Sexy Saturday - Is there something in the water?

"What is all that stuff in the water?" This is a common question after completing a spring time dive.  The good news is, during the summer months you will see a lot more fish and lobsters.  The bad news is, right now you are swimming through their eggs and larvae!
Ichthyoplankton is the scientific term for the eggs and larvae of fish that are found near the surface of the oceans.  Most fish larvae drift along with the surface currents until they are developed enough to swim on their own. New England lobster larvae spend the whole summer as free-swimming plankton near the warmer surface layer. Horseshoe crabs produce thousands of eggs and there are many species of jellyfish floating through the water column at all depths.
So what are we swimming with? The list is amazing. Recent studies of Long Island Sound*, have found the larvae from different species of flounder, hake, mackeral, scup, butterfish, horseshoe crabs, lobsters and more. We also see hydromedusa, siphonophores, comb jellies and moon jellies. (all non-stinging)
So next time you go out to Stonington for a dive.......

*http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/projects/ct/mtapa/moheganefha.pdf

Sexy Saturday "What's love got to do with it?"

The lobster is a solitary animal. They roam the sea floor looking for food and possibly a fight.  When two lobsters meet, there is always a challenge for territory and some fights that occur are "to the death." The only time two lobsters may inhabit the same burrow is during a brief mating encounter. Once a female has molted and her shell is still soft, she may allow a male to tickle her shell (or fancy) with his antennae.  If she is receptive, the male lobster enters the burrow.  While raising on his tail and claws, the male uses his legs to flip the female over.  The male lobster has a pair of hardened swimmeretts, or fins that he will use to pass a gelatinous blob of sperm to the female. The female has a recepticle on her shell located along her swimmeretts which will be used to store the sperm until fertilization. The female can store the sperm for several months until the egg-laying season in July and August. When a female produces fertilized eggs she fans them away to disperse with the current.  These planktonic larvae float along the surface for 4 to 6 weeks.  After molting five times, they are about an inch long.  At this time they swim to the bottom to start their sedentary lives.
The female lays about 50,000 eggs during a mating season, but only 2 will generally survive to a legal catch size for lobstering.  It takes 5 to 7 years for a lobster to grow to be one pound.

Sexy Saturdays

STOP in the name of love........ The Stoplight Parrotfish is a coral reef dwelling fish that can change sex.  These fish are generally located throughout Florida, the Bahamas and Caribbean. In the initial phase of life, the Spotlight Parrotfish could either be male or female.  In many cases, all fish begin life as females and change later in areas that lack breeding males or females. Fish in the initial phase are usually drab colors of red, grey, brown or black.  After the third year of life, a female may change into a male. This is refered to as the "terminal phase."  A male that was once a female is called a "Supermale" and will generally pair with one female to spawn.  A male that has not changed is called a "primary male" and will generally mate with several females. A Supermale is very colorful with combinations of bright green, yellow, blue and red.
The Spotlight Parrotfish spawns all year long, but has greater activity during the summer months. Males and females migrate into deeper areas of the reef to spawn.  The fertilized eggs are negatively buoyant and hatch within 25 hours to release larvae.  These larvae have no eyes, mouth or pigmentation for the first three days.
 A Spotlight Parrotfish can live up to ten years and can also undergo sex reversals at any time during their terminal phase.

Sexy Saturdays

Are there male and female jellyfish?

The answer is "yes". Jellyfish have reproductive organs called gonads. When the time comes to make new jellyfish, a male releases sperm through its mouth into the water column. A passing female siphons some of the swimming sperm and fertilization occurs within the body or in brood pouches. These brood pouches are located on the oral arms of the jellyfish. After some early development, small swimming larvae leave the body or brood pouch. Once in the water column, they attach to solid rock or shells on the sea floor. They transform into polyps which feed on microscopic organisms passing by. Eventually these polyps multiply and form stacks of larvae discs called ephra. After months of development, each of these stacked ephra break off and develop into a adult or Medusa jellyfish.