SOMETHING'S FISHY...

After a brief break in both classes and coursework, a new week brings a new professor, a new TA, and a new subject: FISH!

Group photo from day one at Tokatee Klootchman

Monday:

We dipped our toes into the new subject right away, spending the morning sloshing through the tide pools at Tokatee Klootchman in search of intertidal fish. In our rainiest field trip yet, we scooped up sculpin and gathered gunnels, bringing the best specimens back to the lab. After a brief lecture on general anatomy, we tried our best to apply what we learned, attempting to identify a number of fish specimens.

Tuesday:

Paige and Nick wading through the water to do a beach seine.

Everybody loves a beach day! We spent the afternoon at an estuary beach, while a select few braved the water to drag seine nets and capture fish. We sorted, counted, measured, and identified a number of species, including pipefish, flatfish, and juvenile salmon. Our biggest catch of the week, with a TL of approximately 22cm, was Leptocottus armatus, the Pacific Staghorn Sculpin. This little excursion was followed by lecture on reproduction and life history, allowing us to better understand the journey of the young fish we had just caught.

Wednesday:

As everyone was beginning to tire, we fought the mid-week blues with break in the morning for coffee and donuts. This was followed by a guest lecture from Dr. Bob Cowen about kelp forests and rocky reef habitats. We managed to experience a number of other habitats while escaping the stormy weather with an afternoon adventure to the AQUARIUM. Naturally, everyone gravitated to the open ocean exhibit, where sharks and rays take center stage.

Enclosed in the Aquarium’s longest tunnel, the class relaxed into a state of admiration and awe at the wonders of the deep. Sketching and photography ensued, along with identification of species and discussion of anatomical differences. The “Open Sea” exhibit houses 5 species of shark, schools of mackerel and anchovies, and bat rays. The largest shark species on display was the Broadnose Sevengill shark, Notorhynchus cepedianus. This shark is common along the Oregon Coast and can be identified by its unusual number of seven gills. Because of their gill number, they are thought to be related to ancient sharks, as fossils from the Jurassic period also boast seven gills. This oddity gives them the Guinness Book of World Records title for most gills!

Thursday:

Elakha cruise group two posing as their favorite fish: the English sole!

Thursday was the most highly anticipated day of the week: we got to spend the morning out on the Elakha, beam trawling and sorting fish for our research project. The early morning crew fought rain and sleepy eyes, but managed to have a blast. The afternoon crew was a bit luckier with the weather, and had just as much fun measuring and identifying fish. After a much needed lunch break, the afternoon took a slower pace, with a lecture on swimming and schooling followed by analysis of the trawl data. A small group of students then assisted Su and Miram in deploying light traps off the Pump House dock.

Friday:

The final day of the week was all about the class room! We had the pleasure of two guest lectures, from Dr. Wayne Hoffman and Dr. Christian Breseño-Avena, about herring and plankton, respectively. Our lecture on plankton was immediately followed by a plankton identification lab. We used microscopes to identify species and count plankton, determining that in one light trap we had collected over 125,000 planktonic organisms!

This week was packed full of lectures, field adventures, and fish! The week went swimmingly, but there is still a lot more schooling to do before we finish up the section on fishes.

PRETENDING TO BE REAL MARINE BIOLOGISTS…

This week has been all about PROJECTS! There are a total of 12 groups working on a variety of research topics. Some groups get to play in the field all day, while others are more studious in the lab. Group research topics have shown how diverse the 2015 class is when it comes to areas of interest. Some chose to work with algae, and others found their passion lying with invertebrates or fishes. Groups are even tackling the complexity of multiple species and how they interact with one another.

Natalie and Amanda playing in the mud!

Melanie, Amanda, and Natalie really committed to their project by getting down and dirty in the mud. Their week consisted of early mornings and lots of coffee in order to complete multiple beach seining collections. While out in the field, they collected data on salinity and biodiversity. Their focus is on determining the effects of salinity on biodiversity at several locations along the Oregon Coast. However, struggles have arisen and huge fluctuations in salinity have brought complications for the group. But with such dedication to their projects, they have been able to move forward and will be able to present to the public in just a few weeks.

First crab caught by Chaleen, Kylee, and Ashley,
while Chaleen is in the back looking for
the missing traps.

Speaking of projects not going as planning, one group really was off to a rough start at the beginning of the week. Chaleen, Kylee, and Ashley were looking at the abundance and size distribution of red rock crabs (Cancer productus) at popular crabbing locations compared to non-crabbing locations. However, the first few days proved to be discouraging because they had no luck catching any crabs and couldn’t  find some traps after putting them too far down the shoreline. Luck quickly turned around though after they switch the bait being used from cat food to chicken. So to all of you crabbers out there, take it form them and don’t use cat food! Finally they had caught a crab and were beyond stoked, even if it was just one! The week progressed and so did the amount of crabs they caught. Yay for more data!

Crabbing is a huge sport along the Oregon Coast that people partake in recreationally and commercially. It is so popular that regulations are set in place for determining what size, sex, and species of crab can be taken. However, this in not the case for red rock crabs because any sex or size can be taken. With such open availability to take these crabs, it is important to see if there is an effect on their size and abundance; especially right now in the spring when Dungeness crabs (Cancer magister) are less abundant. Red rock crabs may be significantly impacted if they are the ones being mostly caught at this time.

Cat and Kat working on their experiment on pipefish!

Cat (left) and Kat (right) worked on a lab experiment, in which they created an aquarium to test habitat preference of the estuarine pipefish, Syngnathous leptorhynchus. One side of the aquarium had eelgrass with one of two types of epiphytic algae, while the other side had eelgrass without epiphytes. They collected 42 pipefish while seining in Yaquina Bay to use in their experiment. It will be interesting to hear the results during week 10!

Levi being scientific and cutting open Pollicipes.

Levi is shown in the picture cutting open a Pollicipes polymerus to look for signs of reproduction. Levi and his group-mates, Max and Julia, also participated in cutting open these barnacles, as well as wrapping them in foil and sticking them in an oven to dry-mass them afterwards. Sounds brutal!

Landon's Release Chamber O' Fish!

Here is a picture of the lab experiment that I (Landon) did this week. In this aquarium, one side consists of only bare rocks, whereas the other side consists of various types of algae. I (Landon) collected fishes of various colors from the field and placed them one at a time in a fancy release chamber, which I (Landon) invented. The fish could swim out of the Release Chamber O’ Fish (patent pending) and decide which habitat to choose. This experiment was done to determine if there is a difference in habitat preference among fishes of different colors. In regards to the natural history aspect of this particular project, tidepool fishes have been shown to prefer tidepools with certain sets characteristics. Rugosity, depth, size, intertidal height, and algal composition of a tidepool are some of the characteristics that may influence the distribution of tidepool fishes. This experiment along with a field study will hopefully provide insight into differences of habitat preference among fishes of different colors.

The infamous "Tots" pulling a seine 

You do not need to be a fish fanatic to be humbled by the diversity of extant fishes observed worldwide. With incursion into nearly all available habitats, including terrestrial, fishes have dominated the vertebrate world in terms of both abundance and diversity. As we ventured through the currently accepted phylogenetic tree of fishes, it was noted that the breadth of extant species occur in the infraclass Teleostei. To delve into the mechanisms of niche expansion and the genetic arsenal required to make these life history transitions goes beyond the scope of the class, however Dr. Heppell summarized this information by outlining the general change in both form and function in species throughout evolutionary time.  Once the lectures were over, the class conducted dissections of multiple fish species- Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops), Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinis), Kelp Greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammus)- within the order Scorpaeniformes. Looked at during the dissections were the general internal anatomy of fishes: gonads, kidneys, spleen, liver, otiliths, etc.  Lastly, we had the opportunity to engage in a survey of near shore fishes of Yaquina Bay, OR. This was a phenomenal way to end the day because the class gained experience in beach seining techniques, as well as general species identification methods.      

Alicia Haynes holding a juvenile
Staghorn Sculpin (Leptocottus armatus)