Harlequinmania

The involvement of locals is a key ingredient in the success of marine parks which protect coral reefs and fish stocks. The largest-scale study to date of how coastal communities influence successful outcomes in marine reserves has found that human population pressure was a critical factor in whether or not a reserve succeeded in protecting marine resources -- but so too was local involvement in research and management. View the full article

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is showing an extraordinary range of benefits from the network of protected marine reserves introduced there five years ago, according to a comprehensive new study published. View the full article

Marine reserves are increasingly important for species that are being forced by climate change to move to a new home, adapt to new conditions or die. Biologists have now compared the relative benefits of large and small protected areas in perpetuating populations. Interestingly they have also found a coral species that has developed the "skills" to cope with rising temperatures. View the full article

Marine reserves are known to be effective conservation tools when they are placed and designed properly. This week, a special issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is dedicated to the latest science on marine reserves, with a focus on where and how reserves can most effectively help to meet both conservation and fisheries goals. View the full article

How vulnerable are coral reefs to climate change due to higher ocean temperatures? View the full article

Once described by Jacques Cousteau as the "world's aquarium," the marine ecosystems of the Gulf of California are under threat. Destructive new fishing methods are depleting the sea's habitats, creating areas that are ghosts of their former existences. View the full article

The old balkanized approach to ocean management, in which different resources and activities are governed by different laws and agencies, has failed to protect ocean ecosystems or reduce conflicts between ocean users, a panel of international scientists says. It should be replaced with a more balanced approach using marine spatial planning. View the full article

New research shows a strong link between the diversity of organisms at the bottom of the food chain and the diversity of mammals at the top. Throughout the last 30 million years, changes in the diversity of whale species living at any given time period correlates with the evolution and diversification of diatoms, tiny, abundant algae that live in the ocean. View the full article

New research suggests that diseases found in dolphins are similar to human diseases and can provide clues into how human health might be affected by exposure to contaminated coastal water or seafood. View the full article

Dolphins are the only species besides humans known to harbor infections of multiple papillomavirus types, which are known to be linked with cervical cancer in women. As a result, dolphins may be the ideal model for the study of cervical cancer in women. View the full article

Many modern dolphin brains are significantly larger than those of humans and second in mass to the human brain when corrected for body size, says a scientist. Some dolphin brains exhibit features correlated with complex intelligence, including a large expanse of neocortical volume that is more convoluted than that of humans, extensive insular and cingulated regions, and highly differentiated cellular regions. This has ethical and policy considerations. View the full article

Scientists have investigated the distribution and abundance of Antarctica's vast marine biodiversity with the Census of Antarctic Marine Life. View the full article

Two new studies contribute new clues as to what drove large-scale changes to the carbon cycle nearly 100 million years ago. Both research teams conclude that a massive amount of volcanic activity introduced carbon dioxide and sulfur into the atmosphere, which in turn had a significant impact on the carbon cycle, oxygen levels in the oceans and marine plants and animals. Oxygen levels dropped so low that one-third of marine life died. View the full article

Eliminate nuisance starfish utilizing the natural appetites of the Harlequin Shrimp. Join Gary and Russ of AmericanReef.com as they shine the spotlight on these unique aquatic critters. View the full article

Corals that harbor unusual species of symbiotic algae have been discovered thriving in water that is too warm for most other corals. The discovery gives hope that coral reefs and the ecosystems they support may persist -- at least in some places -- in the face of global warming. View the full article

Dana continues last month's discussion about copepods. View the full article

Let's hear what YOU have to say about lighting advances in today's hobby. View the full article

MACO is working on starting back up and we need your advice on getting going again. View the full article

Based on this quantitative data, is its quite obvious that the LEDs have come of age in providing a viable solution to lighting reef aquaria. View the full article

If you are one of the few aquarists dedicated enough to go the 'extra mile' and make a serious effort to successfully house one of these amazing anemones, you will be rewarded with a unique display of nature in your aquarium. View the full article

Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. The chemical/elemental composition of skimmate generated by an H&S 200-1260 skimmer on a 175-gallon reef tank over the course of several days or a week had some surprises. View the full article

Terry discusses this month's issue and reader email. View the full article

Increased aid from developed countries, earmarked specifically for sustainable seafood infrastructure in developing countries, could improve global food security, according to a new policy paper. View the full article

Evidence from the Challenger Deep -- the deepest surveyed point in the world's oceans -- suggests that tiny single-celled creatures called foraminifera living at extreme depths of more than ten kilometers build their homes using material that sinks down from near the ocean surface. View the full article

Researchers have shown that closing fishing zones in the ocean has a beneficial effect on Cape penguins, an endangered species endemic to Southern Africa, which feeds exclusively on fish. View the full article