No Bones

New Smithsonian Curator, John Pfeiffer, Talks Freshwater Mussels

John Pfeiffer holding freshwater mussel, Chamberlainia hainesiana, in western Thailand in 2017 underneath a trestle of the Death Railway near Kra Sae Cave.

John Pfeiffer first forayed into natural history collections work during his undergrad at Northern Michigan University. At the time, he was unaware that his professional journey would lead to a position as the new Curator of Bivalves at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Pfeiffer’s beginnings

As an ambitious undergraduate at a small university nestled on the south shore of Lake Superior, Pfeiffer developed his fascination with freshwater mussels and decided to take a stab at collections-based research. With specimen donations from the Illinois Natural History Survey and his own local collecting efforts, Pfeiffer built the school’s first collection of freshwater mussels, focused on species distributed across the Midwestern United States. Today, the school still proudly displays the exhibit Pfeiffer built to document the freshwater mussel diversity in the region. This simple exhibit with neatly labeled shells delicately fastened to the display foreshadowed the bright future of a talented researcher.

Pfeiffer’s first freshwater mussel collection displayed at Northern Michigan University.

Unlike many scientists who follow a winding path to their final discipline of study, Pfeiffer found freshwater mussels and stuck with them. “How they infect their host was really what sold me on freshwater mussels,” explained Pfeiffer as he dove into the evolutionary tale of their wriggling lures and parasitic larvae. Freshwater mussels evolved from a marine ancestor and managed to traverse into the rivers and lakes of the world against the downstream flow that characterizes most freshwater habitats. Given the limited mobility of these bivalves, this movement against the flow was a marvelous feat. For their marine ancestors to climb into freshwater habitats, mussel larvae evolved to attach to freshwater fish which dispersed them upstream. To infect their hosts, adult freshwater clams go fishing.

Poring over videos of mussel appendages that resemble the prey of their larvae’s host fish, Pfeiffer explains how freshwater mussels attract their hosts in the same way humans use bait or tackle when fishing recreationally. Instead of buying fishing supplies at a store, freshwater mussels had to rely on evolution. In a beautiful representation of natural selection, this “fishing” tactic became so specialized in some mussel species that their lures look almost identical to the prey of a single host species.

Often times, a part of the mussel’s mantle (the fleshy structure that is responsible for exuding the shell in bivalves) mimics the shape, coloring, and movement of a prey type enjoyed by the target host fish. When the host fish nibbles on the suspected snack, it ruptures a structure filled with larval mussels and sucks in a bunch of babies that attach to the fish’s gills and body. These adorable parasites hang on for a few days to weeks until they mature enough to drop off and settle on the riverbed.

Female broken-rays (Lampsilis reeveiana) mussel with mantle lure mimicking a small fish to attract host smallmouth bass and rock bass. Photo from Barnhart, M. C. 2008. Unio Gallery: http://unionid.missouristate.edu. Accessed 10/3/2019.

Scouring the rivers of Thailand and beyond

Having always enjoyed time on the water, fishing and relaxing with a cold one in the great outdoors, Pfeiffer found the perfect counterpart in freshwater mussels. “They live in the river, they drink all day, and they do a little fishing,” joked Pfeiffer as he delved into his research and his plans as the new bivalve curator at the Smithsonian.

As a master’s student at the University of Alabama, Pfeiffer was more completely introduced to biodiversity science and looked into the evolutionary history of lesser-known freshwater mussel species in Southeast Asia, primarily in Thailand. Still interested in the parasitic life cycle of freshwater mussels, Pfeiffer focused his research on the evolution of different larval morphologies. As part of his master’s research Pfeiffer discovered that an endemic radiation of mussels in southeast Asia had evolved an unusual adaptation that caused the parasitic larvae to have asymmetrical shells. Pfeifer reconstructed the evolution of this trait and hypothesized about how it may be used to infect the fins of its host fish.

Pfeiffer continued his research on tropical freshwater mussels during his Ph.D. at the University of Florida and the Florida Museum of Natural history. There, he worked to uncover the evolutionary history of species in Mesoamerica and Southeast Asia. The species-level diversity between temperate and tropical freshwater mussels is comparable, but lack the same level of documentation as to their North American counterparts. Eliminating this disparity is one of Pfeiffer’s main goals.

Pfeiffer sampling for mussels in the Nan River in central Thailand in 2016. Walking upside down on the hands is standard sampling protocol when the river looks more like chocolate milk than water.

Freshwater mussel conservation

While the evolution of mussels lured Pfeiffer into his current research, he now also dedicates much of his work to conservation. “A lot of my conservation work,” he says, “has to do with understanding species boundaries. In order to protect a critter, you have to understand where its found, how that range has changed over time, and how you might expect it to change in the future due to certain threats.”

To better understand the diversity and distribution of freshwater mussels, Pfeiffer and his colleagues often use DNA tests to help identify particular lineages or groups. The goal of this work is to establish conservation priorities. By drawing a detailed map of species ranges, scientists can determine potential threats to each distinct species and the urgency of that threat.

As a newly appointed Smithsonian researcher, Pfeiffer hopes to reveal some secrets about other poorly studied mussel species housed here at the National Museum of Natural History. ‘One thing that I think we can do better in regards to better understanding mussel evolution is to more completely include endangered and extinct species in our reconstructions’, states Pfeiffer.

Many of these rare specimens are here in the museum and Pfeiffer hopes to use historical DNA techniques to pull out genealogical information to help build a more robust picture of freshwater mussel evolution across the globe. With a better understanding of evolution and biodiversity for these organisms, Pfeiffer hopes to inform conservation efforts to help maintain their stunning diversity. The Department of Invertebrate Zoology could not be more excited to have him on board.

BY Raven Benko and Jaimee-Ian Rodriguez

Corals Got You Seeing Blue?

Those who have studied the Smithsonian are no doubt familiar with the U.S. Navy’s U.S. Exploring Expedition, called the Ex. Ex. for short.  This ambitious trip around the world took four-years (1838-1842), included six ships, and the crew had a team of nine scientists and artists.  It is one of the largest in the history of scientific discovery and thousands of articles (from ethnographic artifacts to biological specimens) were collected. These objects became the foundation of the Smithsonian’s collections. 

Right around this time, in Great Britain, Anna Atkins was experimenting with a new photographic technology called the cyanotype.  Using ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, it makes blue images (this is the process that would come to be used to create architectural blueprints).  Atkins made impressions of algae by laying her algal specimens directly onto paper coated with these chemicals and then exposing them to sunlight.  From these images, she created the first photographic book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843).

Here I am taking photographs in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology's Dry Collections Area

Among the specimens gathered during the Ex. Ex. were numerous stony corals, many of which were the first of their species described by science (such specimens are known as holotypes). But with the technology at the time, it would’ve been difficult to make meaningful cyanotypes of these corals, as the process requires the object to be relatively flat and being somewhat translucent is also helpful. Neither of which applies to most stony corals. However, using digital photography, I was able to capture images of particularly charismatic specimens in the Smithsonian Invertebrate Zoology coral collection. Along with the associated data, as well as scraps of paper and notes that are attached to these items (which, I think, tell interesting tales of both the history of these objects as well as their species more generally), I imagine a historic collision between the Ex. Ex. and Anna Atkins. 

Herpolitha limax

I was driven to do so because such stony corals are in great peril due to the rise in the temperature and acidity of the oceans, which is driven by climate change.  Coral reef bleaching events, where the living coral is abandoned by its symbiotic algae, result in corals with tissues so transparent all that can be seen is their white skeletons. Bleaching events increase coral mortality, and have become more frequent and of greater magnitude in recent years. I hope that my cyanotypes are an aesthetic and conceptual reflection on the trouble facing coral: the blue and white prints look like a sea full of the white coral skeletons… within my lifetime, it’s possible that most of what will be left of stony corals are their skeletons, crumbling in the oceans or on museum shelves [See Additional Reading below].  

Lophelia pertusa

Printing these images as cyanotypes, a technique once used by architects also seems significant.  In many ways, stony corals are the “architecture of the oceans.” The reefs that they create are among the most biodiverse environments on the planet and are critical breeding and feeding grounds for many other marine creatures.  If these reefs perish, many species will be without a home and the effects will resonate across the oceans. Many of these effects will be felt by human societies around the globe. In economic terms, the value of reefs is immense. 

Turbinaria sp.

It’s not too late for the coral, although we’re at a critical moment when action is required to save them, and there is plenty that can be done. Historical, The Ex. Ex and Atkins represent two crucial moments for the democratization and dispersion of information… The Ex. Ex. was a grand and ambitious voyage of discovery, while Atkins as the persistent individual pursuing knowledge.  This seems fitting, as both ambitious global coordination as well as thoughtful personal choices are crucially needed if we are to save the world’s coral. 

Acropora rotumana (presently known as Acropora abrotanoides (Lamarck, 1816)

 My title for this series is Ex. Ex. Colonies.  This title pays homage to the U.S. Exploring Expedition, although many of the coral I photographed were collected on later voyages (coincidentally, I find it very interesting that the age of coral collecting maps remarkably well onto the heyday analog photography, roughly from the 1830’s to the early 2000’s).  And colonies, of course, refers to most familiar corals being colonial species.  But my title is a word play with multiple meanings. For example, “Ex. Ex.” also refers to the removal of these species from the environment through human intervention (once by scientists collecting these specific corals and now at a global scale due to climate change). And “Colonies” also references the problematic colonial history that is entwined with the history of museum collecting. 

by Todd R. Forsgren [Edited by Allen G. Collins]

Additional Reading:

• Smithsonian Ocean Portal's "Corals and Coral Reefs"
• NOAA's National Ocean Service's "Coral Reefs - Rainforests of the Sea" [and links therein]
• NPR's "Climate Change Is Killing Coral On The Great Barrier Reef"
• UN Environment's "Fate of Corals Hangs in the Balance"
• International Coral Reefs Initiative's "The Coral Reef Economy The business case for investment in the protection, preservation and enhancement of coral reef health"
• Reef Resilience Network's "Value of Reefs"
• NOAA's National Ocean Service's "What can I do to protect coral reefs?"

3D Scanning in Invertebrate Zoology

Today our 3D team drove to the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center (MSC) with a car full of 3D scanning equipment. MSC is a collection storage facility that houses objects not on display at the Smithsonian museums. The 3D team’s mission is to scan a group of ancient turtle skeletons and crustaceans; specimens too large or fragile to be easily transported.

Walking through the treasures that live in MSC, it felt like a wild expedition with shelves brimming with fossils ready to be discovered.  

Tim Coffer, a Collections Manager of the Invertebrate Zoology department at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), fed our curiosity by giving us an exclusive tour of the other 99% of the Smithsonian collections not on public view.

A few weeks earlier, the 3D team collaborated with Tim on the coral pilot project scanning over 80 coral specimens in two weeks. We use several methods of scanning 3D models of coral: automated turntable photogrammetry, hand-held photogrammetry, and structured light scanning.

In addition to hundreds of mammal skeletons like deer, rams, elephants, there we also saw thousands of jars containing marine creatures. The whole team was fascinated by all the specimens and took turns asking Tim about their origins.

Following the tour, we started to setup our equipment for photogrammetry on the Invertebrate Zoology floor. Later in the week we will be getting down to business.

By Taylor Houlihan, 3D intern for OCIO-DPO

 

Volunteers, Interns and Contractors - Can’t Live Without Them!

The Department of Invertebrate Zoology (IZ)-Lab 5 at the Museum Support Center (MSC) is a busy lab year round. Work spaces cluttered with specimens, curation supplies and microscopes are constantly in flux with visiting researchers, graduate students and fellows, as well as volunteers, interns and contractors.

With new collections constantly arriving and others being shipped out to requesting researchers, carts filled with specimens waiting to be processed (curated, labeled, inventoried, packed, etc….) is a common scene. But specimens are not the only items in need of attention: scientific plates and films (negatives, SEM and prints) as well as research documents and publication reprints are in the queue to be scanned, filed and archived.

So many projects, too little time…. That’s where Smithsonian volunteers, interns and contractors come in. They are recruited for many collections-based projects that are advertised via the SI Volunteer Program, SI Internship Program or through departmental contracts. These programs all offer long and short term tenures, and some seasonal positions, depending on the interests of the individual.

The volunteer program at the Smithsonian Institution is tailored towards non-students with a desire to contribute their time and expertise as well as their love of learning. A number of volunteer opportunities are available from research related, to public education programs, and Behind-the-Scenes. Here again, long and short-term positions are offered.

The Smithsonian Institution internship program offers students (graduate, undergraduate and even high school) an opportunity to work directly with a staff member in an academic and professional setting. Students interested in working at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) can select a project from the many available at NMNH Internship Opportunities. Winter and spring break (just one week) as well as summer internships are available.

Another way to get involved in the Smithsonian is through a contract. Contracts offered at the Smithsonian provide paid positions for museum professionals, and depending on available funding, there can be a number available at any given time. Here in IZ-Lab 5, contracts offered involve curatorial tasks, specimen inventory and labeling, and document processing/scanning. These positions can vary from a few months to 1.5+ years.

Support from volunteers, interns and contractors is indispensable for the management of our museum collections and research facility. The decrease of permanent staff in IZ-Lab 5 has made the help of volunteers, interns and contractors even more critical to complete many important collections projects. The day to day work in IZ-Lab 5 is positively complemented by their efforts, whether it be assisting with the physical care of the collections, or collecting research data, or entering specimen data for inventory records. Without their help, most of these projects most likely would be delayed for years, or worse, never get done ending up in the “attic”...

 

Highlighted here are a few friendly faces found in IZ-Lab 5 this past summer:

Marshall Boyd – Summer Intern and Volunteer

Marshall was an intern with IZ in the summer of 2009 before traveling to Honduras where he served as a research assistant. He later went on to earn his Masters Degree from Salisbury University studying forest birds on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

As a volunteer in IZ-Lab 5, Marshall is involved with the crustacea collections and crustacea research-related material. His first project was to scan research publications from Drs. Horton Hobbs, Jr. and Horton Hobbs III. He was then tasked with scanning crustacean specimen catalog cards for upload to EMu (the Smithsonian Institution inventory program). He is also working to label, organize and curate specimens throughout the crustacean collections, including newly acquired specimens.

 

Linda Ward - Volunteer

Linda was a Department of IZ employee for 35 years. She was responsible for cataloging, collection curation, bibliographic work, as well as research assistance and field work for Dr. Kristian Fauchald in Belize, Florida, France, Aldabra and Papua New Guinea. Her education background is a Bachelors of Art and Masters from the University of Hawaii (a longgggg time ago). 

As a volunteer, Linda is currently working on collections from Dr. Fauchald and his students, as well as her own backlog of miscellaneous cataloging and curation. She is also completing datasets for worm catalog records that were created during a card scanning project years ago. Linda is organizing Dr. Fauchald’s papers/files/manuscripts and preparing material to be transferred to the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

 

Paul Greenhall - Volunteer

Paul worked for the Smithsonian Institution for 40 years before retiring in 2014. He has since returned as a volunteer to work in the Department of IZ. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Behavioral & Social Sciences, University of Maryland.

Paul has held a number of positions at the Smithsonian Institution during his tenure, starting as a volunteer then a contractor in primate biology in the Department of Vertebrate Zoology. He later joined IZ working in Mollusks sorting, packing and shipping collections. As the IZ Shipping Manager, he began packing, shipping and preparing CITES permit applications and helped improve trusting diplomatic relationships between FWS-Baltimore and IZ over CITES issues.

As a volunteer in IZ-Lab 5, Paul curated the Land Snail Collection, and then assisted with packing & shipping. And in 2016 he and his successor, Courtney Wickel, prepared the IZ Packing & Shipping Guidelines that covers the “Whys” of packing & shipping and problem-solving.

 

Carmen Williams – Summer Intern and Volunteer

Carmen was a summer intern in IZ-Lab 5 and is currently a volunteer. She assisted with museum curation and various specimen-related projects in IZ. As many universities and organizations from around the globe seek to borrow from the Smithsonian’s vast collection, Carmen learned about shipping different invertebrate groups as she prepared to become certified to pack wet specimens. Carmen also worked on an ongoing shipworm rehydration project where she verified the USNM catalog numbers, and then rehydrated the specimens for proper curation.

Carmen grew up in Baltimore, and she has many fond childhood memories of weekends spent roaming the halls of the NMNH. The museum represented a place of adventure, and she appreciates the opportunity to intern in a place with such a significant link to her personal history.

Her internship provided her with practical application for the techniques and skills she learned at Coastal Carolina University, as well as a chance to connect with and learn from IZ researchers and the collection staff. The most rewarding part of her internship was assisting with organizing and curating a section of the IZ wet collections.

(Carmen was featured as Intern of the Day on June 16, 2017 on the NMNH Interns & Fellows Facebook page.)

 

Amelia Lindsay-Kaufman – Summer Intern

Amelia was a summer intern in IZ-Lab 5. Her internship focused on collections management, concentrating on crustacean specimens. As she studied geology in college at McGill University in Montreal, she had much experience working with rocks, but not as much experience working with invertebrates. With this experience she was able to learn more about how biological specimens are collected, preserved, and organized for future study.

Amelia always loved science and natural history museums, and she aspires to eventually work in a museum. Therefore, she knew she wanted to intern at the Smithsonian Institution, particularly the NMNH, so she would be immersed in science and gain practical experience in a museum setting. The highlight of Amelia’s internship was unpacking a shipment of freshly collected invertebrate samples from Hawaii, as she was able to learn the necessary techniques used for specimen curation.

(Amelia was featured as Intern of the Day on July 17, 2017 on the NMNH Interns & Fellows Facebook page.)

 

Misha Lerner – Summer Intern

Misha worked on organizing the orphioroids collection, and on rebottling the mollusks collection. 

 

Adam Stergis – Spring Break Intern and Contractor

Adam has been curating and cataloging crustaceans for IZ for over two years now. As an undergraduate at the University of Mary Washington, he gained experience in vertebrate zoology testing the genetic effects of herbicides on zebrafish. In his senior year he participated in the Smithsonian Institution spring break internship program curating isopods, which are one of his favorite animals. He then found invertebrates to be a much better fit for him.

Adam's work in IZ involved finding uncataloged specimens within the crustacean collection, adding them to the EMu inventory database, transferring them to archival quality containers, and returning them to the collection in the proper order. Whether it be through his work, the seasonal parties, and most recently as grillmaster for the summer IZ picnic, he has felt so welcomed in IZ-Lab 5 and considers himself very fortunate to work for an institution whose museums he have been visiting since he was two years old.

 

Georgia Tschen – Volunteer and Contractor

Georgia has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa and worked as a graphic designer and Art Director in California and Ohio until moving to Washington, DC in 2012. She first began working in the Department of IZ in 2013 as a volunteer designing various graphic projects and archiving photographs.

Her first contract for IZ was digitizing specimen labels and applying USNM catalogue numbers to uncatalogued hyperiid Amphipod lots.

Since then she’s held a several other contracts in the department: curation and rehousing of the U.S. National Parasite Collection, and working on a few publication projects involving diagraming illustrations and Photoshop image enhancements.

Volunteering at the Smithsonian was a great introduction to the city and the people here, and working in IZ has been extremely rewarding. She’s happy to be a part of it, there's always something new to learn and see.

 

By Rose A. Gulledge, Museum Specialist

Oh how you’ve grown! The Life Histories Program at the Smithsonian Marine Station, Fort Pierce, Florida

In 1972, Dr. Mary Rice made a decision that changed how biologists see the Atlantic coast. As the newly appointed director of a small marine station in Fort Pierce, FL, Rice decided to open her doors to the Smithsonian’s scientific community and research fellows, enabling them to expand their work from specimen collections, to in-depth studies of organisms in their natural habitats. At the station, Rice established the Life Histories Program, which tracks the growth and development of marine invertebrates. For Rice, the Smithsonian Marine Station became an ideal place to research these fascinating creatures and the transformations they experience as they grow from egg to adult. 

Mary Rice and Kevin Eckelbarger comparing specimens in the Life Histories lab in 1974, which was located on a barge on the campus of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at the time.

Mary was most interested in sipunculans, or ‘peanut’ worms, a family of marine worms found worldwide from the shore to the deep sea. She studied the reproduction and development of the many sipunculan larval forms, and then compared them to the development of other worms, followed by more distantly related invertebrates. Through her research, Dr. Rice hoped to gain a better understanding of marine invertebrate development as a whole, and the role it plays in their ability to reproduce, disperse and adapt to different environments.

Mixed plankton sample showing a broad diversity and abundance of Gulf Stream animal forms.

Rice continued her research for 36 years, until her retirement in 2002. Eight years later, Michael Boyle arrived at the Smithsonian Marine Station, first to learn directly from Mary’s extensive experience (she was still working even though long retired), and most recently, as a staff scientist to manage the future course of research in the Life Histories Program. Like Rice, Dr. Boyle’s research focuses on the life histories of marine invertebrates, with a special interest in the evolution and development of sipunculans.

The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Florida, as it looks today.

This research goes well beyond pure scientific curiosity. Throughout their life histories, invertebrates have a huge impact on the ocean ecosystems we rely upon to feed us and sustain our planet. The large animals we harvest are reliant on the tiny plankton as a food source directly or indirectly depending on their feeding strategies. Furthermore, many of the non-motile adult invertebrates, such as corals, oysters and even some worms, actually form reef structures that shield our coastlines from storms and erosion, simultaneously serving as habitats for all sorts of ocean life.

Compilation of photomicrographs of plankton specimens of various types and the mixed plankton tow sample they were collected from.

To gain a better understanding of the many roles marine invertebrates play in the ocean ecosystem, the Smithsonian began its StreamCode project. Inspired and coauthored by Michael Boyle and Karen Osborn, and with the passionate dedication of several Smithsonian scientists from the Department of Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the StreamCode project is focused on documenting the stunning diversity of microscopic invertebrates in the water column along Florida’s Atlantic coast. With the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce as a base of operations, this team of scientists has set out to collect zooplankton from the Florida Current region of the Gulf Stream.

Most of the June 2017 StreamCode participants (left to right): Allen Collins, Ai Nonaka, Chan Lin, Cheryl Ames, Kate Hansen, Michael Boyle, Karen Osborn, Elise Hartil, Will Jaeckle, Ellen Strong, Leann Biancani, Mike Vecchione, Robert Boyd.

With a multipronged approach using high-resolution photography, DNA sequencing of genetic ‘barcodes’, and detailed descriptions of microscopic diversity, marine scientists will begin to obtain a clearer picture of which planktonic invertebrates move with and survive in the Gulf Stream. 

Kate Hansen and Michael Boyle imaging and processing copepods collected during the June 2017 StreamCode expedition.

From the collections made for this study, more detailed life history studies will allow us to investigate the adaptations of these invertebrates to a broad assault of environmental challenges. Following in the footsteps of Dr. Mary Rice, Dr. Boyle’s efforts in the Life Histories Program, along with help from IZ and NMFS scientists, may give us a more detailed understanding of the development and dispersal of meroplanktonic animals as they surf the currents of the world’s open ocean.

Mary Rice and Michael Boyle in the molecular biology laboratory at the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce.

 

By Robert Boyd, Department of Invertebrate Zoology Intern and Masters student at American University

Unsung Invertebrates: Stalked Jellyfishes

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” –Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder (1965)

Per usual, the words of trailblazing conservationist and marine biologist Rachel Carson are timelessly applicable. In the quote above, as excerpted from her award-winning composition The Sense of Wonder, Carson emphasizes the values rooted in straying away from what is familiar, and instead pursuing the unknown within the natural world.  Such a reflection analogizes the current conservation crisis of under-studied species such as the stalked jellyfishes, due to their inconspicuous identities. As a relatively obscure group in the world of science (until recently), stalked jellyfish populations have been inadvertently excluded from most conservation efforts, as their existence is often overlooked.

The stauromedusa Craterolophus convolvulus, nestled among the algae, by David Fenwick Senior

Belonging to the class Staurozoa, stalked jellyfishes are members of the Cnidaria phylum, specifically residing under the order Stauromedusae. Early in their taxonomic history, stalked jellyfishes caused some confusion as they were first misclassified as relatives of sea cucumbers, only to later be inaccurately associated with sea anemones (possibly because both organisms live attached to the seafloor). The absence of a medusa stage, in addition to the stalked jellyfish’s favored fixed orientation, provoked major deliberation as to its relationship to other cnidarians with free-swimming tendencies.

Using an adhesive basal disc as a holdfast to latch themselves onto boulders and rocky substrates, as well as onto sea grasses and aquatic plants alike, stalked jellyfishes usually inhabit rock pools and shallow tidal zones with environmental conditions that accommodate their sticky situation! Because species of stalked jellyfish maintain a lifelong sessile position, it is vital that the ecosystem in which they are affixed allows for adequate water circulation to regularly propel food sources into the jellyfishes’ reach. Equipped with nematocysts (stinging cells) stored within the cnidocytes of the tentacles located atop each of their eight “arms”, stalked jellyfishes fire these toxic darts to impair their prey, allowing them time to capture the stunned organism with their tentacles.                                                                  

Lucernaria sainthilairei on the rocks, by Alexander Semenov.

Despite the information collected thus far regarding the behavioral tendencies, anatomical structures, and ecological roles of stalked jellyfishes, the species still remain relatively unexplored. Yet in recent years, scientists have been working in a race against time to properly research individual species, providing scientific names and descriptions of “new” species (they aren’t really new, just new to science!) that lack a proper identity, prior to and in prevention of their untimely extinction. In fact, bringing these poorly known species into the scientific spotlight may be key to their conservation in an ever-changing environment under the pressures of human activities. Without exposure to the attention elicited by extensive research efforts, many species reside in an out of sight, out of mind void where no conservation efforts are made to protect them, solely due to their unsung status. In fact, no species of stalked jellyfish has ever been evaluated to determine if it is threatened or endangered [but see the exciting efforts being made by Stauromedusae UK].

While most stauromedusae are found in cold waters, a few such as this Calvadosia sp. are found in tropical waters. This animal was documented as part of the Moorea Biocode Project in French Polynesia.

As for knowledge about stalked jellyfish biodiversity, Dr. Lucília S. Miranda from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, has made monumental contributions and revisions to the pre-existing understanding of the species in a set of newly published papers. With help from her collaborators, whom she accredits for “assisting [her] with data collections, enriching [her] discussions, and moving [her] forward in [her] research”, Lucília discusses the stalked jellyfish’s nomenclatural history, while underscoring an overall need for further analysis and documentation of all things Stauromedusae. Initially compelled by the cnidarian life cycle, Lucília chose to further delve into staurozon biology through an extensive study of stalked jellyfishes for her PhD (part of which was spent as a visiting researcher in the NMNH Department of Invertebrate Zoology), in which she progressively developed interests in areas including the systematics, evolution, and macroecology (the study of the relationships between organisms and their environments) of stalked jellies. With a scarce selection of background information available, the ambiguous nature of such an under-studied species posed obstacles in her research at times, yet Lucília remains grateful for the challenges presented in her work.

Manania uchidai from Hokkaido Japan.

Some of the earliest records of Stauromedusae research (even dating back to more than 100 years ago) contain anecdotal reports of stalked jellyfish populations disappearing from where they were once abundant, possibly due to pollution. Despite such speculations, stalked jellyfishes have never been studied well enough to fully determine how sensitive they are to pollution or other environmental changes, putting them into a precarious position. Who would have thought that simply living off the grid could potentially be so detrimental to a group of species? However, because every species fulfills a unique role in their surrounding ecosystems, identifying anonymous organisms and extracting further information through research initiatives are fundamental steps in piecing together an ultimate understanding of how Earth’s systems sustain life.  

By Meredith Kucik, NMNH Intern

 

Further Reading

Miranda LS, Mills CE, Hirano YM,  Collins AG, & AC Marques. 2017. A review of the global diversity and natural history of stalked jellyfishes (Cnidaria, Staurozoa). Marine Biodiversity. doi:10.1007/s12526-017-0721-4

Westlake H. E., Page L. R. (2016). Muscle and nerve net organization in stalked jellyfish (Medusozoa: Staurozoa). J. Morphol. 278, 29–49. 10.1002/jmor.20617

 

Miranda LS, Branch GM, Collins AG, Hirano YM, AC Marques & CL Griffiths. 2016. Stalked jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Staurozoa) of South Africa, with the description of Calvadosia lewisi sp. nov. Zootaxa 4227 (3): 369–389. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4227.3.5 

 

Miranda LS, Collins AG, Hirano YM, Mills CE & AC Marques. 2016. Comparative internal anatomy of Staurozoa (Cnidaria), with functional and evolutionary inferences. PeerJ. 4:e2594. doi:10.7717/peerj.2594

 

Miranda LS, Hirano YM, Mills CE, Falconer A, Fenwick D, Marques AC & AG Collins. 2016. Systematics of stalked jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Staurozoa). PeerJ. 4:e1951. doi:10.7717/peerj.1951   

 

Miranda LS & AC Marques. 2016. Hidden impacts of the Samarco mining waste dam collapse to Brazilian marine fauna - an example from the staurozoans (Cnidaria). Biota Neotropica. doi:10.1590/1676-0611-BN-2016-0169

 

Collins AG. 2014. Knowing a body well: On the importance of studying the histology of stalked jellyfish. 

“GALLERY OF CARCINOLOGISTS” Returns to IZ-NMNH

The Department of Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) holds a unique collection of more than 400 portraits of influential scientists that have worked on crustaceans (carcinologists) from Aristotle to the present. Accompanying the portraits are biographical files that contain valuable information on their life and works. This collection has been painstakingly gathered by various IZ curators, with help of outside colleagues, over many decades, and holds valuable information for biologists and historians of science. The portraits consist of large format photographs and negatives, as well as line drawings (some original), and many were framed and exhibited on the hall walls of IZ, each with a brief biographical summary. This collection exhibited on the halls of IZ floors on the West Wing of the Natural History building was originally called the “Rogue Gallery”.

The biographical files are stored in acid-free reprint boxes and contain original obituaries or copies of biographies, photographs and slides, and in some cases, news clippings and/or unpublished notes on life aspects of the scientists. Given the size and importance of this collection, all components were scanned and digitized over the last decade with the help of several hard working student interns. In a digitized format, this unique resource is accessible to researchers and interested users around the world, and eventually will be posted online.

With downsizing and renovation of the Natural History building (NHB), the “Gallery” exhibit was removed from the walls and moved to for temporary storage at the Museum Support Center (MSC, Suitland, MD).  The portraits were wrapped and packed into storage bins to await their next showing.  Fast forward 4 years (and 2 moves), the “Gallery” once again is up and gracing the walls of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at NHB. Drs. Rafael Lemaitre and Stephen Cairns were instrumental in making this happen.  Dr. Cairns assisted with selection and placement of the portraits.

A small selection of portraits and corresponding biographies is presented here.

Just a few of the storage bins packed with framed portraits and ready for delivery to NHB.

Selecting and moving Gallery portraits from MSC to NHB. Dr. Cairns holds a portrait of Dr. Paul Illg destined to be hung outside Dr. Jon Norenburg’s office at NHB, by request.

Paul Louis Illg (23 September 1914 – 10 May 1998)

Professor of Zoology, University of Washington. Had an illustrious career in life sciences, and contributed to making his University’s Seattle campus and Friday Harbor Laboratories, one of the leading institutions in the world for studying marine zoology, especially invertebrates. Published prodigiously for more than 50 years on parasitic copepods, particularly those living in ascidians. His research on microscopic ascidicolous copepods greatly extended biological and taxonomic knowledge, and illuminated evolutionary processes in these extremely complex parasitic crustaceans. His work is without equal in the systematics literature.

Arranging the portraits after they arrived back to the halls of IZ at NHB.

First ones first….Dr. Ted Bayer’s portrait was hung outside Dr. Stephen Cairns’ office. (Dr. Cairns was a student of Dr. Bayer.)

 

Frederick “Ted” Merkle Bayer (31 October 1921 – 2 October 2007)

Received his BS from the University of Miami, and MS (1954) and PhD (1958) from George Washington University. Published over 130 papers and books on the taxonomy and natural history of soft corals, describing over 170 new species, 40 genera, and three new families. Species from different groups of animals have been named in his honor, including the hydroid Hydractinia bayeri, described by the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito. A curator at the Smithsonian Institution (1975 until retirement in 1996); emeritus researcher until 2006.

Not a carcinologist, but an outstanding bio-illustrator, he was tasked to create detailed water color sketches of color patterns of live Trapezia, coral reef crabs.  These sketches and associated field notes are now part of the Illustration Archives of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology, and have become extremely useful for modern revisionary taxonomic studies of these spectacular and ecologically important reef crabs.

 

CLASSIC CARCINOLOGISTS:

Georges Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832)   

French anatomist considered the founder of the sciences of comparative anatomy and paleontology. Worked at the Museum of Natural History, Paris. Was Chancellor of the University of Paris, and served in the cabinet of Louis XVIII. An antievolutionist, he became the most eminent European scientist of his time, and virtually an intellectual dictator in the field of biology. Perfected the animal classification system of Linnaeus by grouping related classes into broader groups he called phyla: Vertebrata, Mollusca, Articulata (jointed animals), and Radiata (everything else). In doing so he stressed internal structures as indicative of relationships, rather than external features. Made important collections of crustaceans and published on groups such as the isopods.

Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882)

His participation as naturalist in the 5-year voyage of exploration of the H.M.S. “Beagle” (1831-1836) made this expedition the most important in the history of biology. His observations led him to propose in 1858 (jointly with A.R. Wallace) the famous theory of evolution, detailed in “The Origin of Species” (1859). Began work on barnacles in 1846, and intensively studied their larval development, metamorphosis and adult morphology. His 4-volume work on living and fossil barnacles (1851,1852,1854,1855) elucidated their affinities, functional morphology, and evolution, establishing a classification still used today. A painstaking perfectionist in collecting and classifying his information, he was a man of independent means. Member of The Geological Society of London.

Henri Milne Edwards            (23 October 1800 - 29 July 1885)   

Head chair of Crustacea, Arachnida and Insecta, and also of Mammals and Birds, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Great French morphologist and classifier. Best known for his multi-volume work considered the first breviary of carcinologists: “Histoire naturelle des Crustacés” (1834-1840), where he named 1400 species and 350 genera. First to propose idea that the crustacean body is arranged in series of homologous segments each with a pair of appendages.

Alphonse Milne-Edwards (13 October 1836 - 21 April 1900)        

French carcinologist, succeeded his father (H. Milne Edwards) as chair of Mammals and Birds, and became director of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Studied fossil crustaceans, and published many works documenting the diversity and morphology of decapods, mostly Brachyura and Anomura, from classic exploratory expeditions conducted on ships such as the "Travailleur", "Talisman", and the "Blake".

James Dwight Dana (12 February 1813 – 14 April 1895)    

Professor, Yale College. One of the first professional American scientists. Attained the rank of zoologist, then leaving this for geology, his chief field. Became known in 1836 with a treatise on mineralogy, followed by a series of short papers on copepods. Geologist and Zoologist of the “U.S. Exploring Expedition” (1838-1842), one of the great events in the history of science in the United States. In his monumental work “Report on the Crustacea” (1853-1855), described hundreds of new species, and presented a philosophical treatment of the classification, relationships, and distributions of species. Editor for 50 years of “The American Journal of Science”, and founder of the National Academy of Science.

Classic carcinologists: Georges Cuvier, Charles Darwin, Henri Milne Edwards, Alphonse Milne-Edwards, James Dwight Dana.

Modern day carcinologists at the National Museum of Natural History: Austin Beatty Williams, Thomas Elliot Bowman, Isabel C. Pérez Farfante, and Fenner Albert Chace, Jr.

 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION/NMFS STAFF

Austin Beatty Williams (17 October 1919 - 27 October 1999)

Research Scientist, Systematics Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, based at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Obtained his Ph.D (1951) at the University of Kansas, studying Ozark crayfishes. His numerous publications covered the taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, and evolution of various decapod groups, both Fossil and Recent. Best known for his invaluable and widely used "Marine decapod crustaceans of the Carolinas" (1965), and its later expanded version "Shrimps, lobsters, and crabs of the Atlantic coast of the eastern United States" (1984). He was co-founder and president (1983-1985) of the Estuarine Research Federation, and was an active member of The Crustacean Society, and the Biological Society of Washington, among others.

(Photo: 1997, taken during ceremony in his honor)

Thomas Elliot Bowman III (21 October 1918 – 10 August 1995)

Curator, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Produced 163 papers on isopods, copepods, amphipods, mysids, and mictaceans. His mastery of crustacean comparative anatomy and morphology led him to produce classic, provocative studies such as on structural homology of the telson and on the evolution of stalked eyes.

Isabel C. Pérez Farfante (24 June 1916 – 20 AUGUST 2009)

Carcinologist Emeritus, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, Systematics Laboratory. Born in La Havana, Cuba, she received her Ph.D. from Radcliffe College (1948). She was professor and researcher at the University of Havana; director of the Cuban Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras; and associate in Invertebrate Zoology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. She has authored zoology textbooks, and numerous papers on the systematics of penaeoid shrimps, most notably landmark studies of the commercial genus Penaeus. She is senior author of the book “Penaeoid and sergestoid shrimps and prawns of the world” (1997). (Married name: Isabel C. Canet)

Fenner Albert Chace, Jr. (5 October 1908 – 30 May 2004)

Zoologist Emeritus, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Born in Fall River, Massachusetts. Obtained his Ph.D. in 1934 from Harvard University. He was Assistant Curator of Invertebrates (1934-1942) and Curator of Crustacea (1942-1046), at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. Joined the staff of the U.S. National Museum* in 1946 where he worked until his retirement in 1978. He then completed his 7-part study of the caridean shrimps from the “Albatross” Philippines expeditions (1907-1910), published in Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology between 1983 and 1997. His interests centered primarily on caridean shrimps, and he is considered by his peers as one of the most influential and respected specialists on caridean shrimps in the latter half of the 20^th century.

Mary Jane Rathbun (11 June 1860 – 14 April 1943)

Ascended from “copyist” to assistant curator in charge of the Department of Marine Invertebrates, U.S. National Museum. Prodigiously productive, considerably advanced knowledge of fossil and Recent decapod crustaceans of the world, describing 1147 new species, 63 genera, and 5 higher categories. Best known for her unparalleled, monumental 4-volume monograph of New World brachyuran crabs, and a treatise on freshwater crabs.

Waldo LaSalle Schmitt (25 June 1887 - 5 August 1977)

Head curator, Department of Zoology, U.S. National Museum. Succeeded M.J. Rathbun. His tireless collecting efforts during numerous expeditions worldwide led to the immense holdings of the national collections. His dedication to the advancement of invertebrate systematic zoology contributed to the unmatched growth and international recognition of the Department. Author of numerous taxonomic studies on decapods and stomatopods, and the popular book "Crustaceans" (1^st printed 1931).

Raymond Brendan Manning           (11 October 1934 – 18 January 2000)

Senior Zoologist, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.  Earned his BS (1956), MS (1959), and PhD (1963) from the University of Miami.  He published 278 papers on stomatopods and decapods, including landmark monographs and other studies on West African crabs, Indo-pacific dorippids, commercial geryonids, cave shrimps, and callianassids.  Above all, he was a master in stomatopods, and increased the known species from a handful to nearly 500 worldwide.  In all, he named 279 species, 138 genera, 5 subfamilies, 19 families, and 3 superfamilies of extant decapods and stomatopods, and at least 15 genera and 27 species of fossil decapods.  A tireless collector, he obtained more than 50,000 decapod and stomatopods for the Museum and other institutions.  One of the founders, and first President (1981-1983) of The Crustacean Society, from which he received in 1999 the “Excellence in Research Award”.

 

OTHER NOTABLE CARCINOLOGISTS:

Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.)

Greek philosopher, founder of zoology and natural history. Organisms we now call crustaceans (decapods, stomatopods, copepods) can be identified in his “Historia Animalium” under the account of “bloodless” animals. His description of 180 different Aegean Sea animals is the precursor of all subsequent publications in marine biology.

Maria Sibylla Merian (12 April 1647 – 13 January 1717)

Artist-naturalist, born in the imperial city of Frankfurt am Main. She was not only skilled in watercolor and oils, but also was a keen observer of habits of caterpillars, flies, spiders, and other creatures. Her most famous works are her “Raupen”, and after traveling to America, her “Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname”, and “European Insects”, which include exquisite plates depicting life stages of insects.  She can be hailed as the first woman carcinologist as she prepared 60 crustacean paintings for Georg Everard Rumpf’s (Rumphius) 1705 book on the crustaceans from Amboina.

Jean-Baptiste P.A. de Monet de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 28 December 1829)

French naturalist. Took a long time finding himself. As a soldier he fought with distinction in the Seven Years’ War. In 1781 he was appointed botanist to the king, and in 1793 (at nearly 50 years of age) professor of zoology at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, at which time he came into his own. Between 1815 and 1822 he produced the gigantic 7-volume work “Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres” which founded modern zoology. He coined the terms “vertebrate”, “invertebrate”, and “biology”. In his book “Philosophie Zoologique” he was the first biologist of rank to rationalize the evolutionary development of life. Unappreciated and often maligned in his time, he died blind and penniless.

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (22 October 1783 – 18 September 1840)    

Born in Constantinople, Turkey, into a French-German family. He privately studied natural sciences, medicine and mapmaking. He was an eccentric, perhaps unbalanced man, but his intellectual breadth was enormous. A keen naturalist, nearly every one of his 900+ publications is rare, appearing in obscure places or journals. His carcinological work focused on the faunas of Sicily and the eastern U.S. Most of the numerous crustacean names he proposed never attained taxonomic status because of faulty descriptions, lack of illustrations, and his practice of not keeping specimens. His work was unfairly ignored or minimized by contemporaries. He died in poverty and isolation in Philadelphia, and his collections and books sold as junk. In early years he used the name Rafinesque-Schmaltz.

by Rose Gulledge

 

Visiting PhD Student Investigating Parasites of Mammals

I am a little hesitant to tell people outside of my research field what I study, which is surprising if you know me - I love talking about my research. It’s fascinating (and I’m not at all biased). I would like to think my enthusiasm for my research project is contagious; however, my fervor is often met with varying degrees of disgust. Why?

Because I study parasites. And not just any parasites; I study the roundworms, tapeworms, and flukes of rats and mice. Not only is there a stigma against parasites, but also against the rodents I collect. I will spare you the explanation of why rodents are awesome and mostly misunderstood, but I will be delving a bit more into the study of parasites.

These groups of parasites, the roundworms, tapeworms, and flukes, are collectively known as helminths. In most cases, these helminths reside in the body cavity, organs, and various tissues of their hosts. While their creepy crawly nature may repulse some people, they are remarkably important to individual hosts, populations, communities, and to the ecosystem as a whole, yet they are often ignored in many fields of study in the biological sciences. There is a growing body of literature attesting to their importance even outside of human and veterinary medicine (see citations below for a few examples).

Whitney working at the microscope picking worms.

 

Before scientists can determine the role of parasites in host evolution, community ecology, trophic ecology, and so on, we must first know more about parasite diversity and abundance. Parasites are largely understudied, and species new to science are still being discovered and described. Parasitological surveys of hosts have merit for documenting the diversity and abundance of parasitic species in hosts.

I approached Dr. Anna Phillips at the American Society of Parasitologists’ annual meeting in July 2015 about joining one of her research projects. Anna, a research zoologist and one of the curators of the invertebrate collections, is collaborating with researchers in Spain to investigate the parasite fauna of rodents and tree shrews from Borneo. Few studies have examined the parasites of these species from these localities, so this investigation is important to determine the diversity and abundance of the parasites of these hosts.

We have a few goals for this research. First, we will document the helminth diversity and abundance in these hosts. Second, we will describe species new to science. This will allow for these helminth species to be included in future ecological and evolutionary studies and considered in conservation management plans. Third, these helminths will be DNA barcoded – certain genes will be sequenced and input into an open access database for future use by other scientists (for example, for identification or phylogenetic studies).

This past May, I spent three weeks going through some of the rodent specimens looking for parasites. Unfortunately, I was only able to get through a small portion of the rodent samples – fortunately, this was due to the high numbers of parasites found in each specimen. Morphological and molecular identification for these first samples is ongoing; we hope to have the rest of the parasites collected and identified by next year. After identification, the parasite specimens will be deposited into the National Parasite Collection for future scientific use.

With such a large number of helminths found in the intestines of each rodent, you may wonder if the rodents and tree shrews were alive when they were collected. Yes, they were alive! So were they sick?

That is a more interesting question. Parasites can affect their hosts in a variety of ways – they can influence host reproduction, behavior, health, and life span. The effects and their magnitude differ between parasite species and host species, and are influenced by the number of parasite species and the number of individual parasites infecting the host.

Back to the original question – what about the rodents and tree shrews? I did not collect these specific rodents and tree shrews so I don’t know if they were lethargic, skinny, weak, acting strangely, in breeding condition, etc. We do have some clues about the parasites’ effects on their host’s health though. I examined the organs where the parasites were located, and in most cases, I only found slight physical damage, often to the intestinal villi. There were some specimens with more serious damage: intussusceptions, where a portion of the intestine inverts itself, and multiple perforations of the intestinal and stomach wall were present.

Intussusceptions in humans and other animals can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. While this condition has been linked to infection with parasites, there are other causes too. There is no way for us to definitively say that these intussusceptions were results of parasitic infection. If they were linked, we would be able to conclude that these parasites are having a negative impact on their hosts’ health.

We can conclude that the perforations of the organ walls were caused by the parasites. I found a number of nematodes half buried in the walls of the stomach and the large intestine. I did not find any of the worms passing completely through the organ wall; rather, the walls were thickened where the parasites had burrowed in. The hosts likely suffered abdominal pain when the worms originally burrowed into the organ walls, and may have also experienced blood in the feces or diarrhea.

Roundworms embedded in the wall of a mammal’s stomach.

With parasitological studies such as this one, we are limited to making observations and finding correlations between a parasite’s presence and possible effects on the host. Experimental and manipulative studies are required to definitively link cause and effect, but observational studies are still very important for determining the biodiversity and abundance of parasites, as well as driving the formation of hypotheses linking parasites and their effects on the host.

In the next few months, we will continue to sort through the rodent and tree shrew specimens, collecting, sorting, and counting the helminths found. Helminth specimens will be sequenced for DNA barcoding, prepared for museum installation, and described as a new species if they are species new to science. We look forward to the exciting discoveries and results from this work!

By Whitney Preisser, a fourth year doctoral student in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University. Her research investigates the latitudinal diversity gradient of parasitic helminths in North America. She can be reached at wpreisse *at* tamu.edu.

Further Reading

1. Altizer, S, CL Nunn, and P Lindenfors. 2007. Do threatened hosts have fewer parasites? A comparative study in primates. Journal of Animal Ecology. 76:304-314.
2. Fenton, A and MA Brockhurst. 2008. The role of specialist parasites in structuring host communities. Ecology Research. 23:795-804.
3. Palm, HW, S Kleinertz, and S Rückert. 2011. Parasite diversity as an indicator of environmental change? An example from tropical grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) mariculture in Indonesia. Parasitology. 138:1793-1803.
4. Ricklefs, RE. 2015. Intrinsic dynamics of the regional community. Ecology Letters. 18:497-503.
5. Wood, CL, JE Byers, KL Cottingham, I Altman, MJ Donahue, and AMH Blakeslee. 2007. Parasites alter community structure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104:9335-9339.
6. Dougherty, ER, CJ Carlson, VM Bueno, KR Burgio, CA Cizauskas, DP Seidel, NC Harris. 2016. Paradigms for parasite conservation. Conservation Biology. 4:724-733.

A blast from the past -- linkage between IZ and WWII history

In June 2016 we received a request from William Langford of Plattsmouth, Nebraska for a photograph of shells that were donated to the museum by his grandfather (Daniel Boone Langford) during the first half of the 20^th century. William recalled visiting IZ and seeing some of these specimens 44 years ago. His grandfather was a shell collector whose knowledge of the Pacific Island reefs and beaches (acquired in part through his fieldwork) was so extensive that the United States Navy employed him as a civilian expert to assist with the planning of the amphibious invasion of Okinawa during WWII (see W.J. Holmes, Double Edge Secrets, U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific During WWII, Naval Institute Press, 2012). 

Daniel Langford, who passed away in 1954, discovered a number of new mollusk species, several of which were named after him by Smithsonian curators (including William Healy Dall) and other malacologists.  We assembled a plate with images of some of these species and sent photographic copies to William Langford and his two sons.  Many thanks to volunteer Nick Raymond, and Yolanda Villacampa for taking the photographs of these specimens.

Selection of shells collected by Daniel Boone Langford.

 

For those who are interested, some of the details of Daniel Langford’s life can be found in Harald Rehder’s memorial sketch of Langford’s friend and brother in law Ditlev Thaanum, who was also a well-known Pacific shell collector.

By Bob Hershler

The Strange Scanning Eyes of a Swimming Sea Snail

We know about many bizarre visual characteristics of animals living in the dim light of the deep sea. One of the strangest such adaptations is the scanning eye of an atlantid heteropod mollusc. Heteropods are snails that spend their entire lives swimming in the open ocean. [Heteropods are sometimes called Sea Elephants, and are also known as pterotracheoids.] Their eyes have a well-formed spherical lens with the retina the correct distance away for the lens to focus an image. The strangeness is in the shape of the retina and how it is used. In atlantids, the earliest diverging family group of heteropods, the retina is a narrow band. To view its environment, the animal rotates the narrow retina up and down periodically through a 90 degree arc. We think that when it does this, the animal scans successive slices of the environment and then mentally assembles a complete image much like we do when we watch a television screen; a TV picture is also comprised of many separate lines displayed successively but so rapidly that we see them as a complete picture.

  

Having a full-sized retina is a problem for animals of the ocean's "twilight zone" where predators look upward for silhouettes of potential prey against the dim light filtering down from the surface. A large retina makes a large silhouette/target because, in order to function, the retina has to absorb as much light as possible. A narrow scanning retina would reduce this problem while still functioning to monitor the visual environment effectively.

I knew about heteropod eyes, and teach about them in Deep-Sea Biology. However, I had never watched one in action until I went to sea this month as part of a group studying the swimming animals of the deep Gulf of Mexico. We caught this Oxygyrus inflatus and I was able to record the video by shooting with my cell phone through the eyepiece of a microscope in the cramped laboratory of a rolling research ship.

By Mike Vecchione