wild zoanthids

jreimer

New member
As suggested by a couple zoanthid maniacs out there, I would like to post some shots of "wild" zoanthids (mainly Zoanthus and Palythoa) from some of my research dive trips (mainly Japan). The only prob is I don't have the necessary tools to downsize my pics. I have a ton of pics (all about 500~800 kb) - what I would like to do is e-mail them to someone, and have them kindly post the pics on this thread. Any brave volunteers?

cheers,

j.
 
Jreimer,

Photobucket is a free and wonderful service that allows you to upload your photos, and then hot link them to any site. You might want to invest soem time in getting your photos up there, because then they are there to reference anywhere you want, not just RC. PM me if you need any help.

Kammy
 
You could also use reefbucket.com

Its free, set up by a reefer, for reefers. It has a larger upload size that photobucket, and unlimited bandwidth..
 
photobuckets

photobuckets

Thanks for the tips - I'll go check them now and post any link on this thread...

j :)
 
:eek1: :eek2: :eek1:

Cool! That is what I would call fruits of labor.


Do you take samples into your lab? Or do you do all the testing in the wild?
 
sampling

sampling

Usually take pics in the wild (in situ), note all the relevant details (date time collectors depth site), then "collect" the sample. Usually only need a polyp or two for DNA work, so I put these in ethanol and take them back to the lab in a cooler - helps keep the DNA "fresher". If I really think it is an odd sample or new species, I'll collect the colony and preserve it, as you need to submit samples to museums when classifying new samples etc.

Yeah, I should post a few more pics, I have soooo many!

j.
 
NICE.. and also how can you resist on just taking one for research and non for your reeftank??? god if was me ill probably take like 10polyps of each zoa colony and bring it to my tank :D
 
that's the secret - I have no reeftank! But I go diving enough that I am probably staring at zoanthids 150 days a year, get my fix in the big outdoor aquarium called the Pacific.

If I did have a tank it would be the end of my "limited sampling", that's for sure!

j.
 
Great pics J......Those in the first set are SWEET....I really liked those pinks. I will need a sample to do some independent research here in my lab. Thanks....:)
 
Sorry I took so long with these, but wow, what great pictures!

this is Zoanthus kuroshio (!) according to DNA, taken at Sakurajima. The oral disks were really massive - over a cm wide.


the same colony as the last one in my last post, with closed polyps, and the telltale white stripes on the polps.


this is also Zoanthus sansibaricus (!), just a different morph.


again Zoanthus sansibaricus - lots of variation within species.


this is Zoanthus kurosho at Yakushima, Japan.
 
again Zoanthus kuroshio, Shirahama, Wakayama, Japan.


this is Zoanthus gigantus, not a great shot, but you can see the green mouth. This species seems to like cracks and shaded areas on shallow reef fronts. Taken at Amami, Japan.


this is a different genus - Parazoanthus gracilis, growing on top of a gorgonian at 17m in Izu, Japan. This species does not have zooxanthellae.


yet another genus, this is Palythoa heliodiscus, taken in Saipan. This species is found in high flow areas in the shade, think it feeds alot on plankton etc.


Z.pacificus - actually this is the species Zoanthus sansibaricus - taken at Sakurajima, Japan.
 
this is Zoanthus gigantus, different color morph than before, no green slit.
p42103561tk.jpg
 
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