A Symphony of Skeeters


The limousine pulls up to the opera house...


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Diatom of the month - February 2016: Cyclotella meneghiniana

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by Luca Marazzi* ‘Who’ is it and where does it live? This centric diatom’s c ells are drum-shaped, the valve diameter and the density of marginal striae are highly variable. Cyclotella meneghiniana   is a rather cosmopolitan species; in tropical freshwaters, it is associated with various water depths and salinity 1 , and, in temperate regions, it is a typical planktonic taxon in the late summer-autumn 2 . In North America, this species can cope with a wide range of conditions, for example from freshwater to saline waters in the Great Plains lakes 3 . a)                                                                         b) Cyclotella meneghiniana , with a) chloroplasts and b) silica frustule after ‘chemical digestion’. Source :  http://fcelter.fiu.edu/data/database/diatom/index.htm ...
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Florida Bay: Beneath the Surface

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Florida Bay consists of mud banks so intertwined it takes an experienced boater (or a great GPS chart tracker, if you’re me) to successfully navigate across the bay.   Because flow is somewhat restricted by these mud banks, the basins have developed into unique habitats making each dive of the FCE-LTER seagrass sampling project quite different.   At each of the LTER sites within Florida Bay, we estimate percent cover of all seagrass species and many calcareous green algal species, as well as red, brown, and other green algae.   We monitor water quality over time via nutrient analyses in seagrass and calcareous green algal tissue, and we collect data on salinity, temperature, light penetration, and water turbidity.   Data are located at www.fiu.edu/~seagrass . Sprigger Bank is our monitoring site located at the western border of the bay where salinity is more stable than that of eastern regions.   Sprigger Bank is characterized by dense turtle grass ( Thalassia ...
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Diatom of the month - December 2015: Tursiocola ziemanii

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by Luca Marazzi* ‘Who’ is it? Tursiocola ziemanii is one of three new species described by FIU’s Dr. Thomas Frankovich and colleagues in a recent paper in Phytotaxa , a journal dedicated to the publication of discoveries on the taxonomy of plants, algae, mosses, lichens and fungi. The name was chosen to honor Dr. Joseph C. Zieman (1943–), in recognition of his generous support of diatom research in, and contributions to our understanding of, Florida Bay. A manatee in South Florida. Source : http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2014/05/did-i-see-manatee-dying-yesterday-by.html Scalebars: a. 5 µm; b)10 µm; Length Range : 20-61 µm;                           Width Range : 2.4-5.2 µm; Striae in 10 µm : 22-25 Scanning electron microscopy photos of Tursiocola ziemanii in a) valve or face view and b) girdle or lateral view . Source : Frankovich et a...
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