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1-29-16 Striped Parrotfish from Ron’s Tropical Marine Series

Filed under: CORAL REEF, TROPICAL MARINE — Leave a comment
January 29, 2016

TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) 
Order: Perciformes (Perch-likes) 
Family: Scaridae (Parrotfishes)

Genus/species: Scarus iseri

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Parrotfish owe their name to the shape of their mouth. Instead of teeth they have two beak-like plates, like parrots. They have even rows of large, noticeable scales on their bodies. 

Terminal phase: Body blue to green, with a gold to yellow spot or stripe above and behind the pectoral fin. Dorsal fin with a distinct pink, yellow or orange stripe down the middle that is broken by blue to green linear markings. Tail dark blue or green, with yellow or orangish linear markings between the borders.
Initial and juvenile phases: Body with three black stripes, two white stripes and a white belly, often with thin, broken silver, yellow or dark stripes. Usually yellow smudge on the nose, occasionally with yellow on the ventral fins, belly or tail. Tail without dark borders.
Size up to 35 cm.

Striped Parrottfish19431680162_8165aba44c_k

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Common Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean. Epibenthic, found over shallow, clear waters, generally over Thalassia beds and rocky or coral areas

DIET IN THE WILD: Feeds on plants.

REPRODUCTION: A protogynous hermaphrodite . Super males spawn individually with striped females, while sexually mature males in the striped phase spawn in aggregation.

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CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern (LC)

References

California Academy of Sciences, Steinhart Aquarium, Caribbean Reef 2015

Ron’s www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157625866509117/

Ron’s WordPress Shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-Lc

IUCN  www.iucnredlist.org/details/190732/25

Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/217720/details

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1-18-16 Caribbean Longsnout Butterflyfish from Ron’s Tropical Marine Series

Filed under: CORAL REEF, TROPICAL MARINE — Leave a comment
January 18, 2016

TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:  Chordata
Class:  Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Order: Perciformes (Perch-likes)
Family: Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)

Genus/species: Prognathodes aculeatus

Caribbean Longnose Butterflyfish 8374253723_e84e62082c_o

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Upper half of body yellow-orange, shading into blackish basally in dorsal fin; lower half of body white; orange bands on head and a narrow orange bar on caudal peduncle. Average of 2 to 3 inches long.

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Found on natural and artificial reefs, usually 30 to 200 ft in-depth, off Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, and off the coast of Venezuela.

DIET IN THE WILD: Bristleworms, crustaceans, black coral polyps, sea urchin pedicellaria. Also known to eat the tube feet of sea urchins and tube worm tentacles.

REPRODUCTION: Oviparous

CONSERVATION: IUCN, Least Concern (LC)

REMARKS: When threatened, this butterflyfish erects its dorsal spines and points them at the threat.

References

California Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium, Caribbean Reef 2016

Ron’s flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157625119200613/…

Ron’s WordPress shortlink wp.me/p1DZ4b-No

fishbase fishbase.us/summary/Prognathodes-aculeatus.html

reefguide.org/carib/longsnoutbutter.html

Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, Volume 2: Scorpaeniformes to Tetraodontiformes
By John D. McEachran, Janice D. Fechhelm

Caribbean Reef PR36

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1-11-16 Jack-knifefish from Ron’s Tropical Marine Series

Filed under: CORAL REEF, TROPICAL MARINE — Leave a comment
January 11, 2016

TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Order: Perciformes (Perch-likes)
Family: Sciaenidae (Drums or Croakers)

Genus/species: Equetus lanceolatus

IMG_3672

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: E. lanceolatus  has a very high first dorsal fin with a short base. Gray with three white-edged dark brown to black bands, the first running vertically through eye, the second from nape across operculum and chest to front of pelvic fins, and the last beginning on first dorsal fin and running to end of caudal fin Third and widest band from tip of high dorsal fin, curving along length of body to tip of tail
Max length : 25.0 cm (10 inches), common length : 15.0 cm (6 inches).

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Western Atlantic: Bermuda and North Carolina, USA to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Inhabits bays and sounds; also deep coral reefs.                                                                                                                                   Depth range 10 – 60 m (33-200 ft)

DIET IN THE WILD: Bottom dwelling carnivores, eating small shrimps and crabs, polychaete worms and gastropod mollusks.

IMG_3684

CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern

REMARKS: Reports of ciguatera poisoning

References

California Academy of Sciences, Steinhart Aquarium, Caribbean Reef 2015 

Ron’s flickr  https://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/19431680992/in/album-72157625866509117/

Ron’s WordPress shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-L3

fishbase  www.fishbase.org/summary/Equetus-lanceolatus.html

Encyclopedia of life eol.org/pages/213448/details

IUCN www.iucnredlist.org/details/46104959/0

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1-6-16 Cherub Fish from Ron’s Tropical Marine Series

Filed under: ANGELFISHES, CORAL REEF, TROPICAL MARINE — Leave a comment
January 6, 2016

TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class : Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Order: Pectiformes (Perch-likes)
Family : Pomacanthidae (Angelfishes)

Genus/species: Centropyge argi

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Like their close relatives the butterflyfishes, they have a deep, laterally compressed body, a single, unnotched dorsal fin, and a small mouth with brushlike teeth. The most observable difference between the two families is the long spine at the corner of the preopercle common to angelfishes.

C. argi is a small, oval angelfish. The body is dark blue with a yellow-orange face and blue ring around the eye. Pectoral fins are pale yellowish; other fins deep blue with pale blue margins.
Length up to 8 cm (3.1 in)

 

Cherubfish7086483839_ef280bfe0f_k

DISTRIBUTION/ HABITAT: Bermuda, Florida, Bahamas, Yucatan and Central American coast to Guianas. Nocturnally active in pairs or small groups in rubble areas near rocky or coral reefs, occasionally walls. 

Depth 9–105 m (30-345 ft), commonly deeper than 30 m (100 ft)

DIET IN THE WILD: Omnivorous, feeds on algae, benthic inverts and detritus.

REPRODUCTION/DEVELOPMENT: Broadcast spawners. All Centropyge are born female. As they grow, the larger and more dominant fish will become male and the others will remain female. If the male dies, the next in command in the hierarchy will turn to male.

PREDATORS: Preyed on by other fish such as yellow-finned tunafish. This small angelfsh darts into crevices when frightened or pursued by predators.

Lifespan: Have been reported to live up to 5 years in captivity.

CONSERVATION: IUCN Least concern.

CaribbeanReef 

References

California Academy of Sciences, Steinhart Aquarium, Caribbean reef fishes 2015

Ron’s flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157606840726733/

Ron’s W0rdpress shortlink   http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-uJ

fishbase  http://www.fishbase.org/summary/3607

Book  Lieske, E. and R. Myers, 1994. Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.

ADW  http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Centropyge_argi/

 


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12-21-15 Aggregating Anemones from Ron’s Temperate Marine Tidepool series

Filed under: CNIDARIANS, SEA ANEMONES, TEMPERATE MARINE — Leave a comment
December 21, 2015

TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Subclass: Hexacorallia (includes stony corals, all sea anemones, tube anemones, and zoanthids)
Order: Actiniaria (sea anemones)
Family: Actiniidae (largest family of sea anemones)

Genus/species: Anthopleura elegantissima

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Most are olive to bright green (depending on the species of algal symbionts present) with tentacles tipped in pink. The oral disk has approximately 100 tentacles in three or four rows around its margins. Those that are deficient in photosynthetically active radiation, such as under docks or in caves, lack symbionts and are pale yellow to white in color.
Disc 2-3 cm (0.78-1.2 in) across, under water.

Aggregating Anemones23710001752_0cf3a8e808_k

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Common in tide pools. The body of the anemone is firmly attached to rock substrate and detritus and sand adheres to the column almost covering them.

DIET IN THE WILD: Capture tiny crustaceans and other animals past their tentacles using their stinging nematocysts (also called cnidocytes) on the surface of their tentacles.

REPRODUCTION: To clone themselves, anemones split in half tearing themselves apart (asexual reproduction). Aggregating anemones also reproduce sexually by broadcasting eggs and sperm.

PREDATORS: Their are few known predators but include the nudibranch Aeolidia papillosa, leather star Dermasterias imbricata and mosshead sculpin Clinocottus globiceps.

REMARKS: When one colony of genetically identical polyps encounters a different genetic colony, the two will wage territorial battles. A. elegantissima has specialized tentacles called acrorhagi to deter non identical colonies from encroaching on their space. It extends the acrorhagi to attack the competing anemone with nematocytes leaving behind a ‘peel’ of the ectoderm and nematocysts that causes tissue necrosis in the receiving animal.

References

California Academy of Sciences Tidepool

Ron’s flickr  https://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/23710001752/in/album-72157625127345346/

Encyclopedia of Life  eol.org/data_objects/27560182

Ron’s WordPress shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-1D1

Monterey Bay Aquarium www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/ag…

Slatter Museum of the U. of Puget Sound www.pugetsound.edu/academics/academic-resources/slater-mu…

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12-18-15 Barnacles and Mussel (center) from Ron’s Temperate Marine Tidepool series

Filed under: CRUSTACEANS, TEMPERATE MARINE — Leave a comment
December 18, 2015

TAXOMOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Cirripedi (barnacles)

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Free-living barnacles are attached to the substratum by cement glands that form the base of the first pair of antennae; in effect, the animal is fixed upside down by means of its forehead. Inside the carapace, the animal lies on its back, with its limbs projecting upwards. There are six pairs of thoracic limbs, referred to as “cirri”, which are feathery and very long, being used to filter food from the water and move it towards the mouth. They have no gills, absorbing oxygen from the water through their limbs and the inner membrane of the carapace. The excretory organs of barnacles are maxillary glands.

barnacles23190303024_13b7f3ff63_k

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: They are also found in all the world’s oceans as hitchhikers on ships, driftwood, and other living animals such as whales, crabs, mollusks, and turtles.

DIET IN THE WILD: Rhythmic movement of the appendages captures small animals, organic fragments, and other suspended nutrients.

PREDATORS: the most common predators on barnacles are whelks. They are able to grind through the calcareous exoskeletons of barnacles and feed on the softer inside parts. Mussels also prey on barnacle larvae. Another predator on barnacles is the starfish species Pisaster ochraceus.

REPRODUCTION: Barnacles begin life as a free-swimming larva. Upon settling, the animal attaches to a hard substrate by its head end. Overlapping plates of calcium carbonate are then secreted externally and protect the animal from predators and water loss.

REMARKS: Various barnacle species create serious and expensive fouling problems on ship hulls and pilings. In two years, 10 tons of barnacles may attach to a large tanker, causing huge losses in fuel efficiency.

Since the intertidal zone periodically desiccates, barnacles are well adapted against water loss. Their calcite shells are impermeable, and they possess two plates which they can slide across their aperture when not feeding. These plates also protect against predation.

Tidepool

References

California Academy of Sciences Tidepool 2015

Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/2630893/details

Ron’s flickr  https://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/23190303024/in/album-72157660640336765/

Ron’s WordPress shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-1CW

 

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12-17-15 Shag-Rug Nudibranch from Ron’s Temperate Marine Tidepool series

Filed under: CNIDARIANS, MOLLUSKS, TEMPERATE MARINE — Leave a comment
December 17, 2015

TAXONOMY
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum: Molluska,
Class: Gastropoda
Family: ‪Aeolidioidea‬ (superfamily of sea slugs, the aeolid nudibranchs)

Genus /species: Aeolidia papillose

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Its color appears to be quite variable, depending upon locale and food resources. This large aeolid grows to about 10 cm(4 in) in length and its body is covered with close obliquely arranged rows of flattened cerata.

Aeolidia papillose 6873953510_5aecc605bd_k

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Common on the Atlantic coast of Europe and North America and the Pacific coast of North America. Also from  both west and east coasts of South America  Found on rocks, or may be on floats or docks often near its preferred prey. Intertidal to 380 m (116 ft) deep.

DIET IN THE WILD: Feeds almost exclusively on sea anemones.

MORTALITY/LONGEVITY: This species is famous for obtaining undischarged cnidae (cells which bear nematocysts) from its Cnidarian prey and moving to the tips of the cerata , where they are likely used for defense. If disturbed they sometimes wave their cerata. If one of the cerata is broken off, muscles within it contract, expelling the nematocysts, which then discharge . The chemical composition of A. papillosa mucus changes and does not trigger a discharge of nematocysts in the sea anemone.

REPRODUCTION/: Nudibranchs are hermaphroditic, and thus have a set of reproductive organs for both sexes, but they cannot fertilize themselves.

REMARKS: Their eyes are simple and able to discern little more than light and dark. The eyes are set into the body, are about a quarter of a millimeter in diameter, and consist of a lens and five photoreceptors.

Tidepool.

References

Ron’s flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/6873953510/in/album-72157660640336765/

Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/402852/details

Ron’s WordPress shortlink http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-1CP

 

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12-16-15 Macrocystis aka Giant Kelp from Ron’s Temperate Marine Series

Filed under: TEMPERATE MARINE — Leave a comment
December 16, 2015

TAXONOMY
Phylum: Heterokontophyta
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Laminariales
Family: Laminariaceae

Genus/species: Macrocystis pyrifera

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Stout holdfast attaches to solid substrate to anchor its long, limber stipes (central stalks) and deeply incised blades. Held upright by gas-filled bladders at the base of blades, kelp fronds grow straight up to the surface,

Giant Kelp5055944979_13b2c8c620_b

DISTRIBUTION/ HABITAT: North Atlantic and northern Pacific;
also the Mediterranean Sea and off Brazil. Kelp Forest in general to 100 ft to 175 ft. The water depth zone is often known as the Laminaria zone.

They can grow at a rate of 0.6 metres (2 ft) a day to reach over 45 metres (148 ft) long in one growing season.

REPRODUCTION; Drifting M. pyrifera sporophytes (kelp rafts) are created following sporophyte detachment from benthic substrates. Kept afloat by numerous pneumatocysts (gas-filled bladders), M. pyrifera sporophytes may remain alive and adrift for more than 100 days. the reproductive longevity of drifting M. pyrifera sporophytes is long enough to support effective long-distance dispersal of over 1000 km (620 miles).

LIFESPAN: Five years.

REMARKS: Giant kelp forests are home to many marine species who depend upon the kelp directly for food and shelter, or indirectly as a hunting ground for prey. Invertebrates graze on the blades, fish seek shelter in the fronds and thousands of invertebrates such as brittle stars, sea stars, anemones, sponges and tunicates live in the holdfast. In addition sea otters wrap up in a kelp frond to keep from drifting away when sleeping.

Tidepool

References

 
Ron’s WordPress shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-1CJ

Encyclopedia of Life  eol.org/pages/906815/details

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12-14-15 Northern California Clingfish from Ron’s Temperate Marine Series

Filed under: TEMPERATE MARINE — Leave a comment
December 14, 2015

TAXONOMY
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Gobiesocidae

Genus/species: Gobiesox maeandricus

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Like all clingfish, the northern clingfish possesses an adhesive disc, partially developed from the pelvic fins, that allows it to cling tightly to rocks or blades of kelp even in strong currents or crashing waves. The tapering, tadpole-shaped body, about 17 cm (6.5 in) long, has a single, posteriorly located dorsal fin, a fanlike caudal fin, no spines, and a flattened head. The skin is smooth and scaleless, with a thick layer of protective mucus. Its cryptic coloration makes the animal difficult to see among rocks or kelp.

DISTRIBUTION/ HABITAT: The family totals about 150 species worldwide; only 2 – the northern kelpfish (Gobiesox maeandricus) and the kelp clingfish (Rimicola muscarum) are found in northern California. They are bottom-dwelling fishes, typically found on or under rocks or high up in the kelp.

DIET IN THE WILD: Worms, molluscs, small crabs and other crustaceans.

PREDATORS: The clingfish is preyed upon by various aquatic animals that hunt among the rocks at high tide, and terrestrial predators such as snakes and raccoons that hunt at low tide.

REPRODUCTION: The male nudges the female’s belly. If she accepts him, the male moves parallel to her and quivers, stimulating egg laying. Fertilized eggs are deposited on stones, algae, or other bottom material, and are usually guarded by the male. Larvae are planktonic. Life span is about two years.

CONSERVATION: IUCN Red List Status Not Evaluated 

REMARKS: Like a number of other bottom-dwelling fishes, clingfish lack swim bladders, an internal sac used by the majority of fish species to control their position in the water. Clingfish can adhere so tightly to a surface that a rock might be moved some distance by strong currents with the fish still attached! Its suction cup also holds water from which the fish can extract oxygen even when exposed by a low tide.

References

California Academy of Sciences Tidepool Docent Guide 2015

fishbase  www.fishbase.org/summary/3075

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 336 p.

Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/203811/details

Ron’s flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157626486149324/

Ron’s WordPress shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-vx

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