Category: Biology

Biology, Coral Reef Species & Ecology

A Fish Journal for a six-year-old

elauervose

My six-year-old niece is coming to visit and we are going snorkeling! I'm very excited! Not only because she's a fun kid to hang out with, but also because she shares my love of fish and learning about the ocean. So, I've been thinking about all the things we could do together and how I might need to adapt them a bit for a tiny person.

Biology

Lumens are for Humans; PAR is for Plants

elauervose

Learning about hydroponics was my COVID project. It was something I had wanted to learn for a long time and this was the perfect opportunity. I decided early on that a grow light would be my primary (and biggest) investment. Since then, I have experimented and explored all kinds of different growing methods and systems and I still think choosing a grow light carefully is the most important step. This post is the result of my own deep-dive into grow lights and my explanation of how to best use artificial light sources for autotrophic (self-feeding - aka photosynthetic) organisms.

Biology, Coral Reef Species & Ecology, Research Summary

Cleaning stations

elauervose

This is an Initial Phase Queen Parrotfish being cleaned (most likely) by juvenile bluehead wrasse and are the best photos we've ever gotten of cleaner fish in action. I learned about this amazing occurrence from a fishinar presentation "Cleaning Stations" given by Ned Deloach (co-author of everyone's favorite fish ID books) that I really began to understand the importance of cleaning stations and the amazing relationships that play out there.

Biology, Coral Reef Species & Ecology

Puddingwife Wrasse

elauervose

I didn’t know at the time what I was seeing or how hard it would be to get another great picture of this fish. I’ve seen them in Bonaire and Belize but never been able to get another picture good enough to share. I do know that the first time I saw it, I thought, “the reef is a truly astonishing and beautiful place!”