Harlequinmania

Most likely the injury is from fish bully in your tank. See if u are able to catch this fellow or the bully out? If it is still feeding try to add vitamin in the fish food to help its own healing. Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Click through to see the images. NAT GEO WILD MAKES WAVES WITH SECOND SEASON PICKUP OF POPULAR SERIES FISH TANK KINGS More Extreme Aquariums, More Fish and Even More Pressure in New Season Slated for Early 2013 (WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 26, 2012) Nat Geo WILD Executive Vice President and General Manager Geoff Daniels today announced that the network is renewing its popular series Fish Tank Kings for a second season. Fish Tank Kings, produced by Sharp Entertainment, follows the Florida based aquarium specialists at Living Color as they use their unparalleled skills, creativity and teamwork to pull off the most extreme fish aquariums imaginable. The drama and pressure of the building process is nowhere near as serene as the final product. The Living Color team is in high demand, and their massive, cutting-edge underwater habitats have become the ultimate status symbol. The new season is expected to premiere in 2013. For more information, visit www.natgeowild.com and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NGC_PR. “Last season, we saw the Fish Tank Kings create these elaborate aquariums — from upgrading a tank three to four times its size, making it the largest residential tank of its kind in southern Florida, to a unique aquarium built right behind the home plate backstop of a baseball field. They’re pushing the envelope and raising the bar in extreme aquarium building,” said Daniels. “What makes this series so great is that our viewers will get to see what it takes to create the coolest aquariums in the world.” Fish Tank Kings will boast a cast of thousands of fish and hundreds of corals, displayed in an amazing array of custom-built tanks. We’ll be there for every incredible reveal. "We're thrilled to be moving forward on a second season of Fish Tank Kings with our partners at Nat Geo Wild,” said Matt Sharp, executive producer, Sharp Entertainment. This season will deliver even more exotic fish, high drama and extreme builds, as our experts at Living Color Aquariums take on some of the most extreme fish tank builds ever attempted." Each episode follows the dedicated Living Color team as they work to create some of the most impressive fish tanks ever developed. Mat Roy is the president and is responsible for overseeing all projects and running operations at Living Color. His favorite part of the process is seeing the look on clients’ faces as they view their aquarium for the first time. Francis Yupangco, lifelong fish geek, is the head marine biologist, overseeing the construction and marine life in the custom tanks. Ben Alia is the senior project manager, whose expertise allows the team to fabricate the most sophisticated of designs. Jose Blanco is production and safety manager, planning and creating a happy home for each fish. John Manning is life support system designer, responsible for creating intricate systems in small spaces that will ultimately keep the exotic creatures inside the tank healthy. Fish Tank Kings is produced by Sharp Entertainment for Nat Geo WILD. For Sharp Entertainment, Matt Sharp, Dan Adler, and Bob Larson are executive producers and Matthew Blaine is the showrunner. For Nat Geo WILD, executive producer is Jenny Apostol, senior vice president of production and development is Janet Han Vissering and executive in charge of production is Geoff Daniels. View the full article

Click through to see the images. When a fishing guide takes you out and you don't catch any fish, he may say "Gee, you should have been here last week, they were jumping into the boat." Yeah, right. When a dive master takes you diving and you come up ask where the coral reef is, she may say, "Gee, you should have been here 40 years ago; it was healthy and beautiful with coral growth and tropical fish all over the place." And so it was. And I was there also. Coral heads were massive, great stands of elkhorn coral reached for the surface and the shallow reefs were topped with extensive growths of fire coral, Millepora complanata. All of these corals had different species of fish and invertebrates that live to a greater or lesser extent within the special environment that that species of coral creates. Food, shelter, reproductive substrates-the coral provide the special environmental conditions that helped that species survive in the "eat or be eaten" world of a coral reef. And it was, and still is, one of the most wondrous environments on Earth. The company I started in 1973, Aqualife Research Corporation, moved to Marathon in the Florida Keys in late 1974 and I had the great opportunity to live, work, and dive in the Florida Key for ten years. Forrest joined me in, I think it was 1978, and we worked together until 1984 on the culture of clownfish, gobies, Atlantic angelfish, and many other species of reef fish, including the yellowtail reef fish, Microspathodon chrysurus. The juveniles of this species carried the common name of jewelfish at that time because of the brilliant iridescent blue spots that covered the body. These spots disappear as the fish attains the adult coloration of a drab dark brown body and bright yellow tail. Despite their aggressive nature, their constant movement and bright coloration made them a popular fish for marine aquariums at the time. They are a good species for reef tanks if kept one per tank. Jewelfish lived in the fire coral reefs, they fed on algae and invertebrates that occupied these reefs, and they laid their eggs on the dead blades of the fire coral. In fact I seldom saw yellowtail reef fish except with a growth of fire coral, however small, right near them. I remember back in the mid 70s, I would hover at the edge of the fire coral reef and look over the relatively flat surface of the reef. After a while I would see male jewelfish in specific areas scattered widely over the reef popping up and flashing, dropping down into the reef and moments later popping back up, and repeating this behavior over and over again. They were tending to their nest of eggs on fire coral blades and trying to attract a female to stop by and drop off a few eggs, maybe 400 or so, to enlarge the nest that the male was tending and guarding. I recall the first time I checked this out and found a large nest of eggs on a dead blade of fire coral. I hit the top of the blade breaking it off near the bottom. It was about 8 inches long and had more than a thousand eggs, the results of several spawns all over one side. I picked it and got very excited when I realized that I had in my hand potentially $50,000 worth of juvenile jewelfish, if I could only rear them. (But I knew then, as now, that flooding the market with one species, leads to very much lower prices and excessive unsold inventory.) But still it was certainly worth it to rear some of them. There was considerable interest and competition in the very early days of marine fish culture and we played our cards pretty close to our vest in those days. Thus the article below from the May 1981 issue of Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine (price $1.50) did not provide many details as to exactly how we reared them. But the secret was, of course, copepods from wild plankton as a first food. Suspending the blades of fire coral with their nests of jewelfish eggs in a large larvae rearing tank with a heavy flow from an air stone release underneath them was all it took to keep them alive during development and stimulate hatching when the embryos were ready. Back in those days, rearing marine tropical fish was a quixotic exercise of producing an expensive cultured fish that competed with an inexpensive wild caught fish in a market that was highly price competitive. But still, the promise of what could be, and what would probably be, drove adventurous souls like Forrest and me to invest more of ourselves into a culture that really didn't make a lot of economic sense at the time. But some dreams never die… Unfortunately, however, the coral reefs, at least what they were in 1970s and early 80s, did die, or at least greatly diminish. Those vast expanses of fire coral that topped the reefs are gone, and so also the yellowtail reef fish and their stunningly beautiful jewelfish juveniles are now very hard to find. Florida's coral reefs have declined for many reasons: pollution, storms, overfishing, over visitation, and disease of both corals and invertebrates. Perhaps the most critical loss of biodiversity was the almost total annihilation of the keystone herbivore of the Atlantic coral reefs, the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, in a great plague that swept from the Panama Canal through this great oceanic region all the way to Bermuda in the space of 13 months in 1983. Within weeks macro algae began to overtake the Atlantic coral reefs and this is still the case today. These urchins have not recovered, their ecological function of herbivory is still absent and the reefs continue to decline. But now we can culture these difficult urchins, and after six years of effort I am close to completion of a functional technology for small scale urchin larvae culture, and I hope that this will stimulate more effort to restore this keystone herbivore to Atlantic coral reefs. Then perhaps the fire coral reefs and the jewelfish will return. - Martin Moe Spawning the Jewels of the Reef Freshwater and Marine Aquarium magazine, May 1981 By Martin A. Moe & Forrest A. Young Aqualife Research Corporation The yellow-tailed damselfish, Microspathodon chrysurus, or marine jewelfish as it is known in the hobby, is one of the hardiest and most colorful of the Atlantic damselfish. Juveniles exhibit a striking coloration of iridescent neon blue spots against a midnight blue background. This fades in intensity as the fish matures and only a few small blue spots remain on the drab, dark brown adult. Also, the color of the caudal fin changes from clear in the juvenile to a bright yellow on the adult, hence the origin of the accepted common name. In nature, adult and juvenile jewelfish arc found almost exclusively among the flat, branching growths of fire coral, principally Millepora complanata. The fire coral affords the jewelfish protection from predators, reproductive sites, and even food since stomach contents are composed of algae and detritus common to fire coral reefs as well as elements of the fire coral itself. Ciardelli (1967) examined stomach contents of juvenile jewelfish and found a variety of vegetable and animal matter including nematocysts (stinging cells) that apparently were from Millepora. He feels that the ingestion of fire coral by juvenile jewelfish may explain their close relationship with the shallow fire coral reefs. Unlike other damselfish in the same environment, Randall ( 1967) reports that jewelfish were never observed feeding on planktonic organisms, but restricted their diet to benthic algae with a small amount of animal matter. He also describes cleaning behavior, removal of ectoparasites by juvenile jewelfish from large grey angelfish. Emery (1968) reports that benthic animals are important in the diet of the juveniles, including coral polyps and sponge, and that adults gradually switch to almost exclusively benthic algae. A juvenile jewelfish seeks protection from the photographer among the growths of fire corals and sponges. At 3 ½ months old the young jewelfish, in full possession of their electric blue gems, are ready to glorify an aquarists display. The association of jewelfish with fire coral is so exclusive that we consider it a form of commensalism. This association is not as obvious as the spectacular commensalism of clownfish, Amphiprion sp., with anemones, but seems to be almost as obligate to the fish. It is extremely rare to find a jewelfish without at least a small growth of fire coral in the immediate environment. Further observation and ecological analysis of this association is needed to clarify the relationship between fire coral and jewelfish. Jewelfish are beautiful and hardy and. although they are very aggressive toward others of their species, they are good solitary aquarium fish and are an excellent prospect for commercial culture. A male jewelfish keeps a watchful eye on the schools of wrasses that are quick to strip the nest of the unwary guardian. Aqualife Research Corporation first reared jewelfish into large juveniles in mid 1976 and developed the techniques for large scale culture in late 1978. Almost 1000 individuals were reared in a single tank during this period, so tank reared jewelfish should soon be available to the hobby. Jewelfish, like other pomacentrids such as clownfish and damselfish, are demersal spawners and adhere their eggs to coral structures near the top of the reefs. Each species of damselfish has a particular place and substrate favored for nest building. Jewelfish eggs are much smaller than clownfish eggs and, like clownfish eggs, are attached at one end to the spawning site. The nests are composed of tiny, I mm diameter elliptical eggs densely packed on a coral substrate. There is an average of about 1,150 eggs per square inch of nest, and one nest with eggs in various stages of development may easily cover 20 to 80 square inches, a total of 23,000 to 92,000 jewelfish eggs on each spawning site. The eggs are translucent with a pinkish cast when newly laid and become darker as the embryo develops and hatching time approaches. The eyes are fully developed at hatching and are the most noticeable feature of the late stage embryo and early hatchling. The time from spawning to hatching is about 3 days at 80 F (27 C) and hatching usually occurs at night. The newly hatched larvae are so small, less than l/16" long, and so slight and transparent that they are almost invisible. Those that peer into a tank of newly hatched jewelfish for the first time are incredulous that they cannot see a one of the 15,000 fish that are swimming about in the tank. However, a little searching soon reveals the presence of the diminutive larvae. One newspaper reporter was sure that he had drunk water with more critters in it than he could see in a tank of larval jewelfish. A blade of dead, fire coral, Millepora complanata, almost covered with eggs in various stages of development of the Atlantic Jewelffish, Microspathodon chrysurus. Tiny filamentous algae and jewelfish eggs cover the flat surface of the nest. The male guards the nest with vigor and few dare to incite his wrath by disturbing the nest. A close up of the sane nest. It reveals the bright silver eyes of the advanced embryos within the eggs. Hatching may take place at any time, although most usually at night. Jewelfish larvae are much smaller than clownfish larvae and appear very similar to larval angelfish to the unpracticed eye. Some species of marine fish, such as the neon goby, metamorphose very quickly from larval to juvenile coloration and behavior patterns. This change to the juvenile characteristics occurs actually overnight in some instances, although most species require a few days to make the complete transformation. Other species, like the jewelfish, go through a prolonged period of gradual change and the juvenile characteristics are acquired very slowly. The post larval period is passed in the form of a creature adapted to the pelagic environment rather than one living secretively among the bottom growths. The larval period for jewelfish extends to 4 weeks and the post larval period may take an additional 3 to 4 weeks before juvenile form and color are attained. The total length of the fish exceeds 1/2" before the Post larval period is complete. The most obvious structural development of the larval jewelfish is the greatly enlarged pectoral fins. During this early period, the pectoral fins extend posteriorly to almost the caudal fin and spread outward a distance equal to about the depth of the body. These large laterally spread fins greatly increase the horizontal surface area of the fish, an adaptation that provides support and mobility in the pelagic environment. These pectoral fins are always spread and give the diminutive fish the appearance of flying through the water. ln fact, they look for all the world like miniature delta wing aircraft pursuing some important mission as they cruise tirelessly throughout the tank. They pause only to sight on and strike at food organisms. A very small part of the egg mass placed in a 15 mm diameter well slide shows a newly hatched larva beside its empty egg case. Other unhatched eggs are still attached.to the encrusting material from the surface of the nest. The yolk sac of the new hatched larva is still quite large indicating a probable premature hatch. Larvae with such large yolk sacs can still survive but do not begin feeding until the day after hatch. There is a price that must be paid for this extraordinary larval mobility and restless behavior. Some other species, such as angelfish and reef drum, (jackknife fish) have slow moving sedentary larvae that seem to expend their energy only at the moment of striking at the prey organism. These larvae grow much faster than jewelfish and enter the benthic juvenile stage in only 2 to 3 weeks, less than half the larval period of jewelfish. Of course, tank reared marine fish larvae experience an unnatural environment and behavior and growth cannot be assumed to be exactly the same as wild fish, although parallels certainly exist. Apparently, jewelfish require fire coral reefs for survival in the wild, and this type of habitat, while not at all a rare kind of reef formation; it still does not cover broad expanses like grass flats or the soft coral - hard rubble bottoms. A journey of many miles might be required of the tiny post larval fish before it encounters a fire coral formation. We consider it quite possible that the extensive pectoral fin development, active swimming mode, and the prolonged period of larval and post larval stages are adaptations that provide young jewelfish the means of finding the relatively restricted type of habitat required for survival. Jewelfish are distributed on fire coral reefs from Florida to Brazil and the extended duration and mobility of the early stages must enhance such wide distribution to a restricted habitat. The energy expended in the larval stage slows growth and prolongs the dangerous pelagic period, but these disadvantages are apparently compensated by the ability to find the fire coral reefs. The developmental sequence of the Atlantic Jewelfish. The smallest larval form shown is already a week old and the post larval form at the 12 o'clock position is 35 days old. The juvenile at the top is a few days short of 8 weeks of age. Jewelfish have a long larval life, and although many eggs are laid, few survive in nature to the juvenile stage. As mentioned above, juvenile jewelfish feed mainly on sponge, algae, hydroids, isopods, and copepods so they adapt well to the typical aquarium diet. Since adults feed almost exclusively on benthic algae, a diet rich in vegetable matter is suggested as they mature. They take a wide variety of foods including live or frozen brine shrimp, flake foods and finely chopped shrimp. Jewelfish make an excellent addition to a community tank. They are impressively colorful, are very active and often engage in transport of stones and objects from their home area. They may also show cleaning behavior on the larger fish in the tank. Unless the tank is quite large, however, only one jewelfish should be kept per tank because they are highly territorial and eventually the dominant fish will destroy his few unfortunate brethren. Aggressiveness toward others of their kind is not restricted to jewelfish, although they are quite good at it. Many coral reef fish are strongly territorial and will drive cognates that compete for food and shelter away from their premises. The weaker fish is only too happy to flee and find his own piece of the rock, but containment in 4 glass walls with his adversary soon leads to his demise. On the other hand, the presence of many small fish of the same species in the same tank, in this case, jewelfish, seems to diffuse their aggression and 30, 50, 100 or more can coexist and grow in a relatively small contained area. Otherwise, they would be most difficult to rear in large numbers to aquarium size. Aqualife Research Corporation has already made a few shipments of tank reared jewelfish to various dealers and, hopefully, many more will be available in the near future. References Ciardelli. A. 1967. The Anatomy of the Feeding Mechanism and the Food Habits of Microspathodon crysurus (Pisces: Pomacentridae). Bull. Of Marine Sci. Vol. 17. No. 4. PP 845-883. Emery. A.R. 1968. Comparative Ecology of Damselfishes (Pisces: Pomacentridae ) at Alligator Reef. Florida Kevs Dissertation, University of Miami. Coral Gables, Florida, 258 Pages. Randall, J. E., 1967, Food Habits of Reef Fishes of the West Indies. Studies in Tropical Oceanography, No.5. pp. 665-847. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Back in February I blogged about Google teaming up with the University of Queensland and the Catlin Group to produce an underwater street map of the Great Barrier Reef. Today Google has launched the new Reef Street View with views of the Wilson, Heron, and Lady Elliot Islands (Great Barrier Reef), Molokini Crater and Hanauma Bay (Hawaii), and Apo Islands (Philippines). Now you can virtually dive using the power of Google Maps to swim with sea turtles, see ancient boulder corals in the Philippines, dive with snorkelers in Hawaii, and swim through Molokini Crater in Hawaii. Check out the entire underwater collection when you have plenty of free time as it will suck you in! (via Google Blog) View the full article

Click through to see the images. Mutton snappers can now be added to the growing list of predators (including sharks) that actively prey on the invasive lionfish in Caribbean waters. As reported by CoCo View Resort based out of Roatan, Honduras, Mutton Snappers (Lutjanus analis) are actively hunting lionfish around the resort: [The above] picture was taken by Brian Hicks at CoCo View Resort the week of August 20th. This Mutton Snapper attacked a perfectly healthy Lionfish while he was taking a picture of it; the Snapper bit the lionfish once, then circled around and attacked a second time and ate the whole fish. The dive masters at CCV have also reported seeing lots of Mutton Snapper that appear to be hunting Lionfish. We have been seeing fewer Lionfish and the one's we do see are grown, almost no juvenile's are being seen in our area, we have long believed that something was eating the juveniles and smaller Lionfish. This picture is proof that Mother Nature is helping to find a way to deal with the Lionfish. This is good news and we hope to hear more stories about other predatory fish preying on this invasive pest. (via CoCo View Resort) View the full article

Click through to see the images. Starting next week, a new team of scientists will head to Kauai to investigate the pathology of these diseases. Researchers from the University of Hawaii and USGS Infectious Disease Department believe bacteria may be to blame for the unprecedented deadly infections in Hawaii's coral reef. Precedence? This Hawaiian outbreak sounds eerily similar to Acroporid serratiosis (APS), AKA White Pox Disease, a fast-moving infection that decimated Caribbean Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) in the late 1990s through the 2000s. Last year, scientists identified the culprit of White Pox diease: a bacterium Serratia marcescens. This bacteria is found in human excrement and a correlation was established between untreated human sewage and White Pox. When local Floridian communities improved their waste management facilities, the occurrence of White Pox infections disappeared. Is human activity once again to blame for the infections in Hawaii? Here is a video by marine biologist Terry Lilley describing the problems facing Hawaii's coral reef. He discusses in detail the new White Coral Disease syndrome at approximately the 3:30 mark. " height="408" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="680"> "> "> [via kitv.com] View the full article

Click through to see the images. Current club members get in FREE. Non-members $15 at the door (or join for $20 and get in FREE). Vendor and hobbyist tables still available. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Some seastars are voracious predators that will prey on many different animals. Corallivorous crown-of-thorns starfish will wipe out entire areas of scleractinian corals. Others will eat mussels and other shellfish as seen in the below video. Watch as seastars advance up a pier piling probing the encrusted mussels for a weakness. Once a vulnerable mussel is found, the seastar sets to work exuding its stomach inside the mussel and digests it while it is still alive. In the below footage, videographers embedded a tiny video camera inside the mussel to watch the drama unfold: View the full article

What if you woke up every day to find that the closest grocery store had moved several miles farther away from your home? Over time, you would have to travel hundreds of extra miles to find essential food for yourself and your family. (2012-09-24) View the full article

Satellite measurement of sea surface temperatures has yielded clear evidence of major changes taking place in the waters of Australia's Great Barrier Reef over the past 25 years, marine scientists have found. (2012-09-24) View the full article

Click through to see the images. In their 100th Reef Threads episode, Gary and Christine reminisce about their past podcasts, discuss their upcoming MACNA coverage, MACNA 2013 rumors, and how one group of people wants to put the clownfish "Nemo" on the endangered species list (which covered here). You can either subscribe to their podcast on iTunes or download their podcast and listen to it at your leisure. Personally, I subscribe to Reef Threads using BeyondPod Podcast Manager on my smartphone and listen to it whenever I have 30-45 minutes to spare. Congratulations on the 100th podcast and keep up the good work Gary and Christine! View the full article

Click through to see the images. View the full article

Any exotic shipment this week ?

This rare unidentify stingray from lck is selling at 2k. Heard that it will also be display in the new RWS aquarium. Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Click through to see the images. Isla del Coco, Costa Rica It is not often that a new family of coral is found and described by scientists. In 2010 Ofwegen & McFadden described the family Acanthoaxiidae from the shallow waters of tropical Cameroon. The one just before that was described in 1977 by Bayer & Muzik, who added the family Lithotelestidae. Published this week in the journal Systematics and Biodiversity, researchers Breedy, van Ofwegenc, and Vargas formally describe a new deep water family, Aquaumbridae, and its first member: Aquaumbra klapferi sp. nov., gen. nov. The new family of coral, Aquaumbridae, is found at Isla del Coco, Costa Rica down in the aphotic zone, where less than 1% of available sunlight penetrates. The researchers found this new family populating seamounts, ridges and canyons out on the insular shelf (or submarine plateaus) of Isla del Coco. It's characteristics are similar to the coral families Nidaliidae, Nepththeidae and Alcyoniidae, which include soft corals such as Sarcophyton spp., Sinularia spp., Capnella spp., Dendronephthya spp., and other popular aquarium corals. The key difference of this new family is in their sclerite structure. Sclerites are the tiny, needle-like structures within many soft corals that help provide structural support for their soft tissues. For soft corals, sclerite structure is very specific amongst species and is used in describing one species from another. Sclerite structure varies throughout the coral animal with polyps having one morphology, tentacles having another, and so on as can be seen below: SEM photographs of Aquaumbra klapferi sp. nov., holotype (MZUCR 2177): 4, sclerites of polyp; 5, sclerites of tentacles; 6, sclerites of lobes and upper stalk; 7, sclerites of base of stalk. The new coral species is placed into class Anthozoa, subclass Octocorallia, order Alcyonacea, into its new family name Aquaumbridae. According to Breedy's group: "The new species represents the first discovery of a soft coral in an eastern Pacific oceanic island and along the eastern Pacific waters in general, and provide hints of the biodiversity of the largely unexplored deep waters of the tropical eastern Pacific." View the full article

Click through to see the images. Fire investigators determined the fire erupted in the vicinity of a large, unspecified aquarium within the home. As the fire grew, blackening the walls and filling the home with smoke, the intense heat broke the aquarium; In a twist of fate, fire department officials believe aquarium water doused and extinguished the flames, saving the house from being completely burned to the ground. I can't help but think there's a lesson in all this. [via q13fox.com] View the full article

Click through to see the images. Dean Jacobson is following the coral reef destruction as Pacific International, Inc. dredges the areas for the airport expansion project and he had this to say about the happenings this morning on one of the listservs: "Dredging is on-going at the reservoir reef on Majuro, and an enormous sediment plume is stretching into the lagoon, unconstrained by the missing sediment curtain (the only curtain is near-shore, just a meter deep, at one end of the mining zone)." Dean also notes that he "just learned that Maria Cantwell from my home state of Washington, Chair of the Aviation committee, with oversight over FAA, is looking into the Majuro coral mining [incident]." Please sign the petition if you oppose what the FAA is funding through its actions at Majuro, Marshall Islands. It's currently at 648 signatures out of the 1,000 goal. Let's see if we can push it over the top. Take a look at what is affected with this destructive mining practice. It is not pretty: 2 Sept swim over dredge pits, mined by PII, at the Majuro atoll reservoir (near the airport), funded by US FAA. This reef had 100% coral cover just a week earlier, and the coral rescue plan that was due to be part of the mitigation plan is obviously not happening! View the full article

Click through to see the images. From Oregon State University: The “slippery slope to slime”: Overgrown algae causing coral reef declines Researchers at Oregon State University for the first time have confirmed some of the mechanisms by which overfishing and nitrate pollution can help destroy coral reefs -- it appears they allow an overgrowth of algae that can bring with it unwanted pathogens, choke off oxygen and disrupt helpful bacteria. These "macroalgae," or large algal species, are big enough to essentially smother corals. They can get out of control when sewage increases nitrate levels, feeds the algae, and some of the large fish that are most effective at reducing the algal buildup are removed by fishing. Scientists found that macroalgal competition decreased coral growth rates by about 37 percent and had other detrimental effects. Other research has documented some persistent states of hypoxia. Researchers call this process "the slippery slope to slime." Findings on the research were just published in PLoS One, a professional journal. "There is evidence that coral reefs around the world are becoming more and more dominated by algae," said Rebecca Vega-Thurber, an OSU assistant professor of microbiology. "Some reefs are literally covered up in green slime, and we wanted to determine more precisely how this can affect coral health." The new study found that higher levels of algae cause both a decrease in coral growth rate and an altered bacterial community. The algae can introduce some detrimental pathogens to the coral and at the same time reduce levels of helpful bacteria. The useful bacteria are needed to feed the corals in a symbiotic relationship, and also produce antibiotics that can help protect the corals from other pathogens. One algae in particular, Sargassum, was found to vector, or introduce a microbe to corals, a direct mechanism that might allow introduction of foreign pathogens. There are thousands of species of algae, and coral reefs have evolved with them in a relationship that often benefits the entire tropical marine ecosystem. When in balance, some algae grow on the reefs, providing food to both small and large fish that nibble at the algal growth. But the algal growth is normally limited by the availability of certain nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, and some large fish such as parrot fish help eat substantial amounts of algae and keep it under control. All of those processes can be disrupted when algal growth is significantly increased by the nutrients and pollution from coastal waste water, and overfishing reduces algae consumption at the same time. "This shows that some human actions, such as terrestrial pollution or overfishing, can affect everything in marine ecosystems right down to the microbes found on corals," Vega-Thurber said. "We've suspected before that increased algal growth can bring new diseases to corals, and now for the first time have demonstrated in experiments these shifts in microbial communities." Some mitigation of the problem is already being done on high-value coral reefs by mechanically removing algae, Vega-Thurber said, but the best long-term solution is to reduce pollution and overfishing so that a natural balance can restore itself. Corals are one of Earth's oldest animal life forms, evolving around 500 million years ago. They host thousands of species of fish and other animals, are a major component of marine biodiversity in the tropics, and are now in decline around the world. Reefs in the Caribbean Sea have declined more than 80 percent in recent decades. Open access PLoS ONE paper: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0044246 View the full article

Click through to see the images. For nearly 260 years -- since Carl Linnaeus developed his system of naming plants and animals -- researchers have classified species based on visual attributes, such as color, shape and size. In the past few decades, however, scientists have found that species can be more accurately identified by sequencing their DNA. A group of single-celled algae -- called Symbiodinium -- that live inside corals and are critical to their survival -- are only now being separated into species using DNA analysis, according to biologists. “Unfortunately with Symbiodinium, scientists have been hindered by a traditional morphology-based system of species identification that doesn’t work because these organisms all pretty much look the same – small round brown cells,” said Todd LaJeunesse, assistant professor of biology, Penn State. “This delay in adopting the more accurate convention of identifying species using genetic techniques has greatly impeded progress in the research of symbiotic reef-building corals, especially with regard to their ability to withstand global warming.” In the current issue of the Journal of Phycology, LaJeunesse and his colleagues looked at Symbiodinium that previously had been grouped together as subsets of the same species. They examined specific DNA markers -- identifiers -- from the organisms’ cell nuclei, mitochondria and chloroplasts. Even though the symbionts appeared very much the same, except for their size, genetic evidence confirmed that the two are different species altogether. These findings indicate that hundreds of other coral symbionts already identified with preliminarily genetic data are also distinct species with unique ecological distributions. “The recognition of symbiont species diversity should substantially improve research into reef-building corals and facilitate breakthroughs in our understanding of their complex biology,” said LaJeunesse. LaJeunesse began his work of classifying Symbiodinium using genetic techniques as part of his research into their ecology and evolution and in later studies of coral bleaching events related to global warming. When the ocean water becomes too warm, many Symbiodinium suffer and are expelled from the coral colony, making the animal appear white, nutrient deprived and often dead. To better understand this phenomenon, LaJeunesse needed to understand which species of Symbiodinium were present. “Knowing exactly which Symbiodinium species you’re dealing with is important because certain species of Symbiodinium associate with certain species of coral,” he said. “Although many corals are dying as a result of global climate change, some may be able to survive because they associate with Symbiodinium species that are better adapted to warm water temperatures.” Other researchers on this project were John Everett Parkinson, graduate student in biology, Penn State, and James Davis Reimer, associate professor of biology, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa. The National Science Foundation supported this research. (Press Release, Penn State) View the full article

Stand a chance to win a set of the latest new concept ULNS system from Polyplab worth $ 189.00 !!! . The winner for the next Tank of the Quarter Winner for Nov ~ Jan 2013 will be award a set of the addictive proudly sponsored by REEF DEPOT. Thanks again to Reef Depot for the support ! More information about this products can be found at this link ;

Click through to see the images. Director Jean-Jacques Mantello Director of Photography Gavin McKinney Executive Producer François Mantello Writer David Chocron Narrator Geoffrey Bateman 3D Entertainment © 2003 View the full article

Click through to see the images. In operation since 1993, Aquarius Reef Base ceased operations in July 2012 with it's 117th federally funded undersea mission. Over time, it's budget dropped from 7.4 million in 2011 to 3.4 million in 2012 before its final cut in funding this year effective December 31, 2012. As Aquarius' mission is highly important for undersea research, the Aquarius Foundation has undertaken a $750,000 funding drive to keep Aquarius in operation for 2013 and they have turned to crowd-sourced funding to help. Their goal is to raise $100,000 in funds using Indiegogo, a Kickstarter-like crowd-sourced funding website. In an effort to make funding inexpensive for backers, the Aquarius Foundation has come up with modestly priced tiers for funding: $25 - A picture postcard of the "Mission Aquarius" aquanauts inside the habitat $50 - High quality Aquarius Reef Base "Mission Aquarius" T-shirt $100 - NASA photographer Mark Widick's autographed photo poster $500 - Signed by all four Mission Aquarius aquanauts inside the habitat Why is Aquarius Reef Base important? Here are some examples of what research scientists have learned using Aquarius: A team of scientists discovered that internal waves bring as much as 20-40 times more nitrogen and phosphorus to the upper Florida Keys outer reef tract than estimates of nutrient pollution from sewage and storm water runoff. Collaborative research on coral reefs revealed surprisingly high pumping rates and rates of nitrogen exchange in reef sponges. A ‘denitrifying effect’ of some sponges, which may counteract other sponge nitrification to help maintain the health of a reef system, has also been identified. Coral restoration and resilience experiments have been conducted since 2007 to increase understanding of the factors that affect the survival of coral transplants as a way to begin restore damaged reefs. Experiments to determine how herbivore diversity may be most productively managed to restore damaged reefs to desired states of health and ecosystem function. Scientists have begun to zero in on the causes of ocean acidification, which is contributing to the degradation of coral reefs. Of particular interest: whether some acidification might be caused by respiration of bottom-dwelling creatures like sponges, or whether most can be attributed to carbon emissions from an industrialized world. NASA has also used Aquarius for astronaut training for extravehicular activities, isolated and constrained quarters for extended periods of time, and how a pressurized environment affects sleep and the body’s immune system. If you would like to help, head over to Aquarius' Indiegogo campaign and fund it. As of today, they have raised $2,620 of their $100,000 goal and they have 60 days left in their campaign. View the full article

Click through to see the images. The RLSS DB-10i will start shipping in November, 2012 at the MSRP of $799.99 USD. The new skimmer features: Direct injection system featuring volute-less technology Large (10" at base) graduated reaction chamber 3500 l/h powered by the Waveline DC-5000 DC speed-controllable pump Modular construction Twist-lock joints (except base, which is joined using thumbscrews) Can be assembled in sump for tight opening 4" elevated water exhaust pipe to maintain steady water pressure for the internal pump Silent operation Air silencer provided 12” x 14” footprint 24" total height "Conservatively" rated for 200 gallon reef systems The most unique feature of the skimmer is the design and orientation of the Waveline needle wheel pump. The downward facing pump draws water from below the bottom plate and mixes the air and water within the skimmer without a volute. The central reaction chamber is quickly assembled/disassembled using a twist-lock design. The DB-10i should be one of the easiest and most accessible skimmers to service. The skimmer cup is connected using the same twist-lock design making for a faster-to-attach/detach yet more water-tight connection. This is a great improvement over previous RLSS designs and was one of our criticisms of their RLSS R10-U protein skimmer Advanced Aquarist reviewed several months ago. View the full article

Congratulation again to Wilson for winning this award and the latest Reef Angel basic package controller as the prizes. Reef Angel team will be personally delivering and setting up the controller and customizing it for his tank.