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Jurassic Aquarium?
Saving fish DNA with a little assistance from frogs
By learning how to slow-freeze frog embryos for the first time, scientists believe they will be able to cryo-preserve fish embryos in the near future, thus saving their DNA for posterity. Sounds awfully reminiscent of Jurassic Park, doesn't it?
Why do soft corals like Xenia pulse?
Photo courtesy oceana.org.
Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have discovered why Heteroxenia corals pulsate. Their work, which resolves an old scientific mystery, appears in the current issue of PNAS.
Coral skeletons may play an important role for their resistance to bleaching
Coral skeletons don't just provide structural support for Acropora. They help corals deal with intense tropical sunlight. Photo by Jon Connell.
Coral reefs are stressed the world over and could be in mortal danger because of climate change. But why do some corals die and others not, even when exposed to the same environmental conditions? An interdisciplinary research team from Northwestern University and The Field Museum of Natural History has a surprising answer.
Reef Italia
Our staff is busy prepping our next magazine article to publish tomorrow: A featured reef aquarium from the UK that is guaranteed to impress fish and coral lovers alike. To whet your appetite for reef eye candy, here is a video of another beautiful aquarium: The Italian reef of 'Gionanni57.'
The first 40 seconds of the video shows the gorgeous lakeside view of Gionanni57's home overlooking Lake Iseo and Monte Isola. We're then treated to snippets of his reef aquarium until the full tank is revealed at 2:35. We're not sure which we'd spend more time gazing: his lake view or his reef view.
Squid beaks provide inspiration for medical devices
The squids beak possesses interesting physical properties, which might improve certain medical devices.
How might you ask? It all boils down to the squid beak's physical properties and how it attaches to soft tissue.
RIP Splish
Splish and Splash were tankmates of 35 years until father time caught up with Splish this month.
Richard Wright won two common goldfish at a 1977 Gloucestershire funfair. He named the pair Splish and Splash, not expecting them to survive more than a few months. But they did, and they kept on living to become the UK's oldest goldfish. Sadly, Splish passed away earlier this month, leaving Splash all alone for the first time in over three decades.
More data shows ocean acification affects fish's hearing
Cobia fry
A new research published this month finds that cobia, a large tropical fish, have remarkable resistance to end-of-century acidification projections. However, even mild acidification changes their physiology. Like previous studies which found acidification effects the hearing of clownfish, cobia's inner ear changes significantly when they are raised in higher CO2 concentrations.
Encounter with the dolphins of the Red Sea
While training at Sataya Reef (Egypt), professional kitesurfer Manuela Jungo happens upon a large pod of dolphins. The video contains Red Sea corals, sohal tangs, dolphins, and a woman in a bikini. What more can you ask for? Happy Friday, everyone!
Want to attend a filming of The Fish Tank Kings?
The Fish Tank Kings on NatGeo featuring Living Color Aquariums.
The filming for an episode for FTK's second season will happen on April 20th at the grand opening of Allpets Emporium in Coral Springs, Florida.
Coralbots need your help to become reality
Last year, we reported that researchers were developing a team of small “coralbots" with swarm intelligence to autonomously search out damaged coral fragments and attach them to hard substrate. The inventors are now seeking public donations through Kickstarter to fund coralbot development.
Pedro Gomes' 50 gallon reef is OMG awesome
If you want to see what an aquarist can achieve with 50 gallons (192 liters) of seawater, here is your benchmark. You owe it to yourself to watch Pedro's latest video in HD (720p at minimum). The only thing that is higher quality than the video production is Pedro's tank itself.
Pedro's reef tank was nominated Ultimate Reef's September 2012 Tank of the Month, a distinction most deserved; Advanced Aquarist only wishes we had discovered Pedro's tank first to feature in our magazine. We strongly encourage you to read Ultimate Reef's TOTM article to appreciate Pedro's aquarium in all its grandeur.
Here's a quick rundown of key system components:
- Tank Dimensions: 40 x 23 x 18 inches (100cm x 58cm x 45cm)
- 50 gallons (192 liters)
- ATI 8x 39w dimmable T5 fixture
- Bubble King Double Cone 200
- 2 x Ecotech Marine Vortech MP10w ES
- Balling Light method
- Korallen-Zucht ULNS (Ultra Low Nutrient System) regiment
And obligatory full tank shot:
2013-2014 MASNA Student Scholarships Announced
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It's that time of year again when the Marine Aquarium Societies of North America announces their annual scholarships for college undergraduates and graduate students.
"Reefs Illuminated" film premieres this week at American Museum of Natural History, NYC
"Reefs Illuminated" premieres this week.
"Reefs Illuminated" is an original short film about reef bioluminescence and biofluorescence directed by Brennan Vance and shot by the science-art team Luminescent Labs. The film is now showing at the American Museum of Natural History (New York City) until May 3, 2013.
Leafy sea dragon breeding lab built at Birch Aquarium
The lab will focus on efforts to rear this rare, yet beautiful, fish in captivity. Photo: Wikipedia.
Popularly known as "leafies," these beautiful cousins of seahorses are the subject of a new breeding lab in San Diego, California thanks to a $300,000 grant.
Breaching shark devours angler's catch [video]
This would wig anyone out: reeling in your catch and suddenly a shark breaches next to your kayak!
Isaac Brumaghim was big game fishing Sunday and he had a nice kawakawa (type of tuna) on the line when suddenly the ocean erupted behind his kayak. He said he could hear the shark's jaws clamp together as it sank its teeth into his catch. The incident happened off western Oahu and his bow camera captured the entire event on film.
Isaac stated the shark was most likely either a Galapagos or tiger and after finishing off the tuna, it circled his kayak. "It was as if the shark was taunting me," he said. "It gave me the heebie-jeebies."
Below is video from the bow camera. Warning: there is some foul language (and I think most of us would have said as much if we were in his place!).
(Via Pete Thomas Outdoors)
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