Census of Marine Life

What was the Census of Marine Life?

The international Census of Marine Life culminated in 2010 after a decade of exploration and research on the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans – past, present, and future. More than 2,700 scientists in 80+ countries collaborated to study and synthesize information on marine biodiversity at an unprecedented scope and scale from microbes to whales in all ocean realms. In addition to discovering and describing more than 1,200 new species, the Census documented oceans richer in diversity, more connected through distribution and movements of animals, and more impacted by humans. 

What did the Census accomplish?

The first Census of Marine Life:

  • Established a baseline against which future change can be measured.
  • Created the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (www.iobis.org),  the world’s largest online repository of geo-referenced data that will provide data for policy makers, teachers, and students alike for years to come
  • Adapted and refined technology used to explore the global ocean
  • Mapped migration routes and breeding areas that can be used to protect animals’ oceanic transit routes
  • Identified well-explored areas and those where further exploration is warranted
  • Showed through studies of environmental history that some marine habitats and living resources have been impacted by humans for thousands of years.
  • Added to what is known about life in the ocean, including formally identifying 1,200 new species and increasing the estimate of life in the ocean from 230,000- to nearly 250,000.
  • Collaborated with the Encyclopedia of Life to complete ~ 90,000 marine species pages.
  • Supported the World Register of Marine Species, which determined that, excluding microbes, about 250,000 valid marine species have been formally described in the scientific literature, with an estimated at least 750,000 more species remaining to be described. Also, estimated that more than a billion types of microbes may live in the ocean.
  • Proved that a global census was possible and served as a model for large international science programs of the future.
  • Built individual, institutional, national and regional capacity so that, through its young alumni, the Census will contribute to marine life knowledge for decades to come.

From their FAQ.

canadiangoddess: Pink AnemonefishPhotograph by Wolcott Henry, National Geographic Many fish are wise to give sea anemones a wide birth, lest they feel their venomous sting, but a mucus layer allows anemonefish to acclimatize themselves to the tentacles’ toxins. These fish thrive under anemone protection, and they pay their hosts back by eating parasites and stirring water circulation with their fins.
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canadiangoddess:

Pink Anemonefish
Photograph by Wolcott Henry, National Geographic

Many fish are wise to give sea anemones a wide birth, lest they feel their venomous sting, but a mucus layer allows anemonefish to acclimatize themselves to the tentacles’ toxins. These fish thrive under anemone protection, and they pay their hosts back by eating parasites and stirring water circulation with their fins.

(via canadiangoddess-deactivated2011)

Remoras: Grow to 30–90 centimetres long (1–3 ft), and their distinctive first dorsal fin takes the form of a modified oval sucker-like organ with slat-like structures that open and close to create suction and take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals. By sliding backward, the remora can increase the suction, or it can release itself by swimming forward. Remoras sometimes attach to small boats. They swim well on their own, with a sinuous, or curved, motion. Remoras are primarily tropical open-ocean dwellers, occasionally found in temperate or coastal waters if they have attached to large fish that have wandered into these areas. In the mid-Atlantic, spawning usually takes place in June and July; in the Mediterranean, in August and September. The sucking disc begins to show when the young fish are about 1 centimetre long. When the remora reaches about 3 centimetres, the disc is fully formed and the remora is then able to hitch a ride. The remora’s lower jaw projects beyond the upper, and there is no swim bladder. Some remoras associate primarily with specific host species. Remoras are commonly found attached to sharks, manta rays, whales, turtles and dugong (hence the common names sharksucker and whalesucker). Smaller remoras also fasten onto fish like tuna and swordfish, and some small remoras travel in the mouths or gills of large manta rays, ocean sunfish, swordfish and sailfish. The relationship between remoras and their perfect hosts is most often taken to be one of commensalism, specifically phoresy. The host they attach to for transport gains nothing from the relationship, but also loses little. The remora benefits by using the host as transport and protection and also feeds on materials dropped by the host. There is controversy whether a remora’s diet is primarily leftover fragments, or the feces of the host. In some species consumption of host feces is strongly indicated in gut dissections. For other species, such as those found in a host’s mouth, scavenging of leftovers is more likely. For some remora and host pairings the relationship is closer to mutualism, with the remora cleaning bacteria and other parasites from the host. Wikipedia.
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Remoras:

Grow to 30–90 centimetres long (1–3 ft), and their distinctive first dorsal fin takes the form of a modified oval sucker-like organ with slat-like structures that open and close to create suction and take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals. By sliding backward, the remora can increase the suction, or it can release itself by swimming forward. Remoras sometimes attach to small boats. They swim well on their own, with a sinuous, or curved, motion.

Remoras are primarily tropical open-ocean dwellers, occasionally found in temperate or coastal waters if they have attached to large fish that have wandered into these areas. In the mid-Atlantic, spawning usually takes place in June and July; in the Mediterranean, in August and September. The sucking disc begins to show when the young fish are about 1 centimetre long. When the remora reaches about 3 centimetres, the disc is fully formed and the remora is then able to hitch a ride. The remora’s lower jaw projects beyond the upper, and there is no swim bladder.

Some remoras associate primarily with specific host species. Remoras are commonly found attached to sharks, manta rays, whales, turtles and dugong (hence the common names sharksucker and whalesucker). Smaller remoras also fasten onto fish like tuna and swordfish, and some small remoras travel in the mouths or gills of large manta rays, ocean sunfish, swordfish and sailfish.

The relationship between remoras and their perfect hosts is most often taken to be one of commensalism, specifically phoresy. The host they attach to for transport gains nothing from the relationship, but also loses little. The remora benefits by using the host as transport and protection and also feeds on materials dropped by the host. There is controversy whether a remora’s diet is primarily leftover fragments, or the feces of the host. In some species consumption of host feces is strongly indicated in gut dissections. For other species, such as those found in a host’s mouth, scavenging of leftovers is more likely. For some remora and host pairings the relationship is closer to mutualism, with the remora cleaning bacteria and other parasites from the host.

Wikipedia.

Source: englishrussia.com

Lots of typically scary pictures of lampreys (actually they’re kind of cute)

Eurpean Brook Lamprey:

The European brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri, also known as the Brook lamprey and the Western brook lamprey) is a jawless fish found in the European part of the Atlantic Ocean, the northwest Mediterranean, and on the European continent. It is also found in Southeast Alaska. This lamprey is the most common north European species and is also the smallest. Adult brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri) measure from 12-14cm and spawn in gravels during the springtime. Although they are found in small streams, as their name suggests, they are also found in larger rivers. Brook lamprey ammocoetes live in soft sandy/mud for a number of years before maturing. These young lampreys are blind and are filter feeders, eating detritus and other organic matter.

Unlike most species of lamprey, the adults do not migrate to sea nor do they have a parasitic phase. Adult brook lamprey do not feed and they spawn close to the soft sediment in which they were previously resident.

This species should not be confused with the North American species Lampetra richardsoni, which is also called the Western brook lamprey.

Wikipedia.

Two more lamprey pictures after the cut.

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I managed to find a much less scary than usual picture of a lamprey! Warning: Description of lamprey-ness! I am not kidding, the lamprey is a scary, scary parasite. The sea lamprey is very primitive fish resembling fossil records that are over 340 million years old. Unlike most fish, a sea lamprey’s body is cylindrical and has cartilage instead of bones. Sea lampreys have no scales, no lateral line, no paired fins and no swim bladder. They have two dorsal fins that are unattached and towards the rear of the body. An ocean lamprey can grow to 1m (3 feet) long and females can weigh up to 2.2 kg (5 lbs) with the males weighing a kilogram lighter. In the Great Lakes they are generally half this size  The sea lamprey is a parasite. They have a suction cup mouth ringed with sharp teeth that surround a rasping tongue. It attaches to fish with its suction mouth and sharp teeth and uses its tongue to pierce the skin of the fish, and feed on its blood and bodily fluids. An anticoagulant in the lamprey’s saliva keeps the wound open for hours or weeks, until the lamprey is satisifed or the host fish dies. Sea lampreys prey on a variety of large fish including lake trout, salmon, rainbow trout, brown trout, whitefish, yellow perch, burbot, walleye, and catfish. Adult sea lampreys swim upstream to build nests, spawn and then die. Fertilized eggs hatch into small, wormlike larvae which burrow into stream bottoms where they feed on debris and small plant life (algae) for an average of 3 to 6 years before they transform into the parasitic adult. The adults migrate into the Great Lakes where they spend 12-20 months feeding on fish. The complete life cycle, from egg to adult, can take an average of 5 to 8 years to complete. Understanding the sea lamprey’s life cycle helps scientists develop effective control measures. Read more.
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I managed to find a much less scary than usual picture of a lamprey!

Warning: Description of lamprey-ness! I am not kidding, the lamprey is a scary, scary parasite.

The sea lamprey is very primitive fish resembling fossil records that are over 340 million years old. Unlike most fish, a sea lamprey’s body is cylindrical and has cartilage instead of bones. Sea lampreys have no scales, no lateral line, no paired fins and no swim bladder. They have two dorsal fins that are unattached and towards the rear of the body. An ocean lamprey can grow to 1m (3 feet) long and females can weigh up to 2.2 kg (5 lbs) with the males weighing a kilogram lighter. In the Great Lakes they are generally half this size 

The sea lamprey is a parasite. They have a suction cup mouth ringed with sharp teeth that surround a rasping tongue. It attaches to fish with its suction mouth and sharp teeth and uses its tongue to pierce the skin of the fish, and feed on its blood and bodily fluids. An anticoagulant in the lamprey’s saliva keeps the wound open for hours or weeks, until the lamprey is satisifed or the host fish dies. Sea lampreys prey on a variety of large fish including lake trout, salmon, rainbow trout, brown trout, whitefish, yellow perch, burbot, walleye, and catfish.

Adult sea lampreys swim upstream to build nests, spawn and then die. Fertilized eggs hatch into small, wormlike larvae which burrow into stream bottoms where they feed on debris and small plant life (algae) for an average of 3 to 6 years before they transform into the parasitic adult. The adults migrate into the Great Lakes where they spend 12-20 months feeding on fish. The complete life cycle, from egg to adult, can take an average of 5 to 8 years to complete. Understanding the sea lamprey’s life cycle helps scientists develop effective control measures.

Read more.