hey all,
i am currently involved in a laboratory at UB that studies zooxanthellae. The lab focuses on depth variation within the very diverse algae (broken down into clades as of now). The professor who runs the laboratory is Dr. Mary Alice Coffroth.
Anyways, I did an independent study during the semester and i am also going to work in her lab over the summer. I will be asking a question just like what was required in my independent study (i will try to post the paper summarizing my data soon). This time however i will be orienting my study around data obtained from captive corals.
Some possible questions to be asked include:
Are cladal distributions of coral variable with the intensity of lighting, or placement in the tank?
Do zoox clade associations correlate with that of wild counter parts, or does clade association change in a captive environment?
So i will be undertaking this study throughout the summer and have already begun extracting the DNA from corals in my tank.
In order for me to carry out this small study i will need a number of samplings of corals from many different tanks. A centimeter to centimeter and a half fragment is needed from a coral colony in order to perform experimentation (for hard corals), and 1-3 polyps of soft corals are needed from each colony (1 for small mushrooms and 3 for things like star polyps). Acropora and montipora are good candidates and are easy to harvest from the colonies. Soft corals are also needed. I am asking if local reefers would be able to help out in this endeavor.
If you are willing to donate a few small fragments of coral it will be greatly appreciated. Information that would be required for this study include:
Coral Genus and species (is not extremely important to have a 100% definite id)
Type of lighting
Size of tank
relative distance from light source
How long the coral has been in captivity
The area of collection (if known, not required)
the time coral has been captive in your system
I will be at the frag swap on the 20th of may at aquatech from 2:30 till about 3:30-4 and will try to leave storage containers for samples there after I leave. Samples will be immediately stored in ethanol or DMSO and you will be able to see the pigments in the coral leach out b4 your very eyes, and no this is not a scam to get free frags.
Special instructions are that you just bring them in tank water in order to keep them alive until put into the ethanol. This study is using similar techniques of the study posted in to coral forum (check it out for more information). Also, like i said I will try to post my write up on the data obtained in my independent study to give you an idea of what I will be doing. i think you guys will find it very interesting. i will also have two or three copies at the frag swap.
Interest in helping out in this way should be replied to on this thread. Thanks in advanced for your help and I hope to hear from you within the next few days.
Thank you very much
best regards
Christopher A. Page
i am currently involved in a laboratory at UB that studies zooxanthellae. The lab focuses on depth variation within the very diverse algae (broken down into clades as of now). The professor who runs the laboratory is Dr. Mary Alice Coffroth.
Anyways, I did an independent study during the semester and i am also going to work in her lab over the summer. I will be asking a question just like what was required in my independent study (i will try to post the paper summarizing my data soon). This time however i will be orienting my study around data obtained from captive corals.
Some possible questions to be asked include:
Are cladal distributions of coral variable with the intensity of lighting, or placement in the tank?
Do zoox clade associations correlate with that of wild counter parts, or does clade association change in a captive environment?
So i will be undertaking this study throughout the summer and have already begun extracting the DNA from corals in my tank.
In order for me to carry out this small study i will need a number of samplings of corals from many different tanks. A centimeter to centimeter and a half fragment is needed from a coral colony in order to perform experimentation (for hard corals), and 1-3 polyps of soft corals are needed from each colony (1 for small mushrooms and 3 for things like star polyps). Acropora and montipora are good candidates and are easy to harvest from the colonies. Soft corals are also needed. I am asking if local reefers would be able to help out in this endeavor.
If you are willing to donate a few small fragments of coral it will be greatly appreciated. Information that would be required for this study include:
Coral Genus and species (is not extremely important to have a 100% definite id)
Type of lighting
Size of tank
relative distance from light source
How long the coral has been in captivity
The area of collection (if known, not required)
the time coral has been captive in your system
I will be at the frag swap on the 20th of may at aquatech from 2:30 till about 3:30-4 and will try to leave storage containers for samples there after I leave. Samples will be immediately stored in ethanol or DMSO and you will be able to see the pigments in the coral leach out b4 your very eyes, and no this is not a scam to get free frags.
Special instructions are that you just bring them in tank water in order to keep them alive until put into the ethanol. This study is using similar techniques of the study posted in to coral forum (check it out for more information). Also, like i said I will try to post my write up on the data obtained in my independent study to give you an idea of what I will be doing. i think you guys will find it very interesting. i will also have two or three copies at the frag swap.
Interest in helping out in this way should be replied to on this thread. Thanks in advanced for your help and I hope to hear from you within the next few days.
Thank you very much
best regards
Christopher A. Page
