Remember that one batch of sand dollar larvae that were looking weird on Monday? Well, they still look weird. In fact, all of the larvae looked the same yesterday as they did on Monday, which seems strange, considering how quickly they galloped through development for the first three weeks of larval life. It’s as though they’ve…
Dinner time!
The red-tailed hawk parents across the canyon are being kept busy by their hungry chicks. This year they have a trio of youngsters to feed–last year they successfully fledged two chicks–but apparently they’ve not had any trouble finding enough food for all three of them. If I had the luxury of staying home all day…
What are they up to?
These sand dollar (Dendraster excentricus) larvae that I’ve been raising will be 21 days old tomorrow, and they are still on the fast track. They’re developing much more quickly than any of the sea urchin cohorts I have raised. Some of them already have juvenile rudiments with tube feet visible. With the urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)…
Sexy time for sea anemones
This morning I went out on the first morning low tide of the season. I was so excited to have the morning lows back that I got to the site early and had to wait for the sun to come up. Awesome thing #1 about early morning low tides: Having the intertidal to myself. The purpose for…
Wildflower excursion to southern California
Yesterday I joined some friends on an impromptu day trip to southern California to see the spring wildflower bloom. The El Niño rains had brought forth a “superbloom” this year, and while we didn’t have time to go all the way to Death Valley we thought we’d be able to see lots of flowers in…
A day in the life
Friday 1 April was the last day of my spring break, and tomorrow I go back to teaching. Spring break felt very short this year, and I was busy the entire week. I decided to spend my last day of freedom doing my favorite lab-related things: looking through microscopes at tiny organisms. I had already planned…
Aren’t plants supposed be green?
One of my agenda items for spring break this week was to return to Elkhorn Slough and finish the hike that I started with my students a couple of weeks ago. I got out there only to be forcibly reminded that the visitor center, where the hike originates, is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Since I’d…
Still on the fast track
Because I was so surprised at how quickly my sand dollar larvae (Dendraster excentricus) were developing, I checked my notebook from the invertebrate embryology course I took while in grad school to see if what I’m observing now is normal for these animals. It turns out that yes, Dendraster does develop at a much quicker rate than its cousin the…
Fast!
My sand dollar larvae are developing very quickly! When I checked on them Thursday afternoon about 24 hours post-fertilization, I anticipated seeing them up in the water column because that’s how long it takes urchins to hatch. Remember, sea urchins and sand dollars are in the same taxonomic class (Echinoidea) and share a larval form called the echinopluteus. I’ve…
A new obsession
This afternoon I met up with Joanna and Amy, who had come to the marine lab with some sand dollars (Dendraster excentricus) to try to spawn. Since sand dollars are in the same taxonomic group (the Echinoidea) as sea urchins, I’d try the same techniques on these animals I’d never spawned before. I did have to…