Author Archives: katrine

The Museum’s scientific cruise of 2014

R/V Håkon Mosby in Lysefjorden. photo: K.Kongshavn

R/V Håkon Mosby in Lysefjorden. photos: K.Kongshavn

We’ve spent the past couple of  days out on the big ole’ blue, sampling along the south-western coast of Norway for bristle worms, worm molluscs, bubble snails and fish on board the research vessel “Håkon Mosby”.

We went from Bergen down to Lysefjorden in Rogaland, and had a highly productive trip. In total we sampled 30 stations using various kinds of gear (epibenthic sled, grab, net, trawl and triangular dredge) to capture our target animals.

This is a region that we have very little material from, and what we do have has been sampled in a way that makes it unsuitable for genetic work – so we went out to remedy that. Now the work begins with sorting and identifying the animals – but we already know that we have found some of the species that we were hunting for – so the cruise was definitely a success, and the scenery and weather made for a wonderful bonus!

Grab

Grab

Netting for fish in the littoral zone

Netting for fish in the littoral zone

Collecting in the littoral zone

Collecting in the littoral zone

Lab work onboard

Lab work onboard

No cruise without mud! This pile yielded three of the tiny snails one of our researchers was after; success!

No cruise without mud! This pile yielded three of the tiny snails one of our researchers was after; success!

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Sorting in the lab

Sorting in the lab

Trawl catch

Trawl catch

RP-sledge in the sunset

RP-sledge in the sunset

Emptying the triangular dredge

Emptying the triangular dredge

Friday Photo: A beautiful feather duster worm!

For todays photo we have a real beauty; this bristle worm (Polychaeta) from the family Sabellidae, the feather duster worms!

After being emailed this photo, one of our collaborators – who works with the Sabellidae – has identified it to the genus Euchone (Thanks, M.! ).

For an identification to species level, an examination of small details, such as the characteristics of individual bristles would be needed. Or we can barcode it and hope that a specimen from the same species has already been (correctly!) identified to species and uploaded to the database, in which case we would get a hit on “our” barcode. In this case, we hope to do both – get a name on it based on the morphology, and do genetic sequencing so that its genetic barcode can be included in the BOLD database  Euchone spEuchone sp. Photo: K. Kongshavn

It was collected just outside of Bergen on one of our day trips, and will be included in our ongoing effort to assemble a library of genetic barcodes for all the Norwegian marine invertebrates.

Collecting around the island Sotra

We went out collecting with R/V “Hans Brattstrøm” again last Thursday, below is a small sample of the various animals that we collected. These will be used for genetic barcoding through the NorBOL project.

 

Friday Photo: Eumida alkyone

Eumida alkyone (det: A. Nygren from above photo). Photo: K.Kongshavn

Eumida alkyone (det: A. Nygren from above photo). Photo: K.Kongshavn

We went on two one-day trips with the R/V “Hans Brattstrøm” in March, here’s a collection of snapshots from the sunny day of surveying.

This is one of the species we found, and – apart from being nice and photogenic – it is also interesting as it is a rather new species, described in 2010. You can read more about that here:

Nygren, Arne ; Pleijel, Fredrik. 2010. From one to ten in a single stroke – resolving the European Eumida sanguinea (Phyllodocidae, Annelida) species complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution [In Press, Corrected Proof] , available online athttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.10.010. page(s): 8

10(!) new plates ready for BOLD

plansje

We’re currently in the final stages of preparing ten plates; 9 from Norwegian waters for the Norwegian Barcode of Life project (NorBOL), and one plate of Polychaetes from the Marine Biodiversity of Western Africa (MIWA) project for submission to the BOLD database.

The shipment will consist of the following taxa groups:

UMBergen_NB_polych425

1…

UMBergen_NB_polych231

2….

UMBergen_NB_polych204

3….

UMBergen_NB_polych108

…4 plates of polychaetes (bristle worms) from Norwegian waters. These have mainly been collected by the large projects MAREANO, BIOSKAG and PolySkag, and have been identified during workshops that we have arranged.

One plate of aplacophoran molluscs

One plate of aplacophoran molluscs

One plate of ophiouroids (brittle stars), mainly from MAREANO and BIOSKAG

One plate of ophiuroids (brittle stars), mainly from MAREANO and BIOSKAG

One plate of Amphipoda, mostly collected by MAREANO, but also samples collected during a teaching cruise from UNIS at SValbard

One plate of Amphipoda, mostly collected by MAREANO, but also samples collected during a teaching cruise from UNIS at Svalbard

One complete plate of Cumaceans...

One complete plate of Cumaceans…

 

..and one plate with Cumacea (bottom right), Mysida (bottom left) and Isopoda (top)

..and one plate with Cumacea (bottom right), Mysida (bottom left) and Isopoda (top)

As well as one plate of African polychaetes.

As well as one plate of African polychaetes.

Hopefully the sequencing will be successfull, and yield many new DNA barcodes!

Stats!

We’re nearing the end of the year (!), and ’tis the season for evaluations.

I have looked into how our three blogs (namely the Norwegian and English version of the collections blog, and our blog on the project on marine fauna of western Africa (MIWA)) have fared.

The collection blogs began in April this year, the MIWA blog went live in June.

People have shown much interest in our doings, here are the stats:

stats2013

We thank all of our readers for the attention, and hope you have enjoyed your glimpse into the collection work. We hope to “see” you again in the new year!

For now, we wish you all a

winter_snow_17

More from the PolyNor workshop

As usual, we use a variety of methods to work with our animals – these include use of stereo microscope, “ordinary” microscope, and electron scanning microscope (SEM). Below are some pictures of work in progress during today.

Work in the lab, SEM photos of complete animals and of tiny details, talks and stacks of material. (Pictures by A. Mackie and K.Kongshavn)

Work in the lab, SEM photos of complete animals and of tiny details, talks and stacks of material. (Pictures by A. Mackie and K.Kongshavn)

PolyNor Workshop on the MAREANO material

mareano_logo

This week our lab is teeming with activity as twelve researchers goes to work on our polychaete material, focusing mainly on that which has been collected by the MAREANO program.

Worm work in progress! Photos by Andy Mackie (SEM photograph by K. Kongshavn)

Worm work in progress!
Photos by Andy Mackie (SEM photograph by K. Kongshavn)

As mentioned previously, the material collected by MAREANO gets split into size based fractions, which then receive different treatments. As far as the polychaetes go, MAREANO carries out routine identification on what is collected by grab (1 mm) and beam trawl (5 mm), all of which has been fixed in formalin (until this year, where it was begun fixing half of the beam trawl in ethanol). Thus we already have some idea of what to expect to find in the material.

At the Invertebrate Collections we have processed a lot of bulk samples from the fractions that MAREANO does not utilize, and lately we have especially focused on the Ethanol fixed material, as this can be used for genetic work.

This workshop is part of the Polychaete diversity in the Norwegian sea (PolyNor) project. This project aim to explore the diversity of polychaetes in the Nordic seas;

The Norwegian Sea holds a diverse fauna of polychaete worms, more diverse than previously anticipated. Recent work has discovered several new species and species described in the old literature but not seen since their description, has been rediscovered. Material from new samples will be targeted to discover the true diversity of polychaetes in the Norwegian Sea.

During the workshop we will work on some of the groups with especially tricky taxonomy, prioritizing   the identifying of specimens fixed in ethanol, and select individuals that are especially suited for genetic work. And of course we will also discuss current topics, find and reconnect with collaborators, drink  an unholy amount of coffee, and learn some new things!