Rich Ross

Piss off ghost!

Release the kraken?

October 24, 2011 No Comments
  From Reefbuilders For the last week or so, the popular science press has been gushing over the announcement that a giant Triassic Kraken not only killed and ate giant ichthyosaurs, not only arranged their bones, but even arranged their bones in what may be the very first ‘self portrait’. How exciting! A huge, intelligent, self aware cephalopod lived in the Triassic and actively hunted and ate 45 foot long ichthyosaurs – its a ceph lovers fantasy come true! There is of course, one small catch – there is no evidence that this Triassic Kraken actually existed. The story in a nutshell: at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada the remains of nine 45-foot ichthyosaurs, Shonisaurus popularis have been confusing researchers since at least the 1950’s, partially due to the close proximity of the nine ichtyosaurs to each other and the odd arrangement of their fossilized vertebrae. Recently, Mark McMenamin spent some time at the site and came up with the idea that press has been running with this week – a giant, ichthyosaur eating cephalopod that arranges bones of its meals in self portraits. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence to back up this idea.
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Just a little information TANKED?

September 2, 2011 No Comments

From Reefbuilders

This is a video of a big aquarium – doesn’t a little information about how its run and how the animals are cared for make it more exciting?

Like many of us, I have been thinking about the new television show TANKED. The great discussion so far about the show has been really illuminating and taken the reefkeeping community beyond issues like ‘This coral is cool’ or ‘what’s the newest product’ or ‘where do I get the cheapest…’. I think this kind of big picture discussion has been relegated to dusty, quasi philosophical forums with low readership and I think getting some of this discussion out in the open can do nothing but  befefit the hobby in the long run by forcing more of us to think about issues on the broader stage. The critical thinker in me (ah the Philosophy degree is worth something – see mom and dad!) is also thrilled that hardly any of the discussion I have seen has not degenerated into ad hominem attacks, and that people have been genuinely  playing with the ideas rather than trying to score points. In these respects, I think TANKED has been great for the hobby.

In other respects, I am on the fence about the show. (more…)

Coconut Octopus grows and opens jars

August 22, 2011 2 Comments

http://vimeo.com/28020083

In the three months since we put an Amphiocotpus marginatus we collected in the Philippines on display at the Steinhart Aquarium, the octopus, named Fontenelle, has been engaging visitors to the aquarium. Fontenelle is in plain sight 95% of the time, often in interesting ‘lookout’ poses, playing with toy squid and toy octopus, or moving its den from jars to bottles to clay pots while keeping an eye on the people watching its antics. This species is one of the boldest cephalopods I have worked with, hunting with startling speed and latching onto my arm with that same unnerving speed anytime I have to put  my hand in the tank. The growth rate on this animal is amazing, and since we decided not to be invasive with gathering data with this animal because we don’t want to stress it as we learn its husbandry needs (this may be the first time this species has been on public display) the two pictures below show the growth of the octopus in just a few months.

Even more exciting, Fontenelle has learned how to open jars by unscrewing the jars lid, one of the more captivating behaviors that octopus can learn (another being squirting me in the eye when I bring shrimp). The octopus has been opening jars for a couple of weeks already, and actually learned within a couple of days, but I have been unable to capture the opening on video. Either the jar is open before I get to the front of the tank, or the jar gets opened when I leave to attend to other animals. Today I set up the tripod before putting the jar in the tank and was able to catch the act on video. Its hard to see the actual unscrewing of the lid, and the final opening of the jar looks like the octopus simply pulls the lid up, but trust me, to get to that point the lid had to be unscrewed. Now, its time to start with other jars with more threads on the lid, tightening the lid much more, and finding other objects in which to hide food.

A. marginatus on bottle in display on June 1, 2011
The same octopus in the same bottle on August 10, 2011.
This lookout position is sometimes held for over 10 minutes

Commensal fish and Mimic Octopus? Science in action!

July 25, 2011 No Comments

From Advanced Aquarist blog and TONMO

Last week Godehard Kopp posted the video above of a Mimic Octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus, and an un identifiable fish swimming amongst its arms at the divesite Jahir in the famous muck diving area of Lembeh Strait, Sulawesi Indonesia (the video of the octopus and fish starts at about. :44). Kopp followed the one octopus and fish for 15 minutes filming what appeared to be a previously unknown fish/octopus comensal relationship – a relationship in which one organism derives a benefit while the other is unaffected. Flurries of emails lit up the interwebs as fish and cephalopod and fish enthusiasts tried to determine what was actually going on in the video. Is this a commensal relationship or is something else going on?

The colors of the fish were so matched to the arms of the octopus, that it could easily be thought that this fish must have a previously un-described commensal relationship with the octopus. On the other hand, there are small fishes that swim around foraging octopus arms in search of an easy meal, so it could be that this was simply taking advantage of a possible easy meal as the octopus made its way across the muck. On the third hand, these octopus have been photographed and filmed so much in this area of the world that it might be hard to believe that this behavior had never been seen before. Perhaps the fish happened to be in the wrong place and got scared as the Kopp moved to film in, and was trying to hide in the frist thing it found – the octopus.

Initially, the fish was thought to be some kind of Blenny, but quickly the tide turned and it was thought to be some kind of Jawfish. Soon a more positive ID was soon made: Black Marble Jawfish, Stalix histrio (or another fish in the Stalix genus) shown below from Indonesian Reef Fishes by Kuiter, R.H. & T. Tonozuka. (2001). Since both the fish and the octopus live in, and are trying to blend in with, the same muck background, it makes some kind of sense that the two should share the same kinds markings and color patterns. Of course, there could still be some relationship between the fish and the octopus, more study is needed, but even if this isn’t commensal, it seems to be a brand new behavior for the fish (and possibly a new fish species!)

It was great to watch science in action in regards to this video. Observation, hypothesis, evidence, discussion, new hypothesis changing minds – science rules!

Indonesian Reef Fishes by Kuiter, R.H. & T. Tonozuka. (2001).

Nerd Nite SF 7/20/11

July 18, 2011 1 Comment

Nerd Nite SF #14: Ancient Rome, Cephalopod Sex, and Bed Bugs

Wednesday, 7/20
Doors at 7:30, show at 8
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St @ Van Ness
$8
All ages

http://vimeo.com/28031082

Facebook event 

Here in San Francisco, July is NOT the month for chasing ice cream trucks, running around in sprinklers, and wearing cut-offs and tank tops. No, it is the month of advection fog. And we like it that way! But don’t let the fog roll into your brain; come check out three talks that are guaranteed to get you hot, a little bothered, and a lot smarter! A history buff recounts all the good stuff your teacher left out of the ancient Rome lesson, an aquatic biologist talks “ceph sex,” and a pest-control pundit explains how not to let the bed bugs bite. Be there and be square at your friendly, neighborhood nerdy-lecture-series-in-a-bar!

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“Hail Caesar!: The DOs and DON’Ts of Roman Dictatorship” by Caleb Bushner

Take a tour of the history, customs, and culture of the ancient Romans: who they were, what they accomplished, and how they shaped our modern world. And, of course, their murderous and dysfunctional political system that somehow endured for several centuries. There WILL be an assassination drinking game!

Caleb is an amateur Roman history buff and a professional nerd. He’s spent the past two years studying Rome, geeking out on primary source material and peer-reviewed scholarship, and wants to share the exciting stuff, while sparing you the trouble of all those paper cuts from old books.

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“Boneless Sex: How Cephalopods Make Sweet, Sweet Love” by Richard Ross

Octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus, and squid are not just smart, not just masters of camouflage, but also masters of reproduction! This talk, which amounts to ceph porn, is packed with dirty pictures and dirty video of your favorite 8-armed animals in various stages of dirty relations, from the deed itself to “birth.”

Richard works as an aquatic biologist at the Steinhart Aquarium in the California Academy of Sciences, maintaining many exhibits – including the 212,000-gallon Philippine Coral Reef – and caring for many cephalopods. An avid underwater videographer who has scuba dived all over the world, he enjoys spending time with his patient wife, his incredible daughter, and their menagerie of animals, both wet and dry.

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“Do You Know Who You’re Going to Bed With? Protecting Yourself From Bed Bugs in the Modern Era” by Brittany Clark

It’s the dead of night. You’re curled up snug in your bed, sound asleep. But wait! Dramatic music swells and an ominous figure appears at your bedside. The audience screams, but you slumber on, blissfully unaware as this creature leans in to consume your blood. Even in the recesses of sleep, you feel something. You stir and waken. The beast quickly retreats, but you don’t have to see it to know the horror that has come to you. You have just been bitten…by a bed bug! Despite the fact that we have lived with bed bugs since the first caveman threw down some animal hides and curled up for a nap, most of us have only ever heard of them in nursery rhymes and media horror stories. What are the real dangers of bed bugs and how can we protect ourselves?

Brittany is a licensed field representative and bed bug specialist for Pestec Integrated Pest Management company in San Francisco. She has a B.S. in psychobiology from the University of New England. She’s a Leo who likes long walks on the beach, dogs, and protecting her bed from parasites.

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Plus: DJ Alpha Bravo wielding slabs of vinyl and tweeting all about it. Alpha Bravo is VP of left-field pop label, Radio Khartoum, and was one of the forces behind legendary SF pop-club nights, Anisette and Schokolade.

And a new fake magazine unveiled!

CEPHALOPOD BREEDING