by AquaNerd | Sep 4, 2016 | Conservation, Fish, Reef, Science, Travel
OCHEARCH, an ocean research organization, has discovered a Great White nursery/birthing site in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Montauk, Long Island. Chris Fischer, the founding chairman of Ocearch (the organization behind the development) told CBS News that they had “definitely [found]the nursery, likely the birthing site.” The find is “probably the most significant discovery we’ve ever made on the ocean,” Fischer added. Locating sites where North Atlantic great white sharks give birth and raise their young in the North Atlantic can lead to better efforts to protect and better understand these apex predators. Great White sharks are described as “vulnerable.” A vulnerable species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as likely to by AquaNerd | Aug 25, 2016 | Aquaculture, Conservation, Fish, Invertebrates, Reef, Science, Technology
August 23, 2016 – Los Angeles – Quality Marine is proud to announce the arrival of Aquacultured Royal Grammas from the Batavia Coast Maritime Institute (BCMI) in Australia. A testament to the biologists and aquarists who bred and reared them, these Fairy Basslets are exceptionally robust and healthy. Because of the limited number of specimens, they will only be available to public aquariums and educational facilities at this time. Royal Grammas represent just one of several species being aquacultured by BCMI, a campus of Durack Institute of Technology in Western Australia. by ReefBum | Aug 25, 2016 | Corals, Fish, Invertebrates, Reef, Science
In a captive reef aquarium both LPS and SPS corals require nutrition to thrive. In my SPS dominated reefs I have always had a lot of fish and relied on fish poop as a source of nutrition to improve SPS growth and coloration. To further supplement the diets of my corals, I have also used certain feeds such as Oyster-Feast from Reef Nutrition. According to Chad Clayton, Reef Nutrition’s Live Feeds Supervisor, Oyster-Feast is their best all-around base feed for the majority of invertebrates in a reef tank. The positives associated with this food are as follows: It’s a natural food source. It’s sized appropriately for SPS corals (the smallest particles are in the 1 micron range). There are a wide range of particle sizes by Fused Jaw | Aug 24, 2016 | Fish, Reef, Science, Tanks
Female Rainbow Belly Pipefish Microphis deocata showing her breeding sail. Microphis deocata, also known as Indian Royal Green Pipefish or Rainbow Belly Pipefish, are one of very few completely freshwater pipefish species on the planet. They are a small brownish green pipefish that grow to a maximum of 6.5″. What makes this species truly unique is the brightly colored sail the females of the species use for courtship. Microphis deocata are found in the Brahmaputra River that runs between India and Bangladesh. They are a threatened species as a result of seasonal flooding within these two countries and are not commonly available commercially in the aquarium trade. There is very little information available at all on this species and so I am offering my experience with this by AquaNerd | Aug 21, 2016 | Conservation, Fish, Reef, Science
Greenland sharks are now the longest-living vertebrates known on Earth, scientists say. [embedded content] Researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine the ages of 28 of the animals, and estimated that one female was about 400 years old. The team found that the sharks grow at just 1cm a year, and reach sexual maturity at about the age of 150. The research is published in the journal Science. Lead author Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist from the University of Copenhagen, said: “We had our expectations that we were dealing with an unusual animal, but I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old as they were.” The former vertebrate record-holder was a bowhead whale estimated to be 211 years old. But