by Heidi dM | Apr 29, 2015 | Conservation, Science
For a week (13 – 18 April 2015), South Africans along the Western Cape coastline were dressing up in black and white and walking…and walking…and walking. The Waddle for a Week is an annual event that brings together committed, conservation-minded citizens keen to... by Admin | Apr 10, 2015 | Conservation, Science
As mentioned in our previous post, six adult melanurus wrasses (3 male, 3 female) were moved to the Tropical Aquaculture Lab back in February. After settling into their new environment and being offered a conditioning diet of LRS Reef Frenzy, PE mysis shrimp and Otohime EP1 pellets, the wrasses have quickly got back into their routine of spawning nearly every night. While we continue to work through some kinks in production, we wanted to share some of our excitement with our latest group of captive bred melanurus wrasses.  [embedded content] Video 1: Melanurus wrasse broodstock spawning at dusk. Notice in slow motion all three males can be seen making an attempt at fertilizing the female’s eggs. Figure 1. by Admin | Mar 11, 2015 | Conservation, Fish, Science
One of our first Rising Tide successes was harvesting eggs from Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (CZA), shipping them to UF’s Tropical Aquaculture Lab, and successfully raising what turned out to be semicircle angelfish. We had samples from that first cohort DNA analyzed for identification. We have since raised multiple cohorts shipped to us from CZA; which has been well documented in previous blog posts (late 2011-early 2012). Ramon Villaverde at CZA has also raised multiple cohorts of angelfish in house. When space got limited we arranged for those juvenile angelfish to be sent to public aquariums which not only had adequate space to house them, but also could effectively inform the public about Rising Tide’s endeavors. We were always curious what other Pomancanthus species (if any) may be spawning in that exhibit by Admin | Feb 21, 2015 | Conservation, Fish, Science
Figure 1. Halichoeres melanurus egg on a 1 mm SedgewickRafter cell. Here at the Tropical Aquaculture Lab we’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to work in a field we’re truly passionate about. That passion inspires me to not only work on captive breeding of marine species here at work, but to also explore other fish by working from home. I’m pleased to announce that the first project I’ve taken on as an at-home aquaculturist resulted in the successful captive rearing of the melanurus wrasse, Halichoeres melanurus, using only cultured prey items. Although only a few fish were brought through metamorphosis, survival should be higher when larvae are raised in the controlled environment of a dedicated facility as opposed to the chaos of a household living room. I strongly believe this fish, and others in this genus, will have significant commercial potential. We now have broodstock at the Tropical Aquaculture Lab because of this early success. The work done so far will stand as strong supportive evidence to move forward with other wrasses as well. by Robert Loren | Jan 8, 2015 | Conservation, Fish, Science
When conducting studies, many ecologists are posed with the question: How old is this fish? Because size is rarely a fair indication of age, the use of a more precise method is often required. The most prevalent method of aging bony fish is known as Otolith...
