Zoanthid Hunt (4-8 June 2008)

Dr. James Davis Reimer, a zoanthid expert, was in town to work on the zoanthids found in Singapore. Together with staff from Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research and a bunch of volunteers, the team combed the shores of Kusu, Hantu, Changi and even Cyrene to look for the often ignored zoanthids.

As I was busy helping during the field trip, I didn't take a lot of photos. But I did learn a lot from Dr. Reimer. He taught the whole team well enough that most of us could tell the differences at least down to genus after a couple of trips.


Easiest to identify. Being a distinct mat-like, these are Palythoa tuberculosa. Can't miss it.


These are probably Zoanthus vietnamensis. They often come in what Dr. Reimer calls 'Hello Kitty Pink' or 'Mint Green'. Zoanthus may be identified by a stripe across the oral disc which can be seen sometimes even when the polyp is closed. Zoanthus have smooth columns as they do not incorporate sand particles inside their body.


These are Palythoa mutuki, another species in the same genus as Palythoa tuberculosa. If you feel Palythoa's column, they are rather grainy as this genus incorporates sand, unlike Zooanthus as mentioned above. Furthermore, P. mutuki has larger polyps than Zoanthus, with a noticeable white (usually) radial stripe that ends off with a bump (which can be usually seen when polyp is closed).

The smaller polyps (right) among the P. mutuki are actually Zoanthus sansibaricus. Compared to Z. vietnamesis, these have smaller polyps. More often than not, they are hard to distinguish. Hehe...


Here's an extended polyp of P. mutuki.

According to Dr. Reimer, there should be at least 6 species, and up to 12 species of zoanthids in Singapore. Z. vientnamensis, Z. sansibaricus and P. mutuki was found on all four shores we been. However, P. tuberculosa was not found only in Changi. There were also a couple of interesting finds, so we shall await good news from Dr. Reimer.

Well, for more on the zooanthid trips, visit the following links of wildfilm blog:
Kusu
Hantu
Changi
Cyrene

Marine little critters

Wonder what you see on intertidal trips are all that you see? Ever ponder what could be all around you in the very water you stand? I did some water sieving using a fine net among the seagrasses, and even to my very own surprise... the following are what you can get!

Note: Everything here are smaller than 1cm (10mm), with some almost undistingushable with naked eye.



Cool looking shrimps, both carrying eggs.


Mini gastropods.


Amphipod.


Another two different type of amphipods.


Isopods, one green and one translucent just like the shrimps.


Two different types of copepods.


Seen a baby crab before? But not all baby crabs look like their parents as they go through a larva stage which is what you see here.


From left: Arrowhead worm, unknown nematod.


'Baby' bristle worm. This is just slightly longer than 1cm.


AND a nudibranch?!?! Cool eh? Anyone know what's this?

Never over look the micro organism in the water! You never know what surprises await you!

Pulau Tioman, Malaysia

I was with Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research in Tioman to conduct a field study camp for Hwa Chong Institute. Being my first time there, it was a pretty good experience. The biodiversity there was rather familiar with the occasional new stuff. Also had a good snorkeling experience, seeing crown of thorns, cushion sea star, damn lots of sea urchins, damn lots of corals, damn lots of reef fishes. With no waterproof cameras, I can show nothing. Perhaps the others will put something up.


Beautiful view outside my room.


With the occasional rainbow after the rain.

Due to shortage of time, the photos are once again in montage style.







Damn lots of stuff, damn little time. Damn... I'm using too much... 'damn'...?

STAR TRACKERS!

No, it's not Star Wars or Star Trek! It's STAR TRACKERS!


It is a monitoring programme of Knobbly sea star (Protoreaster nodusus) initiated by Chee Kong and me. It all started when I was sending CK photos of P. nodusus whenever I find any on my field trips, knowing that he was doing a study on them. One fine day, we just logged on MSN and discuss about them. That's it - STAR TRACKERS was borned.

For more information of what STAR TRACKERS is about, visit here.

This is not just a scientist's project. The public can be involved too! If you happen to be walking along a shore or on any guided nature walks and find a Knobbly sea star, you can help to gather the data too! Look here to find out more on how can you play a part in this!

First two monitoring sessions at Cyrene Reef were a success! Being able to identify them as individuals, we can easily monitor their population and growth over time! Look here and here for records of individual mug shots. I have personally named C0022 (Photo above) as 'White Chip', as the knobs are of an unusual white instead of black, reminding me of white chocolate chips. C0020 and C0025 are also easily recognisable - the former with only 5 central knobs and the latter with so many knobs, enough to form almost a circle around its central disc! =D

Just two trips alone, the results are shocking! Total of 62 individuals were found! This means there are at least 62 Knobblies living on Cyrene Reef itself, and definitely much more out there! Play your part in this programme by sending in your sightings, and watch the numbers grow!!

Go Star Troopers!

Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Ria for allowing us to leech on her trips to conduct Star Tracking. Also thanks to all those who helped us locate the Knobblies, plant the flags, and eventually collect the flags back.

Alicia at Cyrene Reef

Just as in the Greek mythology, where Cyrene captures Apollo's heart - Cyrene Reef has captured our hearts and deeply mesmerized us with her beauty. First, she revealed her star jewel, which instead of splashing across the sky, it was splashed all over the news.

Now she reveals a 'daughter' of hers, Alicia. And this is how she looks like.


As stunning (literally) as Cyrene herself, Alicia flows with grace and dresses well.


She even puts gloss on her lips, and has dyes of pink streaks!

This is actually a sea anemone, Alicia sp. As quoted from Dr. Daphne Fautin, an expert in sea anemones:
"WONDERFUL!!!! This is a member of Family Aliciidae, which is one of those on which my graduate student is concentrating. So there is another one for her to seek when we visit Singapore! And it is an addition to our growing list. It is probably Alicia, of which there are 2-3 known species that this might be. My student will be looking at type specimens during the next six months, so will soon have a very good idea of the features distinguishing each."

This particular anemone was found by someone (you know who you are. =D) during the recent trip to Cyrene Reef. This family of sea anemones are rare and they can sting fairly severely. At night, the anemone spreads its crown of tentacles and expands its stalk decorated with numerous distinct outgrowths called pseudotentacles. During the day, the tentacles and the stalk contract, and the animal looks like a mass of clustered berries. Hence, many people who see this animal during the day don't recognize it as an anemone.

Pseudotentacles usually have stinging cells (nematocysts) similar to those in the tentacles. The function of the nematocysts differ, however. In pseudotentacles, they are used in defense, while in the crown tentacles, they capture food. Pseudotentacles may be highly branched and loaded with algal cells called zooxanthellae. In such cases, the pseudotentacles are exposed to light during the day and the algal cells photosynthesize. At night, the tentacles expand and the animal feeds on particles in the water.

Once again, Cyrene has amazed us with her biodiversity. Are there more out there? I betcha. Let us hope for the best for Cyrene and her amazing biodiversity!