TGIF – All About Sea Squirts!
TGIF – All About Sea Squirts! avatar

By , on December 23rd, 2011 Leave a comment   Adaptations, Organisms   , , , , ,  

5 minutes of tunicate facts courtesy of the Bocas Research Station in Panama!

The EPR Chronicles VI
The EPR Chronicles VI avatar

By , on September 19th, 2011 Leave a comment   Expeditions, Life At Sea, Seeps, Vent, & Whale Falls   , , ,  

For background on the EPR Chronicles, see this post. The expedition was also recorded online at the Field Museum during this time (before science blogs!) and includes dispatches, videos and photos! Sunday 11/10 2:20 am Today was a little less stressful. I overslept and missed breakfast at 7:30 am & science meeting at 10:30 am. . . . → Read More: The EPR Chronicles VI

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Sea Squirts, SLOSS, and Sex
Sea Squirts, SLOSS, and Sex avatar

By , on October 8th, 2010 2 comments   Adaptations, Mating & Reproduction, New Research   , , , , , , , , , , , ,  

Long time readers will know how perverse and socially inappropriate the unseemly sea squirt is. But there is an interesting property of sea squirt pornography and local oceanography that may have consequences in the debates surrounding marine reserve design. Castillo and colleagues examined the spawning behavior of intertidal tunicates (Pyura praeputialis, an invasive) from the . . . → Read More: Sea Squirts, SLOSS, and Sex

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Female Urochordates Have Few, If Any, Inhibitions
Female Urochordates Have Few, If Any, Inhibitions avatar

By , on July 2nd, 2010 2 comments   Adaptations, Mating & Reproduction, Music, New Research   , , , , , , , , ,  

Photo of Botryllus schlosseri from the Swalla Lab website Yep, that’s right. They get it on with any male gamete that passes their way. They just don’t give a [rhymes with duck]. Boom chaka-laka-boom. These loose lizzies are all about increasing genetic diversity if you know what I mean. OH, I know you know . . . → Read More: Female Urochordates Have Few, If Any, Inhibitions

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