Southern Cali fornia Assocation of Marine I NVERTEBRATE Taxonomists May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27 No. 1/2 Exopalaemon modestus photo by R. Velarde, City of San Diego This Issue MAY 12 2008.2 JUNE 27 2008.2 UPCOMING MEETINGS.2 JUEY 2008.3 AUGUST 2008.3 EOST SPECIES.4 EINANCES.9 JOB OPPORTUNITY.9 ANOTHER TROUBEING INVADER.9 SCAMIT OEEICERS.10 The SCAMIT newsletter is not deemed to be a valid publication for formal taxonomic purposes. May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27. No. 1/2 MAY 12 2008 The May 12 meeting was held at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. It was a Bivalves 101 workshop led by Paul Valentich-Scott. Nineteen people attended. All the microscope stations set up by Paul were occupied with overflow in chairs in the back of the room. President Larry Lovell opened the meeting with announcements regarding upcoming meetings and other items of interest. Paul then presented a power point presentation with an overview of bivalve body design, morphology, and terminology. He distributed a simplified version of the family key in Coan, Scott, and Barnard (2000) and provided copies. Paul had assembled a collection of dry bivalve specimens at each microscope station that were available to be worked through the key. Most of these were large and easily handled, but a few smaller species were also included. As attendees took their collection of specimens through the key they were able to consult with one another and Paul was available to answer questions and verify their results. One of the more critical steps that Paul led participants through was that of establishing orientation in these animals. Given the variety of different shell shapes present among Northeast Pacific bivalves, it is often difficult to tell anterior from posterior, and dorsal from ventral. Paul guided us through these determinations. Without such a grounding, use of any key becomes problematic. After lunch the group continued to work through the materials swapping different specimens Paul provided and examine other specimens that members brought for review. A copy of Paul’s PowerPoint presentation wifi be available in the taxonomic tools section of the SCAMIT website soon. UPCOMING MEETINGS 10 September 2009 - Taxonomic database meeting at SCCWRP. 9:00-3:30. 21 September 2009 - Review of B’08 Trawl Invertebrates at SCCWRP. 9:30 - 3:30. 5 October 2009 - Terebellidae at LACMNH. Visiting researcher Joao Nogueira from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, wifi share some of his latest work on this group. 9:30 - 3:30. 19 October 2009 - Molluska: Nuculana, Tellina and Boreotrophon at OCSD. Meeting leads: Kelvin Barwick and Ron Velarde. 9:30 -3:30. 16 November 2009 - Decapoda 101 at LACSD. Meeting lead: Lisa Haney. 9:30 -3:30. 5 December 2009 - Christmas Party at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. 5:00-9:00 pm. JUNE 27 2008 The June 27 meeting was held at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. It was a joint SCAMIT/SAFIT workshop on Estuarine Crustacea which was co-led by Don Cadien and Christopher Rogers and hosted by Dr. Nikki Adams. This meeting was a venture out of the normal geographic area for SCAMIT meetings, but was appropriate considering the involvement of SAFIT members who live throughout California and the topic habitat. There were eleven people in attendance, with a mix of members from both organizations, and interested visitors from resource agencies and elsewhere. The meeting was held in the invertebrate teaching lab with plenty of space and microscopes available. Larry opened the meeting with announcements of upcoming SCAMIT meetings. Christopher Rogers (SAFIT Vice President) subsequently made announcements regarding SAFIT meetings and activities. He then began with an overview on the crustacean fauna encountered in NE Pacific (CA-WA) estuarine environments and a review of the literature concentrating on arthropod groups primarily associated with fresh waters. Don followed with 2 May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 1/2 his own comments, concentrating on the marine connections of most of the fauna. Both stressed the difficulty of working with the fauna of the estuarine environment, as neither marine nor freshwater workers typically explore waters of variable salinity. Literature specializing in the aquatic arthropods of bays, river mouths, estuaries, and salt marshes is generally less well developed than that of the terrestrial arthropods, which inhabit marsh and slough environments. The meeting was an attempt to focus attention on this data gap, and persuade attendees that the fauna could be worked with, even if currently under-explored. Don and Christopher handed out a spreadsheet of estuarine crustacean species that they had collaborated on. It provided scientihc names with authority, habitat occurrence information, literature citations for identihcation purposes, and comments. Christopher brought preserved specimens representing many of the species on the list. He discussed each one briefly with comments and then those in attendance had the opportunity to take specimens to their microscopes to examine and identify them using the literature available. All those attending had been asked to bring copies of the new Light and Smith Manual, the Identification Manual by Christopher Rogers, and other pertinent literature to the meeting. Christopher had extra copies of his publication available for those who did not have it. After lunch the group examined live material that Christopher and Matt Hill (both from EcoAnalysts) had collected in Morro Bay the previous day. They had collected from a variety of locations including a stream entering the headwaters of the bay, a freshwater spring at the bay’s edge, and night lighting at the docks in Morro Bay harbor. A variety of groups were represented, including decapods, amphipods, isopods, cumaceans, branchiurans, copepods, mysids, and ostracods. Quite a number of species were found and the most interesting specimens were preserved for further study. Representatives of amphipods typically found in estuarine habitat, including hadzioids, hyalids, and corophioids were well represented in the live material, and posed good tests for those in attendance. The group worked through these samples until the end of the day, with assistance and commentary provided by Christopher and Don as needed. Ron Velarde was in charge of photographing interesting specimens during the day and those images will be made available on the website. One of the more notable and unexpected species encountered in the live samples was the first record of Paracorophium sp, previously known from Humboldt Bay, introduced from an unknown source region. This species has been known for a number of years, and was recently illustrated in John Chapman’s Amphipod section of the 4* edition of Light’s Manual. A manuscript describing it is in preparation by Chapman and co-authors. Ron Velarde photo documented these specimens. Interestingly, this animal, although typically taken in marshes along the rim of Humboldt Bay at nearly full salinity, was found only in the freshwater spring, whose waters, even when mixed with the Bay waters it emptied into, were quite fresh. JULY 2008 There was no meeting in July 2008 due to Bight ’08 field activities involving many local SCAMIT members. AUGUST 2008 The August 2008 meeting was held at the City of San Diego Environmental Monitoring laboratory and was a review of the non-polychaete changes to Ed 5 of the SCAMIT Species List. President Larry Lovell opened the meeting with announcements of upcoming SCAMIT meetings and other information of interest to members. He then turned the meeting over to Don Cadien. With the Bight ’08 sampling involving many of the invertebrate identification labs in Southern California, it was decided that a review of name changes (with red font on the list) would act as a 3 May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27. No. 1/2 good reminder to taxonomists and data managers at participating labs. Don began with Porifera, stressing that this was no longer applicable and needed to be replaced by Silicea and Calcarea, and worked his way through the list. Edition 5 introduced other major changes in the upper level classihcation used for several groups, leaving users used to the Edition 4 organization wondering where things were. These changes were discussed, and the rationale for their adoption reviewed. In all cases the changes had been circulated among the members for comment prior to adoption. In addition to this review, questions were raised regarding the decisions leading to some species level changes and the discussions leading to those decisions. Of particular importance was communal consideration of the decisions regarding provisional taxa in the Platyhelminthes and Nemertea, where provisional synonymies were complicated. All of the necessary participants were present at the meeting, facilitating this review. Newly discovered changes to the list not incorporated into Ed 5 were also mentioned. They will be added to the Ed 5 emendation list Don and Larry maintain, and will appear in Edition 6 once adopted. The entire list, not including polychaetes, was reviewed at the meeting. Handouts detailing the changes made between Edition 4 and Edition 5 were distributed to help focus the discussion. Since the criteria for inclusion on the Taxonomic List were signihcantly expanded between Edition 4 and Edition 5, many new taxa appeared in the later addition. The number of newly encountered taxa in the core habitats of the continental shelf benthos is dwindling with each new edition, but new taxa are still being recognized, and rarer species are still being taken for the hrst time. Expansion of Edition 5 to cover intertidal habitats introduced a number of new species to the list, but members are encouraged to submit more based on their activities. Likewise, inclusion of subtidal hard bottom habitat derived species should introduce many new records, and members are encouraged to revisit encountered taxa from their programs which were previously outside the purview of the Taxonomic Listing to see if they can now be included. If so, please submit the records to Don Cadien or Larry Lovell (if they are polychaetes) for consideration of inclusion in Edition 6. LOST SPECIES (Below is an article on taxonomy that UCSD undergraduate student. Rose Eveleth, wrote for a class assignment. Larry Lovell was interviewed as SCAMIT president for the article. It has been edited slightly from the original for inclusion in the newsletter) In July 2000, Nature magazine published an article announcing that scientists had sequenced the genome for the Xylella fastidiosa, a bacteria that infects and kills plants. The virus is particularly damaging to orange trees, and is carried from plant to plant by insects that feed on the inner tissue of the trees. Next to the article, there is a photograph of an insect, but it is never identihed. Not once in the paper do the researchers indicate the species involved in carrying the virus. M.R. Wilson of the National Museum of Wales wrote in to Nature - “Have we already reached the situation where more scientists can sequence a genome than can identify the potential vectors?” In the eighteenth century, Carl Linnaeus wore a powdered wig, and attempted to standardize something humans have done for millions of years: name things. Linnaeus created the binomial system we are familiar with when we hear things like Homo sapiens, our own species, named by Linnaeus himself. Homo refers to the genus we belong to, and sapiens to our species. Linnaeus also named the genus Siegesbeckia, a small herb that lives in the mud, after his rival Johann Siegesbeck. Today taxonomists are less reliant on the strict Linnaean system. Instead they look at something called clades, groups of organisms that share common ancestors. This approach allows scientists 4 May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 1/2 not just to recognize and name species, but also to look at how they are connected. Cladistics is what lead to the discovery that birds and dinosaurs are closely related, and is what most taxonomists now work with. As we move into a time where climate change and habitat loss are threatening species everywhere, the work of taxonomists is becoming more and more valuable. At the same time, they’re becoming less and less common. Dr. Phil Hastings manages the Scripps Institute of Oceanography’s Marine Vertebrates Collection; more often called the Fish Collection. In a building overlooking the Pacihc Ocean the collection holds over two million specimens, row after row of dead hsh in jars. Hastings is an expert on blennies, colorful little hsh with long bodies and big eyes. “I like to use the word systematist,” he says “because systematics is a broader term, it applies to understanding the biodiversity. Taxonomy and nomenclature are parts of that.” Four years ago Robin Gartman, a biologist for the city of San Diego, was monitoring for potential pollution effects offshore from the International Sewage Treatment Plant. She was working with a sampling device that collects mud from the seahoor, called a bottom grab. Usually, the grab scoops up worms and other creatures living in the mud, but on this particular day she happened to grab a small spiny hsh that she couldn’t identify. The hsh was eventually brought to Hastings, who instantly knew it was one they hadn’t seen before. “When we hrst saw that thing we said ‘wow we don’t know what that is’ and we dropped everything we were doing,” Hastings said. Local hsh guides were examined, but no match was found. Guides from Canada and Mexico were similarly disappointing. It wasn’t until Hastings pulled a book of hshes from Japan that he hnally found something resembling the spiny hsh they had. Hastings knew of a few cases where hsh brought over from Asia had established populations off the western coast of the United States. To see if this might be the case he contacted a museum in Japan, which sent a sample of the species they had found in the book. “They looked a lot alike” Hastings said, “but they were a little different, and different enough that we decided they were different species.” So Hastings and coworker, H.J. Walker, wrote the paper describing the differences between this new species and the Japanese species. They detailed the differences in coloration, spines and eye size. After some searching, they located another specimen at the Los Angeles County Museum that had been misidentihed as the Japanese species. This kind of species identihcation, dehning species that look “different enough” might seem arbitrary. Hastings explains, “that’s another aspect of being a specialist is to understand a group of organisms well enough to kind of know how much variation you typically see within a species versus across species.” Collections like the one at Scripps, in which there are twenty or thirty examples of the same species, allow scientists like Hastings to look at what the common variety might be. Just like using a single human as a sample would poorly represent the entire species Homo sapiens, using one hsh to represent a whole species would create thousands of “new species.” For humans, variation comes in the form of hair and eye color. For hsh it’s hn placement and scale coloration. Researchers can look through collections and see what the range of sizes, colors, and shapes are found in a species. But misidentihcation, as in the case of the prickleback in the Los Angeles County Museum, is not uncommon. The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) exists to clarify the exact number of marine species out there. Experts research each species name to see whether it’s already been 5 May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27. No. 1/2 named elsewhere. To date, they have checked the validity of 93,936 species. About a third of the “species” have turned out to be redundant. The Breadcrumb Sponge, or Halichondria panacea has been described under 56 different aliases since its hrst description in 1766. Scientists at Worms estimates it will have to evaluate around 230,000 named species, and hopes to do so by 2010 . Programs similar to WoRMS exist across the county. The White House Subcommittee on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics founded the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) as a partnership with the Smithsonian Institute to hnd and catalogue scientihcally credible taxonomic data. Teaming up with the Species 2000 project - an international group of people managing taxonomic databases - ITIS created The Catalogue of Life (CoL), another database of the world’s known species that aims to collect data of all known species by 2011. The Catalogue of Life publishes an Annual Checklist of known species each year, pulling data from 52 other databases. In the 2008 the list contained 1,105,589 species. The CoL is joined by several other databases of life, including the Global Biodiversity Information Lacility, the Biodiversity Information Standards Database, the World Biodiversity Database, and the Encyclopedia of Life. If all of this seems confusing, that’s because it is. To make things even more convoluted, many of these catalogues depend on user-generated content. The staff at Hominin.net, maintain an online resource and database of Homo fossils (the Lamily Hominidae includes orangutans, chimps, gorillas, bonobos and humans) from around the world with the help of online users. The participants at Hominin log in and submit information about a fossil, including where it was discovered and what journal it was originally described in. The paper is then tracked down by Hominin staff, along with pictures and maps of the discovery site. To date, there are 103 specimens, each mapped out into a taxonomic tree, and 383 people have logged in and added information to the database. Each of these databases work with a team of taxonomic specialists. The WoRMS team includes over thirty marine experts in different groups. The CoL works with over 3,000 taxonomists. But Hastings is still concerned. There may not be a lack of users online, generating data for these websites, but “there’s dehnitely a smaller proportion of biologists working on taxonomy,” he says. “There are some groups where we have almost no one who knows their taxonomy.” As the held of biology continues to grow, the proportion of those biologists interested in taxonomy has not. The loss of taxonomists is most likely a combination of several factors. “It’s very difficult,” he says, “there are almost no programs that train taxonomists as a unit.” Students interested in taxonomy have difficulty Ending universities that teach it. Most frequently students are trained in the taxonomy of a group by chance. Whatever groups are represented in the faculty of a university, are the ones the students will be able to learn. If a professor at your university is a sponge expert, you will be able to learn about sponge taxonomy. A student at Scripps however, “is going to be very hard pressed to become a sponge expert because we don’t have any professors here who are sponge experts.” Students can only learn what their professors can teach them. Larry Lovell heads SCAMIT, the Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists, an organization founded in 1982 to promote the study of marine invertebrates. “There isn’t university level education, or even exposure to taxonomy like there was in the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s even 50’s and 60’s,” he says. Until the late 1970’s schools around the country had programs to educate taxonomists. This is the system that educated taxonomists like Lovell and 6 May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 1/2 Hastings. The University of Southern California’s Alan Hancock Foundation trained hundreds of taxonomists until its money was diverted elsewhere. From 1931 to 1962 the foundation funded expeditions on their four research vessels. The samples collected on these voyages lead to the description of over 150 new species of bryozoans (tiny animals known as “sea moss”), 25 new species of stony corals, 20 new species of flat corals, and 453 new species of marine algae. Both students and experts participated on the boats, directly collecting and analyzing samples. By 1962 the foundation had published 27 volumes of data from the expeditions. In 1965 Hancock passed away, and his money went elsewhere. “Molecular biology came into the fore and funding went that direction. There was a lack of interest in pursuing taxonomy and systematics,” says Lovell. The National Science Foundation has recognized the need for taxonomists. In 1995 they created the FEET program. Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy. The program funds projects across the country for experts to train students in the taxonomy of lesser-known groups. The University of California at Davis recently received $300,000 from the program to train the next generation of nematode taxonomists. Similar programs focus on the taxonomy of groups like the spiders, worms, sponges and even bacteria. Where sponges and bacteria might be hurting for specialists, other groups are booming. Tropical corals are good indicators of ocean health, particularly in reference to climate change. With climate change at the forefront of both science and politics, “lots of people are doing the genetics of coral populations now,” Hastings shrugs, “and that wasn’t necessarily the case years ago.” Other groups get less attention, and have spawned efforts like PEET. Even organizations whose purpose has never included education, are trying to pick up some of the slack. SCAMIT has begun offering beginner classes on mollusks and echinoderms. “One of the complaints we get is new members come to meetings and can’t follow along,” Lovell says. “We know what we’re talking about, but somebody new might not.” To get new taxonomists - who come from an education system low on specialized training - up to speed, Lovell has tried to incorporate new education workshops into SCAMIT’s meetings, whose primary purpose is to standardize species names. But programs like PEET and SCAMIT’s new education goals, assume that students have already connected with experts. In many cases that step never happens. Experts working in labs conduct their research and retire without encountering students interested in inheriting the knowledge. This is what worries experts like Hastings. “There’s no one watching over the whole system, making sure that the sponge experts don’t all disappear,” he says. Yet, even if there were hoards of students being trained, the picture might not be any brighter. “New jobs have appeared in biotech, and whole lots of industries,” says Hastings, “but not taxonomy.” Taxonomists who find a way to learn a specialty, must then find a place to use it. Hastings and Lovell represent the two areas where taxonomists are still finding jobs. “The best job for a taxonomist is to be a curator of a museum,” says Hastings. But these jobs are disappearing. “The funding has been decreasing,” he says, “and very few people are building new museums.” So taxonomists have turned to what Hastings describes as “applied taxonomy,” in positions like the one Lovell holds at the Los Angeles County Sanitation District. To be able to monitor pollution, or the impact a building project might have, scientists need to know the species in the area. People like Robin Gartman, who brought the prickleback into Hastings lab. May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27. No. 1/2 are taxonomists by necessity. When they pull up their nets, they have to be able to identify what they have before they can evaluate what’s happening. It is these kinds of jobs that Lovell thinks will boom in the next few years. The State of California will soon unveil several programs that will require the collection and identihcation of a wide variety of animals and plants. Sediment Quality Objectives that monitor pollution in bays and estuaries, and the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) will both be looking for taxonomists and systematists to join their ranks. Large-scale building projects require Environmental Impact Statements - evaluations of the ecological consequences of a project - usually provided by private consulting hrms. These hrms tap into the expertise taxonomists for each project to assess what’s in the area before building, and what could happen to these species if construction were to proceed. With the boom in green building projects, and the continued investment in monitoring pollution, Lovell only sees these kinds of opportunities increasing. “There’s going to be a demand for people do to taxonomy,” he says. Yet he’s still not entirely optimistic. “While I think there’s going to be demand, there may not be anybody to hll those positions.” Lovell worries that without the education in place to train taxonomists, scientists will begin incorrectly categorizing species. “It’s a problem when people who are inexperienced, start working in an area they’re unfamiliar with and then start producing data,” he says. The databases try to remedy this, to get everyone on the same page. Yet Lovell is still worried that if students aren’t trained as rigorously as they once were, projects like SWAMP and new Environmental Impact Statements, could run into trouble. Even with the databases o nlin e like Worms and the Catalogue of Life looking to sort out the millions of species on earth, there is still a problem with standardization. “You don’t have qualihed people to hll that need,” he says, “so there may be a problem with the quality of the data that comes out of these surveys.” Universities aren’t paying for taxonomy programs, and states don’t want to pay for extra training of employees. Nor do they want to give the universities more money to build or begin taxonomy programs. This leaves Lovell wondering, “Where are the young taxonomists going to come from?” It is not all grim though; Hastings has hope. “Genetics has revolutionized taxonomy, invigorated it,” he says. Genetics provides taxonomists with a new tool to tease apart formerly confounding species. Experts with WoRMS have used genetics to hnd places where one species turns out to be two. In the Eish Collection, a student has been working with two species of blennies that look identical, but are genetically very different. “We still haven’t hgured out a fool proof way to tell them apart except by where they’re from,” says Hastings. In this sense, it’s an exciting time for taxonomists. Researchers in Santa Barbara have developed a way to screen for genetic flags that indicate what species are in a sample. In October 2008 a survey team found 274 new species of coral off the coast of Tasmania. Whole fa mili es of animals are being discovered and their connections worked out. Taxonomists are busy. At the same time, it’s hard to ignore the difficulties. Museums and collections like the Eish Collection are facing huge budget difficulties. As we sit in the collection. Walker points at a shelf full of colored binders. Each binder holds the data sheets for a collections voyage. On the worn spines there are dates. There are ten binders from 1970. There are two from 2008. “We just can’t go out and collect as much as we used to,” he says. 8 May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 1/2 Even when programs like PEET succeed, and students connect with experts, experts hnd it hard to explain their knowledge. “There’s a lot of information that you have in your brain that you just can’t put in words,” says Lovell. As experts like Lovell and Hastings retire, they take much of their knowledge with them. In a lab the floor below Hastings’s Eish Collection is the Pelagic Invertebrates Collection. Inside, the rows of shelves are lined with thousands of glass jars full of plankton. The Collection is run by Annie Townsend, an expert on krill (little invertebrates that look like shrimp). “There are only eighty six species,” Townsend says, “it’s not that hard.” She learned to identify them from her predecessor, Ed Brinton. Brinton got his PhD at Scripps and managed the Invertebrates Collection before Townsend. While there, he described several species of krill, and published a number of books on krill taxonomy. As he prepared for retirement, he worried about finding someone to pass his knowledge on to. “He didn’t think I could do it,” Townsend says, “but I wanted to prove him wrong, so I learned them all.” Now, Townsend can identify all 86 species on sight. She plans to retire in two years, with no one training to take her place. When experts like Townsend retire, the University or museum then has to manage a vacant position. In some cases they look for a replacement. In other cases they do not. Lovell remembers Bob Hessler, who retired from a position at Scripps studying deep-sea ecology in 2001. “They didn’t hire anybody to replace him,” Lovell says. “They spent the money on somebody else.” But without students in training to fill these types of roles there may be no one else to spend the money on. The Pelagic Invertebrates Collection is quiet most days. On a Wednesday afternoon I’m sorting through samples full of krill, trying to identify them. When I ask Annie for help she looks quickly into my microscope. “Oh,” she says, “that’s a dificilis. I know that because,” she pauses. “Well, I just do. It just looks like a dificilis.’’' - Rose Eveleth FINANCES See attached SCAMIT Treasury Summary for 2009. ANOTHER TROUBLING INVADER See attached flyer on the introduced Dwarf Eel Grass. 9 May-June/July-Aug, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 1/2 Please visit the SCAMIT Website at: www.scamit.org SCAMIT OFFICERS If you need any other information concerning SCAMIT please feel free to contact any of the officers at their e-mail addresses: President Larry Lovell (310)830-2400X5613 llovell@lacsd.org Vice-President Leslie Harris (213)763-3234 lharris@nhm.org Secretary Megan Lilly (619)758-2336 mlilly@sandiego.gov Treasurer Cheryl Brantley (310)830-2400x5605 cbrantley@lacsd.org Hard copy back issues of the newsletter are available. Prices are as follows: Volumes 1 - 4 (compilation).$ 30.00 Volumes 5 - 7 (compilation).$ 15.00 Volumes 8-15 .$ 20.00/vol. Single back issues are also available at cost. The SCAMIT newsletter is published every two months and is distributed freely to members in good standing. Membership is $15 for an electronic copy of the newsletter, available via the web site at www.scamit.org, and $30 to receive a printed copy via USPS. Institutional membership, which includes a mailed printed copy, is $60. All new members receive password protected website access to the most current edition of “A Taxonomic Listing of Soft Bottom Macro- and Megainvertebrates ... in the Southern California Bight.” All correspondences can be sent to the Secretary at the email address above or to: SCAMIT C/0 The Natural History Museum, Invertebrate Zoology attn: Leslie Harris 900 Exposition Boulevard Los Angeles, California, 90007 SCAMIT Treasury Summary 2008 - 2009 Below is the treasurer’s report for 2008-09. As you can see we have had a very economical year as our expenses have been pared down. Although some of that is due to our newsletter printing costs haven’t caught up yet and our website has been under partial construction. Those expenses will become more appai'ent in the next month or so, especially as our new webmaster starts updating our site. Also you may notice below we now have a database fund due to an extremely nice donation from Orange County Sanitation District. This fund and its expenses is being maintained separately for an itemized accounting of costs associated with our on-line database project. SCAMIT did not award any publication grants this past year but as stipulated in our grant policy we do have 25% of our operating budget ($18,336.82) available for publication grants this year. SCAMIT did host another holiday party in December for all its members at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and we hope to again this year. Also, we have maintained our all time high for memberships (146). A few people retired and a few new members joined us and still a few tardy renewals will trickle in soon I’m sure.(hint, hint). Account Balances (as of 6/16/09) Checking $ 5,157.70 Certificate of Deposit $13,024.92 Cash $ 154.20 Database Fund $ 13.881.10 Total $32,217.92 Income 2009 Membership dues $ 940.34 Interest from CD i. 200.81 Total $ 1141.15 Expenses (General Account) Electronic newsletter $ 29.97 (website/domain name) Hardcopy newsletter $ 336.94 (printing/postage) Workshop/meeting expenses $ 177.19 Holiday party $ 258.93 Travel Stipends $. 565.07 Total $ 1368.10 Expenses (Database Account) Morphbank workshop (food) $103.41 Travel Stipend for Deb Paul $ 718.49 (Morphbank) Database meetings (food) $ 90.00 Database management by Katja $ 161.00 Seltmann Total $1072.90 E elgrass is a grass-like aquatic plant that forms lush meadows in shallow, sheltered bays and estuaries. These meadows cushion our shoreline from wave energy, delay floodwaters, break down pollutants and support diverse wildlife. They also produce vast amounts of oxygen, which we all need to breathe. There are two species of eelgrass in California. Pacific eelgrass, Zostera marina, is native to our coast and beneficial to the ecosystem. Dwarf eelgrass, Zostera japonica, is native to Asia and threatens to upset the natural balance of California's wetlands. The recent introduction of dwarf eelgrass, which can be distinguished from Pacific eelgrass by its very narrow blades, is a serious concern to resource managers. Dwarf eelgrass invades mudflats, which are home to many creatures and vital feeding grounds for shorebirds. Pristine coastal wetlands are rare in California and worldwide, and the invasion of dwarf eelgrass further imperils the little habitat remaining. Native Seagrasses vs. Dwarf Eelgrass Pacific Eelgrass {Zostera marina) Blade width 2-15 nnnn Bmf {Zostera japonica) Blade width 1.5 nrinn Widgeon Grass {Ruppia maritima) Has stems with many branches, and flowers emerge where leaves join the stem Dwlrf Eelgrass Has un-branched stems, and flowers are enclosed on separate shoots Surfgrass {Phyllospadix spp.) Grows in wave-swept rocky areas Grows on mud or sand in sheltered bays and estuaries I suspactad siglstB^gs ©f dwirf tm California Department of Fish and Game 619 Second Street Eureka, CA 95501 (707) 445-5365 kramey@dfg.ca.gov California Sea Grant Extension 2 Commercial Street, Suite 4 Eureka, CA 95501 (707) 443-8369 scschlosser@ucdavis.edu For more information, visit www.dfg.ca.gov/invasives Alternate communication formats of this document are available upon request. If reasonable accommodation is needed, call the DFG at (916) 322-8911. The California Relay Service for the deaf or hearing-impaired can be utilized from TDD phones at (800) 735-2929. Cover photos (left to right, top to bottom): Dwarf eelgrass - UCANR/A. Etcher; Heart cockle - FoSBS, Boundary Bay, BC/C. Day; ^ 2 \ Red rock crab - DF 6 /A. Frimodig; Curlew - DFG/J. Mello Stop the Spread of Dwarf Eelgrass! • Rinse mud and debris from boats, kayaks, and canoes before moving to a new site. • Rinse mud and debris from boots and other gear before moving to a new site. • Rinse where runoff will not lead to storm drains or straight back to coastal waters. • Report sightings of dwarf eelgrass to the contacts in this brochure. Dwarf eelgrass covers thousands of acres of rare coastal wetlands in the Pacific Northwest. It is, though, a relative newcomer to California, first discovered in 2002 in Humboldt Bay. Eradication projects are underway to find and rid our coast of new infestations. The danger, however, is that people will unintention¬ ally introduce dwarf eelgrass to new locations by dispersing its seeds, which can easily mix with mud and stick to boat hulls, boots and gear. Godwits foraging on intertidal mudflat. Blades of dwarf eelgrass are much narrower than Pacific eelgrass. Problems with Dwarf Eelgrass Scientists studying the effects of dwarf eelgrass have learned: It colonizes open tidal mudflats, prime foraging grounds for birds. It slows water currents and traps fine sediments. ' Its dense root system binds soil particles, transforming soft mud into a firm bottom layer. These changes destroy essential habitat for ghost shrimp and other small mud-dwelling and burrowing animals, many of which are staple prey items for shorebirds. The Value of Pacific Eeigrass Pacific eelgrass meadows are as productive as our most fertile farmlands, forming the base of a food chain that you may enjoy as shellfish and finfish on your dinner plate! Pacific herring lay their eggs on eelgrass blades. Juvenile salmon, lingcod, rockfish and Dungeness crab use eelgrass meadows to hide from predators, while the bay pipefish — a relative of the seahorse — seeks protection by camouflaging itself as a swaying eelgrass blade. The migratory brant goose would starve if it were not for eelgrass. To preserve our coastal habitats, we must protect our native eelgrass and take measures to control the spread of dwarf eelgrass. The key to success is early detection of new infestations. PACIFIC EELGRASS is native to California, and provides habitat for many species such as Pacific herring, bay pipefish, and various species of crab. DWARF EELGRASS invades open mudflats, home to many burrowing organisms on which shorebirds feed. SOME RES DENTS OF THE MUDFLATS 1. Ghost shrimp 5. Black brant geese and mud shrimp 6. Surf scoter 2. Clams , , 7. Moon snail 3. Innkeeper worm and "guests" 8. Red rock crab 4. Dungeness crab 9. Bay pipefish Moon snail in Pacific eelgrass meadow UCANR/S. Schlosser Southern Cali fornia Assocation of Marine I NVERTEBRATE Taxonomists Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 Urosome of Neotrypaea gigas; Photo by Lisa Haney This Issue SEPTEMBER 8, 2008.2 UPCOMING MEETINGS.2 OCTOBER 16, 2008.4 NOVEMBER 17, 2008.4 REPORT ON ATTENDANCE AT THE SAEIT ANNUAE MEETING.6 SCAMIT OEEICERS.10 The SCAMIT newsletter is not deemed to be a valid publication for formal taxonomic purposes. Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 The meeting was held at the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts Marine Biology Lab. President Larry Lovell opened the meeting by summarizing last month’s meeting. They reviewed all non-polychaete groups in Ed. 5 of the SCAMIT species list. Today we’ll be reviewing the polychaetes and will pay particular attention to the names in red print which include new additions (many from Bight ’03), provisional species, etc. Larry passed around an article he found on SignOn San Diego titled “Sub to explore undersea islands” by Sandra Dibble, Union Tribune Staff Writer, August 23, 2008. The article focused on the “DeepSee” submersible and its adventures off the coast of Baja California Sur. The project is a joint collaboration with researchers from the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico, the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur, the Centro Interdisciplenario de Cierrcias Marinas in La Paz, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Next Larry announced some upcoming meetings. On October 16*, Bruno Pernet will come to LACSD and give a seminar on the genetics of Neotrypaea californiensis and N. gigas. There may be a 3"^^^ species but it can not be separated by morphological differences. It occurs in shallow water in Mexico. On November 17*, Katja from MorphBank will be at SCCWRP to hold a meeting for the electronic database work group. Others are also welcome to attend. Katja will present some new user-friendly software that they have been working on. Orange County Sanitation Districts has donated $7500 towards the development of a taxonomic database some of which is being used to bring Katja to Southern California. There are tentative dates for two more workshops with Katja; Tuesday, November 18* at City of San Diego and Thursday, November 20* at Orange County Sanitation Districts. These hands-on workshops will teach participants how to submit their images into Morphbank. On Saturday, December 6*, SCAMIT will host a Christmas Party/Potluck at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro. SCAMIT will provide a ham, sodas, coffee, utensils, and plates. The party will be held from 6-9pm, and the bookstore may be open for an hour or so before the dinner starts. Leslie has been volunteered to bring a cake. Others please bring a side dish to share. There will be Christmas music playing and possibly a visit from Santa. Larry hopes everyone can attend as it promises to be a great time. John Chapman will be down in Morro Bay in January or February to collect a specihc species of amphipod, and we hope to have him come further south to lead a discussion on amphipods at a 2 UPCOMING MEETINGS 24 May 2010 - 9:00 - 4:00 (note the different hours). DNA Barcoding workshop at Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. 14 June 2010 - 9:30 - 3:30. Photo Imaging II workshop at City of San Diego. Co-hosted by Dan Ituarte and Nick Haring. Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 SCAMIT meeting. The meeting would include a review of the amphipod chapter in the new Light and Smith manual. For the March meeting, Les Watling and Sarah Gerken plan to travel to Los Angeles during their spring break and lead a meeting on cumaceans at the Natural History Museum. There will undoubtedly be several meetings in 2009 regarding problematic animals from the Bight’08 project. These will be scheduled once we start processing the samples and see what taxa need to be addressed. Next Larry led a discussion on taxonomic training by SCAMIT. Many of these ideas were discussed at the end of last month’s meeting. There have been requests for training at a fairly elementary level so that interns, new hires, etc., can learn taxonomy from the “Old Guards” as Larry put it. A signihcant number of SCAMIT members will be retiring in the next 5 years or so, and these people contain a wealth of taxonomic information. It has become a critical time where this information and expertise needs to be passed on to newer taxonomists. As an organization, SCAMIT feels this is a very important issue. It was suggested at the last meeting to hold two meetings per month; one would be in the usual SCAMIT format, and one would be a training workshop directed towards new(er) taxonomists. Specimen exchanges would be used as a way for individuals to practice their identihcation skills and standardize taxonomy amongst different agencies. University students would also be invited in the hopes of recruiting taxonomists. Ron Velarde suggested having the two meetings per month on consecutive days to make it easier for people who will be traveling. Dot Norris gave us a report from the City and County of San Francisco. They will be hiring two people, and the current employees are organizing a taxonomic training program for them. Dot will train on polychaetes, Kelvin Barwick will train on mollusks, and Patricia McGregor will train on Crustacea. Dot commented that Mike Kellogg, senior marine biologist, is very positive about SCAMIT’s training program and wants to send people down to participate. Leslie Harris (NHMLAC) was approached by Darolyn Striley from BioSynC (Biodiversity Synthesis Center, Field Museum, Chicago) which is one of the partners of the Encyclopedia of Life, to submit a proposal on polychaetes. BioSynC provides support for synthetic research that advances knowledge of biodiversity and adds to EOL content. Leslie tentatively proposed that SCAMIT would create an expanded version of our Taxonomic Listing covering Alaska through northern Pacihc Mexico. Polychaetes would be done hrst as a pilot program. The grant money would be used to support a workshop for polychaete taxonomists and data managers to create a united regional taxa list derived from their separate lists. Conflicts and nomenclatural problems would be addressed during the meeting to reach this goal. Additional money will be sought from regional stake holders to add ecological and taxonomic information to the list. Leslie’s idea has been approved by the SCAMIT officers and the final proposal will be submitted to BioSynC by the end of the year. Ron Velarde announced that September 29* is the tentative date for the City of San Deigo to use the sediment profile camera in San Diego Bay. Larry led the remainder of the meeting which was a review of the polychaetes in Edition 5 of the SCAMIT species list. He addressed the names in red print which mainly consisted of Subclasses, Subfamilies, newly encountered species, and new synonyms. 3 Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 OCTOBER 16, 2008 The meeting was held at the CSDLAC Marine Biology Laboratory in Carson, CA. President Larry Lovell opened the meeting and introduced guest speaker Dr. Bruno Pernet, CSULB and special guest Dr. Dave Jacobs, UCLA. Members in attendance were: Larry Lovell, Ron Velarde, Bruno Pernet, Jim Roney, Lisa Haney, Dave Jacobs, Ananda Ranasinghe, Dean Pasko, Ken Sakamoto, Carol Paquette, and Don Cadien. Larry then moved on to upcoming meetings. There will be a Database Group meeting at SCCWRP November 17, to be followed by three Morphbank mini-workshops at CSD (18*), LACSD (19*), and OCSD (20*) by Deb Paul. We will start 2009 with a January meeting at NHMLAC with guest speaker Dr. John Chapman leading a review of his Amphipoda chapter in the Light and Smith Manual. Other planned meetings are a two-day workshop in March on Cumacea with Drs. Les Watling and Sarah Gerken. Lisa Haney and Bruno Pernet then took over leading the meeting and presented their preliminary results on taxonomic issues between Neotrypaea californiensis (Dana 1854) and N. gigas (Dana 1852) that have been troubling to local taxonomists. They have genetic results supporting two distinct species, but are having trouble coming up with clear morphological character states that taxonomists can use to separate the species. Bruno provided an overview of the distribution and natural history of the two species as an introduction. He illustrated the sexual dimorphic characteristics between the sexes and their variability. Dave Jacobs then briefly commented on his research in Mexico with Neotrypaea that parallels Bruno’s work. After lunch members took to the microscopes to review specimens that Bruno, Lisa, and Dave provided for examination. Males and females of individuals from different size classes were examined in hopes of finding good morphological characters to discriminate the two species. Others members attending brought specimens from their collections for review as well. After several hours of examination and head scratching, it was decided that Lisa would retain much of the material and continue working on the issue. UPDATE: The results of her continued review and work on the problem is now posted in the taxonomic toolbox on the SCAMIT website. You can find her document under Arthropoda- Decapoda-Thalassinidea-Neotrypaea Characters.pdf. Lisa produced a good photographic comparison illustrating several male and female character states for use as identification aids. Each character state is present with photographs of the two species side by side with informative text describing the morphological differences. NOVEMBER 17, 2008 Members in attendance: Larry Lovell, Wendy Storms, Ron Velarde, Cheryl Brantley, Christina Thomas, Tony Phillips, Dorothy Norris, and Don Cadien. Larry Lovell started the meeting by announcing that SCAMIT was looking for an assistant webmaster to help Jay Shrake, our webmaster. He then announced that future newsletters were going to be double issues to try to get us caught up. Next on the agenda was upcoming meetings. Larry is going to be attending the annual SAEIT meeting in Davis this month. The January 2009 meeting wifi be at LACNHM and wifi address Amphipoda with John Chapman. Participants wifi be going over the Light’s Manual chapter and additional taxonomic issues. The Eebruary meeting wifi be on the 17* (possibly 18* as well) with Dr Todd Haney on Caprellids. He has the world of literature on the subject so if you need any references, let him know. March 9* and 10* wifi cover 4 Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 Cumaceans with Les Watling and Sarah Gerken at LACNHM. It will involve a Light’s manual review plus other questions. Sarah is currently revising the Lampropidae. The annual SCUM meeting will be January 24* at CalPoly Pomona - Angel Valdez will be hosting. Additional information presented at the meeting: The taxonomic training meetings are still in development, a volunteer is being sought to help organize the effort. Mr Barwick might be the perfect candidate for the job considering his upcoming responsibilities at Orange County Sanitation Districts. Larry Lovell and Leslie Harris are working together on a polychaete species list effort for BioSynC which is a subset of Encyclopedia of Life. Grant money is available to put together a species list for the entire west coast (Bering Sea to tip of Baja) and from the intertidal to hadal depths. Portland, OR will be the venue to get everyone together to make an initial stab at this monumental task. Leslie will make a possible grant submission as early as December or within the following year. Our website is up but we currently have no password protection with the new server. Cheryl Brantley of LACSD is making progress on the newsletter scanning project; she thinks she has hnally gathered all the old, archived newsletters. The help of an OCSD intern will be enlisted for assistance with the scanning. It was suggested that maybe a workgroup should be formed to double-check historic voucher sheets and determine how to display them on the website appropriately. An update on the ontologies project progress: Kelvin Barwick will be working on mollusks (they will be broken up into Class); Christina Thomas and Cheryl Brantley will be tackling the echinoderms (they will also be broken up into Class); Rick Rowe and Ron Velarde have the annelids (Rick has a list of terms and dehnitions - it would probably be best to have dehnitions associated with these lists so we can apply them uniformly); Tony Phillips is almost done with the cumaceans; the nemerteans and flatworms are mostly complete; Dean Pasko and Don are still working on other arthropods; we are still waiting to check with John Ljubenkov about cnidarians; other phyla are still up for discussion; Don can tackle the sponges perhaps with assistance from Megan Lilly. Katja and Dawn Olson (CSD) will be working after the hrst of the year to create species pages with many of the related links populating each page (taxonomic tools, morphbank images, references, etc). We are gathering station lists/info to submit to Wendy to have incorporated into our database New/Evolving priorities: hnish establishing our ontologies so that we have a common language; incorporate images into morphbank (everyone); post our species list database on website; develop species pages with links to tools. Wendy Enright (CSD) gave an update on the progress of getting the Ed5 Species List into an Access database. Larry and Don Cadien then announced that an errata sheet for Ed5 is being prepared in the next few weeks to account for truncations and a few misspellings. Those changes will be incorporated into the Access database. Then our guest speaker for the day. Deb Paul from Morphbank, gave a presentation about the image database. There is exciting potential for sharing our images within our own group as well as spreading the SCAMIT gospel to the general public. Deb will be giving presentations at San Diego, LA County and Orange County to educate us all on the new image submission process as well as how to use the image website to take advantage of all the nifty features available. This will become more and more valuable the more images that we submit. Her powerpoint presentation is available on the morphbank website: www.morphbank.net. 5 Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 REPORT ON ATTENDANCE AT THE SAFIT ANNUAL MEETING 21 November 2008, Davis, CA, by Larry Lovell, SCAMIT President I attended the SAFIT Annual Meeting as President of SCAMIT and as a LACSD employee. Approximately 25 people attended the meeting. President, Joe Slusark, with the California Department of Fish and Game, Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory (ABL) opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. He provided a review of the past year’s accomplishments discussing membership (43 members currently), workshops held, newsletter launch, and website launch. Results of the recent election process were also announced with Christopher Rogers (EcoAnalysts) and Raphael Mazor (SCCWRP) being elected Vice-President and Treasurer, respectively, for two-year terms. The other three officer positions. President, Secretary, and Member at Large, will be voted upon next year. Kim Kratz, SAFIT secretary, then discussed planned development of the website and presented the logo designs that have been submitted to date. The current logo submittals were deemed unsatisfactory. The website is still under construction, but something similar to the SCAMIT website is desired. It was suggested and voted upon to provide design elements and allow more time for additional logo submittals. Vice President, Christopher Rogers, opened the floor to discussion of the four newsletters produced to date. These have been basic and lacked some information than could be included. The SCAMIT newsletter was noted as a model and discussed as what is desired by SAFIT. I commented on voucher sheets, keys, meeting information, news, job postings, as items typically included in SCAMIT newsletters in the past. Joe Slusark then led a discussion on future SAFIT meeting schedules and topics. Frequency of meetings and locations were discussed. A quarterly meeting format was agreed as being desirable. Two of the meetings each year would be fixed. A winter annual organizational meeting will be held in conjunction with the California Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup (CABS) meetings every November and a summer Hazardous Materials (HazMat) training workshop will be held alternate years in Davis and Southern California. This past summer the HazMat workshop was held in Davis and it was noted that SCCWRP offered to host the 2009 HazMat training workshop at their offices in Orange County. The other two meetings would be taxonomic workshops focusing on a particular group or a “Bugfest”, an open meeting that is devoted to helping taxonomists identify problem animals. If necessary, additional workshop meetings could always be scheduled to take advantage of new developments or the availability of visiting experts. There are several taxonomic workshops covering various freshwater groups in various stages of development. Joe commented that SAFIT also wished to continue co-hosting workshops with SCAMIT. I noted that one topic of common interest is oligochaete taxonomy. Joe also mentioned estuarine insects as a possible joint workshop topic in the future. Joe next brought up the idea of SAFIT holding a digital photography workshop on taxonomic images. Nearly all members attending were interested in such an opportunity. Joe mentioned that Ken Davis, a professional photographer in the area, who is also an invertebrate taxonomist, might be interested in leading such a workshop. I took this opportunity to detail the recent Morphbank SCAMIT workshops and the relationship SCAMIT is fostering with Morphbank in regards to our taxonomic database and digital image archive. 6 Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 One problem mentioned by Joe and discussed by others is the large geographic coverage of SAFIT. To date all meetings have been held in California. While most of the membership resides in California, it was noted that holding meetings in other states (Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah) would allow members in those states to participate and perhaps serve to recruit additional members from those states. I was able to share the similar geographic situation and difficulties keeping its organization active experienced by the Northern Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomist (NAMIT). Pete Ode (ABL) was then asked to comment on the SWAMP Quality Assurance (QA) program. He hrst commented that SWAMP is funded by two sources: wastewater discharge fees through the Regional Monitoring Monetary Programs and EPA Clean Water Act funds. Pete said there are budget cuts looming regarding the EPA side of funding which would probably reduce that amount from $4 million to $2 million dollars per year. These budget cuts would impact the SWAMP program. Pete is in charge of developing the SWAMP QA program. He said that the goal is to have the SWAMP Biocriteria program established in 2-3 years and that QA is now a high priority. A Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) addressing all aspects (including sort, ID, and data entry) is currently planned for implementation in 2009, depending on budget cut impacts. There was discussion during lunch regarding freshwater and marine taxonomic QA programs and the importance of recognizing that differences between laboratory processing will have an impact on implementation of a statewide QA program. After lunch Brady Richardson and Christopher Rogers discussed the current status of the Standard Taxonomic Effort (STE). SAFIT receives SWAMP funding to maintain and update the STE taxa listing on a periodic basis. Brady and Christopher are reviewing comments submitted for improvement on the current document and will be developing recommendations for a new version next year. They asked that all members be sure to provide feedback to them in a timely manner so that all comments can be fully reviewed for consideration. Joe next brought up taxonomic certihcation as a topic. He thinks this is a direction State SWAMP regulations might potentially require. The North American Benthological Society (NABS) taxonomic certihcation program was brought up as an example. Several members present hold NABS certihcation and are not impressed by the certihcation process. They criticized the inadequate process used to assess the taxonomic knowledge required to identify the broad range of organisms potentially encountered. All agreed that training efforts aimed at standardizing taxonomic name usage and providing updated identihcation tools are more benehcial than certihcation programs. I commented that SCAMIT has discussed this topic several times in recent years and has identihed similar concerns and arrived at the same conclusions. Joe commented that he would present these comments if advisement from SAFIT were sought by SWAMP on this topic. The meeting ended with brief discussions on membership outreach and education outreach, both important activities that promote awareness of SAFIT. As a small volunteer organization, similar to SCAMIT, they must take advantage of any and all such opportunities that present themselves. They will hold another annual membership meeting next November. 7 Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 CHRISTMAS 2008 On Saturday, December 6th, SCAMIT hosted a Christmas Party/Potluck at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro from about 5-9 pm. It had been 10 years since the last Christmas party and several members wanted us to start again. There were about 30 persons who attended including members, family, and friends. SCAMIT provided a Honeybaked ham, sodas, coffee, utensils, and plates. Members who attended brought a collection of yummy side dishes, appetizers, and desserts. The bookstore was open for an hour or so before the dinner and members received a 10% discount off purchases. There was Christmas music playing over the PA system all night. Everyone had a great time visiting and exploring the animals in aquaria. There was even a visit from Santa for the kids. Thanks to CM A and the staff for sponsoring us, having the gift shop open, and helping out with set up and tear down of tables and chairs. We hope to be back next year. - Larry Lovell, SCAMIT President 8 Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec, 2008 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 3/4 Please visit the SCAMIT Website at: www.scamit.org SCAMIT OFFICERS If you need any other information concerning SCAMIT please feel free to contact any of the officers at their e-mail addresses: President Larry Lovell (310)830-2400X5613 llovell@lacsd.org Vice-President Leslie Harris (213)763-3234 lharris@nhm.org Secretary Megan Lilly (619)758-2336 mlilly@sandiego.gov Treasurer Cheryl Brantley (310)830-2400x5605 cbrantley@lacsd.org Hard copy back issues of the newsletter are available. Prices are as follows: Volumes 1 - 4 (compilation).$ 30.00 Volumes 5 - 7 (compilation).$ 15.00 Volumes 8-15 .$ 20.00/vol. Single back issues are also available at cost. The SCAMIT newsletter is published every two months and is distributed freely to members in good standing. Membership is $15 for an electronic copy of the newsletter, available via the web site at www.scamit.org, and $30 to receive a printed copy via USPS. Institutional membership, which includes a mailed printed copy, is $60. All correspondences can be sent to the Secretary at the email address above or to: SCAMIT C/0 The Natural History Museum, Invertebrate Zoology attn: Leslie Harris 900 Exposition Boulevard Los Angeles, California, 90007 Southern California Assocation of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 Polycirrus sp A. Photo by V. Rodriguez-Villanueva, CSD This Issue 14 JANUARY 2009.2 UPCOMING MEETINGS.2 26 JANUARY 2009.5 SCUM 2009.7 17-18 FEBRUARY 2009.7 9-10 MARCH 2009. 10 APRIE2009.10 SCAMIT OFFICERS.12 The SCAMIT newsletter is not deemed to be a valid publieation for formal taxonomie purposes. Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 14 JANUARY 2009 The meeting was held at the LACMNH. Attendees: Dr. Chapman, OSU; Christopher Rogers, Eeoanalysts (SAFIT Viee-President); Leslie Harris, LACMNH (SCAMIT Viee-President); Larry Lovell, CSDLAC (SCAMIT President); Dean Pasko, OCSD; Ron Velarde, CSD; Ross Duggan, CSD; Dan Ituarte, CSD; Lliza Moore, CSD; Andrew Davenport, CSD; Carol Paquette, MBC Applied Environmental Seienees; Dr. Christine Whiteraft, CSULB; Kathy Omura, LACMNH; Don Cadien, CSDLAC; also visits from Dr. Regina Wetzler, LACMNH and Dr. Jody Martin, LACMNH, and Dean Penteheff LACMNH Informaties. President Lovell ealled the meeting to order and we eondueted our business portion first. Upeoming meetings were listed, as well as several meetings of other groups. Upeoming SCAMIT meetings are 26 January - Polyeirrinae at City of San Diego; 17-18 February, 2 day Caprellid workshop at LACSD lab in Carson led by Dr. Todd Haney (Sage Hill Sehool). Also to be diseussed, leptostraeans by Todd, and hippolytid shrimps by Dr. Mary Wieksten (Texas A & M). A seeond two-day workshop will be held 9-10 Mareh at the LACMNH, presented by Dr. Les Watling (University of Hawaii) and Dr. Sarah Gerkin (University of Alaska) with Cumaeeans as the topie group. It is likely that one or more meetings will be arranged in April to eapitalize on the presenee of worldwide erustaeean researehers here for a Biosystematies eonferenee at Catalina Island. Seheduling will depend on availability and willingness of visiting researehers. A SCAMIT database meeting is seheduled for May, and another meeting may be added for the month. Later this month (January 24*) the SCUM meeting (Southern California Unified Malaeologists) will be held at Cal Poly Pomona, hosted by Dr. Angel Valdes. The SCAS meetings will be held 2-3 May at California State University Dominguez Hills, and the WSM meetings, 23-27 June at Cal State Fullerton. UPCOMING MEETINGS 14 June 2010 - Digital Imaging Workshop at the City of San Diego. Co-led by Dan Ituarte and Niek Haring. Posting of ontogenies in support of our MorphBank eollaboration was urged by President Lovell, and Don Cadien asked all to review the proposed draft erustaeean ontogenies posted to Google Groups. The status of the BioSyne funding applieation was diseussed, and the nature of the initial exereise with polyehaetes diseussed. Larry also mentioned he will be renewing diseussions with California SeaGrant over funding of SCAMIT efforts. Before venturing into the main business of the day we did a round of introduetions, sinee several of the attendees were not known to those present. Dr. Chapman then took the reins and began his presentation of the Gammaridean Amphipod 2 Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 section of the 4^*" edition of the Light and Smith manual. He had met with SCAMIT during the final phases of development of the manuscript, and had incorporated most of our suggestions into the result. Unlike most previous publication-review meetings, this was not a line-by-line commentary of the publication in question. John gave us an overview of the conception and long execution of this very large project, tracking his involvement over a period of a decade. He supported his talk with images displayed on a large computer display in the lab, visible to all most of the time. One of the more interesting aspects of the presentation was a review of the history of, and future of, editions of the manual. Originating as a laboratory practical notebook in support of his invertebrate classes at University of California Berkeley, S. F. Light produced what was the first reasonably comprehensive treatment of marine invertebrates from the area. This was collated and published in 1941 as the first edition of the manual. Most if not all of this was Dr. Light’s work, augmented with some contributions and collaborations by others. A second enlarged edition was released in 1954 long after Dr. Light’s demise, edited by Ralph Smith, Frank Pitelka, Donald Abbott, and Frances Weesner. In this 2""^ edition a considerable expansion was undertaken, and the pattern of having individual sections written by specialists in the group began. J. L. Barnard was involved with the amphipod section, but was not credited with authorship in the 2""^ edition. In the 1975 3'^^^ edition he was the clear and sole author, but his death prevented his acting in the same capacity for the current edition. The edition was co-edited by Ralph Smith and Jim Carlton. John showed us several graphics regressing the publishing history of the manual editions over time, and projected that the next edition will appear in 2074 based on a very tight regression fit in the previous four editions. John expressed doubt, when asked, that he would be doing the gammarid amphipods again in the 5* edition. The 4* edition has contributions from over a hundred contributors, and explores groups not covered in previous editions. John then outlined his approach to the chapter. He strove to be as inclusive as possible under the rules imposed by the editor (north of Point Conception, must reach upper bathymetric limit at Im or less). John did get a few deeper species included than the rules would normally have allowed. This is helpful, since the chapter will, as have other editions of this work, provide a “Bible” for those approaching amphipods with little or no specialist knowledge. In those circumstances comprehensive information is extremely valuable, and inclusion of as many species as possible, useful. With the idea that many users will not be experienced John strove for simplicity and ease of use. He insisted on use of characters which are visible at 40x or less, requiring use of only a dissecting microscope for specimen examination. He avoided use of mouthpart characters whenever possible, and other characters which can only be viewed by dissection. He tried his best to avoid ambiguous characters, or those which his experience suggested were not likely to be reliable (despite their use in the taxonomic literature). He attempted to avoid characters that vary with growth, as well as those observable in only a single sex. This latter attempt was less successful than others, as for many species, secondary sexual characters are the main separatory characters. The development of a sex neutral taxonomy for gammarid amphipods is a distant dream, not yet attainable. Characters on parts often lost during preservation and handling were also given reduced importance in John’s keys, since they are often not available. Full illustration, that is some illustration of every included species, was a goal that he was able to attain in his chapter. Whole body illustration of every species was, however, precluded by lack of space. Characters used in the keys were included and referenced in the illustrations by arrows. In most cases illustrations were drawn from the existing published literature, but these were often 3 Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 redrawn or somewhat modified for added elarity. To the extent it was under his eontrol, John attempted to have the illustrations and the key oeeurrenee of a speeies on the same page or on the faeing page. While this goal was not fully met due to produetion restrietions, the figures and key oeeurrenees are usually fairly elose. To assist users, and to serve as a eross-eheek for key endpoints, John also provided a tabular key to families. Several attendees mentioned this as a partieularly handy feature they had already made use of As in other portions of the book, John provided an annotated list of speeies. He was unhappy with the level of detail he was able to attain in the annotations due to spaee restrietions, noting that a great deal of information eould not be ineluded in the ehapter. He has hopes that this ean be made available in some other format sinee it was gathered through great effort and would benefit the eommunity. Added eomments on the origin of eaeh speeies would be very weleome. John gave us his analysis of speeies origins for the fauna ineluded in the ehapter: 7% introdueed, 76% native, and 17% eryptogenie (data not suffieient to deeide origin). As our homogenization of the world fauna eontinues, these numbers will eontinue to ehange. The pereentage of introdueed speeies seems a bit low for the group sinee most groups run around 11% in the temperate-boreal Eastern Paeifie. John eoneluded his morning look at the gammarid ehapter with a list of things he would like to see available in future: 1) extended bibliographies of literature pertaining to Southern California, Mexiean, deep sea, pelagie, and Hawaiian gammarids 2) annotated lists of speeies eovering eaeh of these 3) unitary keys to all speeies known from southern California, the North East Paeifie, and the tropieal Eastern Paeifie, to replaee the large number of speeialty keys dealing with individual genera or families 4) produetion of a souree doeument on the natural history of regional peraearids During the afternoon session we examined speeimens brought by the partieipants. One of partieular note was a tiny speeimen of Lightiella serendipita Jones 1961, a eephaloearid very rarely eneountered and apparently endemie to California. Originally deseribed from San Franeiseo Bay, the speeies has not previously been reported from beyond the bay. A reeord of an unidentified eephaloearid from Alamitos Bay eould also represent this speeies but that depends on further examination. The speeimen examined was brought in by Carol Paquette of MBC and was taken in an environmental projeet at Mugu Eagoon. This represents a new elass for the next edition of the SCAMIT listing whieh will inelude the animal. An unusual Photis from Eos Angeles Harbor was examined as were several phoxoeephalid speeies from Morro Bay brought in by Christopher Rogers. A single large ampeliseid thought to be A. cristoides was also examined. The speeimen eame from off Palos Verdes and did not mateh well with available deseriptions. It was also not bilaterally symmetrieal in eharaeters. Where possible John’s keys from the ehapter were used. 4 Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 26 JANUARY 2009 The topic of the day was Polycirrinae, with emphasis on Polycirrus. President Larry Lovell opened the meeting. There is interest in training meetings and Vice-President Leslie Harris will be recruiting workshop leaders. Initial workshops will be introductory with later meetings more detailed. The following other meetings of interest were mentioned: SCUM, January SCAS, May 29-30 at Marymount College; WSM at CSU Fullerton June 23-27; The International Nemertean conference at UCSB June 29- July 3; and the 2""^ annual Mexican polychaete conference in Oaxaca, Mexico September 2009. SCAMIT is hoping to produce another marine invertebrate calendar for 2010. Images will be accepted for consideration until some time in the fall. Members are encouraged to take the opportunity to photograph animals and submit their finest images. Database development continues and our consultant, Katja Seltmann, has begun interacting with Dawn Olson on concepts and database issues. The database group is working on ontologies for a few phyla that need to be finished up for use in image submittal to Morphbank. Leslie Harris and Larry Lovell submitted a proposal to BioSynC for initial funding for SCAMIT to develop a west coast polychaete species list. The draft proposal was submitted and favorably received. The summer of 2009 is the target timeframe for a kickoff workshop. Apologies for the SCAMIT website being stagnant. Larry is working on getting help for webmaster Jay Shrake. Kelvin Barwick has been approached about assisting Jay. He is thinking about it and looking into some computer platform and software issues that would need resolution. Newsletters are behind and the new plan to get caught up is by doubling up. Secretary, Megan Lilly agrees that this is a workable solution to the problem. The topic of the meeting was the Terebellidae subfamily Polycirrinae. The subfamily covers several genera with Amaeana and Polycirrus occurring locally. The most difficult genus is Polycirrus. Ron began the workshop by updating the Polycirrus table he had distributed with new information from Hyperion and the San Francisco lab. We then moved onto a discussion of what characters we all use and agree are important to ID Polycirrus (listed below). Most character states are reliable in adult well preserved specimens, but variation in size and condition of specimens can be a problem. Many Polycirrus are still in tubes when the taxonomist receives them and the need for tube removal without damage is a problem. Ron commented that the Poly cirrus sp A SCAMIT 1995 sheet produced several years ago by Rick Rowe represents another species. This animal has methyl green banding in the posterior segments and is collected by the City of San Diego lab. The following is a list of species reported from the NE Pacific by SCAMIT members, with selected notes: - Poly cirrus californicus Moore 1909 - striated ventral lip, smooth dorsum, w/ post-setal lobes - Polycirrus perplexus Moore 1923 - striated ventral lip, rugose dorsum, w/ post-setal lobes - Polycirrus sp A SCAMIT I995§ - smooth ventral lip, rugose dorsum, posterior staining bands - Poly cirrus m sp A (SD) - rugose dorsum, posterior staining bands, w/o post-setal lobes - Polycirrus sp I Banse 1980 - Polycirrus m sp I (SD) - like P. sp I Banse 1980, but with peristomial palps Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 - Polycirrus sp III Banse 1980 - Polycirrus sp IV Banse 1980 - Polycirrus sp V Banse 1980 - Poly cirrus sp OCl Phillips & Lovell 1999§ - rugose dorsum, posterior staining bands, post- setal lobes - Polycirrus sp SF1 - this was thought to be the same as P. m sp A - Polycirrus sp of CSD - Veroniea shared images of this animal - Polycirrus sp B of Lovell - from WA state, w/ palps; needs to be eompared w/ Poly cirrus sp 12 (SD) mid ventral pads List of eharaeter states noted by various authors for eonsideration when identifying speeies: Number of pairs of notosetae Segment where notosetae begin (asetigerous seg 1) setiger with uneini (range) (thoraeie or abdominal) Dorsum smooth or rugose Number and form of lateral ventral pads Presenee and number of mid-ventral pads Notosetae, smooth, plumose, or hirsute (dentieulate or serrate) Form of uneini and range of dentition Thoraeie parapodial lobes presenee and length, pre and/or post Number of nephridia Methyl green staining patterns; dorsal, ventral (mid-ventral pads), posterior abdominals, prostomial tentaeular lobe, peristomial pad, uneinal tori staining. Lateral peristomial palps We examined four speeimens of Polycirrus sp A material from three labs. All had a rugose dorsum and methyl green staining bands in posterior setigers. One lighter staining speeimen was from LACSD, the two from OCSD and one from CSD were most similar. The CSD had a slightly different staining pattern for the uneinal area than the two OCSD speeimens. There was diseussion regarding the reliability of many of the eharaeter states to be aeeurately assessed given the variable eondition of speeimens that we see. Tony will review speeimens that he used to establish P. sp A and report his findings to everyone. Labs will seore speeimens of their Poly cirrus speeies against the eharaeter states listed above. It is elear that this is a diffieult group taxonomieally in part beeause of eonditions eaused by poor preservation due to tube dwelling; and seeondly due to reliability/variability issues that eause trouble in aeeurately assessing eharaeter states, sueh as setiger eounts and parapodial lobe development, with body size and maturity. 6 Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 SCUM 2009 The annual meeting of the Southern California Unified Malaeologists was held at Cal Poly Pomona and hosted by Dr. Angel Valdes. There were numerous talks given that day and the following are just a few: Carla Stout, diseussed the moleeular phylogeny of Dendronotus. In her researeh she found that in some instanees different morphologies did indeed eorrelate with distinet speeies, but there were other examples where geographie ranges showed distinet speeies even though those speeies displayed the same morphology Miehael Vendraseo talked about the diverse shell mierostrueture of Cambrian mollusea, and showed evidenee of links with braehiopoda. In the lab of Dr. Valdes they are eondueting researeh on Chelidonuran geneties and they are finding the various eolor morphs to be the same speeies. Dr. Doug Eemisse gave an overview of the work being done in, and in assoeiation with, his lab ineluding Mopalia phylogeny, world ehiton phylogeny, work on fossil ehitons and a revision of Henricia. Hans Bertseh is looking at global biogeographie patterns of opisthobranehia, and eondueting studies on opisthobraneh population strueture in Punta La Gringa over the last 30 years. Pat LaFollette then gave an informative review of malaeologieal literature found on the internet with adviee for finding what you need. 17-18 FEBRUARY 2009 Feb 17 attendanee: Larry Lovell, Jim Roney, Tony Phillips, Ken Sakamoto, Todd Haney, Christina Thomas, Lisa Haney, Dan Ituarte, Yat-Long Poon. The two day eaprellid workshop was held at the LACSD lab and was led by Dr. Todd Haney. President Larry Lovell opened the meeting and made introduetions. He diseussed upeoming meetings; Mareh 9* and 10* at NHMLAC, a two day workshop on eumaeeans with Drs. Les Watling and Sarah Gerkin; an April meeting at NHMLAC in development on a erustaeean group; May 11* at SCCWRP a database group meeting; May 26 at OCSD on Cirratulus, Cirriformia, Timarete, md Protocirrineris; June 8* at CSD an Lehinodermata 101 introduetory workshop; and July 13* at CSD a digital image editing workshop (editor’s note: this meeting date has been ehanged; see the Upeoming Meetings Box on page 2). Nominations for the upeoming SCAMIT offieer eleetions are still open. The eurrent slate of offieers has been nominated to serve again. Additional nominations will be aeeepted until the end of February. The eleetion will take plaee in Mareh. Members will reeeive ballots via email in early Mareh and have two weeks to return them to Viee-President Leslie Harris. Dr. Todd Haney was then introdueed as the lead for the day. He began the workshop with a PowerPoint presentation entitled: “Skeleton Shrimp of the Northeast Paeifie”. He presented a hierarehieal systematie review - Order Amphipoda; Infraorder Caprellida; Family Caprellidae; and Subfamilies Caprellinae and Phtisieinae. Todd then moved on to a diseussion of our loeal fauna and their eeology. The SCAMIT ED 5 listing is dominated by the genus Caprella. There was diseussion by members on eonsideration of eaprellids as epibenthie vs. benthie for analysis purposes. Monitoring labs handle inelusion of eaprellids differently in trawls and grabs, exeluding them from trawl samples and ineluding them Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 in benthic samples. The diet of caprellids is diatoms primarily but they are opportunistic feeders, known to feed on nudibranchs when available. Some of the key features of caprellids are listed below: Pereopods 1-5: shape of the propodus of Gl, G2; length of basis and carpus of G2; presence of pereopod 3 and 4, number of articles (slide mount, some are very small); segments, number of articles in the appendage. Head appendages: A1 flagellum length, number of articles; A2 flagellum setae and segments; mandibular palp, segmentation, terminal article; maxillary, inner and outer lobes; maxilliped, palps, lobes. Todd discussed what he called the “problem children of Ed 5”, on the SCAMIT species list that deserve comment. Caprella californica, considered intertidal. It has some good characters for ID that Todd will review. Caprella equilibra - rQportQd worldwide, described from Charleston, SC. Probably misreported locally. Caprella mendox - close to Caprella equilibra. A1 flagellum longer than Caprella equilibra, peron spines lacking adjacent gill insertion, with spines by the gills. Caprella sp. E Benedict 1978 § - no specimens reported by any labs. A name in a key from an old Bruce Benedict paper. Caprella simia - reported as an introduced species in Cohen et al 2005. See Watling & Carlton. Paracaprella sp SDl Pasko 2000 § - not well known. Tritella tenuissima - several former name usages not listed in ED 5. Has been called Aeginellidae? Triantella sp A as noted on an old voucher sheet. Eisa is re-evaluating this species. In Tritella the A2 falgellum is biarticulate. Hemiproto wigleyi - Todd stated probably not correct, likely remains endemic to Caribbean. Hemiproto sp A Benedict 1978 § - EACSD reports. Phtisica sp. - unusual body form. Caprella sp EAl - new, Eisa wants to look at more of these. Todd had his entire literature collection on Caprellids at the meeting. Members were encouraged to review it for rare and hard to And publications. Key pieces of literature for working on caprellids are the following: For Taxonomic/Systematic work see - Mayer 1903; McCain 1968; Eaubitz 1970; Martin 1977; Watling & Carlton in Eight’s Manual. For Phylogenetics see - McCain 1970; Eaubitz, 1993; Takeuchi 1993; Myers & Eowry 2003; Ito et al 2008. 8 Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 After lunch we moved on to the examination of the following specimens provided by participants and Todd. The following are notes and comments on those specimens. - Caprella californica - specimens from Weston contract work (Wes Val) by Dean Pasko; does not have spine between G2; G2 second (poison) spine well developed with “articulation” or differential projection of distal part as below. - Caprella californica - specimens from Santa Monica Bay 60m; with G2 spine and well developed head spine; G2 second (poison) spine well developed with “articulation” or differential projection of distal part. - Caprella scaura - second (poison) spine on G2 small, with body spines in posterior. Note: this species iS not in the current ED 5 listing. - Caprella simia - specimens from Dean; Bight 08, station 6145C, 2m, 6 Aug 08, Jim Roney agreed with the ID; no spine on P5; smooth, flattened body. - Caprella mutica - specimens from Weston (Wes Val) via Dean Pasko again; body with tubercles and perionites 3 & 4 with gills only, no peripods. Feb 18* was the second day of the Caprellid workshop. Attendance: Larry Lovell, Mary Wicksten, Tony Phillips, Ken Sakamoto, Christina Thomas, Dan Ituarte, Eliza Moore, Yat-Long Poon, Ross Duggan, Lisa Haney, Jim Roney. Some members were not able to attend both days, so the crowd was a mix of those who had been present the previous day and others who were new. Dr. Mary Wicksten was visiting the Southern California area from Texas A&M and had arranged to attend the meeting that day. She opened the day by presenting an update of her research on hippolytid shrimps, with an overview of her work of the last 30+ years. She believes there are many problems with current generic designations and species identifications. Mary is hoping to approach these problems with molecular information, if and when she can get fresh and properly preserved material. She requested material for genetics from the participants, knowing that there are regular sampling programs locally. She would be grateful for any material that can be sent to her. Todd Haney then continued his presentation on caprellids with a thorough review of his presentation from yesterday for those that were not present. This took the rest of the morning. We broke for lunch and reconvened in a conference room for the afternoon to continue examining specimens. The following is an accounting of the species examined and comments regarding them. - Hemiproto sp A Benedict 1978 §. Differences with Hemiproto wigleyi (which is incompletely described) are not clear and examination of the type specimens of H. wigleyi would resolve the confusion. Tony will look at his specimens from shallower water for additional information. - Caprella natalensis vs Caprellapenantis: Caprella natalensis - head length equal to length of pereonite 1; length of P5 longer than combined length of P6 and 7; male G2 with flattened distal palmar projection. Specimens ID’ed as Caprella natalensis from Long Beach Harbor rip rap were examined and determined to be Caprella penantis. - Caprella penantis (east coast, SC) - specimens with setous palmer margin of G2; head length longer anterior than pereonite 1; gills well rounded in males; length of P5 shorter than or equal to 9 Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 the combined length of P6 and 7; male G2 with distinctly rectangular distal palmar projection. - Aeginellidae sp A - Material from LACSD. This is a Tritella. It has processes on P3 and P4; no anterior processes on P2; the gills are linear, not ovoid; the palmar margin is straight with a defining (poison) tooth; insertion point of P5 process is posterior (insertion visible, but process missing). These characters approach Tritella tenuissima. - Caprella mendax - JLBamard material. Large spine on P2 (larger than Caprella equilibra). - Deutella californica - OCSD material. With small pereopods at base of gills on P3 and P4. This brought the workshop to a close and everyone thanked Todd for sharing his expertise on this difficult group. All members walked away at the end of each day with a better understanding of the character states that define this group and the problems regarding the current status of the local taxonomy. (- disclaimer: Your Secretary/NL Editor apologizes if there are any errors in the crustacean taxonomic portion of the minutes. Since I do not work on crustaceans and have had a difficult time finding a carcinologist with enough time to review the minutes as written, I can only publish what was submitted without potentially needed corrections.) - M. Lilly 9-10 MARCH 2009 The minutes from this meeting will be in the next newsletter. APRIL 2009 A speaker for the proposed April meeting could not be arranged and therefore, the meeting was canceled. 10 Jan/Feb/March/April, 2009 SCAMIT Newsletter Vol. 27, No. 5&6 Please visit the SCAMIT Website at: www.seamit.org SCAMIT OFFICERS If you need any other information eoneeming SCAMIT please feel free to eontaet any of the offieers at their e-mail addresses: President Larry Lovell (310)830-2400X5613 llovell@laesd.org Viee-President Leslie Harris (213)763-3234 lharris@nhm.org Seeretary Megan Lilly (619)758-2336 mlilly@sandiego.gov Treasurer Cheryl Brantley (310)830-2400x5605 ebrantley@laesd.org Hard eopy baek issues of the newsletter are available. Priees are as follows: Volumes 1 - 4 (eompilation).$ 30.00 Volumes 5 - 7 (eompilation).$ 15.00 Volumes 8-15 .$ 20.00/vol. Single baek issues are also available at eost. The SCAMIT newsletter is published every two months and is distributed freely to members in good standing. Membership is $15 for an eleetronie eopy of the newsletter, available via the web site at www.scamit.org, and $30 to reeeive a printed eopy via USPS. Institutional membership, whieh ineludes a mailed printed eopy, is $60. All eorrespondenees ean be sent to the Seeretary at the email address above or to: SCAMIT C/0 The Natural History Museum, Invertebrate Zoology attn: Leslie Harris 900 Exposition Boulevard Los Angeles, California, 90007