Reef aquarium

Have you ever heard of a stingray? Even if you have, did you know that they can weigh more than a piano? Or, that they can’t even see their prey when they hunt? Stingrays truly are full of surprises! One amazing fact about stingrays is that they spend a majority of their time serene and not very active. Most of their little movements are reactions to the waves. In addition, stingrays are often eaten by large sharks, crocodiles, orca whales, and birds as they fly along the surface of the…

Winds from the Gulf Stream Current and warmer ocean temperatures during the summer months may be the catalysts behind a strange “jellyfish” like creatures popping up on East coast beaches over the past several weeks. Known as the Portuguese Man O’ War, these large, colorful venomous animals are often confused for a jellyfish but are actually part of a group related to jellyfish called siphonophores. They can grow up to 1 foot long and 5 inches wide and their tentacles can stretch as long as…

Sea Walnut, Rippenqualle (German) Venus' girdle, warty comb jelly, these are just some of the names for the Comb Jelly. This animal is “any member of a common genus (Mnemiopsis) of gelatinous, planktonic marine invertebrates of the order Lobata (class Tentaculata, phylum Ctenophora).” (""sea Walnut"." Encyclopædia Britannica.) Because of its pronounced abundance in estuaries in the heavily populated parts of the US and its precarious population growth after the 1980s, the Mnemiopsis Leidyi or…

Introduction Invasive species are continually documented as a major risk to ecosystem health and worldwide biodiversity. Invasive marine fish introductions are still considered relatively rare and historically the environmental effects are often discounted. This is different from historically famous invasive species such as the zebra mussels in The Great Lakes, which caused well-documented harmful economic and environmental effects. While these are considered rare, they have been documented,…

The global temperature has risen by 0.6°C and is projected to continue to rise. Anthropogenic effects are contributing to the destruction of animal wild life, and the ecosystem. Life is delicate, and changes in the ecosystem due to climate change is endangering wild life. Leatherback turtles or Dermochelys coriacea migrate across the entire basins and according to the 2010 IUNC red list are now critically endangered. The nesting populations for D.coriacea in the Pacific Ocean have steadily…

In the Baja California coast of Mexico, shrimp ponds were reported to be affected by algal blooms and the responsible algae were the prasinophyte Nephroselmis sp., Cochlodinium polykrikoides, Prorocentrum rhathymum, P. minimum, and Heterocapsa triquetra (dinoflagellates) and Nitzschia sigma (diatom) (Gárate-Lizárraga et al., 1999; 2004; 2006; Sierra-Beltrán et al., 2005; Gárate- Lizárraga and Muñetón-Gómez, 2008). Severe losses in shrimp farming in Mexico caused by toxic dinoflagellates and…

been banned in the Atlantic ocean for 30 years. If there were to be an oil drill built off the coast of the Atlantic, it could end up putting more marine life in danger than the oil drills in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, it would put many coral reefs in danger as well. There are many harmful effects caused by drilling. This includes the seismic testing that is harmful to marine life like the North American right whale. If there were to be a oil spill many fisheries, coastlines and public…

By finishing up talking about the environmental effects of Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the destruction of coral reefs was another crucial part. The oil not only floated on the surface of the ocean, but also precipitated down to the deep-sea area. The coral reefs, the important deep ocean habitats, were covered by the sediment of oil, and they were seriously damaged. By analyzing the flocculent precipitate covered on the corals, it was proofed that the sediment was consistent with the petroleum…

Some of the most phenomenal sites that rest on this planet, lie in the most bizarre places. One of the most astonishing sites that I have ever seen, rests on the coast of the tiny island Culebra. The basic description of it is a gathering of rocks that enclose a small area but really it is so much more. It lies just a few feet away from a waterfall, so in between the creases of the rocks, water can seep in, thus resembling a pool. Although the best part was, when the hot summer air mixed with…

INTRODUCTION Parental care in Decapoda is usually limited to the female's care for her eggs (i.e., carrying, oxygenating, cleaning, protecting, and sometimes assisting in hatching) (Hazlett, 1983). Care of recently hatched juveniles is rare in invertebrates, and evolved mainly in terrestrial and freshwater species (Thiel, 2000). The freshwater crayfishes show some of the most complex patterns of parental care among decapods (Hazlett, 1983). The majority of studies with these animals refer to…