Clavelina sp. in Long Island Sound

Yesterday (October 15th, 2009), Dave Hudson and I were taking some survey photos in Stonington Harbor, New London Co., CT. We were just checking out the usual fouling community species Botrylliodes violaceus, Didemnum vexillum, Bugula neritina, (all invasives) when Dave pointed to something different. I immediately got excited. I have never seen this species before. So I started snapping some pictures. Dave and I took a sample so that we ( can make a more exact species identification latter in the lab.

The species is almost certainly of the genus Clavelina order Aplousabranchia. The common name is the "light bulb tunicate". I would say that it is quite a good looking species, but it does not belongs here. Please let me know if you are familiar with this species. Have you seen it in Long Island Sound before?

James.Reinhardt@uconn.edu

MYSound/LISICOS Status Update

Execution Rocks buoy is back online.

MYSound/LISICOS Status Update

The Execution Rocks weather buoy should be coming online soon - it has been offline since bad weather knocked the buoy out at the end of September. Divers and techs are down there today to see what the problem may be - and hopefully it will be back online by the end of the day.

Summer Connecticut SeaGrant Project

This past summer I worked with a high school student on a Connecticut SeaGrant funded project to gather preliminary data of the biomass of hard-substrate epifaunal communities, also affectionately called fouling communities. It was a great pleasure to work with Olivia Fortunato, I only hope that she got as much out of the project as I did. The research we did this past summer has laid a great foundation for future work investigate biomass and energy flow in benthic communities.

Marines Sciences and CESE are Natural Partners

The University of Connecticut's Center for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE) bills itself as a leader and promoter of interdisciplinary research on the UConn campus. Naturally, CESE must have a particular interest and fondness for the Department of Marine Sciences (DMS) which is interdisciplinary in nature. DMS faculty Heidi Dierssen, George McManus, Ann Bucklin, Senjie Lin, Rob Mason, Tom Torgersen, Penny Vlahos, Pieter Visscher, Evan Ward and Bob Whitlatch are all associated with CESE in one way or another. Marine Science students have been able to take advantage of CESE's goals by leveraging resources made available by CESE to help carry out interdisciplinary work. DMS Students who have utilized CESE grants and funding in the past include Christina Haska, Kim Gallagher, Maille Lyon, James Reinhardt and others. Students should be aware of upcoming deadlines for new CESE Scholarships.

Dave Hudson PNB Student Conducts Marine Research at Avery Point

Dave Hudson is a PhD student at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology. His dissertation is on the ecophysiology of invasive crabs on the New England and East coast United States. Naturally, he has established close collaborations with other scientist and students in the Department of Marine Sciences (DMS) an the Marine Science and Technology Center. DMS and MSTC, through the dive program and boat operations, help supply Dave with the necessary resources to undertake his research.