Happy Earthworm Day!

In case you didn't know, today has been declared International Earthworm Day!

Of course it's a great invert to choose for it's own day. Aside from Barnacles (we all know how wonderful they are) and evolution, nothing seemed to occupy Darwin's curiosity as much as earthworms. For over three decades he studied them, off and on, and wrote papers and books about them and their effects in the soil.

Unfortunately today is a chock-a-block, with end of semester work and a seminar tonight so I doubt I'll be able to put together anything new. But here a link to all our past earthworm ramblings here and of course...

Earthworm Porn by a true friend of the invertebrates Isabella Rossellini.

Giant Blue Earthworms and Other Tales

Trumping my story of giant spitting, lily-smelling earthworms from Idaho, those wily Bleimans have an article on giant blue, radioactive earthworms from Australia.

Oh and check Aydin's snail schlong. Its half the snail's coil length.

Help the Brine Queen catch runaway crayfish larvae.

Work with an Invert! - Postdoc in Sabellidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) Biogeography

Awesome opportunity for anyone interested in sabellids!

Pat Hutchings would like to inform all polychaete-workers of the following opportunity:

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW – POLYCHAETA. Scientific Officer, Grade 2. Temporary full-time Position No. TMP596/08. Total remuneration package valued at up to $78,951 p.a, including salary ($64,827– $71,546), employers contribution to superannuation and annual leave loading.

Responsible for systematic and biogeographic research on the Sabellida clade, describing new taxa and undertaking phylogenetic studies using morphological and molecular data. within the Siboglinids, Oweniids and Sabellids.

Selection Criteria: PhD degree in marine science with detailed taxonomic knowledge of Sabellida and publishing experience in the group. Experience in molecular biology, scanning electron microscopy, and developing interactive keys. An ability to undertake fieldwork. Well developed written and oral communication skills. Experience in the use of analytical computer programs. Ability to undertake independent research.

Job Notes:

This is a postdoctoral fellowship opportunity, jointly funded by the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) and the Australian Museum. Additional funds will be available for laboratory, travel and field expenses. The intention of this Fellowship is to build the Australian taxonomic capacity within key groups. This is a temporary position with appointment/employment under Section 24, 27 or 86 of the Public Sector Employment and Management 2002 for a period of up to three (3) years



Inquiries: Dr Brian Lassig on (02) 9320 6297 or email brian[dot]lassig[at]austmus[dot]gov[dot]au

Closing date: 30 April 2008

Please visit Australian Museum - Positions Vacant for full job details including selection criteria, inquiries contact and the position description.

Bioturbation: An Update on Darwin's Last Idea

Just got wind of a conference that sounds pretty awesome: Bioturbation: an update on Darwin's last idea. This is of course in reference to one Darwin's last great works: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms, with observations on their habits. The conference objectives are:

(1) To bring together scientists from different disciplines to provide an update on bioturbation from different perspectives, such as ecology, geochemistry, marine biology, paleontology, etc.

(2) To stimulate the exchange of ideas across the marine/terrestrial and paleo/present boundaries. We strongly invite “crossing-boundary” presentations.

(3) To present the state-of-the-art in theoretical concepts, mathematical models, experimental data acquisition techniques, and existing datasets.

We stimulate "off the record" presentation of previously unpublished scientific results, and we will allocate ample time for formal and informal discussion among the attendees.

Organizing committee: Bob Aller (SOMAS, SUNY Stony Brook), Erik Kristensen (Institute of Biology, Univ. Southern Denmark, Odense), Franck Gilbert (EcoLab, Univ. Toulouse), Jack Middelburg (Dept. Ecosystem Studies , NIOO-KNAW, Yerseke), Filip Meysman (Lab. Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Free University of Brussels).

Earthworms as HazMat Workers?

Its a little old news, but I was clearing out old bookmarks in my browser and thought this was too cool to not post on. You can read the whole CNN.com story here.

Work With an Invert! - Natural Sciences Curator in South Africa

Research position at Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

CURATOR: NATURAL SCIENCES
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Natal Museum researchers conduct research in various fields of natural sciences. The main responsibilities for this position are:
· Undertake original research (either independently or under the supervision of a chief curator), with emphasis on the unique resources housed in the Natal Museum: ideally molluscs, or other non-insect invertebrates such as myriapods, arachnids and earthworms.
· Register for higher postgraduate qualification where appropriate.
· Augment the collections through fieldwork where appropriate.
· Critically evaluate and interpret data, and prepare high quality manuscripts that meet the standards of the international scientific community.
· Formulate targeted research projects and submit applications to external funding bodies.
· Assist in efficient management and databasing of the collections, and provide guidance and scientific advice where necessary.
· Provide external and internal clients with authoritative information relating to collections and field of research expertise.
· Engage in collaborative research projects to enhance research capacity.

REQUIREMENTS: PhD degree in relevant field is preferable, ideally with publication record and curatorial experience. Applicants with an Honours or Masters Degree in relevant field may be considered if they intend to continue academic studies. Good existing knowledge of the research field and understanding the role of museum research are essential. Ability to generate funds, conduct research and communicate scientific results to academic community, general public and other interest groups. Excellent writing, presentation and communication skills. Valid drivers licence.

SALARY: Negotiable at salary level 8 of Public Service Employees.

The Natal Museum is an equal opportunity affirmative action employer, whose aim it is to promote representativity in all levels of occupational categories in the institution. Applications should be posted to: The Deputy Director: Natal Museum, 237 Jabu Ndlovu Street, Private Bag 9070, Pietermaritzburg, 3200.

No faxed applications will be accepted.
The Natal Museum reserves the right not to make an appointment.
Please send a covering letter stating the position you are applying for, a detailed resume with a list of references and certified copies of all qualifications.
Further enquiries regarding these positions can be directed to the Deputy Director.
Closing date for submission of all applications is 15 February 2008, at 12:00. Late applications will not be accepted. If you have not heard from us by the 20 March 2008, please consider your application to have been unsuccessful.

237 Jabu Ndlovu Street, Pietermaritzburg
For a never ending journey of discovery!

BBC OnePlanet Soils and Earthworms Program

Image from my favorite vermicomposting site for children: Worms.com. A must see especially for parents and teachers!

BBC World Service (radio) OnePlanet environment program topic this week is soil. The middle segment of the first episode covers earthworms, including a visit to the NHM Darwin Centre collection. It's available as a podcast for downloading.

From the Ground Up: Part 1

The first of a two part series in which soil scientists, biologists and enthusiasts tell the story of soil. How was this invaluable thin layer around the planet formed and how does it differ in around the world?

From the Ground Up: Part 2

This part is about soil degradation issues & land management to combat it.

You can download the podcast from the the OnePlanet website (first link) or directly download the mp3 files of each episode (13MB each, second and third links). Each episode is 26 minutes long.

*Thanks to G.R. on the Annelida listserve for bringing my attention to this!

Ice Inverts

Richard Black, environment correspondent for the BBC, has a nice news article on small invertebrate larvae (such as the annelid juveniles in the photo) that live within the small briny channels inside the arctic ice. Required reading for the week is Rich Life Emerges from Nature's Freezer.

Tuesday Toon

From the most totally awesome animal comic strip on the internet.

Kenneth Ernest Lee 1927-2007

It is with great sadness that the death of Dr. Ken Lee is reported. Born, raised and educated in New Zealand, he was at CSIRO in Australia since 1965. His research has focused on soil ecology and he was an expert biologist of earthworms, mites and enchytraeids. A well written obituary is published in the June issue of Biology and Fertility of Soils (hat tip to the Annelida Listserve). Here are some selected excerpts:

"Over the next 10 years he completed a monographic study of the earthworms of New Zealand, detailing the morphology, systematics and distribution of 178 native and 14 introduced species (The earthworm fauna of New Zealand. NZ DSIR Bulletin 130, 1959). Whilst global knowledge of earthworm taxa and distribution has developed since 1959, the theses advanced in this monograph still form the basis of our understanding of the relations between earthworms and soils. Just one native earthworm species has since been added to the New Zealand fauna!"

"His seminal book on earthworms, whilst highly relevant to his work and of great intellectual standing, was written at home ‘after hours’—an illustration of how his family supported his science."

"Whilst Charles Darwin’s 1881 book The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms first documented the importance of earthworms and launched soil biology, it was Ken Lee who developed knowledge about earthworms, their ecology and relationship with soils and land use, making masterful contributions to soil zoology and to the understanding of the importance of biological contributions to soil processes on the global twentieth century scene. To quote from the Avant-propos written by Marcel Bouche for the 1985 book Earthworms: their ecology and relationships with soils and land use, “The work of K. E. Lee, which for the first time places earthworms on a world-wide scale in the economy of nature and humanity, takes up again a century later, in modern terms, the message of the great naturalist. By its critical analysis, its synthetic approach and its opening up of all relevant subjects that are accessible to rigorous understanding, this volume of K. E. Lee takes its place as the direct descendant of that of Charles Darwin”."

The Giant Spitting Earthworm Needs Your Help!

The northwestern prairies are home to an unusual creature who was once very abundant in these fertile soils. Frank Smith was the taxonomist who described this species in 1897 stating:

"This species is very abundant in that region of the country and their burrows are sometimes seen extending to a depth of over 15 feet."

The impact of this creature on the prairie ecosystem is immense, to the extent that its disappearance might threaten the prairie's viability. What is this creature whose importance cannot be understated? The giant Palouse spitting earthworm (Driloleirus americanus, the "american lily-like worm"), whose saliva is said the smell like lilies, has not been sighted in Palouse Prairie region since 1988 despite several organized expeditions to the area.

The Palouse Prairie spans western Idaho and Eastern Washington. Prairies in the United States have been shrinking dramatically under the weight of industrialized agriculture, pesticide runoff, invasive species and suburban development. Protection of this species would mean protection of the Palouse Prairie, considered by some scientists as the most endangered ecosystem in Washington. As Steve Paulson, founder of the Friends of the Clearwater, put it,

“This worm is the stuff that legends and fairytales are made of. What kid wouldn’t want to play with a three-foot-long, lily-smelling, soft pink worm that spits? A pity we’re losing it.” (cited here)

That's right, the giant Palouse spitting worm can grow up to 3 feet, is pinkish due to a lack of pigment in the skin, smells like lilies when disturbed and can dig burrows of up to 15 feet. All this living right under the noses of Washington and Idaho residents.

Landscape of the Palouse Prairie. Painting part of Oregon State University's Art About Agriculture.
The rarity of this earthworm has fueled conservationists wanting to protect the Palouse from future development. It listed as "vulnerable" under the 2007 IUCN Red List. IUCN defines a species as vulnerable when it faces a "high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future." For a species to be "endangered" its estimated population must be less than 250 mature individuals and to be listed as "critically endangered" the estimated population must consist of less than 50 mature individuals. Since the original discovery in 1897 by Frank Smith, only a mere handful of sightings have taken place in that 110 year span. In fact, a 2002 survey of earthworms of 46 sites in the Palouse region failed to document its presence. To me, this should qualify as critically endangered. Though I recognize that a more thorough and quantitative study needs to be done, the fact of the matter is that this earthworm is very rare. For instance, if there have been 10 sightings in the last 110 years over an area about 8000 square miles (~20,000 square km), we can likely conclude that the population size is certainly less than 250 mature individuals and possibly under 50.

That must also be what several conservation organizations and individuals thought when they petitioned for the protection of D. americanus and its prairie habitat under the Endangered Species Act. Friends of the Clearwater, Palouse Audobon Society, Palouse Prairie Foundation and 3 individuals wrote to the Department of the Interior (pdf of petition here) in August, 2006. Two months later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded:

"[...]. We reviewed your petition to issue an emergency rule to list the giant Palouse earthworm. Our assessment is that circumstances pertaining to the status of the species do not warrant emergency listing. If conditions change, and we determine emergency listing is warranted, an emergency rule will be developed.

We are currently required to complete a significant number of listing and critical habitat actions in Fiscal Year 2006, pursuant to court orders and judicially approved settlement agreements. Complying with these court orders, settlement agreements, and other priorities obligates all of our listing and critical habitat funding for Fiscal Year 2006. Therefore, while we are not able to further address your petition to list the giant Palouse earthworm as endangered or, alternatively, as threatened, we will address your petition as soon as funding becomes available."-Letter posted on Palouse Prairie Foundation website.

A year later, the USFWS has not conducted the required 90-day review and 12-month review. Last month, the petitioners teamed up with the Center for Biological Diversity and issued a 60-day notice of intent to sue USFWS to speed up the process. To date, the Bush administration has protected 58 species, only 25% of his father protected in his 4-year presidency (Clinton protected 522 species in his 8 years in office).

"...this ecosystem is one of the rarest on earth. Listing the giant Palouse earthworm may be the only salvation for the Palouse prairie."-O. Lynne Nelson, Friends of the Clearwater quoted from this CBD press release.

Dr. Worm

LOL, "I'm not a real doctor but I am a real worm, I am an actual worm, I live like a worm." Am I a freaking nerd or what, or just easily entertained. Regardless, They Might Be Giants are absolutely brilliant.

Or for the more claymationally inclined.

A World Inside a Coconut

In November 2003, while an undergrad at University of California at Davis I was asked by my 2 of my Geology professors if I wanted to help them out on an expedition to hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise. They knew of my interest in vents because they were teaching a 1 credit seminar on Hydrothermal Vents that I was participating in. My undergraduate major in Evolution and Ecology though and was planning on double majoring in Geology. It never happened though, mostly because I didn't want to stay an extra semester and take the two classes I needed to finish the major (coincidentally the same classes I would have needed to get a minor too - Paleoclimatology and Mineralogy).

This expedition was headed by the Field Museum of Chicago as more or less a collecting expedition and other parties with funding came along to share the cruise time. We used the famous Alvin submersible and sailed aboard the R/V Atlantis. Our role as the "geology contingent" was to oversee the night operations which included mapping the seafloor and flying TowCam, the towed camera system the we basically keep from crashing too may times into the seafloor or a cliff or something. It takes a photo every 30 seconds and also has equiptment to measure the alitude off the seafloor, distance of something in front it, particle scatter in the water column, conductivity and temperature. Except for the photographs, all this information is relayed up the cable to the control room where someone has to constantly have their hand on the controls to adjust the feed of the cable, keeping the camera at about 3-5 meters off the bottom. Not an easy task, but needlessness to say the graduate student and undergrad (myself) never crashed while the 2 professors who have done this for years... lets just say the close-ups were awesome!

Being that this was mainly a biology cruise was the real reason I was asked to go. I'm not really a geologist, just a biologist with a good deal of geological training. Being the least senior out of just about everybody on board I was affectionately referred to one French participant (whom I now work with on various projects) as the "ship's bitch". I was in charge of making a "best of" video for the expedition to show off to the Museum's patrons. Basically pulling out highlights and cool video from each dive. I also found my passion was sorting through rocks, sediment, snot, you name it and finding critters. I seemed to be very good at it as the Chief P.I. and other biologists seemed pretty please with my findings! Sorting is still something I take great pleasure in. I get all giggly when a box full of crap comes up from the seafloor, filled with various worms, gastropods, amphipods... its the "what new thing might I find if I keep looking?" that keeps my interests peaked. Other duties were as requested by whomever wanted help (like bleeding the giant tubeworm Riftia pachyptila). I reveled in it all!


Our nights were filled with work, but the daytime was spent waiting for Alvin to return from the bottom. We often peered overboard trying to spot marine life. Often floating debris from islands or continents far away would pass beside the ship with several colorful fish hidden underneath seeking its protection. One day a coconut floated by. I don't know whose brilliant idea it was, but one of the biologists netted it for fun I suppose. As it turned out this coconut was full of wonderful surprises!

All the images, except the picture of myself in Alvin, were taken by my friend and colleague, crustacean biologist T.A. Haney. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what any of these are, none of the specimens were in my possession since the end of that cruise. I presume they ended up deposited in the Field Museum along with everything else. The barnacle appears similar to species in the genus Poecilasma, but has lateral plates, which I haven't seen in Poecilasma. The clam has a massive siphon! But I think the polychaete steals the show. I can try to ID the family and maybe genus, using Fauchald's 1977 key to polychaetes tomorrow when I'm in the lab.

I just wanted to share these photos for a couple reasons. One is that they have fascinated me since I saw them. All of their coloring is reminiscent of a coconut. Its almost as if they intended to live inside of a coconut hull and have all independently evolved "cocomaflage". It is rather uncanny. I think the currents at 8-13 north run east to west. I'm not sure where the equatorial counter current was at that time and that year, but we were probably above it. Therefore this microcommunity had to have come from Mexico or Central America or an island offshore. We were about 400km from the coast, so it had to travel quite far and all the inhabitants seemed healthy and were responsive. What did they eat in there? Did the species interact? They all appeared to be adult forms.

Observations like this open so many questions for me about connectivity in the ocean. If I end up staying in research after I finish my degree, I will be putting proposals in to study floating microcommunities such as this one. Just think of trolling the open seas in transects and picking up anything you can spot and seeing what lives there. There can be higher and more rigorous scientific questions posed too, other than mere fascination with discovery and natural history. For instance, how do floating communities affect genetic structure of animal species? We can take an island biogeographic model and throw in information about the frequency of immigration events such as these into the mix and see if communities can be sustained or recolonized after local extinction. The role of floating debris, whether natural or man-made, is an underappreciated question in marine ecology, in part of the ephemeral nature of the debris. Anyone want to write a grant proposal? Or give me a job at a non-profit, or a post-doc, or... to investigate cool stuff like this? (big cheesy smile)

I Knew It! We Have Worm Brains!

Photo credit: Image courtesy of European Molecular Biology Laboratory.
Well, at least the part of our brain that controls hormones anyways.

Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] now reveal that the hypothalamus and its hormones are not purely vertebrate inventions, but have their evolutionary roots in marine, worm-like ancestors.

In a press release on ScienceDaily, researchers in Germany found striking similarities in hormone-secreting nerve cells between the marine polychaete, Platynereis dumerilii (pictured above) and the Zebrafish, a model organism for developmental biology. These calls also have the dual purpose of containing sensory properties, such as photo- and chemo-sensory functions.

The similarities between the fingerprints of vasotocin and RF-amide-secreting cells in zebrafish and Platynereis are so big that they are difficult to explain by coincidence. Instead they indicate a common evolutionary origin of the cells.

"...vertebrate-type hormones were found in annelid worms and molluscs, indicating that these centres might be much older than expected." - Study coauthor, Detlev Arendt

The study's authors propose that cell types with dual sensory-neurosecretory properties were the starting point for the evolution of neurosecretory brain centers in Bilateria.

"Now we know that the brain is itself a sensory organ and has been so since very ancient times."-Kristin Tessmar-Raible, lead author of the study, published this week in the journal Cell.

In your face vert-o-centrics! I knew all along that worms were at the core of our brains. We all dream of them every night, just most of us deny our inner desire to evert our pharynx!