No Bones

Can a king be a hermit?

 

Fig. 1. Snow crab, Chionoecetes bairdi ©NOAA

Take a look at the three pictures to the right (Figs. 1-3). First you have the delicious snow crab, named for its sweet, delicate, snow-white meat. Next you have the famous and gigantic red king crab from the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” series. Finally, you have a tiny and cute hermit crab like the ones that you have surely tormented during one of your beach vacations. Based on those pictures, what crabs do you think are more closely related to each other?

 

Fig. 2. Red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus ©L. Haddock

Unless you are an accomplished invertebrate zoologist working on crabs, your most likely answer will be that snow crabs and king crabs look quite similar and therefore are more related. At first glance it is a reasonable answer; however, appearances can be deceiving. In fact king crabs and hermit crabs are the most closely related. The snow crabs belong to brachyurans, or true crabs, which typically have a crab-like form with a very short body hidden under the thorax and ten visible legs. In contrast, king crabs and hermit crabs belong to the anomurans, or false crabs, which have a wide variety of body forms and only eight visible legs - the last pair being reduced and hidden.

Fig. 3. Hermit crab, Pagurus bernhardus ©H. Hillewaert

King crabs are among the largest crustaceans worldwide, hard-bodied and free-living, whereas hermit crabs are small, soft-bodied and depend on a shell for protection. Although you would not think these two are related because their striking differences, an evolutionary connection between both groups has been recognized since the 19^th century. When one examines their anatomy in detail, some features clearly reveal their relatedness. Many hermit crabs have an elongated and asymmetrical coiled body concealed in an empty shell, and traces of this asymmetry can also be observed in the shortened and folded body of the king crabs. Moreover, both groups have asymmetrical claws, with the right one being bigger than the left. These morphological commonalities have recently received further support from DNA data, and mounting evidence depicts an evolutionary scenario where king crabs were derived from a hermit crab-like ancestor.

Fig. 4. Porcelain crab, Petrocheles australiensis ©Museum Victoria

The process whereby a crustacean evolves into a crab-like form from a non-crab like ancestor is known as carcinization, and it generally involves the acquisition of a broad, calcified carapace along with reduction of the body, which is fully or partially folded beneath the carapace. This is believed to have happened multiple times in different groups of false crabs   porcelain, hairy stone, mole and king crabs  with the latter being the most remarkable example (Figs. 4-7 to the left). No other crustacean more closely approximates the crab-like shape of true crabs than king crabs do.

 

 

Fig. 5. Hairy stone crab, Lomis hirta ©Museum Victoria

As different as the hermit and king crabs may seem, scientific evidence helps us to imagine how evolution surprisingly shaped the insignificant and inedible hermit crabs into the mighty and tasty king crabs. Understanding the morphological transformations that took place in the hermit to king transition remains one of the biggest mysteries of crustacean systematics, and unraveling it will be my challenge. The Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History USNM holds what is arguably the world’s largest collection of hermit and king crabs, along with cutting edge molecular lab facilities. Thus, this will provide me with a unique opportunity to make use of traditional and modern techniques to address this enigmatic evolutionary question.

 

Fig. 6. Mole crab, Blepharipoda occidentalis ©NOAA 

 

Fig. 7. King crab, Paralomis odawarai ©T. Komai

References

Bracken-Grissom, H. D., Ettinger, M., Cabezas, P., Feldmann, R. M., Schweitzer, C. E., Ahyong, S. T., Felder, D. L., Lemaitre, R. & Crandall, K. A. (2013) A comprehensive and integrative reconstruction of evolutionary history for Anomura (Crustacea: Decapoda). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13, 128.

Cunningham, C. W., Blackstone, N. W. & Buss, L. W. (1992) Evolution of king crabs from hermit crab ancestors. Nature, 355, 539-542.

McLaughlin, P. A. & Lemaitre, R. (1997) Carcinization in the Anomura-fact or fiction? I. Evidence from adult morphology. Contributions to Zoology, 67, 79-123.

McLaughlin, P. A., Lemaitre, R. & Tudge, C. C. (2004) Carcinization in the Anomura-fact or fiction? II. Evidence from larval, megalopal and early juvenile morphology. Contributions to Zoology, 73, 165-206.

Tsang, L. M., Chan, T. Y., Ahyong, S. T. & Chu, K. H. (2011) Hermit to King, or Hermit to All: Multiple transitions to crab-like forms from hermit crab ancestors. Systematic Biology, 60, 616-629.

by Patricia Cabezas, IZ Postdoctoral Fellow

MBARI cruise with Karen Osborn – Part 1 of 3

Ever wonder how a research museum acquires new specimens, what researchers do on an oceanography cruise, or what personal challenges cruises create? This post is the first in a series that will provide a behind-the-scenes look at how researchers prepare for a cruise, working life on the boat, and how specimens are recovered and introduced into the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)’s research collections.

Karen poses in front of her imaging system on the February 2012 midwater biology R/V Western Flyer cruise with Bruce Robison and his team. (Credit: Karen Osborn)

Next week, Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) research zoologist Karen Osborn will depart from the central coast of California for an 8-day research cruise aboard the R/V Western Flyer, which is owned and operated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). This particular expedition was planned by MBARI senior scientist Bruce Robison, whom Karen has collaborated with since completing a graduate research assistantship with him as part of her doctoral studies.

The logistics of preparing for a research cruise

Research cruises require extensive preparation and planning. Several months in advance of this particular expedition, Bruce submitted his team’s cruise plan to MBARI's Marine Operations. A cruise plan details the what, where, and when of the expedition, which is important for the vessel’s crew and support team to know ahead of time for planning purposes. For example, the R/V Western Flyer supports the remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts, which can be configured for a variety of different types of science. For a midwater cruise, the oceanographers request specialized equipment for collecting delicate animals at great depth and bringing them to the surface unharmed. To ensure that the right equipment is aboard the vessel when the team departs, these specifications, among others, must be identified in the cruise plan.

The R/V Western Flyer at sea, upon which Karen and the MBARI team will embark. (Credit: MBARI)

The main purpose of this cruise is to perform a set of quantitative transects in the midwater, which is the water column below the surface and above the seafloor. The team has been quantifying the diversity and abundance of animals at a particular site for nearly 20 years now to build up a more complete understanding of the dynamics of the communities in that location. The team will also use the ROV to search for and collect new specimens, such as polychaetes, hyperiid amphipods, and isopods that are the focus of Karen’s research. In particular, Karen will search for several species of amphipods with bizarre adaptations to their eyes, so that she can continue studying how these strange evolutionary modifications are used in the animals' natural habitat. Additionally, Robison's team will collect new data using the midwater respiration chamber that they designed and built. This apparatus will be operated from the ROV, then left at depth overnight to measure the respiration rates of animals in their native environments, instead of on the ship, which can induce stress.

The ROV Doc Ricketts is a "next generation" piece of equipment, which the team has outfitted with a midwater respiration chamber for this cruise. The ROV will also be used to recover specimens for study. (Credit: MBARI)

With all of these different research goals, the team must carefully determine what types of equipment to bring, in addition to lab supplies for specimen handling. Fortunately, for this cruise, Karen only needs to bring her imaging system and personal lab gear, although transporting the imaging setup, which weighs a total of 69.9 lbs once packed in its heavy duty shipping container, is no small task. Karen’s MBARI colleagues will help by loading her required lab supplies, such as particular specimen storage containers and solutions for preservation, onto the ship, which significantly reduces the complexity (and shipping cost!) of preparing for such an expedition.

Challenges and innovation at sea

Without doubt, all working moms and dads know how difficult it can be to leave home for several weeks, especially when young children are involved. But for researchers preparing to spend time at sea (or other remote locations), communication with family is a much greater challenge. Thankfully, the R/V Western Flyer is equipped with satellite internet, which will allow Karen to stay in e-mail contact with her husband and two small children throughout the cruise. Unfortunately, video chatting capabilities are not possible, Although Karen says this is probably for the best - last time she traveled and caught up with her family via video, her young son burst into tears as soon as he saw her on the screen. "To be honest, I don't really enjoy traveling now when the kids are small, not to mention the logistical and financial burden it creates for my family," says Karen, adding with an optimistic tone, "In a few years that should get better."

Even so, Karen underscores that time on the boat flies, due to the grueling night and day research schedule that the team must adhere to.  This cruise, Karen has an exciting new collection management technique that she is eager to try in the field.

An example of a polychaete photographed on Karen's imaging setup and subsequently processed with computer graphic software. (Credit: Karen Osborn)

Specifically, Karen has pre-printed a set of museum catalogue numbers on small labels. In addition to her own field numbers, Karen will include one of these museum catalogue number labels with each specimen that she collects and processes in the vessel’s wet lab. Then, Karen will use a stand-mounted iPad to photograph each specimen and its identification numbers. Typically, museum catalogue numbers are not added to the specimen record until back at NMNH, in a process that requires visiting each specimen twice. Following this new method, to catalogue new specimens in NMNH’s Electronic Museum (EMu) database, the cataloguer will upload the image of the live specimen with its catalogue number and the specific collection data. "We are hoping this new process will save us all time, both in the field and back at IZ and will provide better specimen documentation for users of EMu," says Karen.

What’s to come

Make sure you tune in next week for a special report from sea, where Karen will submit an update on the progress of the research cruise and how the new specimen cataloguing technique is working, as well as some photos from underway. Then, in the third part of this series, we will see the first steps that researchers must follow to bring new specimens into the IZ collections. This third report will also mark the official beginning of an exciting new series on collections management at NMNH, which cares for the largest natural history collection in the world.

Take a virtual tour of the R/V Western Flyer here! You can also view the wet lab and galley where Karen and the other researchers will be working.

Check out the daily cruise logs from MBARI here.

by Liz Boatman 

Jellyfishing in the Field!

It’s probably safe to say that most researchers, me included, look forward to going out to the field to work with the animals (or plants, etc.) they study in their natural environment. There are also perks involved if the study site happens to be a beautiful Caribbean island!  After two and a half years completing course work for my Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, I am finally back in the Dutch Caribbean Island of Bonaire as a Peter Buck Predoctoral Fellow “hunting” box jellyfish for my dissertation research. 

Alatina alata box jellyfish collection site: Karel’s Pier, Kralendijk, Bonaire

 When I began preparing for this trip in February, it quickly became evident that getting ready to go actually takes a lot longer than the actual time spent in the field: one week, in this case. As a graduate student on a limited travel budget, I am using this trip to address several questions related to the species of box jellyfish I am studying – Alatina alata. To do so I brought collection and lab equipment and reagents, as well as a dry shipper. I will use this equipment to bring back preserved specimens for the museum and flash frozen specimens for genomic studies. I also plan to bring back live box jellyfish polyps (larvae) to culture in the new wet lab in the department of Invertebrate Zoology at NMNH (Smithsonian National museum of Natural History).

My assistant Fern (my mom) working hard in Bonaire

I would not be here right now soaking up the sun with my field assistant, my mom, who flew in from Canada, without the help of many individuals (Smithsonian staff, interns, volunteers, collaborators, and family).

If you are planning your solo international collecting trip, here are 12 important things to consider several weeks to months in advance of departing for the field, and the corresponding human resources available:

• Establish a collaborator at your foreign study site who can monitor the seasonal presence/absence of your study organism(s) to help you make informed decisions when planning the collecting trip.

 

Johan van Blerk, our on-island collaborator

Resource:  Johan van Blerk has been our on-island collaborator– providing museum samples at various times of the year, and advice on where and when to collect certain jellyfish of interest on Bonaire. One of our best sites is Karel’s Pier (and Restaurant) in Kralendijk.

 

• Find a host institute at or near your study site with which you can collaborate.

Resource: Marine biology educators and Bonaire marine biodiversity experts at CIEE Research Station Bonaire, Rita Peachy (Director) who coordinated lab space, Patrick Lyons for inviting me to give a public lecture, and Enrique Arboleda for getting me set up with necessary lab and collecting equipment and supplies.

 

• Know what paperwork has to be filed in order to import live and/or preserved museum specimens back into the USA. 

Resource: Shipping and specimen transport experts Paul Greenhall and Kristen Mercer MSC Collections Staff discussed my import plan, and pre-filed the 3-177 with the US Department of Fish and Wildlife in order to ensure proper import of the biological specimens for scientific research.

 

• Know what type of collection/exit/export permits are required by the host country (i.e., in my case Bonaire, The Netherlands), and whether or not your samples are restricted by CITES.

Resource: Bonaire natural history and diving expert Bud Gillan (Florida High School Biology Teacher), an excellent collaborator for several years, connected me with Frank van Slobbe DROB and Ramon de Leon of Bonaire STINIPA.

 

• Procure (borrow, rent or purchase) appropriate equipment for the type of samples you plan to bring (ship or hand-carry) back into the USA.

Resource: Collaborator extraordinaire Stacy Pirro of Iridian Genomes, Inc. provided me with a dry shipper, and shipping case for the duration of this trip.  The National Systematics Lab (NOAA) lent me two coolers that I used for taking my supplies into the field.

 

• Purchase appropriate reagents for preserving your specimens in the field, keeping in mind the different lab conditions. Check the MSDS sheets to see whether there is an equally effective safe substitute for a particular chemical (based on international regulations and the Harmonized Code).

Resource: Chemical supply experts Jeff Hunt of LAB and Stacy Pirro (see above) provided me with guidance and ordered the necessary chemicals (e.g., RNAase Away wipes, RNAlater) in time for my departure.

 

• Try to perfect downstream protocols ahead of time to ensure proper preservation techniques are used in the field.

Freya Goetz, IZ Technician

Resource: Histology technician extraordinaire Freya Goetz has helped me develop a suitable histology protocol for embedding, sectioning and staining box jellyfish tissue in order to study the microstructure of their stinging organelles (i.e., nematocysts).

 

• Determine if there is an appropriate place to house live marine invertebrates in your department once you return from the field.

Resource: Invertebrate Zoology Chair Jon Norenburg gave me approval to set up and run a wet lab consisting of multiple aquariums and a filtering system on the newly renovated second floor of the department of Invertebrate Zoology at the NMNH.

 

• Figure out how you will keep your animals alive during transit back the USA, and how to culture them in the lab many kilometers away from Bonaire!

Resource: Coral and anemone polyp aquarists extraordinaire Curator Alan Peters and Mike Henley and of the Invertebrate House of the National Zoo provided advice on the aquarium lab set up, feeding the box jellyfish polyps while in the field, and bringing them back alive.

Mike Henley and a behind the scenes look at the Invertebrate House of the National Zoo

• Set up the wet lab in order to ensure a smooth transition for the polyps when they arrive (hand-carried) at the museum.

Resource: Volunteer and full-time science teacher extraordinaire Tara Lynn, Hailey and Evan helped set up the aquarium room and pack all the equipment into the two coolers I brought into the field.

Getting some help packing up at IZ

 

 

Jessica Goodheart helping with mini-ARMS

 

 

• Prepare some things ahead of time to save time in the field.

Resource: Fellow PhD student and friend extraordinaire Jessica Goodheart (UMD-BISI- BEES) (Fig) for help preparing “mini-arms” (provided by Mike Henley of the National Zoo – see above) for deployment in the field.

  

• Be aware of last-minute time-sensitive things, such as charging the dry shipper with liquid nitrogen (and pouring off residual liquid nitrogen) 24 to 48 hours prior to departure.

 

Azhar Husain of the Biorepository

Resource: Dry shipper (and all things freezing cold) experts Chris Huddleston and Azhar Husain (MSC-Biorepository) tested (one week before departure) and charged (24 hours in advance) the dry shipper for me prior to leaving for my trip.

 

Some final bits of advice:

Apply for as many small travel grants (i.e., your university) and research awards (Cosmos, National Geographic, Sigma Xi, PADI) in order to minimize costs because inevitably you will go over budget. :-(

Get lots of advice from researchers who have organized and directed a collection expedition. I talked to my PhD coadvisors Allen Collins (NOAA-NMNH) and Alexa Bely (UMD-BIOL) on what equipment was essential for this trip, and how to plan my experiments in the field.

Now that's all it takes to go do some serious jellyfishing!!!

Cheryl Lewis Ames, Follow me on twitter @boxjellytalk

by Cheryl Lewis Ames (Smithsonian Peter Buck Predoctoral Fellow & University of Maryland PhD Candidate in Biological Sciences, BEES Concentration)

 

Cataloguing corals – Continuing our Celebration of IZ Volunteers

This post is a continuation of our series in celebration of National Volunteer Month. Here, we relate the story of an extended effort by the Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) department’s curatorial staff (and volunteers!) to fully catalogue and update the inventory of tens of thousands of specimens from around the world, in preparation for the relocation of IZ’s collection to a new floor in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) building. This piece specifically focuses on the coral collection and two long-term volunteers.

In preparation for a future renovation of the current IZ collections space, the department is gearing up to relocate its extensive dry collection from the third floor of NMNH to the second floor. While this may sound trivial, the effort actually entails an extensive cataloguing effort in preparation for transport. Volunteers have been working hard to ensure that every specimen in IZ’s collection has an individual record in the Smithsonian’s Electronic Museum (EMu) database. Not only does EMu serve as a repository for important specimen information and research records within IZ, but the catalogue is entirely searchable to the public, which includes both the external research community and science-curious individuals.

Renovations underway in the second floor collections storage area, in preparation to receive IZ's dry collections, mostly corals, molluscs and echinoderms, from the third floor.

As part of this move, the current arrangement of coral by world region (among other factors) will be revised to an alphabetical arrangement by genus and species. Hence, it is critical that every specimen be properly accounted for, including those already entered in EMu. Volunteers are also heavily involved in other associated cataloguing efforts, which include creating EMu records for specimens catalogued before electronic records existed and identifying and cataloguing several cases of previously unidentified specimens. Clearly, with so many specimens to cover, some of which are the size of boulders and weigh about as much, this is no small task! 

Steve Cairns, the Curator of Corals in IZ, and Museum Specialist Tim Coffer are leading the cataloguing and relocation efforts. However, central to the success of this overarching project is a group of “Behind-the-Scenes” volunteers. This group includes four professionals and retirees. Recently, Tim has recruited a larger group of students, whose majors range from museum studies to biology, to help with the actual relocation project.

Some of these volunteers have been involved in the coral cataloguing effort for more than two years – why do they continue contributing their time? Passion for their work in IZ plays a major role, as you will see below. 

Meet two long-term coral collection volunteers

Mary Mellott is a retired NASA science program manager with a background in the physical sciences. Even so, working behind the scenes at NMNH has been one of Mary’s lifetime goals. “I wanted to be somewhere that I could hold what I was working on in my hands,” says Mary.

Volunteer Mary Mellott, taking inventory in anticipation of our move.

Mary’s focus as a volunteer has been specimen cataloguing and the creation of digital records in EMu. Mary has made major headway on this portion of the coral collection project. Within the past five years, the relatively small team has managed to audit approximately 75% of the coral collection, which contains tens of thousands of specimens. Mary says that she thinks her volunteer work is “very cool,” which is part of why she chooses to volunteer in IZ as many as five days a week!

Volunteer Tom Kamasky finds that this type of collections work is a perfect fit for his background as an accountant. Tom originally learned about the “Behind-the-Scenes” volunteer program from a friend, a retired U.S. Navy aviator who was volunteering in the O. Orkin Insect Zoo here at NMNH. Based on positive feedback from his friend, Tom decided to look for a position that might utilize his strengths in electronic databases and records management. Tom has now been an IZ collections volunteer for two years. “There’s no database that I can’t handle,” says Tom.

During this time, like Mary, Tom has progressively worked through the coral collection, case by case, and drawer by drawer, ensuring that every specimen is catalogued in EMu. Sometimes, Tom notes that he must take this work a step further. For example, occasionally the field reclassifies an organism; within the museum, any specimens of this organism must then be reclassified, as well. Hence, a few times, Tom has had to update the records of an entire drawer of specimens, which can take a day or more.

A coral specimen storage drawer before volunteers "cleaned up" the storage containers and layout. During this process, specimens are also being audited for completeness of records in EMu, and any specimens not previously in the electronic database are being added.

Tom recollects that one of his favorite moments was finding a set of specimens with catalogue numbers in the 100s. These tiny corals, which are mounted on beveled mahogany bases, were recovered from the Smithsonian’s first major expedition, the 1838-1842 U.S. Exploring Expedition, led by U.S. Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes. With millions of specimens from around the world, the Smithsonian’s collection has grown by more than four orders of magnitude since its early days.

IZ also has several cases that contain specimens waiting to be catalogued, many of which were donated by private collectors or other researchers and hence may not have been prioritized when first brought into IZ. With the impending move, however, it is highly important that each of these specimens is officially catalogued and moved into the general collection.

Volunteers also help maintain the active research collection via management practices

The same coral specimen storage drawer after volunteers "cleaned up" the containers, replacing old acidic cardboard. Many specimens have also been moved from old paper bags, which had corroding staples, into new plastic bags or plastic boxes.

Of course, not every coral specimen has “survived” the cataloguing effort. Occasionally, a collection audit identifies a specimen that is of limited scientific value. Modern expeditions often collect extensive amounts of data with each new specimen, such as precise latitude and longitude, depth information, and other values like salinity or oxygen level. Hence, sometimes, older specimens that may have comparatively little associated information are deemed unnecessary.

Even though this is an important aspect of collections management, and has been a component of the volunteers’ work in the coral collection, Tim says that in the past 5-6 years, only 1% of specimens have been released. It is worth noting that this process is important on many levels, not simply from the perspective of maintaining a large collection. For example, many of the specimens that IZ releases from its scientific collection have been donated to schools, where they can be utilized for a variety of teaching purposes.

Interested in hiring a volunteer?

When Mary initially approached the Office of Visitor Services, she was unsure how her interests would best fit within the institution. However, she credits her fit in IZ to Volunteer Recruitment Specialist Noel Burton, whose catalogue-like knowledge of the departments and programs at the Smithsonian makes him an excellent resource in terms of matching volunteers with available opportunities. 

by Liz Boatman 

Back Home after Biodiversity Internship in America's Capital City

The first time going abroad, dealing with winter and enjoying the capital city of America was one of the best experiences in my life. I am Andrianus Sembiring, Junior Research Fellow of The Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center (IBRC), which is located in Bali, Indonesia.

Andiranus Sembiring, Junior Research Fellow from the Indonesia Biodiversity Research Center, visiting the Invertebrate Zoology Wet Collections

For two months I had an internship under the supervision of Amanda Windsor, Emma Ransome, Allen Collins and Chris Meyer in the Invertebrate Zoology department at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian. During my internship, I experienced a lot of new things. I learned some about being a curator, like how to preserve and handle samples and keep track of them using a database system. I visited the Museum Support Center, in Maryland, where all the wet collections (more than 30 million!) are preserved. I was so excited and hope I can build a mini collection in the IBRC now that I am back. I also learned more about DNA Barcoding, which is a method that is used to inventory biodiversity richness based on genetics. We are working together to estimate the diversity of Decapoda (crabs and shrimps) that live in dead coral heads in Indonesia using DNA Barcoding methods. Beside that, I had a chance to learn Next Generation Sequenching techiques to conduct metagenomics (sequencing a sample with many different organisms in it). I learned how to prepare these mixed samples, extract DNA, and how to run the IonTorrent machine and get a lot of data. I felt so lucky to be there, because I could meet great scientists from around the world.

I was supported to be at the Smithsonian by the USAID program, and I hope after all of these great experiences, I can share all my experiences with others at IBRC in Indonesia.

by Andrianus Sembiring

Worm Illustrators! -- Continuing our Celebration of IZ Volunteers

This post is a continuation of our series in celebration of National Volunteer Month. Here, we relate the story of a special effort by Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) department scientists to complete a monograph on 1,000 polychaete species by utilizing a team of three volunteer graphic designers.

Kristian Fauchald has contributed immensely to the fields of polychaete biology and systematics. Polychaetes (Annelida) represent a large and diverse group of segmented worms, with more than 10,000 members described to date. In particular, Kristian’s recent work has focused on scale worms (Aphroditidae), which are relatively short, flat segmented worms that rarely grow larger than 20 cm in length. Although retired, Kristian is working to complete a project begun by his predecessor, Marion Pettibone, who was another major contributor in the polychaete community. Kristian is developing a monograph that will include all known polychaetes (approximately 1,000 species!), revising the taxonomy of the species and clades and describing about 100 new species. This work will serve as a reference for generations of future researchers. However, to develop this monograph, each of the more than 1,000 species in this group of scale worms requires its own plate of descriptive drawings.

A 'cleaned up' photo of a polychaete

The number of illustrations required for this work amount to a colossal undertaking. That’s why Karen Osborn, who also studies polychaetes, is working with Kristian to complete the project. To do so, Karen has recruited three volunteer illustrators, each of whom contributes roughly six hours per week to the effort through the Smithsonian’s Behind-the-Scenes volunteer program. The illustrators work from digital scans of the original drawings, which they import into Adobe Illustrator. Next, they use the software's tools to translate the pencil sketches into black and white line drawings. The drawings for an individual species usually consist of a head or whole body drawing, along with several detailed drawings of body parts, such as the chaetae (bristles). Once completed, these line drawings are compiled into a plate (one for each species) and will ultimately be accompanied by descriptive text. Due to variations in the complexity of the sketches, an individual species can take one illustrator as much as six hours of work – that’s one entire volunteer session!

A black and white line drawing of a specimen, produced using Adobe Illustrator

 

 Meet Kate, Kristina, and Rachel

As scientific illustrators in IZ, it goes without saying that Kate, Kristina, and Rachel hold a common interest in graphic design and digital illustration. However, for as much as they have in common, these three volunteers also serve as a great example of how one type of volunteer position can support the professional and personal goals of different volunteers, while also accommodating various schedules.

Initially, Kate Ingram was seeking a volunteer position in an art museum. However, when the opportunity arose to work in IZ doing scientific illustration, she recollects, “I thought that I would at least like to try it.” Aside from her volunteer position, Kate has also returned to school to earn a degree in graphic design, where she is currently serving as a teaching assistant for a digital imaging course. Kate recognizes that not only has her volunteer position been important for developing her skills in a manner that directly relates to her education but also that working in IZ has exposed her to a new field in digital art – scientific illustration. As Kate continues to explore possible career opportunities for her future, she hopes to learn more about this field by attending meetings of other scientific illustrators (e.g., the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators or GNSI). 

Kate poses next to some of her other artistic pursuits

Kristina Ogilvie has worked with Karen in IZ since early 2012. With a background in English literature and the humanities, Kristina’s interest in graphic design developed more recently, during her time at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Like Kate, Kristina is self-taught in the area of graphic design. During the week, Kristina works as an academic advisor at the embassy of the State of Kuwait for study abroad students residing in the United States, in addition to a part-time position as a retail sales associate. Kristina prefers to spend her Sunday mornings in IZ, where her time working on polychaete illustrations provides a bit of personal escape from the busy workweek.

Kristina demonstrates scientific illustration to a crowd of eager onlookers in Q?RIUS

Unlike Kate and Kristina, Rachel Gonçalves' time in IZ is very limited: in August, she will return to her home institution in Brazil, where she is pursuing a degree in graphic design. For now, however, Rachel is a full-time student at the University of the District of Columbia. Fortunately, she has no class on Fridays, which is when you can find her working on the Wacom Cintiq Interactive Pen Display (drawing monitor) to illustrate the polychaetes. Rachel and the other illustrators draw directly on its 24-inch computer screen. Rachel, who is very excited to be part of the IZ family for the next several months, describes her experience at the Smithsonian so far as “amazing.”

Rachel illustrating a polychaete specimen

 

Volunteers can “give back” in more ways than one

Recently, Kristina took time out of her normal workweek to demonstrate the process of polychaete illustration in Q?RIUS, the Smithsonian’s new interactive and experimental learning space for young adults. As groups of students and parents gathered to watch Kristina work, they also asked her a lot of general questions about scale worms, such as where they live and what they eat. By using her work as a conduit for general education on these marine worms, Kristina was helping to educate young minds on animals that they are not likely to observe in the common household fish tank. Additionally, Kristina’s audience learned more about the process of scientific illustration and the role that this work plays in making information on animal species available to the larger community, including other researchers.

In short, this trio of volunteer scientific illustrators in IZ represents an excellent example of mutualism, where the Smithsonian benefits from a much-needed (and otherwise expensive!) service, while supporting the academic and professional goals of its volunteers. Further, in addition to injecting new perspective and enthusiasm into the IZ community, these volunteers are possible avenues for spreading the word about how great a volunteer’s experience within the IZ community can be. “I really, really enjoy my work in IZ – it’s my favorite time of the week,” says Kate.

Interested in hiring a “Behind-the-Scenes” volunteer? Basic information can be found on the Smithsonian’s volunteer webpage. Additionally, you can contact Noel Burton, Volunteer Recruitment Specialist in the Office of Visitor Services, for further information.

Just want to learn more about the process of scientific illustration? Check out this great example from the NMNH botany department!

by Liz Boatman

 

"Biocubing" with Students in Mo'orea

Just a quick report on Biocubing with students!

Recently, Chris Meyer from our department and Sea McKeon from the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce, Florida were in the field, in Mo'orea, French Polynesia, with a group of students aged 12-18 from Ross School. These fortunate students got to work with National Goegraphic photographer David Littschwager and stay at the University of California Berkeley Gump Research Station. They were using the concept of a biocube to investigate biodiversity at a manageable scale. See some of what they took away from the experience in the embedded video below. 

Also, Chris did two live webcasts on Thursday April 10 to discuss the science of Measuring Biodiversity at NMNH's Q?rius Center. Good job Chris, Maggie Benson and the rest of the team putting together the webcasts.

Ross Field Academy: Mo'orea BioCube (University of Oxford presentation 04/04/14) from Ross Institute.

Doing this sort of work, biocubing, with students appears to provide them with powerful experiences.

by Allen G. Collins

Crystallography in invertebrates - Diatoms (series kick off!)

Did you know that the United Nations has declared 2014 the International Year of Crystallography? You might be thinking, “Wait a minute, I’m on an Invertebrate Zoology Blog. What do copepods, mollusks, and squids have to do with crystals?” To begin, each of those organisms actually possesses crystalline or semi-crystalline structures. For example, the armored exoskeleton of the copepod is composed of chitin and calcium; the shell of the mollusk is made of calcium carbonate crystals; and the beak of the squid is fabricated from a gradated, chitin-based composite. In contrast, the crystalline structures of vertebrates are, arguably, quite boring! That is, all vertebrate teeth and bones are composed of the same mineral, carbonated hydroxyapatite. 

Unlike the vertebrates, diversity in composition and structure is a feature of the marine invertebrates. In this series, we’ll investigate some intriguing crystalline and semi-crystalline structures and tissues in different groups. We’ll also visit a bit of the modern crystallography research related to our organisms of interest, in addition to learning why other fields of science and engineering are interested in these marine organisms.

Arranged Diatoms on Microscope Slides in the California Academy of Sciences Diatom Collection Photograph of diatoms collected in Russia and arranged on a microscope slide in 1952 by A.L. Brigger. From the California Academy of Sciences Flickr page.

We kick off our series with diatoms, members of the phytoplankton (important photosynthesizers in the sea)! Diatoms come in a variety of geometrically stunning shapes, generally with bilateral symmetry, and they also serve as a major food source for many invertebrates, such as the copepods, mollusks, and squids referenced above. As delicious as diatoms are to filter feeders, they are also unlike other algae: diatoms grow into beautiful, complex shapes by constructing cell walls of hydrated silica (SiO₂). The composition of the diatom skeleton was first identified in the mid-20^th century with X-ray crystallographic investigations.

Although diatoms, as part of the phytoplankton, are a crucially important aspect of invertebrate zoology, they are also studied in many other fields of science and engineering. For example, diatoms represent an important component of Earth’s fossil history, with the earliest evidence of diatoms in the fossil record dating to the Jurassic period (201 – 45 Mya). Investigations of ocean cores and land rocks have led to the development of extensive marine records of diatoms, from which biostratigraphic records have been produced. Climate scientists also study these unicellular organisms: diatom communities are important indicators of water quality and other environmental conditions. Materials scientists have investigated diatoms as potential sources of high-purity silicon, for use in microchip fabrication technologies, and diatoms are regularly used in filter materials (“diatomaceous earth”). Finally, more recent analyses of diatoms using X-ray crystallography have focused on specific proteins, such as iron-storing ferritins and the anti-freeze proteins present in polar diatom species.

From Wiki Commons: Scanning Electron Micrographs of Diatoms. (A) Biddulphia reticulata. The whole shell or frustule of a centric diatom showing valves and girdle bands (size bar = 10 micrometres). (B) Diploneis sp. This picture shows two whole pennate diatom frustules in which raphes or slits, valves, and girdle bands can be seen (size bar = 10 micrometres). (C) Eupodiscus radiatus. View of a single valve of a centric diatom (size bar = 20 micrometres) (D) Melosira varians. The frustule of a centric diatom, showing both valves and some girdle bands (size bar = 10 micrometres). Bradbury J: Nature's Nanotechnologists: Unveiling the Secrets of Diatoms. PLoS Biol 2/10/2004: e306.doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020306.

In short, diatoms are an excellent example of a semi-crystalline structure in a marine organism! And crystallography techniques have contributed significantly to our understanding of these visually striking, microscopic phytoplankton.

Next in this series of posts associated with the International Year of Crystallography, we’ll continue our exploration of the crystalline world of marine invertebrates by investigating the nautilus (Cephalopoda: Nautiloidea). 

by Liz Boatman

Jessica Goodheart Wins Support to Conduct Fieldwork

In days when natural history is decline, it is great to note that natural history societies still exist and are able to support research in natural history. The Conchologists of America (COA) is one such society, specifically "for shell enthusiasts from all walks of life, at all levels of interest", and they have just made an award to Jessica Goodheart, a University of Maryland-Smithsonian PhD student.

Jessica is going to be studying how some nudibranch seaslugs steal the defenses of their prey and turn around and put those defenses to their own use. She will rely heavily on the collections in Invertebrate Zoology, but she also needs fresh material, for both genetics and histological sections. So, it is fantastic that COA has provided funds for Jessica to collect in Florida this summer. 

 

Scyllaea pelagica from Molokai, Hawaii; an example of a nudibranch that does not steal stinging cells from its cnidarian prey.

 

by Allen G. Collins

Thanks to our IZ Volunteers!

Today marks the start of Volunteer Appreciation Month at the Smithsonian Institution. Many (most?) people outside the Institution have little idea of how much we depend on volunteers.

Volunteer Mary Mellott, taking inventory in anticipation of our move.

The impact of our volunteers is immense—in fiscal year 2013, our 6,329 volunteers gave 521,126 hours of service to the Institution! Our volunteers do research, work behind the scenes with our staff and collections, serve as docents, help digitize our collections, work as citizen scientists, and staff public events. They greet our visitors at each museum and help them plan their visits, so that everyone may make the most of their time at the Smithsonian.

Invertebrate Zoology has about 40 volunteers at any given time, some have been with us for many years, giving 1, 2 or more days per week of their time and creative energy. Their work ranges from maintaining bibliographies, editing images, writing blog posts, cataloging specimens to work in the collections – some do several of those things. About half of our current crop of volunteers is deeply immersed in helping us prepare, move and reorganize most of our dry collection over the next few years.

We've previously featured our volunteers here in No Bones but this is a good occasion for a plain, old-fashioned THANK YOU from all of us in Invertebrate Zoology!

by Jon Norenburg

Nice Thank You image in many languages, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/4759535970/