Echinoblog Sneak Peek of the Hyperbolic Crochet Reef!

Detail of an island from the Latvian Reef, with coral by Dagnija Griezne. Photo by the IFF. From the Hyperoblic Reef Website.

One of the great things about being "the starfish guy" is that people come to you with starfish questions that they don't think anyone else can answer. For the last two weeks, I've been getting some really NEW kinds of questions!

"Can you Identify this?"

Not a hard question... I do this for a living, after all... But then they dropped THIS in front of me!
A crocheted tropical reef starfish!

What could it be?? And why was it made?

It turns out that in October, the NMNH will be hosting a satellite "reef" of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project!!!

I have demonstrated my love of knit and crocheted echinoderms before (go here to see)! And am looking forward to seeing this! Especially since I'm seeing what kinds of things are going into it.

Here is the NMNH Crochet Coral Reef Flickr photostream!

There's a detailed background of the whole basis and etc. of the project here but basically, its an international exhibition of crocheted coral reef faunas...the corals themselves as well as affiliated organisms-mostly invertebrates using hyperbolic crochet.

The Project/Exhibition is WORLDWIDE and "satellite" Hyperbolic reefs are on exhibit in Australia, Europe, Africa and eight major cities in the United States!!

The Hyperbolic Crochet Reef will be here in DC at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History from October 16th to April 24th. Click here to see more!
One of my enthusiastic colleagues allowed me to see some crocheted reef corals and echinoderms she had made....

An assemblage of different types..

The aforementioned green sea star...I "identified" as the big tropical Pacific-Atlantic
Linckia guildingi

(this image from the awesome Guam Reef Life website!)

Here is a crocheted Ophiothrix spp. These are ubiquitous throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific and Atlantic and are readily recognizable by the large number of sharp, needle-like spines that adorn the arms. They frequently are observed living among reefs and other colonial cnidarians.

(this is the Indo-Pacific Ophiothrix foveolata, from Wikimedia Commons)

Here is a diadematid, but probably the long-spined black sea urchin Diadema. One of many urchins which are important herbivores feeding on algae while protected by its long-sharp spines.

(image from the FMNH Guam site)

This next one is near and dear to my heart and has become a beloved echinoblog feature! The Giant Green Fish-eating ophiuroid-Ophiarachna incrassata!!! Which you can go here to see the full story!

Some fun, fuzzy crocheted Fire Urchins (Asthenosoma spp.)!!

A brittle star whose name escapes me...

and here to round out the hyperbolic reef sneak peek are some actual CORAL type things!



...with hopefully more to come!

Sea Cucumber Central! Spotlight on Systema Aspidochirotidae!

(Thelenota anais from the Image Gallery at Systema Aspidochirotidae!)

So, the other day, I got a brief email from my colleague Alex Kerr at the University of Guam which led to my examining the big NSF-sponsored Sea Cucumber Systematics Project Website Systema Aspidochirotidae.

This project, was headed by Principal Investigators Gustav Paulay at the Florida Museum of Natural History
and the aforementioned Alex Kerr.
Go here to see the NSF proposal and summary for the Partnership to Enhance & Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET) and the publications produced.

The short summary is that the project aims to clean up the taxonomy and systematics of an ecologically and financially important coral-reef holothurian (=sea cucumber) group via a global coalition of experts from all around the world.

Since the project's initial funding and start in September 2005 (and ongoing) their website has undergone a HUGE development in resources, making it an important resource to anyone interested in tropical holothurians.

Web Products. So what kind of resources? Take a look at the available information including

• Publications (mainly citations only)
• Presentations (pdf of abstracts!)
• Bibliography This is a HUGELY useful section. It includes pdf of ancient Pre-Linnean papers and citations for a multitude of literature including biology, cultural references and of course...taxonomy..

• Taxonomic Descriptions. Another incredibly useful collection of information. It includes a page with pdf files of individual species descriptions:
  

But wait! It doesn't just include pdf original species descriptions, it ALSO has taxonomic description compendia of supraspecific taxa (genera and up). They have over 400 descriptions online with 225 more to be included by the end of summer 2009!
that look like this:
And finally..an AWESOME image gallery. Some great examples....

Actinopyga mauritiana

Thelenota ananas

Polyplectana galatheae

Much remains for the group to complete-but clearly, the group has become established as the the global "sea cucumber central" information source!

Japanese Echinoderm Kawaii (Japanese cartoon mascots)

A recent post by my friend Matt Alt at AltJapan describes new Japanese mascots in honor of 2008, the International Year of the Reef.

These mascots are known in Japan as kawaii(for more info on kawaii go check out Matt's book-"Hello, Please"), and in this case are specifically geared at celebrating or publicizing a major event. The SEVEN kawaii are best summarized by Matt himself:

Clockwise from left, you've got Oniide (a super-cute crown-of-thorns starfish, nicknamed the "demon-star" in Japanese for its toxic spines), Shota (the boy with coral for hair), Kacchi, Chu, and Zou (a trio of coral polyps), Taiyo-Kun (the sun), Unibo (a sea urchin), Kanirin (a crab-girl) and Jangurasu (sea grass). The mascots were named in a nationwide competition; a 76-year-old from Fukushima submitted "Shota," while a 7-year-old from Tokyo came up with "Taiyo-Kun," showing the huge popularity of "working characters" (as we call them in Hello, Please) across a wide demographic in Japan.

TWO of these mascots are prominent coral-reef echinoderms. Both of which were taxa included in my recent post on corallivorous echinoderms...specifically Acanthaster planci, the Crown-of Thorns Starfish
Oniide is the very cute cartoon version not to be mistaken for this formidible beast:

and Diadema, the black needle urchin (this is my interpretation-there are quite a few coral reef echinoids that this might represent) as represented by Unibo (think of Uni from your local sushi restaurant)


Regardless of their perceived "threat" or "menace" both of these organisms occupy positions of ecological importance in coral reef systems and so, widespread awareness of not just the reef but its component inhabitant animals remains an important priority.

And hence... cool Japanese mascots!!