Harlequinmania

Click through to see the images. Small Wonders Last week, we blogged about another master of camouflage, the halimeda crab; That article was inspired by a video (shared in the article) from North Sulawesi dive instructor 'liquidguru.' Turns out, liquidguru is an underwater videographer extraordinaire with a knack for capturing footage of extremely interesting Indo-Pacific animals. We'll share more of his outstanding videos throughout this week. His video of a yawning Bargibanti's Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti) served as this article's muse. Fair warning: When this diminutive (adult) pygmy seahorse opens its tiny mouth at around 0:55 minutes, your heart might just melt. The Bargibanti's Pygmy Seahorse was the first pygmy seahorse discovered, and was officially described in 1970. So effective is its camouflage that scientists did not know these seahorses even existed until they accidentally stumbled upon them when examining the host gorgonian corals of the genus Muricella (M. paraplectana or M. plectanagorgornians), which Bargibanti's Pygmies exclusively cling to. Since the year 2000, at least six other pygmy seahorse species have been formally described. The most notable distinction of pygmy seahorses is, of course, their tiny size. Adults only grow to approximately 0.50 to 1.0 inches (14 to 27mm) in length. They are so small that unlike fish and other seahorses, pygmy seahorses only have a single gill opening on the back of the head. As with other seahorses, pygmy seahorses are paternal brooders; The father incubates fertilized eggs until he gives live birth. The notable difference between pygmies and other seahorses is the location of the male's pouch; The former's pouch is located at the bottom of central trunk whereas the latter's pouch is located at the top section of the tail. Not much information is known about the exact diet of these tiny animals. The Bargibanti's Pygmy Seahorse may feed on zooplankton trapped by gorgonians and may even feed on gorgonian tissue as well. Pygmy seahorse in its gorgonian home. Keep in mind your thumb is twice as big as this guy. If, after watching the video and photos, you yearn for a Bargibanti's Pygmy Seahorse of your own ... let that dream go. Several public aquaria have attempted to keep these beautiful animals in captivity, and all have failed. These are animals best appreciated in their natural habitat. To learn more about pygmy seahorses, visit Richard Smith's Ocean Realm Images website. Dr. Smith is the first person to earn a PhD on the biology and conservation of pygmy seahorses. His website has a lot of photos and information about these small wonders. View the full article

Click through to see the images. For those of you thinking about bringing your entire family to MACNA 2013, have no fear. The Westin Diplomat has kids activities throughout the day, which will give them something fun and exciting to do while you are geeking out with your fellow reefkeepers: Reserved just for kids ages 4 - 12, our fun and activity filled programming designed to entertain and delight our smaller guests. This supervised day time program is available for half day or full day sessions. Activities range from: VIP tours to back-of-house Arts & crafts such as a building a bird-house made from recycled materials from our Engineering department Bounce House Golf & Tennis fun at our Golf Resort Swimming Lunch at Splash or Rivals Movies & a snack Beach sports Karaoke Free play including board games, air hockey, basketball and more! Sessions: $35 1/2 Day Sessions: 9:00 AM - Noon or 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM $70 Full Day Session: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, includes lunch $50 Kids Night Out, Friday: 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM All sessions include a snack, $10 to add a full meal. Advance reservations are strongly recommended because our Kid Specialists will adjust activities and programming to accommodate the varying ages, number of guests, season and weather. (via MACNA 2013) View the full article

Click through to see the images. When Jim Thomas and his global team of researchers returned to the Madang Lagoon in Papua New Guinea, they discovered a treasure trove of new species unknown to science. This is especially relevant as the research team consisted of scientists who had conducted a previous survey in the 1990s. “In the Madang Lagoon, we went a half mile out off the leading edge of the active Australian Plate and were in 6,000 meters of water,” said Thomas, Ph.D., a researcher at Nova Southeastern University’s National Coral Reef Institute in Hollywood, Fla. “It was once believed there were no reefs on the north coast of Papua New Guinea since there were no shallow bays and lagoons typical of most coral reef environments. But there was lots of biodiversity to be found.” Thomas and his team discovered new species of sea slugs (nudibranchs), feather stars (crinoids) and amphipods (genus Leucothoe). There was more variety of these indicator species found than there is in the entire length of Australia’s 1,600-mile Great Barrier Reef. “This was an astonishing discovery,” Thomas said. “We returned to our labs and began to formally assess our collections. We had no idea this lagoon’s bounty was so profound.” The international team Thomas led included researchers from and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego, the California Academy of Sciences and the National Botanical Gardens of Ireland. Their 3-week expedition ended late last year. While in Madang, they joined a large French contingent of scientists from the Paris Museum of Natural History. The NSU-led research team’s findings will be shared with the local villagers, as well as regional and federal governments. It will also be published in peer-reviewed journals. The Madang Lagoon faces many environmental threats by land-based pollution from a recently opened tuna cannery whose outfall is very close to the lagoon’s reefs. “Hopefully, our discoveries will strongly encourage governing bodies to recognize the environmental importance of the lagoon and work to stop the pollution,” Thomas said. [via Nova Southeastern University] View the full article

Click through to see the images. Published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal B, researchers Kelley, Fitzpatrick, and others tested this question in their paper "Spots and stripes: ecology and colour pattern evolution in butterflyfishes." Butterflyfishes (Family: Chaetodontidae) were chosen for this study as it is a large family with a highly diverse coloration and pattern on their bodies with different genus' having highly unique stripe, spot, and eyespots present. The researchers used a dated molecular phylogeny of 95 species from this family (comprised about 75% of the total fish) and "tested whether spots and eyespots have evolved characteristics that are consistent with their proposed defensive function and whether the presence of spots and body stripes is linked with species' body length, dietary complexity, habitat diversity or social behaviour." For those unfamiliar with molecular phylogeny, it is "the analysis of hereditary molecular differences, mainly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships." (Wikipedia) Kelley's group found stripe patters were consistent with different ecological factors including "habitat type, sociality and dietary complexity" supporting the supposition that stripe patters are evolutionarily important. However, eyespots and spots in general were found to have appeared relatively recently in butterflyfish, which casts doubt on the idea that spots and eyespots are used as a predator defense mechanism. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal B, researchers Kelley, Fitzpatrick, and others tested this question in their paper "Spots and stripes: ecology and colour pattern evolution in butterflyfishes." Butterflyfishes (Family: Chaetodontidae) were chosen for this study as it is a large family with a highly diverse coloration and pattern on their bodies with different genus' having highly unique stripe, spot, and eyespots present. The researchers used a dated molecular phylogeny of 95 species from this family (comprised about 75% of the total fish) and "tested whether spots and eyespots have evolved characteristics that are consistent with their proposed defensive function and whether the presence of spots and body stripes is linked with species' body length, dietary complexity, habitat diversity or social behaviour." For those unfamiliar with molecular phylogeny, it is "the analysis of hereditary molecular differences, mainly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships." (Wikipedia) Kelley's group found stripe patters were consistent with different ecological factors including "habitat type, sociality and dietary complexity" supporting the supposition that stripe patters are evolutionarily important. However, eyespots and spots in general were found to have appeared relatively recently in butterflyfish, which casts doubt on the idea that spots and eyespots are used as a predator defense mechanism. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Halimeda algae is a smart object to mimic since very few organisms enjoy dining on this hard algae. To be honest, H.heraldica cheats a little bit with its camouflage. This species is a decorator crab; The halimeda crab attaches rigid fronds of halimeda algae to its rostrum (the forward extension in front of the eyes) to enhance its camouflage. It really appears as if giant green calcareous horns are growing out of the crab's head. But the rest of its green, halimeda-like carapace is au naturel. Simply awesome! View the full article

Click through to see the images. Vincent Fernandez's group at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wanted to know more about how water flowed at the boundary layer of the surface of coral, so they designed an experiment to better understand the flow dynamics. Using video microscopy, the group took high speed video captures of tiny fluorescent beads flowing around and about the surface of a coral, in this case Pocillopora damicornis. According to their results: The bundles of arced tracks over the coral surface capture the mixing that is occurring perpendicular to the surface. This ciliary mixing is enhancing mass transport near the coral surface, potentially increasing rates of photosynthesis and carbon fixation by the coral-algal symbiotic system and also affecting invasion of the coral surface by microbial pathogens. The composite image is generated from 120 video frames taken at 10 frames per second by use of video microscopy. The tracks of the 2-micrometer fluorescent particles are shown superimposed on a single frame to illustrate the relationship between flow and polyp locations. Each polyp is approximately 1 millimeter in diameter, about a thousand times larger than the fluorescent beads. Naturally occurring green fluorescent protein (GFP) gives the coral its green appearance. On a side note: this image really reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night! (via Deep Sea News) View the full article

Click through to see the images. From the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies: Using a world-first scientific discovery, Australian researchers are developing a stress-test for coral, to measure how coral reefs are being impacted by pressures from climate change and human activity. The scientists have found hemoglobin genes in the microalgae which live symbiotically with coral, which may provide a readout on how stressed a particular coral is – and how likely it is to bleach and die. Coral bleaching occurs when the symbiotic algae abandon the coral due to changes happening in the environment such as high water temperatures or pollution and, deprived of their main energy source, the corals whiten and potentially perish. Bleaching has hit more than half of the Great Barrier Reef in recent years, as well as a majority of coral reefs around the world. “Despite the importance of coral reefs to hundreds of millions of people worldwide, we still do not clearly understand how well they can cope with changed conditions of climate and environment they now face,” explains Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS). “In exploring the genetic make-up of both corals and their symbiotic algae, we have found hemoglobin-like proteins that respond rapidly and dramatically to temperature and nutrient stresses,” says lead author Dr Nela Rosic of The University of Queensland. Most people know hemoglobin as the red material that carries oxygen around the body in our blood supply, but in plants and algae it serves a slightly different function, mopping up spare oxygen and toxic gases before they can harm the plant. In corals and their algae it may also form a vital part of their day-night energy storage system. “When the coral undergo temperature stress, this system goes into overdrive and hemoglobin genes are expressed at a higher level. Due to its sensitive nature, hemoglobin has a potential to be used as a stress biomarker. This, for the first time, gives us a clear readout of stress levels in the corals and their symbiotic algae,” Dr Rosic explains. Professor Hoegh-Guldberg says the discovery allows crucial new insights into the physiology of bleaching at the molecular level. “Potentially this can also be used by coral managers and even industries which depend on coral, to monitor the condition of their reefs,” he explains. “By monitoring stress levels in the coral’s symbiotic relationship, we can potentially explore whether a coral is more vulnerable to bleaching and death. There may then be strategies we can pursue to reduce the pressure.” However both scientists caution that the primary stress on corals is coming from high ocean temperatures due to global warming – and this can only be addressed by humans cutting their carbon emissions. Prof. Hoegh-Guldberg adds that the test could also be used to monitor the success of improved management of catchments and other human impacts, in terms of its effect on the corals. “It will be one of a range of measures we can use to understand whether steps taken to improve conditions surrounding coral reefs are really working or not. This can have a number of potential uses as we strive to reduce stress through better management of coral reefs.” The scientists say that the existence of hemoglobin-like proteins in coral zooxanthellae (the symbiotic algae) highlights the common evolutionary ancestry of single-celled plants and higher animals, including humans. Their paper “New-old hemoglobin-like proteins of symbiotic dinoflagellates” by Nedeljka N. Rosic, William Leggat, Paulina Kaniewska, Sophie Dove and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg appears in the journal Ecology and Evolution. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Have you ever wandered into the local fish store and wanted to know more information about a fish that is on display? How big of a tank do I need to keep that Naso tang thriving? What does it eat? What is its temperament? What fish will it get along with it in a community tank? Will it eat any of my coral? These are all important questions that need answering before making a purchase. Enter P.O.T.O.'s free marine fish app, available for both Android-based and iOS smartphones. The app is simple and straight forward: it allows you to look up information on marine fish simply and easily. I took the app for a test drive this evening and found it simple and straight forward to use. Once the app loads, you are presented with a screen where you can Choose a Category of fish to look up. Clicking on a Category takes you to a screen where you can refine your search for the fish you are interested in learning more about. The last screen is a listing about the specific fish: common name, scientific name, whether it's reef safe, recommended tank size, diet, and general remarks. At any time, you can also click on the magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and search the database for a specific fish. One really nice thing about the app is that the information is referenced at the bottom of the listing so you can be sure that the information is accurate. This also allows you to read up further on that particular fish if you have the book handy at home or at the LFS. I had two issues with the app during my initial test-drive. During my initial usage of the app, I found it to lag on my Droid X. I would click on a menu item and it may take a couple seconds for the choice to register. That said, my Droid X is rather old and it would not surprise me in the least if it ran fine on newer hardware. The only other issue I had with the app was its limited fish index and the occasional misspelling. The author recognizes this shortcoming and is actively adding additional fish to the database so expect updates. Give the app a spin and let us know your thoughts! View the full article

Click through to see the images. The dive event is sponsored by Ecoxotic, Two Little Fishies (and Advanced Aquarist sponsor), and Piscine Energetics Inc.. More information to follow on this great opportunity! Be sure to follow MACNA 2013 on Facebook for up-to-the-minute updates as well! View the full article

Click through to see the images. Centropyge hotumatua was known only to exist at a few island reefs in Southern French Polynesia: the Austral Islands, Rapa Island, Pitcairn Island, and Easter Island - that is until this month when surveyors from the Global Reef Expedition discovered the beautiful dwarf angelfish at Gambier Archipelago, a remote and relatively unvisited rocky reef island chain. Very few marine aquarists have ever seen a Centropyge hotumatua, let alone know about this species due to its extremely limited and remote geographical distribution. As far as I know, the last Easter Island Dwarf Angelfish collected for the aquarium trade was over ten years ago, and I know of no living specimen currently in captivity. The new discovery of Centropyge hotumatua at Gambier Archipelago still won't mean we'll see this species imported anytime soon, but it's cause for excitement nonetheless. [via Science Without Borders] View the full article

Upgrading my UV and thus letting go my old set of Coralife Twist 12 X . UV Lamp just replaced one month ago and only run for about 8 hour per day. Looking at $ 80.00 Deal at cck ave 3

Click through to see the images. At its height in 2006, Jamaica reported up to 260 lionfish per hectare - a situation that was significantly threatening the animals which lionfish feed on: shrimp, smaller fish, crabs, and other crustaceans. It also threatened the local fishermen as lionfish spines are poisonous and the reduction in marine fish numbers it reduced their livelihood and the island's fish exports. Finally, through targeted efforts, marine biologists are reporting lionfish numbers are lower in key areas, some of which are down to as low as 80 lionfish per hectare. "In-water monitoring has shown a reduction in the numbers of lionfish at key locations around the island. We have also seen good results from the catch data from the fishermen, as they have reported a reduction in the lionfish catch," said Dr Dayne Buddo of the University of the West Indies' Discovery Bay Marine Lab (UWI-DBML). ... "Removing 20 lionfish on a single dive equates to saving approximately 300,000 juvenile fish over a one-year period," he remarked, pointing out that one lionfish is capable of eating 20 juvenile fish in one feeding event, and they normally feed twice per day. Biologists state the significant reduction in lionfish numbers is a direct result of education programs teaching locals about the lionfish and also encouraging them to catch, sell, and eat lionfish. Below is a sample video showing just how severe the lionfish problem is in areas: (via Jamaica Observer) View the full article

Click through to see the images. Animal Instincts Aquarium & Pet Center (Fall River, MA): Surveillance video recorded one of the thieves walking into the fish room then bashing a 180 gallon reef display with a pipe until it cracked. The luanatic's rampage didn't end there; He continued to pull away loose glass so the tank would drain empty more quickly. In all, 40 corals and 25 fish lost their lives because of this senseless, depraved act. But one fish defied all odds and somehow (no one knows how) cheated death. The morning after the robbery, police spotted a fish still moving on top of (now dry) live rock. A store manager saw that it was Big Blue, the store's 18 year old blue tang, and quickly scooped her up and placed her into another saltwater tank. To their despair, Big Blue sank to the bottom, and it appeared that the last survivor of the terrible night would soon expire as well. However, Big Blue had different plans. Said store owner Robert Schenck, "At the end of the day, we looked over, and son of a gun, if she wasn’t swimming around!” The tang still has cloudy eyes and is covered in scrapes, but Schenck says Big Blue is healing well and has started to eat as his staff tries to nurse this old blue tang back to health. The store is offering a $750 reward for information leading to this man's arrest. If you have any information, please call his cell at 774-201-1478. Schenck says “I want to know what this guy’s problem is. To kill all these living things, you have to have some type of a mental issue ... he had to be a sick individual.” We couldn't agree more. We wish Big Blue a speedy recovery and hope this despicable person is brought to justice. [via Boston.com] View the full article

Heard there is more exciting shipment in the east this week !..

Letting go this powerful sets of LEDs since i am Keeping a FOWLR tank now, and the light is too strong for my tank. 2 x 50 W LED pendant ( 12 K White ) - $ 550.00 / pcs 2 x 50 W LED pendant ( Royal Blue ) - $ 550.00 / pcs ** Only selling the pendant light without the handing kit and rail. ** Light set is slightly more than 1 year old. ** Viewing / collection in CCK More information from ecoxotic site : http://www.ecoxotic.com/aquarium-led-lights/cannon-pendants/cannon-led-pendants.html

Click through to see the images. Idaho Aquarium Director and Owner Ammon Covino and Aquarium Director Christopher Conk are accused of purchasing $6,300 worth of federally protected Florida sharks and rays, and if convicted could face fines upwards of one million dollars and spend 20 years in jail. Yesterday court documents were released documenting the specifics of the case. All in all, Covino and Conk purchased four Spotted Eagle Rays (Aetobatus narinari) for the Idaho Aquarium and two Lemon Sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) for a new aquarium they were building in Portland, OR, both of which are federally protected by the Lacey Act. These animals were all purchased without a permit from undisclosed individuals out of Florida. During phone conversations, text messages, and emails, Covino and Conk seem to willfully disregard the law advising one Florida seller to "sneak" the eagle rays to him. In another instance where the Florida seller states he cannot get a permit for the rays, Covino states "...just start doing it...who gives a s***, man?" During a conversation with a second individual about obtaining lemon sharks for display, Conk and Covino state this will have to be done "on the low down." What is amazing is that Conk has faced charges like this before in 2011 when he sold protected corals from his Middleton residence. That instance placed him on two years federally supervised probation. Formal arraignment will happen in Florida on March 15. KTVB has more details on the incident: View the full article

Click through to see the images. Idaho Aquarium Director and Owner Ammon Covino and Aquarium Director Christopher Conk are accused of purchasing $6,300 worth of federally protected Florida sharks and rays, and if convicted could face fines upwards of one million dollars and spend 20 years in jail. Yesterday court documents were released documenting the specifics of the case. All in all, Covino and Conk purchased four Spotted Eagle Rays (Aetobatus narinari) for the Idaho Aquarium and two Lemon Sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) for a new aquarium they were building in Portland, OR, both of which are federally protected by the Lacey Act. These animals were all purchased without a permit from undisclosed individuals out of Florida. During phone conversations, text messages, and emails, Covino and Conk seem to willfully disregard the law advising one Florida seller to "sneak" the eagle rays to him. In another instance where the Florida seller states he cannot get a permit for the rays, Covino states "...just start doing it...who gives a s***, man?" During a conversation with a second individual about obtaining lemon sharks for display, Conk and Covino state this will have to be done "on the low down." What is amazing is that Conk has faced charges like this before in 2011 when he sold protected corals from his Middleton residence. That instance placed him on two years federally supervised probation. Formal arraignment will happen in Florida on March 15. KTVB has more details on the incident: View the full article

Click through to see the images. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) are one of the most significant threats to coral reefs in the western Pacific with the exception of storms. Controlling their numbers is one of the single most important actions that can make a difference in saving many reefs. Back in the 1960's it was a common control practice to cut A. planci up into pieces as a way of destroying them. However, anecdotal reports began coming in stating these starfish may regenerate from cut up pieces, similar to many other starfish species. In their paper "Capacity for regeneration in crown of thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci" researchers Messmer, Pratchett, and Clark investigated this ability in aquarium experiments. They cut up A. planci into pieces of various sizes ranging from just cutting them in half to cutting them in thirds. These pieces were monitored over a 7-week period in flow-through aquariums. The pieces cut into thirds died within three days with a 100% mortality rate. However, pieces cut into 2/3 or 1/2 retained a 75% survivor rate with noticeable healing appearing at the cut areas. Survivorship appeared better if a significant amount of the disc remained on the cut pieces. This research indicates that clearly these starfish can regenerate from cut sections and that current eradication methods using sodium bisulfate, and possibly TCBS agar, are still the most effective way to destroy these coral lawnmowers. View the full article

Click through to see the images. We've said this many times before, and we'll keep saying it: Never dispose livestock, substrate, and aquarium water into lakes, ocean, or waterways! It doesn't matter if you think it's "just water" or one little fish or algae. ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS! Invasive aquarium species can cause catastrophic damage to our local ecosystems. Look no further than Lionfish in the Atlantic and Caulerpa algae in the California, the Mediterranean Sea, and Australia for examples of the damage this irresponsible act can inflict. Recent scientific studies also highlight the threat of "aquarium dumping." Advanced aquarists should not only be good stewards of their captive ecosystems but also of their local, native ecosystems. Educate your aquarist friends and LFS. "Aquarium dumping" is bad PR for our hobby, and more importantly, it's bad for the environment. View the full article

Click through to see the images. In early the 1970's, when I was just 13 or so, Cryptocaryon irritans ("marine ich") and Amyloodinium ocellatum ("marine velvet") were a bit less of a problem for my fish than they are now when I quarantine new fish as an aquarium curator. The reason was a product called Marex from the Aquatronics Corporation (they have long ceased operations). Marex was sort of a wonder drug for us back then - simply adding a single $1.99 dose protected the fish in a 50 gallon aquarium from many diseases plus it killed the unsightly algae that grew all over the tank decorations back in those days! When the company went out of business I moved on to using other products. For the past 25 years, I've been using ionic copper measured with a spectrophotometer twice a day to control marine ich and other protozoan diseases. Copper is slow to affect a cure, and the difference between a therapeutic dose and a dose harmful to some fish species is slight. Still, it seemed to be the best method for quarantining or treating active diseases in fish. Thinking back to when I was a youngster, I did some research and discovered that the active ingredient in Marex was chloroquine, and I was familiar with that drug as it was being used by other public aquariums. Acquiring some myself five years ago, I've begun incorporating it into my arsenal of aquarium fish disease treatments. A few home aquarists have begun re-exploring its uses as well, often calling it by the shorthand name of "CP" which stands for chloroquine phosphate. This article provides those aquarists with additional background information to enable them to be better able to use this "new" drug if they wish - having options is always a good. Green chromis with Uronema infection that might have responded to chloroquine if treatment was started soon enough. Chemical properties Chloroquine was developed for human medicine in the 1930's at Bayer laboratories. It was first thought to be too toxic for any practical use, but decades later, it was shown in clinical trials to have significant value as an anti-malarial drug. However, its subsequent wide-spread use allowed the malaria disease organism to become resistant to it, requiring the development of other treatments. There are at least three forms of the drug available: Chloroquine diphosphate (Aralen): C18H26ClN3. 2H3PO4 Chloroquine hydrochloride (Aralen HCL): C18H26ClN3. 2HCl Chloroquine sulfate (Plaquenil): C18H26ClN3. H2O4S The Chloroquine base also goes by the name; 7-chloro-4-[[4- (diethylamino)-1-methylbutyl]amino] quinolone. The most commonly available version of the drug for aquarium use is the diphosphate salt. This compound is a fine white fine powder that is readily soluble in water. In dry environments it seems to build up a static charge, and the granules tend to become airborne and then stick to nearby objects. This can create problems when weighing out small amounts of the drug, as it tends to stick to the storage container, the weighing pan as well as nearby objects. Always dissolve the prescribed amount of chloroquine in distilled water before adding it to an aquarium. English pronunciation of the compound varies between "KLOR-oh-kwin" and "Klor-oh-KWEEN", with the former used by most aquarists, while the latter is listed on some word pronunciation web sites. Uses and dosages Chloroquine is typically dosed at a rate of 10 to 20 milligrams per liter (mg/l), with 15 mg/l being considered a "standard dose" (Hemdal 2006). Note: in most instances, solutions measured in "milligrams per liter" are equivalent to "parts per million" or ppm. The 10 mg/l dose should be used as a quarantine preventative (not for active diseases), or for treating delicate species (although little is known about the sensitivity of different fish species to this medication). A dose of 15 mg/l is considered the normal dose for treating most protozoan infections, while the 20 mg/l dose would be reserved for attempting to eradicate difficult-to-treat Uronema marinum infections. Hach DR5000 UV spectrophotometer with non-UV DR-2000 on the right. The first step in preparing to use any drug that will be added to an aquarium at a specific dose is to determine the true water volume of the aquarium. This is often less than an aquarium's advertised volume (or it could be more if there is a sump attached to the system). The most accurate means to determine the volume of an aquarium system is to measure the amount of water it takes to fill the total system, with all decorations in place. As this is usually not possible to do except when the aquarium is first filled, the following method will give accurate enough results in most instances (this method uses US volume measurements combined with metric dosages): Measure (in inches) the length, width and height of the water inside the aquarium from the top of the gravel layer to the water's surface, and inside the glass front to back and side to side. Multiple these three numbers to get the gross volume in cubic inches and then divide by 231 to determine the volume in gallons (there are 231 cubic inches in a US gallon). Deduct an estimated percentage for tank decorations. If you are unsure, the decorations in a typical marine aquarium with artificial coral and rock displace about 15% of the water volume, so you would multiply the gross volume from step 1 by 0.85 Use the same technique to measure the volume of the gravel layer (if any), but multiply the result by 0.30, as only about 30% of the gravel layer is water, the rest of the volume is the gravel itself. Use the same technique to measure the volume of the sump (if any). Except for very large systems, the amount of water contained in the filtration system is inconsequential, but you might want to add a couple of gallons to the estimate if the tank uses a large canister filter. Add these measurements together to arrive at the estimated net aquarium volume in gallons. Once you have estimated the aquarium system volume, multiply the number of gallons by the target dose of the drug (in mg/l or parts per million). Dividing this by 266 will give the number of grams of medication that needs to be added to the water. Always run these calculations TWICE to ensure accuracy. If you arrive at different numbers, stop and determine where the mistake was made. One grave issue when dosing medications occurs if a decimal place is lost through an error in calculation. This can result in a dose many times higher or lower than is called for. Aquarists who are not familiar with using a particular drug may not realize that the dose they have calculated is so far off. For a frame of reference, to dose 100 net gallons of aquarium water with chloroquine at 15 mg/l, you would add 5.6 grams of the drug (100 gal. * 15 mg/l / 266 = 5.639, which rounds down to 5.6 grams of chloroquine). Home aquarists may have difficulty in measuring minute amounts of a drug to treat small tanks. Avoid guessing or trying to use volume measurements for these weights. Small electronic balances are available for relatively low cost, but may not have sufficient resolution to measure amounts of a drug in the milligram range. One trick to improve accuracy of a measurement is to make a stock solution, and then use a small quantity of that to dose the tank. The reason this works well is that home aquarists generally can measure small volumes of a liquid easier than they can weigh small amounts of a powder. For example, if you need to treat a 10 gallon aquarium with chloroquine at 10 mg/l, you would need to add 376 mg of the drug to the tank, a very small amount to try and weigh out. If you can more easily weigh out a single gram (a nice round amount), you can dissolve that into 12 teaspoons of distilled water, and then add 4 ½ teaspoon of that solution to the 10 gallon tank. For increased accuracy, you can buy a volumetric medicine dosing spoon. These can be used much like a graduated cylinder for measuring accurate amounts of a stock solution. For this example, you would add one gram of chloroquine to 100 milliliters of distilled water, and then add 37.6 ml of that stock solution to the aquarium. Simple measuring spoons can be used to dose a chloroquine stock solution for smaller aquariums. Why the concern about such an accurate dosage when chloroquine has a plus or minus 33% margin of error when using the 15 mg/l dose? The reason is that there are two primary chances for error; in the tank volume calculation and when weighing of the drug itself. Two small errors may more or less cancel each other out, but if the errors are in the same direction, they are additive or subtractive and the dose you add to the aquarium could then be outside reasonable limits. In addition to controlling protozoan parasites, chloroquine also has some use in eradicating certain metazoan (multi-celled) fish parasites. The Georgia Aquarium has used it to control turbellarian worm infestations at a dose of only 10 mg/l (Tonya Claus, personal communication). These worms have been shown to be resistant to treatment with Praziquantel and formalin, so an alternative treatment such as this is much needed. A single dose of chloroquine at 15 mg/l was found to be effective at eradicating Aiptasia sp. glass anemones within 48 hours. In one test, no reinfestation of these pest anemones was seen in two months following treatment (personal observation). However, this method cannot be used in aquariums housing other invertebrates as this dose also eradicated algae and sponges that were growing alongside the Aiptasia sp. anemones. In an effort to isolate the drug from sensitive invertebrates, some aquarists have administered the drug orally to their fish. Chloroquine is very bitter, and if the drug isn't masked by strong flavors in the food used to bind it with, fish will soon learn to avoid it. In addition, for medications to work, the fish still needs to be feeding normally, and acutely ill fish often refuse to feed. Finally, dosage is very difficult to control in medication for aquarium fishes. The drug must be mixed into a gelatin food binder at 6 to 10 milligrams of drug per gram of food, and then that has to be fed to the fish at a rate of around 3% of its body weight per day - and few, if any aquarists know the actual weight of their fishes. Activated carbon has been widely reported to remove chloroquine from aquarium water at the conclusion of a treatment, but be aware that carbon has been implicated in the development of head and lateral line erosion in marine surgeonfish (Hemdal & Odum 2011). If you do decide to use carbon to remove chloroquine, it would be advisable to use a premium pelleted carbon, rinse it well with deionized water prior to use, and remove all of the carbon when finished. The amount of carbon needed to remove all of the chloroquine will be a guess. A starting point would be 4 to 6 grams of well-rinsed carbon per gallon of aquarium water, placed in a fine mesh bag and added to the aquarium's power filter for 48 hours. If the aquarium will be using delicate invertebrates at the conclusion of the treatment, it would be more prudent to change all of the water first. There is no test kit to measure the chloroquine concentration in water as there is for many copper medications. Public aquariums and laboratories with access to a UV spectrophotometer can use it to measure chloroquine in the water directly. How this works is that at 329 nm, chloroquine in water absorbs ultraviolet light in proportion to its concentration. Using a quartz cuvette that is transparent to UV, a blank sample of untreated water is first measured. Then, a sample of that water is dosed with a serial dilution of chloroquine in the range to be treated, typically 2.5, 5, 10, 20 and 25 mg/l and the percent transmittance is measured for each sample. Once this standard trend line is graphed, the chloroquine concentration of any water sample within that range can be measured. Because other organic compounds can be present in aquarium water that may also absorb UV light, it is best to create a standard curve for each water system prior to treatment. In one test attempting to measure the ability of carbon to remove chloroquine, a spiked sample actually showed an increase in absorbance at 329 nm after filtering through carbon for 24 hours. Since the chloroquine level couldn't have risen, it is presumed that something in the carbon dissolved into the water and that obscured the reading. However, this also made it impossible to determine if the carbon actually removed any of the chloroquine, so this aspect remains open to questioning. In a second test, 20 mg of chloroquine was dissolved in a liter of distilled water. This sample was then exposed to 4 g of rinsed activated carbon for a week. Measured at 329 nm, the sample only dropped by a calculated 5 mg/l chloroquine according to the standard curve. Since something in the carbon seems to be obscuring any chloroquine measurements, it is difficult to understand how any of the reports that carbon removes chloroquine could have been substantiated, at least by using a UV spectrophotometer. An example of four serial dilutions of chloroquine measured on a Hach UV spectrophotometer. The results are % absorbance (the inverse of the % transmittance) at 329 nm. The linear trend line can be used in subsequent tests to measure the amount of chloroquine in aquarium water. Preliminary in vitro study Two very basic qualitative in vitro tests were conducted to test the efficacy of chloroquine phosphate as a potential treatment against the ciliate Uronema marinum (Hemdal 2010). Uronema is a fairly common ciliate that is difficult to treat as these parasites can burrow into the fish's skin and therefore isolate themselves from many external bath treatments such as formalin, copper and hyposalinity. These informal tests show that this drug is effective at killing Uronema when it is used as a bath, but it is unknown if enough of the drug would taken up by the fish in order to raise the level in the blood to therapeutic levels. In the first test, the body of a small parrotfish fish that had succumbed to a Uronema infection was cut in half. One section of the fish was placed in tank water, the second section was placed in tank water dosed with Chloroquine at 40 mg/l (a higher than normal dose). After six hours, the number of Uronema in the treated sample had been markedly reduced, while the numbers in the untreated sample had actually increased. In a second test, the bodies of two green chromis that had died from acute Uronema infections were exposed to chloroquine at 35 mg/l. A marked reduction of the numbers of the ciliate was seen within three hours, and only one surviving Uronema was seen on the body of one of the fish after eight hours. Using deceased fish for these bio-assays is problematic in that there is difficulty obtaining specimens "as-needed" and room temperature tests longer than 24 hours cannot be performed as the fish flesh begins to putrefy. Contraindications At doses typically used to treat fish diseases, chloroquine is also toxic to many invertebrates, algae and bacteria. Seriously high ammonia levels ( > 1 mg/l NH3) are sometimes seen a few days to a week after dosing an aquarium with chloroquine. It is unknown why this is seen in some aquariums but not others. One hypothesis is that the chloroquine has a direct antibiotic effect on the nitrifying bacteria. Another idea is that the chloroquine kills so much microscopic life in the aquarium that the beneficial bacteria are overwhelmed, and an ammonia spike develops. Most likely, it is a combination of both of these factors causing this issue. Always monitor the ammonia levels in aquariums during treatment with chloroquine. Freshwater aquariums should also be monitored for subsequent rise in nitrite levels as well. Ultraviolet light seems to alter the chemical make-up of chloroquine in water. This is particularly a concern when UV sterilizers are employed. The UV light causes changes in the chloroquine that can turn the aquarium water a murky brown (Tiffany Adams, Shedd Aquarium, personal communication). The presumption is that the effect of the drug is also altered, so UV sterilizers (and probably ozone generators) must be turned off during treatment. Some aquarists go to the extreme of blocking all light entering the aquarium during treatment, but this is not necessary unless the aquarium is open to natural sunlight. As mentioned, the use of chloroquine to treat malaria in humans has long been known to lose effectiveness as the Plasmodium protist that causes the disease developed a resistance to the drug. Purely speculation, but the same mechanism could cause resistance to aquarium disease-causing protists as well. If this problem ever develops, it will most likely appear in public aquariums or fish importers as they use the drug repeatedly in the same centrally filtered systems. Home aquarists are unlikely to administer the high number of treatments required to cause such a resistance to develop. The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for chloroquine phosphate is difficult to interpret. Much of the toxicity data listed were derived from chronic exposure in humans taking the drug for control of malaria; retinal damage, nervous system disruption, and liver damage. Acute exposure of the amounts typically used in home aquariums can cause irritation to the eyes and respiratory tract. Always use gloves, eye protection and a dust mask when handling this material, and keep it away from children and pets. The Phosphate Connection Most, if not all of the chloroquine available for aquarium use is in the form of chloroquine diphosphate (as opposed to chloroquine hydrochloride or sulfate). This means that dosing an aquarium with this drug will also add some phosphate (PO4) to the water when the compound dissociates as it dissolves. Theoretically, using the molecular weights of its components, chloroquine will release about 20% of its weight as PO4 . This means that for a typical 20 mg/l dose of chloroquine, one would expect the phosphate level in the aquarium to rise by around 4 mg/l. Empirically, a series of tests on chloroquine at 20 mg/l in distilled water resulted in a concurrent rise in PO4 of 4 to 6.1 mg/l, a bit higher than expected*. A rule of thumb might be that for any dose of chloroquine, you could expect to see a rise in phosphate levels of around 20 to 30% of the total dose of chloroquine. Therefore, a single dose of chloroquine at 10 mg/l would increase the PO4 concentration in the water by about 2 to 3 mg/l. This is would be a major concern in reef aquaria, but as chloroquine is typically used in fish-only aquariums, or quarantine systems, the residual phosphate is less of an issue and can be reduced by water changes. *Please note that phosphate is difficult to measure, even using a spectrophotometer, and there was a large variation in the measurements taken in these tests, with no real explanation. Availability The current major drawback to using chloroquine to treat fish diseases is locating a commercial source of the drug. Public aquariums, buying large quantities, have no difficulty in acquiring it from online companies at around $185 per kilogram. Hobbyists, needing much less of the drug, have not been able to find it easily available in lesser amounts - but that should be changing, now that its use has become more popular again. Until an aquarium manufacturer starts marketing it again, you may be able to acquire it from your veterinarian, or perhaps go in for a "group buy" with other hobbyists. Recent online prices for non-prescription chloroquine vary depending on the amount purchased from .185 cents per gram up to $2.40 per gram. One gram of chloroquine will dose 18 gallons of water at 15 mg/l. Conclusion While not a panacea or miracle drug, chloroquine is experiencing resurgence in popularity for use in fish-only aquariums and quarantine systems to treat a variety of problems ranging from Cryptocaryon to Aiptasia anemone infestations. Chloroquine remains active in aquariums for many weeks, seems to have low toxicity to fish and may be removed using activated carbon. In critical applications, treatment levels can be measured with a UV spectrophotometer, and the dose adjusted accordingly. References Hemdal, J.F. Odum, R.A. 2011. The Role of Activated Lignite Carbon in the Development of Head and Lateral Line Erosion in the Ocean Surgeonfish. North American Journal of Aquaculture 73:4, 489-492 Hemdal, J.F. 2010. Red Band Syndrome. Aquarium Fish International 22(1):26-30 -- 2009. Mortality Rates of Fishes in Captivity. Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine. 8(12): http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/12/fish2 -- 2006. Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques. 352pp. TFH publications, Neptune City, New Jersey View the full article

Click through to see the images. Experts from the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes and the University of Barcelona (UB) collected and studied different crustacean specimens during recent expeditions to Madagascar, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Philippines and French Polynesia. Using morphological and molecular data they have discovered five new species of crustaceans in the waters of these regions. They are genetically different but morphologically very similar and they also found a new genus, named Triodonthea. The five new species documented in the study belong to the Lauriea genus of the Galatheidae family, which is differentiated easily from other species of the group as it has very long setae and their legs end in a double spine. "The Triodonthea is a new genus that it genetically very different from the Lauriea species despite being very morphologically similar. The morphological differences are small to our eyes but reflect great inequalities on a species level," as explained by Enrique Macpherson, researcher at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes and co-author of the study along with Aymee Robainas-Barcia from the UB. The description of any new genus is based on the fact that a certain species possesses characteristics that nearby species do not. The separation and ordering of species into genera and families consists of grouping species according to common characteristics using Linnaean Taxonomy, a modern-day biological classification system. "These species (both from Lauriea as well as Sadayoshia) can be found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans but not in the American Pacific. They are generally in shallow water and mostly in areas of coral reef. Some are endemic, as they only live on an archipelago or in a very specific area, whereas others spread from Madagascar to the French Polynese," points out Macpherson. This study forms part of previous work that began more than 20 years ago in 1976 with French and US expeditions across the entire Indian and Pacific Oceans. "We have explored the oceans to a depth of up to 5,000 m," ensures the researcher. The expeditions collect samples from diving, nets, traps and dredges, etc. Animals are separated on board or in the laboratory and then sent to the experts of each taxonomic group. Macpherson specialises in this group of crustaceans: the squat lobsters. Journal Reference: Enrique Macpherson, Aymee Robainas-Barcia. A new genus and some new species of the genus Lauriea Baba, 1971 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae) from the Pacific and Indian Oceans, using molecular and morphological characters. Zootaxa, 2013 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3599.2.2 [via Alpha Galileo Foundation] View the full article

Click through to see the images. Press Release Using underwater video cameras to record fish feeding on South Pacific coral reefs, scientists have found that herbivorous fish can be picky eaters – a trait that could spell trouble for endangered reef systems. In a study done at the Fiji Islands, the researchers learned that just four species of herbivorous fish were primarily responsible for removing common and potentially harmful seaweeds on reefs – and that each type of seaweed is eaten by a different fish species. The research demonstrates that particular species, and certain mixes of species, are potentially critical to the health of reef systems. Related research also showed that even small marine protected areas – locations where fishing is forbidden – can encourage reef recovery. “Of the nearly 30 species of bigger herbivores on the reef, there were four that were doing almost all of the feeding on the seven species of seaweeds that we studied,” said Mark Hay, a professor in the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “We did not see much overlap in the types of seaweed that each herbivore ate. Therefore, if any one of these four species was removed, that would potentially allow some macroalgae to proliferate.” The research has been published online ahead of print by the journal Ecology and will be included in a future print edition. The study was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Teasley Endowment to Georgia Tech. Macroalgae – known as seaweeds – pose a major threat to endangered coral reefs. Some seaweeds emit chemicals that are toxic to corals, while others smother or abrade corals. If seaweed growth is not kept in check by herbivorous fish, the reefs can experience rapid decline. Overfishing of coral reef ecosystems has decimated fish populations in many areas, contributing to overgrowth by seaweed, along with the loss of corals and their ability to recover from disturbance. To determine which fish were most important – information potentially useful for protecting them – Hay and Georgia Tech graduate student Douglas Rasher moved samples of seven species of seaweed into healthy reef systems that had large populations of fish. They set up three video cameras to watch the reef areas, then left the area to allow the fish to feed. They repeated the experiment over a period of five days in three different marine protected areas located off the Fiji Islands. In all, Rasher watched more than 45 hours of video to carefully record which species of fish ate which species of seaweed. “The patterns were remarkably consistent among the reefs in terms of which fish were responsible for removing the seaweed,” said Rasher. “Because different seaweeds use different defense strategies to deter herbivores from eating them, a particular mix of fish – each adapted to a particular type of seaweed – is needed to keep seaweeds off the reef.” Among the most important were two species of unicornfish, which removed numerous types of brown algae. A species of parrotfish consumed red seaweeds, while a rabbitfish ate a type of green seaweed that is particularly toxic to coral. Those four fish species were responsible for 97 percent of the bites taken from all the seaweeds. “It’s not enough to have herbivorous fish on the reef,” said Hay, who holds the Harry and Linda Teasley Chair in Environmental Biology at Georgia Tech. “We need to have the right mix of herbivores.” While just four fish species consumed the large seaweeds, Rasher observed a different set of species involved in what he termed “maintenance” – the removal of small algal growths before they have a chance to grow. “Through our videos, we were able to observe both groups in action,” he said. “There was not only little overlap in which fishes ate the large seaweeds, but there was also little overlap between fishes that comprised the two groups.” To help determine why certain fish ate certain seaweed, the researchers played a trick on the unicornfish. They removed chemicals from each seaweed species that the unicornfish avoided and coated them individually on a species of seaweed that the unicornfish were accustomed to eating. That caused the fish to stop eating the chemical-laced seaweed, suggesting that chemical defenses kept them from consuming some seaweeds. The researchers also compared the quality of coral reefs in marine protected areas to those in areas where fishing has been allowed. There are an estimated 300 marine protected areas in the Fiji Islands, most governed by local villages that have considerable autonomy over reef management. Surveying these larger areas, the researchers found strong negative associations between the abundance or diversity of seaweed on the reef and diversity of herbivorous fishes at the sites they studied. They found that strict rules against fishing in certain protected areas had led to a regeneration of corals, and that the contrast to fished areas nearby – some just 500 meters apart – was dramatic. The protected reefs supported as much as 11 times more live coral cover, 17 times more herbivorous fish biomass and three times more species diversity among herbivorous fishes as the unprotected areas. “What we noted in Fiji is that where reefs are fished, they look like the devastated reefs in the Caribbean,” said Hay. “There’s a lot of seaweed, there’s almost no coral and there aren’t many fish in these flattened areas. But right next to them, where fishing hasn’t been allowed for the past eight or ten years, the reefs have recovered and have high coral cover, almost no seaweed and lots of fish.” Although both fished and protected areas had only seven percent coral cover ten years ago, today the protected areas have recovered. “This really demonstrates the value of reef protection, even on small scales,” Rasher said. “There is a lot of debate about whether or not small reserves work. This seems to be a nice example of an instance where they do.” Ultimately, the researchers hope to provide information to village leaders that could help them manage their reefs to ensure long-term health – while helping feed the local human population. “Not fishing is really not an option for people in these communities,” Rasher said. “Giving the village leadership an idea of which species are essential to reef health and what they can do to manage fisheries effectively is something we can do to help them maintain a sustainable reef food system.” Beyond the researchers already mentioned, the research also included Andrew Hoey from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants OCE 0929119 and DGE 0114400, and by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under grant U01-TW007401. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF or NIH. CITATION: Rasher, D.B. et al., Consumer diversity interacts with prey defenses to drive ecosystem function,” Ecology (2013): http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/12-0389.1 View the full article

Click through to see the images. Micro Warfare! To view more photos of "coral wars" or to post a photo of your own, visit our friends at reef2reef.com. Here is a sample of the some really nice corals doing not so nice things to their neighbors. Real Estate war! Acropora vs Monitpora in "icycoral's" reef aquarium. A Watermelon Chalice fires a long range stinger missile. Photo by "barbianj." This Acanthastrea lordhwensis is not a hospitable neighbor. Photo by "barbianj." Ouch! Fallen Goniastrea is mercilessly attacked by a Scoylmia in "Chameleon's" tank. Mesentery filaments galore! Photo by "skinz78." View the full article