Week 2 - Nudibranchs, and Molluscs, and Crabs, Oh My!

Monday, April 8

We started this week off by going out to several spots on the mud flats around the HMSC campus and helping Dr. Sylvia Yamada collect and record captured Carcinus maenas, and five other species of crabs including Cancer magister, Cancer antennarius, Cancer productus, Hemigrapsus nudus, and Hemigrapsus oregonensis. We collected eight traps by the pump house docks that had been placed over the weekend. After taking record of the species we found there, any C. maenas were kept for Marine Science Day and all other species were released. We then headed to the exposed mudflats near the aquarium where we collected about 20 traps of three different types. A couple of the traps had fish in them, and some had as many as eight C. maenas. The exciting find was a Cancer magister that had molted in one of our traps. The size difference between the crab and its molted exoskeleton was significant. The reason for this change in size is a process known as ecdysis, during which they form a new exoskeleton beneath their old one, absorb nutrients and minerals from their old exoskeleton, then back out of their old shell and then swell with water while their bodies are soft. This leaves them vulnerable until their carapace hardens. Lucky for this little guy, we found him and meant him no harm.

Tuesday, April 9

Unfortunately, our hike to Cascade Head was cancelled after being postponed due to inclement weather. Instead of this trip, we decided to get through our last two lectures on the Phyla Echinodermata and Chordata. We were then given the rest of the day to study for the upcoming finals and work on our “favorite marine invertebrate” papers and presentations.

Wednesday, April 10

First thing in the morning we had donuts and coffee with the staff, where we were able to purchase some awesome HMSC Student Organization swag. The rest of the day was available for work on our presentations for the evening meeting and wrapping up our other assignments. The presentations went great! Everyone had a great time feasting on cheesecake, cookies, and mussels, while enjoying marine invertebrate game shows and presentations. Some crowd favorites included Geoduck Jeopardy, Gumboot Chiton Bingo, and Blue Ringed Octopus Family Feud, with the last of these pictured below.

Thursday, April 11

On Thursday, we had multiple study sessions for both the lecture final and the lab practicum. Everyone then spent the rest of the day studying as hard as they could for the next day. Some even pulled late hours at the library, trying learn as much of the material as possible. Here we found Emily, Ashley, Hannah, and Megan all working incredibly hard and filling whiteboards with knowledge.

Friday, April 12

Today was the day of the final exam and lab practicum. We had all studied hard and it was amazing to see how far we had come in the last week. We learned the natural history of the Oregon coast, discovered the defining traits and anatomy of the invertebrate phyla, and memorized the scientific names of ~55 organisms we collected throughout the previous week. The lecture final exam began at 1pm and was followed by the practicum, so we had all morning to cram those last few scientific names into our brains. The exams were over by 4pm and after we cleaned up the lab for the next session we were ready to enjoy our weekend of freedom. The sun was even shining after two straight weeks of rain!

Saturday, April 14

Saturday was Marine Science Day at Hatfield, and the campus was full of people excited to learn about the center, marine science, and the programs offered at Hatfield. All of the labs and classrooms had been transformed into demonstrations for visitors. About six of us came out to volunteer in the wetlab, and it was a fun and rewarding experience to be able to teach the public some of the things we had learned in class and in the field. We had consolidated the organisms we collected into four tanks and released organisms that we had multiples of. The visitors were very interested in what we had to show them, and there were some very curious kids who were eager to see the organisms. We were able to show visitors how to identify different crab species, particularly the invasive green crab species we learned about earlier in the week with Sylvia Yamada. Other big hits were the nudibranchs, echinoderms, and skeleton shrimp. It was a fantastic way to wrap up the invertebrate unit and demonstrate how much we had learned, by teaching it to the public.

Week 2: Crabs and Presentations and Finals – Oh, My!By Julia Bingham and Kylee Enyart

Last Monday, we started off the week right with a good stroll down to Yaquina Bay. Our guest speaker and guide for the day, Dr. Sylvia Yamada, led the group out to collect the catch from crab traps set out the previous day. Dr. Yamada and the students recorded species, sex, and carapace size of each species of crab collected, including natives like the Red Rock Crab (Cancer productus) and the Dungeness Crab (Cancer magister), which were released back to their home. We also snagged some specimens of the invasive European Green Cab (Carcinus maeans), which were brought back to the lab.

Julia holding our prime catch of the day: an invasive Carcinus maeans specimen. (Photo credit to Issie Corvi)

Dr. Sylvia Yamada lead the group in a discussion of life history of the European Green Crab in the Pacific NW, and the impacts of invasive species. The species arrived with trading imports from Europe in San Francisco in the 1980’s. Following a series of warm-ocean and current shifting events, especially the El Niño event of 1997, the planktonic larvae of C. maeans made its way northward, establishing in Oregon and B.C. It’s been a pesky competitor to other crabs and a voracious predator of bivalves and disruptor of seagrass beds ever since.

Tuesday featured another guest speaker discussion with Dr. John Chapman on invasive species. This time, we learned about the invasive parasite Orthione griffinis, a blood-sucking isopod which lives tucked next to the gills of the blue mud shrimp (Upogebia pugettensis). The isopod is as widespread as the shrimp itself, from Alaska to southern California, and has wiped out most of the shrimps’ populations by effectively castrating the female shrimp it invades. Even in the relatively healthy population of Yaquina Bay, our own collection day last week found several infected U. pugettensis individuals.

That afternoon, we ventured to the Newport bay docks, collecting even MORE invertebrates. We hoped to find some Ctenophores, and Scyphozoans, but mostly just observed more smelly, mischievous sea lions instead.  We did end up finding two new species of Nudibrach, skeleton shrimp, and even some cool tunicates and bryozoans!

Side Note: Beware the dog poop

A near perfect specimen of Pisaster brevispinus, spotted on the docks.

On Wednesday, we held the 10^th Annual Group Extravaganza! Students chose their favorite invertebrate and wrote a paper about it as a part of the course. Wednesday’s event was for us to take what we learned from those reports and present our favorite creature to the class. Sharing fun facts lasted four hours, but cheesecake and comedy came along with some really entertaining and interactive presentations, so it went by in a flash.

David had a great chat with Red, the tube worm vibrant in both in color and character. Max told the heart-wrenching love story between the ocean queen and Chris (short for Crustacean - it's a family name), a tale to explain the creation of the beautiful floating blue hydra Velella velella. Julia presented on the gooseneck barnacle (Pollicipes polymerus), with a carapace for a hat.

On Thursday, the theme switched from learning to ingraining information. It was time to study our marine invertebrate friends. With much anticipation, the whole day was spent preparing for our final. This consisted of the invertebrates’ Latin names, Phylum and Genus, and Phylum-specific information, including body symmetry, body plan, tissue layers, sensory and feeding structures, along with many other important aspects. The students also completed their notebooks to turn in. Everyone had to create ten pages of drawings and descriptions of some of the species we have found during our field work. Here are some of David's as examples of what we were all working on:

On Friday, the sleep-deprived and over-caffeinated BI 450 group took their first much awaited exam and lab practicum. It actually went great, and the day ended with some bitter-sweet goodbyes and “until next times” with Dr. Hacker and Vanessa.

Many students spent the weekend relaxing at home to recover from the intensity of the previous couple of days. Those who stayed at Hatfield spent Saturday volunteering at Hatfield’s Marine Science Day. It was SO incredibly fun! The whole research center, along with NOAA, Oregon Fish and Wildlife, and a few other organizations opened up countless exhibits throughout the whole center and invited the public to come and learn. The campus filled with curious community members and enthusiastic children. BI 450 students opened up our lab to share our marine invertebrate specimens and new knowledge  to visitors.

The day ended with a beautiful walk on the beach, ready and waiting for the beginning of our next section of classes, starting Monday: it’s time to learn about fish!

Catchin' Crabs

Dr. Yamada teaching the troops

After a relaxing weekend in the sun and a happy non-denominational holiday, we returned for our second week learning all there is to learn about invertebrates. We started the day with a relaxing jaunt down to the pier on the estuary to check on our crab pots. Our mission this morning was to help Dr. Sylvia Yamada with her survey, looking for all types of crabs, but specifically the Europeans Green Crab, Carcinus maenas. We didn't end up finding any of them, but we did catch a number of pretty looking Metacarcinus magister,  Hemigrapsus oregonensis, and Hemigrapsus nudus specimens.

Dana says "Hello!"

Our counts completed, we returned to our lecture home-base to learn more about the European Green Crab and the factors related to its distribution from our resident expert, Dr. Yamada. One short thirty minute break later, we were back to our prison (winky-face) to learn everything about the Arthropods. For example, barnacles have a penis that is up to 50 times longer than their body length. It's amazing what you learn on any given day in BI 450/451...

A small Dungeness crab

After a lunch break and a short info session about volunteer opportunities with Itchung, we reconvened for another guest lecture, this time from the distinguished Dr. John Chapman. He presented an interesting lecture about threat from invasive species, specifically from Orthione griffenis, a small isopod that infects the gills of the local Mud Shrimp, and effectively castrates the females by drinking their blood, devastating the local population. This lecture was one of the more interesting lectures we have ever had the privilege to attend, mainly because of the applied science aspect of the information. A big thanks to Dr. Chapman for taking the time to visit our class.

Karina laughs at Ryan's crabs

One day down, four more to go. Filled with studying and memorizing. Drawing and describing. Practicing and tweaking. Eating and sleeping. Not eating and not sleeping.