CESAM
  • CESAM
    • ¿Quienes somos?
    • Directiva
  • BLOG
  • EVENTOS
    • Conferencias y Talleres >
      • ASLO 2019
      • Charlas Educativas 2018-2019
      • 2016
      • 2013
    • Actividades Recreativas >
      • Buceo
      • Snorkeling
      • Turismo Interno
    • Viajes Institucionales y Simposios >
      • 35th AMLC en Costa Rica
      • 36th AMLC en Jamaica
      • 64th GCFI en México
  • Información Educativa
    • Tortugas Marinas/ Marine Turtles >
      • Carey/ Hawksbill
      • Peje Blanco/ Green Turtle
      • Tinglar/ Leatherback
    • Peces/ Fish >
      • Ángel Francés/ French Angel
      • Ángel Gris/ Grey Angel
      • Chapín/ Trunkfish
      • Pez León/ Lionfish
      • Tiburón Gata/ Nurse Shark
    • Corales/ Corals >
      • Cuerno de Ciervo/ Staghorn
      • Cuerno de Alce/ Elkhorn
      • Tarrito de Venado
      • Coral de Fuego/ Fire Coral
  • Viajes de Campo
    • Costa Rica
    • Cuba
    • Culebra
    • Desecheo
    • Haití
    • Isla de Mona
    • Jamaica
    • México
    • Puerto Rico
    • St. Kitts
    • St. Cruz
  • Contactenos





CAPÍTULO ESTUDIANTIL DE LA SOCIEDAD AMbIENTE MARINO







New Coral Reef Crustacean Described and Named After Late Reggae Performer Bob Marley

7/9/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
President Barack Obama has one. Comedian Stephen Colbert has one. Elvis Presley has one. Even computer software magnate Bill Gates has one. And now, Bob Marley--the late popular Jamaican singer and guitarist--also has one. So what is it that each of these luminaries has? The answer: they each have a biological species that has been named after them.

Paul Sikkel, an assistant professor of marine ecology and a field marine biologist at Arkansas State University, discovered and just named after Marley a "gnathiid isopod"--a small parasitic crustacean blood feeder that infests certain fish that inhabit the coral reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean. Sikkel named the species Gnathia marleyi.

All of the life stages of Gnathia marleyi are described by Sikkel and his research team in the June 6th issue of Zootaxia. This research was partly funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Sikkel said, "I named this species, which is truly a natural wonder, after Marley because of my respect and admiration for Marley's music. Plus, this species is as uniquely Caribbean as was Marley."

Gnathia marleyi is a new species within the gnathiid family, and the first new species to be described in the Caribbean in more than two decades.

By concealing themselves within coral rubble, sea sponge or algae, juvenile Gnathia marleyi are able to launch surprise attacks on fish and then infest them. Sikkel explained that adult gnathiids do not feed at all. "We believe that adults subsist for two to three weeks on the last feedings they had as juveniles and then die, hopefully after they have reproduced."

There have been increasing numbers of reports that the health of Caribbean coral reef communities is declining due to diseases. "We are currently researching the relationships between the health of coral reef communities and gnathiid populations," said Sikkel.

"Gnathiids, in general, are the most common external parasites found on coral reefs and are ecologically similar to land-based blood-sucking ticks or disease-carrying mosquitoes," Sikkel said. "Gnathiids live on the ocean floor from pole to pole, and from shallow reefs to the abyss--and everywhere between. They are also the most important food item for cleaner fishes and thus key to understanding marine cleaning symbioses."

Sikkel explained that his research group is interested in the combined ecological effects of fishing pressure and reef degradation. "We suspect that coral degradation leads to more available habitat for external parasites to ‘launch attacks' on host fishes," he said. "And as the number of potential host fish decreases, each remaining host will become more heavily parasitized."

"Our current work is focused on how changes in coral reef environments, such as coral bleaching, influences interactions between hosts and parasites," said Sikkel. "We're including in our studies any effects on cleaning organisms that remove parasites from hosts."

About 80 percent of all organisms found on coral reefs are parasites. The gnathiid isopods are among the most ecologically important of them, according to biologists, because many diseases afflicting desirable fish are either caused by, or are transmitted by gnathiids. In addition, the immune system of fish also depends on the overall health of coral reefs, which are known as the "rainforests of the sea" because of their vast biodiversity.

At the end of the day, it comes down to simple oceanic economics: the more parasites there are, the fewer fish there are--at least until the parasites run out of hosts to infect. And fewer fish in the sea can cause significant losses to the populations that depend on them.

Studying the effects of changes in sea-bottom communities associated with coral and sponge diseases and their interactions among other species will advance knowledge of blood-borne pathogens. Sikkel suspects that Gnathia marleyi may be a vector in transmission of these diseases.

Sikkel says his team's current funding through NSF's Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) initiative and Biological Oceanography is enabling the team to study precisely which species of Caribbean reef fish harbor these blood parasites. "We are determining the role of Gnathia marleyi, which will help us understand the impacts of changes in coral reef habitat on the transmission of a fish disease called haemogregarines--a type of fish malaria that may weaken their immune systems through a reduction in certain blood cells."

"Disease ecology is a rapidly maturing field in marine science," said Michael Lesser, a program director in NSF's Biological Oceanography Program. "To advance this field, scientists must identify which organisms are the main players in disease transmission in oceans."

Lesser continued: "With so much marine diversity yet to be described, parasitic species don't always get the attention they deserve. But Sikkell and his team have taken an important step by helping to analyze the ecological effects of a parasite on Caribbean coral reef fish populations by describing this previously unknown species."

Sikkel initially discovered Gnathia marleyi about 10 years ago in the U.S. Virgin Islands where it is relatively common--so common, in fact, that Sikkel had assumed for years that the species had previously been described. Nevertheless, compelled by a hunch, Sikkel ultimately sent a specimen of the species to Nico J. Smit of North-West University in South Africa, a member of Sikkel's research team, who confirmed that the species had, in fact, previously been overlooked by taxonomists. With the help of Whitney Sears, one of Sikkel's students, the research team raised the isopod from its juvenile stage through adulthood, a laborious task that was necessary because most taxonomy descriptions of gnathiids are based on adult males, which usually differ in appearance and other ways from juvenile gnathiids.

Specimens of Gnathia marleyi will be housed indefinitely at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. "We are currently discussing with AMNH the possibility of creating an exhibit featuring this species that could be viewed by the public," said Sikkel.

Sikkel's research team includes Charon Farquharson of the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and Smit.

And by the way, if you are wondering, President Obama has a lichen named after him; Colbert has a beetle; Gates has a flower fly, and Elvis has a wasp.

-NSF-

Source: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=124768&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click&fb_source=message

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archivos

    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    July 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011

    Categorías

    All
    Actividades Culturales
    Actividades En UPR Rio Piedras
    Acuicultura
    Adaptación Del Cefalopodo
    AEE Pagará $205 Millones A Windmar
    Aquaculture
    Arrecife Isla Verde
    Arrestado Por Matar Tinglar
    Atipur En Ocean Park
    Australia Largest Amp
    Bahia Bioluminiscente
    Barnacles
    Blanket Octopus
    Bumphead Parrotfish Rivals
    Buque Isla De Mona
    Cambio Climático
    Caparazón De Una Tortuga Marina
    Caribbean Coral Reefs
    Caribe
    Carnivorous Sponge
    Catastrofe En Mona
    Cave Diving
    CESAM
    Charlas
    Cigarette Butts
    Climate Change
    Conversaciones De Ostras
    Coral Adaptation To Global Change
    Coral For Sunscreen
    Coral Reefs Vs Climate Change
    Corals
    Corals Benefit
    Costa Rica Tortugas
    Crustaceo Venenoso
    Cuba
    Cueva Ventana
    Culebra
    Daño Ambiental
    Deforestación En Culebra
    Delfinario Del Escambrón
    Delfines
    Deshielo En Ártico
    Designación Reserva Isla Verde
    Diseases Outbreak
    Dorado Conservación
    Dunas
    Eat Lionfish?
    Ecoturismo
    El Carey
    Electricity On Corals
    Emergencia Ambiental En Italia
    En Peligro Palominito
    Ensuciando El Orgullo Pr
    Erosión En Rincón
    Especies Invasivas
    Estrellas De Mar
    Estuario: Vertedero Ecologico
    Festival Del Tinglar
    Forosocial En Brazil
    Fósil Marino Antiguo
    [[\\\"Four Tracks\\\"]] En Bosque Seco De Guanica?
    Global Warming In 26 Sec
    Gran Barrera De Australia
    Hawaii Bans Plastic Bags
    Hawksbill Tracking
    Heat Effect On Sea-turtle Egg
    Huracán
    Huracán
    Impacto Del Desarrollo Costero En Pr
    Impacto Del Snorkeling Y Buceo
    Incineradora En Arecibo
    Invasive Starfish
    Jellyfish Scourge Threatens Israel
    Jireh En Mona
    Kayakeando Por El Caribe
    Kony 2012
    Leatherback
    Leatherbacks Crushed
    Ley Del Cen
    Limitaciones A La Pesca
    Limpieza De Costa
    Lionfish
    Lluvias Fuertes En Pr
    Manatee
    Manatíes En Peligro
    Mangroves As Filters
    Maricultura
    Mesa Informativa
    Mesophotic Reefs
    Mpa
    Muere Manati En Guayama
    Multa Por Basura
    Multa Por Tirar Basura
    Nieve En El Mar
    Nivel Del Mar
    Noche De San Juan
    Northeast Ecological Corridor
    Northeast Reserve Pr
    Observadores En El Embassy
    Overfishing
    Palau
    Parrotfish
    Penguins From Space
    Perspectiva Ambiental Del Candidato Santorum
    Pesca De Tiburones
    Pez Con Cancer563d9b013c
    Pitcairn
    Playa Isla Verde
    Playas Puerto Rico
    Pollution
    Praderas Submarinas
    Protección De Corales
    Puerto Rico
    Reserva Isla Verde
    Reserva Natura Culebra
    Samuel Suleiman
    Sea Turtle
    Sea Urchin
    Seaweed
    Seria Amenaza Al Cen
    Sharks
    Shark Trade Restrictions
    Tiburón Blanco
    Tiburones Del Pacifico
    Tinglar
    Tourism Marine
    Transgenicos
    Triunfo Del Arrecife Isla Verde
    Tuna
    Underwater Mystery Solved
    Varamientos
    Viajes De Campo
    Victoria Culebrense
    Vida Marina En Antartida
    Vieques
    White Marlin Pr

    Fuentes/
    Sources


    -Noticias Ambientales
    -Mi PR Verde
    -BBC Mundo
    -El Nuevo Día
    -Diálogo
    -Sea Grant Puerto Rico
    -
    NOAA Science Blog
    -TELESUR
    -NotiCel
    -Índice
    -The Atlantic
    - ScienceDaily
    -The Guardian
    -Compass Caiman
    -La Nación
    -ThinkProgress.Org
    - Greenerideal
    -Mi Nación
    -News.mongabay.com
    -CIELUPRM
    -
    Phys.org
    -
    Goedenshark.blogspot.com
    -Conservationmagazine.org/

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • CESAM
    • ¿Quienes somos?
    • Directiva
  • BLOG
  • EVENTOS
    • Conferencias y Talleres >
      • ASLO 2019
      • Charlas Educativas 2018-2019
      • 2016
      • 2013
    • Actividades Recreativas >
      • Buceo
      • Snorkeling
      • Turismo Interno
    • Viajes Institucionales y Simposios >
      • 35th AMLC en Costa Rica
      • 36th AMLC en Jamaica
      • 64th GCFI en México
  • Información Educativa
    • Tortugas Marinas/ Marine Turtles >
      • Carey/ Hawksbill
      • Peje Blanco/ Green Turtle
      • Tinglar/ Leatherback
    • Peces/ Fish >
      • Ángel Francés/ French Angel
      • Ángel Gris/ Grey Angel
      • Chapín/ Trunkfish
      • Pez León/ Lionfish
      • Tiburón Gata/ Nurse Shark
    • Corales/ Corals >
      • Cuerno de Ciervo/ Staghorn
      • Cuerno de Alce/ Elkhorn
      • Tarrito de Venado
      • Coral de Fuego/ Fire Coral
  • Viajes de Campo
    • Costa Rica
    • Cuba
    • Culebra
    • Desecheo
    • Haití
    • Isla de Mona
    • Jamaica
    • México
    • Puerto Rico
    • St. Kitts
    • St. Cruz
  • Contactenos