J.D. McKay (left) and Colin Foord (right) of Coral Morphologic; a self portrait.
During the night of Saturday, December 5th we displayed a video projection at the Art Basel Miami Beach satellite Moksha Art Fair. The subject of the the film was an Entacmea quadricolor sea anemone (right) and its corresponding reflection (left).
Pictured above and below is ‘Version Key’ as installed at the Miami’s Independent Thinkers art show during the days of Art Basel Miami Beach. The aquarium consisted of an eroded cinder block, red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) seedling, and three upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) pulsating on oolitic sand; not an atypical South Floridian assemblage. It was displayed against a silver parachute backdrop on a concrete block pedestal surrounded by oolitic sand.
Cuddle Fish is the creation of Miami contemporary artist Bhakti Baxter. The limited-edition zine, also compiled and printed by Baxter, features images contributed by a collection of his peers. The cover image is a Sepia sp. Cuttlefish that Colin photographed back in 2007 in Tulamben, Bali. You can find this zine in physical form at happenings around Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach 2009.
CORAL MORPHOLOGIC Art Basel Miami Beach 2009 schedule:
American Airlines Arena – Jumbotron Projection
Miami’s Independent Thinkers – Aquarium Installation
The Museo Vault – Aquarium Installation
Moksha Art Fair – Projection
Sweat Records – Aquarium Installation
‘Cleaner Pt. 1’
Periclimenes yucatanicus shrimp on Condylactis gigantea sea anemone
Music, Video, and Aquarium
2009 Coral Morphologic
Here a three centimeter Periclimenes yucatanicus (spotted cleaner shrimp) preens its exoskeleton and gills amongst the tentacles of a Condylactis gigantea sea anemone. P. yucatanicus is a relatively common species that lives in association with sea anemones and corallimorphs here in Florida and throughout the Caribbean. The stinging tentacles of their hosts provide them with protection from would-be predators. However, despite its vulnerable size, these shrimp act as ‘cleaners’ of larger fish. They remove and consume any parasites and dead tissue they find, often from the fish’s teeth. These fish clearly perceive the benefits of the shrimp’s cleaning abilities over its value as a tiny morsel. This particular Condylactis gigantea has a fluorescent green oral disc which is unusual for the species.
Unidentified ‘Butterfly’ Palthoas.
Recently while diving off of Key West, I was fortunate to come upon a rare and unidentified species of Palythoa. This was the first time that I have come upon this type in five years of frequent diving throughout the Florida Keys. Apparently it is less rare elsewhere in the Caribbean, but as of now has yet to be properly identified by a zoanthid taxonomist. On its particular patch of reef it was relatively abundant, despite being completely absent in seemingly identical reefs in the surrounding area. And while it might seem logical that it only takes one lucky zoanthid larvae to ultimately colonize a large area, it seems that there were at least 2 separate morphs cohabiting the area, which makes its complete absence from other nearby reefs compelling. And while Caribbean Palythoa display morphologies that seem to overlap, these particular Palythoa have a few traits that make it noticeably distinct:
But considering that the morphologies of Caribbean Palythoa species seem to blur together, genetic analysis will be the most reliable way to determine species-hood. Fortunately our friend James Reimer is a zoanthid expert in Japan’s Ryuku Islands with access to such equipment and expertise. In addition to sending him samples of this Palythoa morph, we will also include a variety of other local Palythoa morphs to see just how distinct the individual species are.
WLRN, one of Miami’s local PBS stations, put together a segment on us titled Aquascaping. Special thanks to Andrew Hevia, who produced the piece.
Pictured above is a very tiny (10mm) shrimp that lives commensally with Ricordea florida polyps.
Over the past several years I have occasionally encountered fleeting glimpses of tiny shrimp that live amongst the pseudo-tentacles of Ricordea florida. On all the previous occasions that encountered one, I had never been properly equipped with a super-macro camera kit. A dive this past September finally warranted a good photo. Ricordea shrimp are tiny (8-12mm) and nearly transparent, making them very difficult to detect. It is unlikely that these might be juveniles of a more common commensal species (e.g. Periclimenes pedersoni, P. rathbunae, or P. yucatanicus), as it is clear from the photo above (and from recently collected specimens) that they are mature egg-bearing females at this small size. If you look closely at the photo, you’ll notice in the upper left-hand side of the photo that there is another pair of eyes. At the time of the photo I didn’t notice that there were several other tiny and completely clear shrimp living with this female. It was only while viewing the photos close-up that I noticed these other shrimp. Most likely they are male or juvenile females living colonially. On subsequent dive trips I have found several groups (3-5) of these tiny shrimp all living on the same R. florida colony.
Today we are sending off a preserved specimen to Periclimines shrimp expert Dr. Stephen Spotte for taxonomic inspection. He will be able to determine whether this shrimp has been previously identified, or whether we are dealing with a new species altogether.
An unusual colony of Discosoma sanctithomae with perfectly spherical vesicles from the Florida Keys at 10m of depth. Note the turbid sea floor, characteristic of this species’ preferred habitat.
The unusual spherical vesicles of these Discosoma sanctithomae polyps once gave this morph a separate species designation Orinia torpida by Duchassaing & Michelotti in 1860. Despite several other taxonomists re-examining the single preserved specimen in the Zoological Museum of Turin in the first half of the 20th century, it was the late great corallimorph taxonomist J. C. Den Hartog who finally corrected this error in 1980. It is understandable that such confusion could occur. Until the advent of scuba diving, many taxonomists would never actually observe the living marine animals they classified. Instead these Euro-centric scientists would rely on preserved specimens sent back to them from various collection missions around the world. With few specimen samples to compare with, morphologic oddities like the pictured polyps could easily be considered to be something entirely new.
A close-up of a staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) branch tip. Note the healthy coral polyp extension.
This past Saturday I took my friend Jeremy (of coralpedia.org) and his wife on a shore dive off Fort Lauderdale Beach. I had heard rumors that decent stands of the endangered staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) were abundant in this area. Despite (relatively) poor visibility, we found these rumors to be correct. Acropora cervicornis was one of, if not the most, common stony corals only 250-350 meters offshore this popular sunbathing mecca in only 6-7 meters of water. It is amazing to see how even a small ‘bush’ of A. cervicornis can attract dozens of small fish seeking refuge amongst its branches. It is clear that the widespread die-off of this single species has had a detrimental impact on the entire ecosystem of the Florida’s coral reefs. I can only imagine what the reefs in the Florida Keys were like 30 years ago, as today most are just lumpy humps of rock dominated by massive coral heads, gorgonians, and macroalgae. The interstices of A. cervicornis branches provides a habitat that is unmatched. Seeing an abundance of A. cervicornis so close to shore in Fort Lauderdale is encouraging.
The spongy decorator crab (Marcocoeloma trispinosum) takes expert care in snipping off pieces of living sponge and attaching them to its carapace (exoskeleton shell). Detritus and debris are added for additional camouflaging effect. This particular crab has taken the decoration to the next level by including some spectacular zoanthids (Zoanthus sp.) into its design. As you can imagine, the crab was living amongst a colony of the same zoanthid morph, rendering it nearly impossible to detect. Furthermore, decorator crabs move very slowly and deliberately, quite unlike the unpredictable scurry of most other crabs. The purposeful addition of camouflaging marine life to the body of this crab highlights the evolution and subconscious intelligence of ‘tool-use’ at such a ‘primitive’ level in the animal kingdom.
Still photo (above) of aquarium/ projection of our contribution to the Sweat Records X Iggy Pop t-shirt release party, August 22, 2009 at the Awarehouse in the Wynwood Art District. This installation consists of a 10″ X 10″ X 4″ acrylic aquarium atop an overhead projector projecting a 15′ X 15′ image onto the courtyard wall. The live-action component of the installation features a performance by thirty photosynthetic jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) collected in the mangrove estuary near the Virginia Key Wastewater Treatment Plant, here in Miami, FL.
A close up of a colony of Pectinatella magnifica zooids; a freshwater bryozoan.
Pectinatella magnifica is another example of a coral reef cousin that I found living in a freshwater lake in Maine, alongside the previously featured Spongilla sp. sponge. From a distance, the colonies that these animals create appear as large jelly-like masses that might be confused with frog’s eggs (see photo below). They are typically found encrusting submerged tree branches, plants, and rocks. Most bryozoans are found in saltwater, but a few species such as P. magnifica are found in freshwater habitats. It would be forgivable to call the individual animals ‘polyps’, as they are superficially coral-like. However, unlike cnidarian (coral-like animals) polyps, bryozoan zooids have a complete digestive system with a separate mouth and anus, whereas cnidarian polyps have a single mouth/ anus opening.
If you look closely at the macro photo you will notice a couple of worms that are living in casings between the valleys that separate sub-colonial groupings of the zooids. The worms were wriggling constantly, most likely in an effort to create a water flow through their tubes that would draw in food items. It would be interesting to know whether these worms are specific only to Pectinatella magnifica, or whether they are simply opportunistic.
The full-sized colony of Pectinatella magnifica looks and feels a lot like a mass of frog’s eggs. It has encrusted over a submerged pine twig.
This freshwater sponge (Spongilla sp.) was found encrusting a submerged tree branch near the shoreline of a small lake in Maine. Note the small oval arthropods living on the surface of the sponge near the middle of the photo.
I recently returned from a short vacation to New Hampshire/ Maine to see family and stomp the formative grounds (and waters) of my youth. While paddling around the small lake that I spent my summers, I found an abundance of this freshwater sponge (Spongilla sp.) growing submerged near the shoreline. Growing on rocks it has a flat, encrusting morphology. On submerged branches it forms lumpy encrustations. And on shallow muddy bottoms it sends up skinny tendrils. The tissue is colored bright green due to a symbiotic association with algae. While you might find yourself thinking “freshwater sponge? really?”, these sponges can be found across most of North America from Alaska south to Florida in relatively still freshwater lakes and ponds. As a testament to their adaptability, this sponge can ‘degenerate’ into a dormant state, forming tiny cysts called gemmules. These gemmules act as ‘seeds’ when favorable conditions return. The sponges reproduce sexually in the summertime and release free swimming larvae. Next time you find yourself at a lake, take a closer look at what you might otherwise think is just some lumpy ‘algae’.
Still photo (above) of aquarium/ projection of our contribution to The Collabo Show, July 25, 2009; an installation dubbed ‘Cassiopeia 1’, featuring photosynthetic jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) collected in the mangrove estuary near the Virginia Key Wastewater Treatment Plant, here in Miami, FL.
Saturday, July 25th we will be exhibiting a live aquarium and video projection in The Collabo Show, a one-night only showcase of contemporary Miami artists. 85 NW 71 Street, Little Haiti. 7PM – 12AM.
The brain coral (Diploria clivosa) colony pictured above featured several areas ranging in size from 3-6 cm that exhibited very unusual cauliflower-like tissue expansion with warty protuberances. The photo was taken offshore of South Beach, Miami, Florida.
Pictured above is the normal ‘meandroid’ growth form for the brain coral Diploria clivosa. The tissue is relatively compact against the skeleton and the tentacles are visible along the inner walls of the grooves.
A toothsome ‘sand diver’ lizardfish Synodus intermedius waits patiently for a smaller fish to come a little bit closer.
On Tuesday morning, our newest team member Graham and I made a shore dive just underneath the flight path of the Fort Lauderdale International Airport (FLL). I’d read that there was some decent shore diving in the area, but I have very little experience in this neck of the woods. 95% of all my dives in Florida have been in the Keys. It was a nice change of pace, although if you go yourself, don’t expect to see the level of diversity and coral coverage you might find further south or offshore.
Two new-born Epicystis crucifer anemones are attached to Valonia sp. bubble algae at the base of their “mother” anemone.
On the evening before the summer solstice, we noticed that several of our favorite flower anemones (Epicystis crucifer) were exhibiting classic signs of stress (gaping mouth, regurgitation, decreased turgor pressure). However, all the water parameters suggested nothing out of the ordinary, so we simply decided to leave them alone, while monitoring them closely. The following morning we began finding tiny flower anemones attached to the aquarium bottom nearest to the anemones that had appeared stressed. By this time though, the adult flower anemones had returned to their normal, healthy condition as if nothing had occurred. It was clear that the ‘stress’ that they were going through was a precursor to birthing dozens of 2mm babies from their mouths. As you can see from the photos, these babies are practically fully-formed, miniature versions of the adults.
To our knowledge, this is the first documented case of Epicystis crucifer birthing in a captive (or wild) environment. Live birth is not uncommon for many other anemone species, and given the local abundance of this species, it makes sense. It still remains unclear whether these babies were brooded internally from sexual reproduction, or whether they are asexual clones. Every little piece of information that we can gather on the life cycle of these beautiful animals is an important advance.
Success! The Quest is complete.
For the third dive we had a definitive lead on where we’d find the Corynactis viridis. My friend Laurent Foure is the curator of the public aquarium in Cap d’Agde; about 2.5 hours westward along the coast of the Mediterranean. Laurant is an avid diver, and is very familiar with the marine environment nearby his aquarium. He was able to connect us with a dive operator who could take us by boat to a dive spot inhabited by Corynactis viridis.
Not your average Aiptasia. This Aiptasia mutabilis is the largest and most beautiful Aiptasia anemone I’ve ever seen. This one is about 10cm in diameter.
For the second dive on the ‘Corynactis Quest’ we moved 8 km east towards Marseille to a small and picturesque harbor village called Redonne…
Echinaster sepositus sea star with Parazoanthus axinellae zoanthids.
From June 1-9 I was in France on a a two-fold mission. The first half of the trip was spent in the south of France in Marseille and the surrounding area. I stayed with my good friend Yvan Perez, a professor at the Institute of Mediterranean Ecology and Paleo-Ecology at the University of Provence in Marseille. Yvan acted as my dive guide and translator as we searched along the coast for the temperate Eastern Atlantic/Mediterranean corallimorph Corynactis viridis.
The second half of the trip was spent in Strasbourg in the Alsace region of France near the German border where I gave a lecture on the Caribbean corallimorph species at the annual convention of Recif France, which is the society of French reef aquarists. Over the next couple of weeks I will be posting a series of articles on this trip, specifically the quest for Corynactis viridis…
This neon green Ricordea florida polyp displays a few abnormally large tentacles. This is an unusual characteristic not yet observed before in the Coral Morphologic Lab.
The cephalothorax of this unidentified pycnogonid is covered in wisps of cyanobacteria (perhaps as camouflage) which itself fluoresces orange-red. This specimen measures about 1 cm in diameter. Fluorescence photograph.
It is amazing the wide variety of sea creatures that demonstrate fluorescence. Animals that you would never suspect to “glow” do just that when illuminated with the proper wavelength light. For the past several years I have been using an underwater flashlight that I custom outfitted with 470nm blue LEDs in order to be able to scan for glowing creatures in the darkness. This pycnogonid sea spider (not an arachnid) is a prime example of an unexpected life form displaying an ability to fluoresce. The “spider web”-like pattern of fluorescence over this specimen is truly impressive.
Pycnogonids, commonly known as “sea spiders” are rarely seen in the wild (but not necessarily rare), and are an unusual class of arthropod. Most are very small (<1cm), and hence overlooked. However, in the Antarctic there are some monsters that can grow up to 90cm (Pycnogonaphobia?)! One of their most distinctive features is that they possess a proboscis (a drinking straw if you will) that allows them to suck out fluids from soft-bodied invertebrates such as corals, anemones, and corallimorphs. In the wild they rarely do lasting damage to their prey. However within the confines of an aquarium I could imagine that this might not be the case where their selection of hosts is limited. As such, they should be regarded as potential parasites of corals within the aquarium, and removed if detected. Despite this threat, they don’t seem to be widespread pests within the aquarium keeping world.
The same pycnogonid specimen in a defensive posture after being prodded “into position” for photography.
Erik DeLuca, composer of the incredible sonic experience The Deep Seascape, visited our lab last Friday with a hydrophone (underwater microphone) in tow. We placed the hydrophone in the aquarium cubicle above and threw in some pellets of food for the harlequin serpent stars to get excited about. The sounds that are heard in the recording below are that of the stars racing towards and devouring the food.
If you ever find yourself having to cross the southern portion of Florida, you’ll have the privelege of transecting the Florida Everglades. For most people, this involves taking I-75, aka “Alligator Alley”, which is four lanes wide and moves quickly when there isn’t a major hold-up (which is somehow more often that you’d like). Given that the flow of traffic usually moves in excess of 80 mph, it is quite unlikely that you will get to see any of its namesake reptiles.
A much more scenic route, that will actually reward you with an alligator or four, is to take the Tamiami Trail, aka Highway 41. The road is only two lanes, but still manages to cruise at a comfortable 60 mph with relatively few hold ups or traffic. The Tamiami Trail crosses Florida to the south of I-75, and takes you through a picturesque cross-section of the Everglades. Along the way you’ll find rest stops, nature trails, and Miccosukee-owned road side attractions that give this route great Floridian character.
Coral Morphologic acquired this awesome piece of ocean-related vinyl via our good friend Lauren Reskin, owner of Sweat Records. The following clips are digital conversions of Side 1 and 2 of a special vinyl insert in the January 1979 issue of National Geographic.
I spent this past Sunday morning slogging through the eastern edge of the Miccosukee Everglades. The Everglades, at the tail end of a bountiful rainy season, are finally looking like the river of grass that they ought to be. For the past several years South Florida has been in a serious drought, but this year has brought us a much needed replenishment of rainwater.
More photos below the jump…
We were disheartened to receive a call from our good friend Lauren Reskin, owner of Sweat Records, this past Sunday with the news that her store had been broken into, thieved, and trashed. The worst karmic act committed was the wanton destruction of the Red Sea Max that we installed and maintained as a gift to her store and our friends that frequented it. We set up the aquarium at the very end of November 2007 for the opening of Sweat’s third incarnation here in Miami.
According to the police, the thieves cut through the security gates of the store’s back entrance early Sunday morning and proceeded to steal the store’s computer, electronic equipment, several pieces of art from the walls and… knock over the aquarium.
This what we arrived to find (minus the live rock and corals that we had already gathered up by this point in our effort to revive what we could.
Sweat Records was closed on Sunday, so it wasn’t until almost 9 pm Sunday night that Lauren happened to be driving by her store and noticed the break in. It is likely that the contents of the aquarium were dry for over 18 hours.
We arrived at Sweat Records in a daze, unable to believe that someone would go through the trouble of destroying an aquarium just for the thrill of instant destruction, until we saw it with our own eyes. We were expecting the worst; that nothing could possibly still be alive.
All of the fish were dead. We hypothesize that the impact and subsequent shock-wave of the aquarium shattering against the floor must have killed them immediately as there was several inches of standing-water still on the floor that could have otherwise provided them with refuge.
However, there was some good news. Both of the harlequin serpent stars and a porcelain crab showed minimal signs of life, despite being nearly dry. When plopped into a plastic bag with water, they revived within a few minutes. The snails and blue leg hermit crabs all survived. We were initially highly skeptical that the Discosoma sp. corallimorphs would survive 18+ hours out of water, but we gathered up all of the pieces of live rock and brought them back to our facility anyhow. We didn’t want to put them into our holding or grow-out systems, as we were afraid that if they died as we expected, they would only foul the water. Instead, we placed them in two 18 gallon mortar tubs with heavy aeration and a power head and hoped for the best.
The severed arm of a harlequin serpent star is seen above. Fortunately, the serpent survived the ordeal and more than 18 hours out of water. It will regenerate this arm in short time. The fish weren’t so lucky.
To attest to the ruggedness of the Red Sea Max, the hood and even the light bulbs remained undamaged despite the brute force impact. Likewise, the RSM’s silver stand escaped even minor scratches despite landing face down. The two return pumps were the only other parts of the RSM beside the actual glass aquarium that had to be thrown out. Because the electrical cords never pulled out of the wall, they continued to run dry after the fall. This caused them to overheat and melt together! The Current 1/10hp chiller managed to unplug itself and therefore survived with nary a blemish.
We were relieved the following morning to find that most of the corallimorphs were recovering nicely. Now, almost a week later, they have nearly made a complete recovery. We did lose a few polyps, but I’d estimate at least 80% survivorship.
Unfortunately, we did lose about half of the pink coralline algae from the live rock. Coralline algae does the most amazing thing when it dies; it fluoresces a bubble gum pink color. While temporarily beautiful, it soon turns to a dead white bleached state within a day or so. If anyone knows why this phenomenon occurs, please inform us. To lose this much coralline algae cover from your live rock after nearly a year of cultivation is a real bummer.
You can see a fluorescence photograph of the live rock below:
The dying pink crustose coralline algae fluoresces after death. The photograph was taken under blue wavelength (450 nm) light to maximize fluorescence. Several gold and green Discosoma sp. can also be seen fluorescing, despite 18 hours out of water.
While dismayed at losing this aquarium, and just as it was maturing into an exceptional little reef aquarium, we are not deterred. Sweat Records will be holding a series of benefit concerts in the next several weeks to help raise money for a better security system and a new aquarium. We hope to have another aquarium up and running by the time of Sweat’s first anniversary of being in their current location. We’ll keep you posted.
Here are a couple of articles written by local blogs about the break in:
Pictured above is an aquarium that Jared and I established in late 2004. It is currently maintained most capably by Jared’s father Dennison in New Hampshire. It is stocked entirely with plants that originated from a 150 gallon angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) aquarium I had enjoyed in Miami from 2003-2004. The dominant plants are Cryptocoryne wendtii, Crinum thaianum, and Microsorum pteropus (Java fern). All of these plants are hardy, and don’t require much special care. The aquarium is stocked with a variety of standard “community” freshwater fish such as tetras, platys, and rasboras. This aquarium is a nice example of a natural, planted aquarium that requires a low degree of maintenance, yet rewards with a high amount of peaceful satisfaction.
Today my good friend Carlos and I made a morning dive excursion off of Miami to visit the Neptune Memorial Reef. I had heard about this artificial reef quite a while ago when it had been originally proposed to simply be a “replica” of Atlantis. It seems that the goals of the project shifted towards a more realistic and profitable goal by becoming the world’s first underwater cemetery and memorial park. The first phase of construction was completed in November 2007, and I’ve been looking forward to taking a first-hand look ever since.