completely different on the genetic level; so, Fish 2 becomes a new species, or subspecies. Another example: Fish 3 and Fish 4 were thought to be separate species; DNA analysis proves they are one in the same; Fish 3 and 4 are then grouped under the same name.

We often hear about new species being discovered or described for the first time from far-flung locales such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and from the darkest ocean depths. These are species that probably have been there for hundreds to thousands of years, but were only recently determined to be unique and separate from those around them. Sometimes these animals live in small, hard-to-reach pockets, thus explaining their recent discovery. Sometimes these animals were misidentified as a similar bretheren: they appear on the surface as identical, but in fact have minute attributes that separate them. Sometimes, these animals are so small, they go overlooked!

Seven new Labrisomid blennies from the Bahamas and Caribbean Sea were recently described using a complex combination of Linnaean taxonomy and DNA analysis. Not two, not three, SEVEN! Here's the deal: these guys are really small (just over an inch long), live cryptically on reefs, and could easily have been misidentified for eachother, meaning they all look somewhat alike. Some (if not all) of the blennies have male and female color patterns that serve to further confuse the issue. I don't know how long it took the researchers to conclude their study, but on the surface, it looks like a years-long project of collecting, analizing, untangling, and concluding.

The article is complex, and not for the faint of heart. I think it's pretty darned impressive. This is heavy science! Way over my head. But, it will make it much much easier for me to illustrate these fishes in the near future!

Click here to read more.

Parrotfish Cocoon Mystery Solved?

Photo Credit: Lexa Grutter
Very interesting. After reading this article one question came to mind... The parrotfishes have found a way to protect themselves during night-time rest. But, they still spend a lot of time at cleaning stations during the day. So, are these fishes MORE prone to attack of Gnathiids than other fishes? And thus have developed, at least during night-time hours, a way to prevent it? Hmmm.

Hudson River Project

I was in NYC to visit friends and family, and my sister referred me to the Hudson River Project. Unfortunately, I was unable to visit the facility, but found their web site interesting. It is great to know that the water quality in the Hudson is improving, and that there are 49 documented fish species in the lower reaches. That's a start!
Click here to visit The River Project.

Warmer water linked to Salmon decline

More proof that fishes are very temperature sensitive, and that changes in their biology, or changes in environment, can be devastating.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/warm-water-partly-cause-of-salmon-decline-study-finds/article1516741/

Scientists to explore sex lives of gobies

Who knew gobies could threaten much of anything...

Scientists to explore sex lives of gobies