Nova Special

[Twins Guy]

So...i just stumbled across a PBS nova special entitled "Deep Sea Invasion" on the tube. it shouldn't surprise anyone here that i'm a science buff and aminal phreak-so whenever i stumble on a cool documentary it doesn't really matter if the miss teen usa pagent or "charmed" is on, i'm hooked. this one was pretty interesting and disturbing too-especially as a reef hobbiest.

we've all heard of invader species...up here on the tundra its eurasian water milfoil wrecking our lakes (but improving bass fishing:)) and zebra mussels in the rivers. maybe all the californians in our midst will scoff at my innocence but this nova special focused on our "friend" Caulerpa taxifolia (BTW can someone enlighten me on bold facing and italicizing font up in here).

seems that taxifolia (feathery leaves) is the scourge of the sea-the mediterranean that is. ironically the genetic footprint of the mutant (more temperature tolerant than tropical species) taxifolia invading the mediterranean coastline is identical to only that of taxifolia from some large public european aquariums. forgive me if you've all already heard this. in other words the caulerpa which is spread by anchor and hull (vegetative/cloning propogation) did not come from far away tropical ports but rather from our hobby-there words not mine. in fact the first detected invader colony was found at the base of cliffs below the monaco oceanographic aquarium. even more ironic is that when taxifolia is believed to have "escaped" in the 1980's Mr. Jacque Cousteau was head of the aquarium-one of the ocean's greatest pioneers and conservationists. not trying to bad mouth a dead guy.

sadly many other oceans are under siege right now as well (ok that sounded a lil too greenpeace). one southern california bay city has spent over a million dollars using chlorine to erradicate isolated populations-thus far successfully. a local scientist hypothesized that their first bloom (right in front of the bay's storm sewer drain) may have been the result of a hobbiest cleaning their aquarium-in the process rinsing caulerpa tax right down that very storm drain and into the ocean. scary and sad huh?

one interesting lab discovery was that of a caulerpa eating nudibranch. i think deskjockey is captive propping them (, laugh but it might be true). they look like a cross between a slug, a catepillar, a praying mantis, and the monsters from "Signs." ok just a slug and a catepillar. but apparently they suck the juices out of caulerpa "like a vampire" and are immune to its toxin. the only problem is finding low temperture tolerant mutants to commit to biological war.

the french-apparently overseeing C. tax eradication efforts in the mediterranean-are hesitant (so what else is new, hehe:)) to enlist these critters in the mediterranean however for fears of introducing another invader species-valid arguement. in the interim because controlling the outbreaks is so difficult the mediterranean govts are collaborating to patrol and protect designated sanctuary areas where any C. tax will be removed by hand.

australia is now having huge growths (too large to attack with chlorine or deskjockey's nudis) of tax that they fear will affect commercial fishing-big biz for australia i guess. one of their proposed solutions is to kill it off (along with everything else) using copper sulfate-no ######! but then there's the concern about poisoning local fish (the ones they don't kill) populations!

the program cautioned the public and warned aquarists what dangers there tanks might hold. a lil heavy handed but at the same time a good dose of reality. we get enough bad press for "destroying the natural reefs", now we've released this monster. far beit from me to scold our practices or condone irresponsibility. i just thought it was a pretty damn cool nova.

 

for those interested i bet more info could be had at pbs.org

tg

[Dave ESPI]

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=10747

DOUGHT !

 

Both good post.

[Twins Guy]

dought is right!

i did a search before i posted, bet greg did too. we prolly scribed at the same time-oh well at least its an important topic and not two tards posting about lighting their 10 gallon.

tg