Wading Through Research

post by David Williams* Although he never wrote it down, the late Colin Patterson , one time vertebrate palaeontologist at my home from home, the Natural History Museum , London, often said that when confronted with any particular biological specimen, three questions should come into the minds of systematists: What is it? What is it related to? Where does it live? For me, the first is often a struggle, as wading through books of images can be a tad soul-destroying, especially if the images never quite match what’s in front of you. Start with something easy – that’s what Frank Round told me, a long while ago now. Easy? There’s a lovely book by Archie Carr, A Naturalist in Florida, A Celebration of Eden (1994). In it there’s a key to the fishes of Alachua County, Florida, first published in 1941. One instruction reads: “Not as above; fins with dangerous spines; catfish-like—in fact, a catfish”, with a footnote: “Any damned fool knows a catfish”. So, Frank suggested Fragilari...

by Sylvia Lee, FIU & Periphyton lab alumna Did you know that March 19 is Taxonomist Appreciation Day ? Fig. 1 . Cartoon on what taxonomy is. Image credit: BuzzHootRoor from https://smallpondscience.com/2014/03/19/today-is-taxonomist-appreciation-day/ Taxonomy is the study of organisms and their classification (or in more witty/punny terms in the image above, “how you phylum ”). Recognizing and putting names to organisms may come easy to some natural-born naturalists, but taxonomy can be a challenging task requiring specialized knowledge. This is especially true for groups with many species, such as diatoms. Species identification may not seem like an important skill, but it can be thought of as an essential part of “ ecoliteracy .” It is difficult to care about something if you do not know its name , and it can even become extinct without your knowledge. As part of my Ph.D. research, I was able to do an ...

by Tom Frankovich* I would like to introduce you all to Medlinella amphoroidea , a new taxon that was observed on loggerhead sea turtles , as the November diatom-of-the month. But, before I get to discussing the morphology and ecology of this new genus and species, I will tell you all a personal story of serendipity and professional relationships. It was early 2013, and I had received an email from Dr. Brian Stacy, a marine veterinarian at the National Marine Fisheries Service , and a friend from when we worked together investigating parasites in marine gastropods. Brian told me that his wife, Dr. Nicole Stacy, also a marine veterinarian, was interested in identifying organisms that she suspected were diatoms that were on skin smear slides and contaminants in blood, urine and teat fluid samples from Florida sea turtles and manatees . Fig. 1 . Dr. Brian Stacy performing a necropsy on a loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta   (Photo c ourtesy Brian Stacy, unknown photog...

by Charlotte Briddon*  Brachysira brebissonii (formerly known as Anomoeoneis brachysira ) is a freshwater, benthic diatom. It is widespread in lakes and rivers from the Arctic to tropical and temperate regions. In 1981 the Anomoeoneis and Brachysira genera were separated, as two sets of longitudinal ribs were observed in Brachysira specimens, one surrounding the valve (marginally at the junction of valve face and mantle), and another composed of two straight ribs, discontinuous in the central area that border the raphe , which the genus Anomoeoneis lacks.               Brachysira brebissonii   (photo   taken by Paul Hamilton at Egg Harbour Lakes, New Jersey, United States; see  Hamilton, 2010 ) . Case study of Tasik Chini I have chosen this diatom because it has played a meaningful role in aiding our understanding of past and current environmental conditions/water quality at Tasik Chini, (a flood pul...

by Luca Marazzi* Nitzschia amphibia belongs to the nitzschioid group : its v alves are symmetrical to both apical and transapical axes, and taper to bluntly rounded apices ; the raphe is well developed near the valve margin, and enclosed within a canal 1 . The original description was made by Albert Grunow in 1852, when the US President was Millard Fillmore, the  last one not to be affiliated with either the Democratic   or   Republican party . This is how ‘old’ are some of the species names of algae and other organisms that persist to this day, while new species are continuously described at an increasing rate. Grunow was one of the eight most ‘profilic’ algal taxonomists who described more than 1,000 species during their career, the others being Kützing, Gottfried, Hustedt, Agardh, Harvey, who worked in the 1800s, and Lange-Bertalot (the only one still alive and active ) and Skvortsov in the 1900s 2 . Fig. 1.   a)  Nitzschia amphibia  in valv...

by Luca Marazzi* This month’s diatom comes from quite far, some 5,000 miles or 8,100 km North-East of Florida: Northern Italy. Its name is Eunotia cisalpina (on this side of the  Alps , the  south ern   side) , and it was described a few years ago 1 by Marco Cantonati, the Science Museum of Trento ’s (MUSE) Head Limnologist and Phycologist whom I am visiting this week. We are at the foot of the famous and wonderful Dolomites mountains , one of over 50 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Italy, comprising some of the highest limestone walls in the world. North-west from here, small mountain lakes, springs, and mire pools dot the landscape of the Adamello and Cevedale mountain ranges; their waters have lower mineral content than the calcareous Dolomites due to the prevalence of siliceous rocks, such as granites. These oligotrophic, acidic, low conductivity habitats are perfect for E. cisalpina (and for E. fallacoides and E. insubrica , other new taxa to science describe...