by Reef To Rainforest | Sep 12, 2013 | Conservation, Fish, Photography, Shark Week
Hemiscyllium halmahera, a new species of small bamboo shark discovered in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. Image by Mark Erdmann/Conservation International. Jakarta, Indonesia – A highly charismatic species of walking shark has been discovered in the remote eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera. The epaulette (long tailed carpet) shark, Hemiscyllium halmahera, uses its fins to “walk” across the ocean floor in search of small fish and crustaceans. The discovery comes at a time when Indonesia is significantly ramping up its efforts to protect shark and ray species that are now considered vulnerable to extinction, including whale sharks and manta rays. Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic nation with a marine area of over 5.8 million km2 (including a 2.55 million km2 EEZ), and harbors a vast wealth of marine resources. Among these is an amazing diversity of marine life; besides hosting well over 75% of the world’s coral species, Indonesia also is home to at least 218 species of sharks and rays. “This is the third walking shark species to be described from eastern Indonesia in the past six years, which highlights our tremendous shark and ray biodiversity,” said Fahmi, a shark expert at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. “We now know that six of the nine known walking shark species occur in Indonesian waters, and these animals are diver favorites with excellent potential to help grow our marine tourism industry.” The shark was described in a recent paper in the Journal aqua, authored by Dr. Gerald R. Allen of Conservation International and colleagues Mark Erdmann and Christine Dudgeon. They report that the species reaches a maximum length of just 70 cm (28 cm). Bamboo sharks are among the few elasmobranchs suited to keeping in home aquariums because of their relative small size and bottom dwelling behaviors. The new bamboo shark perching on a rock in a remote area of Indonesia in the heart of the Coral Triangle. The bamboo sharks have the curious ability to “walk” along the bottom on their pectoral and pelvic fins. Image: Mark Erdmann/Conservation International Mark Erdmann CI’s senior advisor to the Indonesian Marine Program and regional coordinator for the Bird’s Head Seascape Program said, “After nearly three decades as the world’s largest exporter of dried shark fins and other shark and ray products, Indonesia is now focusing on the tremendous economic potential of its sharks and rays as living assets. In the last six months’ alone, two of the country’s top marine tourism destinations, Raja Ampat and West Manggarai (home of the famed Komodo National Park) have declared their waters as fully protected shark and ray sanctuaries. It is great to see our findings supporting the valuation and conservation of this natural capital for the long-term wellbeing of the nation.” “This tremendous biodiversity of sharks and rays is a natural heritage that must be conserved for future generations,” said Dr. Sudirman Saad, the Director General of Coasts and Small Islands at the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, who confirmed the government’s commitment to manage these important marine assets in a sustainable manner. He noted that the Ministry is currently developing regulations and management plans to ensure the conservation and viability of key threatened species of sharks and rays in Indonesian waters. “In addition to securing the long-term sustainability of our national fisheries, we have launched this initiative to prove Indonesia’s commitment to protect our marine biodiversity and ensure the long-term sustainable use of sharks and rays well into the future,” said Saad. SOURCES Allen GR et al. 2013. Hemiscyllium halmahera, a new species of Bamboo Shark (Hemiscylliidae) from Indonesia. aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology, 19 (3): 123-136 Excerpt from materials released by Conservation International. Images: Mark Erdmann/Conservation International. by Reef To Rainforest | Sep 10, 2013 | Invertebrates, Science
By Daniel Knop Web Bonus Content from the September/October 2013 Issue of CORAL Magazine Additional Bonus Brittle Star Articles Page 30 top Brittle stars scurry to the surface. Page 30 bottom Brittle stars’ arms intertwined in a dense network. Page 31 top left The crowded animals compete for the highest spot, and some specimens even climb out of the water. Page 31 bottom Thick white clouds of sperm exit from the genital slits. Page 32 top left This is a typical posture: the oral disc is raised to squeeze the sperm out through the genital slits. Page 32 bottom left Others join in from near the water’s surface. Page 32 right In contrast lighting, the five- or six-armed stars exhibit a white comet tail—reminiscent of a “white wedding.” TEXT Spider-like, they emerged from all cracks and crevices. It looked almost like an alien invasion in a science fiction movie. Countless arms waved through the water, probed the environment, and attached themselves to rocks to pull themselves up. Each individual wanted to be first, to find the best place. The urge of a brittle star to climb—from the rock structure, up the aquarium glass, to the surface—is so powerful that some specimens came out of the water, standing on the bodies of their fellows. With almost blind zeal, half a hundred of these echinoderms assembled, as if following a secret command. However, it was not blind obedience or fear that drove them, but the irrepressible wish to reproduce: a brittle star wedding was imminent! Unlike other invertebrates that mate and exchange their genetic material directly, free spawners must synchronize their germ cell release. Therefore, they need a trigger that sets in motion the complex reproductive process. For these brittle stars, often referred to as Ophiocoma pumila in the hobby, that trigger is a sudden change in the environment—in this case a partial water change. As soon as the fresh sea water had flowed into the aquarium and mixed with the old water, the first arms stretched out from under the rocks. Within moments the aquarium, which had shown no sign of a brittle star before the water change, was teeming with them. These animals normally hide during the day and come out at to scavenge at night, but now they suddenly moved out into the open, despite all the dangers, to comply with their biological directive: reproduction. While most brittle star species are dioecious, some are hermaphroditic. Some free-spawning hermaphroditic species exclusively release sperm, while the oocytes remain in the body and are fertilized by the sperm of other individuals. The larvae of these hermaphroditic breeders remain in the respiratory cavities, or bursae, and mature there. On each side of the armpit on the oral side there are slit-shaped genital openings to the bursae—sac-like invaginations that are usually used for respiration. The animal reduces its volume by contracting the oral disc muscles to eject water and increases its volume by breathing in oxygen-rich water. The bursae also contain the gonads. Here, the sperm mature and are stored in a low-liquid form. During spawning, the gonads empty the sperm into the bursae, which serve as reservoirs. The germ cells are diluted with water, so the amount of sperm that finally emerges through the openings at the bases of the arms appears to be very great. In seemingly endless swells, this white mass exits through the genital slits, drips down, and forms elongated streaks in the open water. In contrast lighting, the five or six-armed stars look like comets with white tails. The sperm gradually mixes with the surrounding water to form a homogeneous, whitish mist that envelops everything. Within about an hour, most of the 50 brittle stars had released sperm. Some had remained near their hiding places in the typical spawning posture, with exposed oral discs. However, most of the small echinoderms had taken the more daring path, climbing up to the water’s surface in order to ensure that their own genes were spread as widely as possible. Some in top form unloaded huge masses into the 16-gallon (60-L) aquarium. The turbidity was significant, but none of the other aquarium animals developed signs of a lack of oxygen or other discomfort. The skimmer continued to work normally and showed no tendency to bubble over. A short time later, the tiny reef had returned to normal and there was no sign of the brittle stars’ “white wedding.” by Reef To Rainforest | Sep 6, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk_NGiruIXE Despite the arid environment, Arava Research and Development Center in Israel produces captive-bred freshwater and marine aquarium fish, mainly for the European market. For more information – http://israel21c.org/environment/raising-nemo-in-the-desert/ Credit: ISRAEL21cdotcom Thanks to Adam Pierce for bringing this to our attention. by Reef To Rainforest | Aug 27, 2013 | Reef, Travel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQgIIZfvO14 Dormero Rotes Ross Reef Aquarium June 2013 A showpiece in the Dormero Rotes Ross Hotel in Halle (Salle), Germany, this is a 660-gallon (2,500-L) reef aquarium. There are three sizable eels in this tank and the hotel says they have not caused any known problems. Credit: kyranyca | YouTube by Reef To Rainforest | Jun 26, 2013 | Corals, Fish, Photography, Tanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cfBujQ-NEg No music and no Acropora, but this video shows an exceptional home “softie” coral tank with some huge, decades-old colonies. Watch for the Genicanthus pair that appears to be thriving in these surroundings. Credit Aaron Ro 240-gallon soft coral-dominated reef aquarium. Most corals were moved in to this tank in 2006 from other tanks. The oldest pieces are clones of a 30-year-old toadstool, most others are 8-10 years old. Fish currently in the tank: Yellowtail Damsel, Mystery Wrasse, Japanese Masked Angel pair, Banggai Cardinal, Marine Betta.
