The Right Blue

The Right Blue is the 'flavor of the month' at Photo Synthesis

Several months ago the folks over at ScienceBlogs.com launched a new project -- a blog called Photo Synthesis. The idea was to showcase science-related photography and provide a platform for discussing it.

Here's how they describe it:

The internet is home to a wealth of captivating science images, from the many microscopic components of a cell to the remote corners of the universe captured by Hubble. On Photo Synthesis, we aim to bring you the best of what's out there. Every month we will feature the work of a different photoblogger, exposing worlds both small and large, familiar and exotic. We will let the power of the lens take us where we ourselves are not able to go.

Shortly after Photo Synthesis was launched, we were asked if we would like to take a turn there. Long story short: Bobbie agreed to post some of her underwater photos there, and to write about the photo subjects and the process of taking pictures underwater -- just like she does here on The Right Blue.

This month -- August -- is Bobbie's month at Photo Synthesis, so we'd like to invite our readers to visit there and say hello. Just think: If you like what you see at The Right Blue, this month you can have a double dose!

Here's the link to Photo Synthesis, and here is what Bobbie has posted there so far:

We'll keep you posted on what else Bobbie publishes at Photo Synthesis.

About the photo on this page: Bobbie photographed this Whitemouth Moray eel (Gymnothorax meleagris) in its hiding place in a bed of Plate-and-Pillar Coral (Porites rus) at Honaunau Bay, Hawaii.

Leviathan cowries: Becoming scarce in Hawaii?

by B. N. Sullivan

Here is another favorite from our seashell collection. One of the larger cowries found in Hawaii, its name is apt: Leviathan (Cypraea leviathan).

This one has been in our collection for a long time. I found it in the mid-1980s at Pupukea on the north shore of the island of Oahu. This one is 6.6 cm in length (roughly 2.5 in).

We used to see Leviathan cowries quite regularly, but we haven't seen any at all in quite awhile, alive or empty. These guys live in relatively shallow water, so they are (or were) relatively easy for snorkelers, divers -- and even waders -- to spot. We fear that we're not seeing them these days because too many live ones have been taken by collectors, leaving too few to reproduce and maintain the population.

Older reference books about seashells list Leviathan cowries as endemic to Hawaii. More recently these shells have been recorded in a number of other locations in the Indo-Pacific region, so while we still can say that they are indigenous to Hawaii, they are no longer considered to be Hawaiian endemics.

Leviathan cowries are heavy shells; they definitely are not fragile. And like almost all cowries, they have a wonderful china-like look to them.

One of the distinctive features of the shells of Leviathan cowries is a row of violet teeth bordering each side of the aperture on the underside of the shell. You can see those unusual violet teeth clearly in the second photo on this page. There are several other cowries in Hawaii that have marking similar to the Leviathan, but they are smaller -- and they do not have those wonderful violet teeth!

Another distinctive feature of Leviathan cowries has nothing to do with the shell, but rather with the snail that secretes and inhabits the shell. Readers may recall the photos of a live Tiger cowrie that we posted here on The Right Blue earlier this year. When the creature's mantle was extended over the shell, you could see that it had rubbery-looking thingies sticking out all over it. Those are called papillae. Well, the papillae of Leviathan cowries are quite different. They are spiky clumps that look like little bushes!

The papillae on the mantle of the Leviathan are difficult to describe, and I don't have a photo of a live one to post. Fortunately there is a video on YouTube that shows a live Leviathan with its mantle extended over the shell. You can see the weirdly shaped papillae on the mantle.

Here is makuabob's video, Meet Cypraea leviathan:

If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.

All set for a pajama party on the reef?

by B. N. Sullivan

The common name for this little creature is Striped Pajama Nudibranch. Its scientific name is Chromodoris quadricolor. These nudies are small -- less than two inches (5 cm) in length -- but their bright colors make them easy to spot.

This species is very common in the Red Sea. In fact it is probably safe to say that this is the nudibranch seen most frequently by Red Sea divers. C. quadricolor also is found elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region. They are sponge eaters.

Those two orange structures sticking up from the forward end of the creature are its rhinophores - sensory organs that help it navigate and find food. The rhinophores sense chemical molecules in the water similarly to how we sense smells in the air.

The bunch of feathery-looking things protruding from the tail end of the nudibranch are its gills, used for respiration. The gills can be retracted into a tiny pouch on the nudibranch's back. If you see one of these guys and it appears to have no gills, look for a little bump where the gills should be. That's where they are hidden.

Like many of its colorful cousins of the same genus, the Striped Pajama Nudibranch is a favorite photo subject for underwater macro photographers. No surprise there: it is colorful, photogenic -- and like most snails, it doesn't move very quickly. (Photographers are particularly fond of brightly colored critters that will hold still long enough to focus the lens!)

I photographed the individual on this page in the Red Sea at a place called Shark Bay, which is not far from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. [Click on the photo to enlarge.]

Whale sharks, mantas, stingrays, barracuda, jacks...

What else can you identify in this wonderful video shot at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan?

Said to be the second largest aquarium tank in the world*, Jon Rawlinson, the videographer, explains:

The main tank called the 'Kuroshio Sea' holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world's second largest acrylic glass panel, measuring 8.2 meters by 22.5 meters with a thickness of 60 centimeters. Whale sharks and manta rays are kept amongst many other fish species in the main tank.

Visit Jon Rawlinson's website to see more of his work.

If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.

* The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is billed as the world's largest aquarium - more than 8 million gallons.