Three Seas Panama 2012: Hamlets spawning II

Drs. Clare Wormald and Mia Adreani have just finished teaching the Biology and Ecology of Fishes class.

We, along with the Three Seas students, had some great opportunities to study a diversity of fishes on the reefs around the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Bocas del Toro. We observed a variety of behaviors, like territoriality, mating systems, feeding and swimming behaviors of coral reef fishes and studied ecological processes, including the recent lionfish invasion, and the interaction of fishes and their habitats which include coral reefs and the locally abundant mangrove systems. 

Here the students are speeding back from a dive studying the mating systems of a simultaneous hermaphrodite, the hamlet (Hypoplectrus sp.). Around dusk, hamlets pair up and engage in "egg trading", taking turns in both the female and male roles during their spawning bouts. Here's a short video clip of the spawning behavior.

Three Seas Panama 2012: Hamlets spawning

Link

Three Seas Panama 2012: Territoriality experiment

"Model-bottle" experiments introduce an intruder species in a container into a focal fish's territory. A territory holder, Stegastes planifrons, responds by display, chasing and biting at the intruder fish. The territory holder's display includes color changes, fin and body position displays. We might expect a strong response of the territory holder to a conspecific intruder because they have complete resource overlap.

Three Seas Panama 2012: Taking a break from fish catching

Some of our near neighbors viewed from our staff residence here at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Bocas del Toro, Panama.
Click photos to enlarge.

Howler Monkey





Three-toed Sloth

Conservation biology: Video podcasts and lectures

If you have an interest in conservation biology and ecological restoration, pop on over to the dynamic Dr Anderson's video podcasts and lectures channel. Dr Sean Anderson (aka Professor Pongo) is a professor at California State University, Channel Islands and has very diverse interests and research sites, including Ecotoxicology of the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the gulf, an ongoing service learning class in New Orleans, roadkill surveys, and a large conservation project in Turkey.

Professor Pongo's Channel

Ocean Inspiration: Manta rays

My trip to Hawaii to dive with manta rays. 

Ram feeding - pow! Check out that MPF oscillation. 

Three Seas Panama 2012: Mangrove fishes

Many coral reef fishes use mangrove and nearshore areas as habitat or nursery grounds. Snorkeling just off the dock Mia and I found many species that are on our class fish list* as well as others not seen previously on the reefs we have dived nearby. See if you can add to the list that we have started for this area (post in the comments or email us to add to the list).

Chaetodon capistratus *
Haemulon bonariense
Haemulon flavolineatum *
Lutjanus apodus *
Lutjanus griseus
Lutjanus jocu
Pomacanthus paru juv
Stegastes adustus *
Sphyraena barracuda
Sphoeroides spengleri 
     (see below to the left of picture, click to enlarge)

  

Many snappers (Lutjanidae) and grunts (Haemulidae) are happily hanging out under the dock.

Three Seas Panama 2012: Dr Mia Adreani

The 2012 Three Seas Biology and Ecology of Fishes class is about to begin and Drs. Clare Wormald and Mia Adreani are glad to be returning to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Bocas del Toro, Panama. 

Dr. Mia Adreani is a postdoctoral scholar at California State University, Northridge and is an expert in reef fish reproduction. Her research interests include

•Behavioral ecology and reproductive biology of marine fishes
•Evolution of mating systems
•Population dynamics of artificial reef systems

This is her third visit to the STRI research station in Bocas del Toro, having previously visited to study reproduction in corals. We welcome her expertise and experience working with coral reef fishes to the Three Seas Biology and Ecology of Fishes class.

Ocean Inspiration: Mimics

Opportunistic mimicry by a Jawfish. 
Rocha, Ross & Kopp. 2011. Coral Reefs. pdf.  doi.

"Jawfish are poor swimmers and usually spend their entire adult lives very close to burrows in the sand, to where they quickly retreat, tail first, upon sight of any potential predator (Smith-Vaniz 1989). In the photos
and video presented here, the Black-Marble Jawfish seems to have found a safe way to move around in the open. The Mimic Octopus looks so much like its poisonous models that it is relatively safe from predation, even when swimming in the open (Norman et al. 2001), and by mimicking the octopus’ arms, the Jawfish seems to also gain protection. "

 

Ocean Issues: Overfishing

A single 269kg (593lb) bluefin tuna sold for almost 3/4 of a million dollars.

BBC News reports that the world record price paid for bluefin tuna was recently broken.

56.49m yen ($736,000, £472,125) was paid for a single bluefin tuna at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market's first auction of the year.

Only last year, the previous record price was paid for  a 342kg bluefin tuna caught off Japan's northern island of Hokkaido for 32.49m yen, or nearly $400,000 (£257,320).

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