Aquarium coral biologist Randi Rotjan, PhD, is in Belize studying changes in the reefs off Carrie Bow Cay along with diver Sarah Taylor and aquarist Pete Gawne, both also from the Aquarium. Over the next couple weeks, she'll be posting from the tropics, sharing pictures and stories from this familiar spot. Learn about previous expeditions in 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

Today's guest blogger is Zach Foltz, the Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems Station Manager. Zach keeps the island running, keeps the scientists sane and keeps Randi coming back year after year. In addition, he is an integral part of the Smithsonian–New England Aquarium collaboration to monitor 24 transects to evaluate the state of the Southwater Caye Marine Reserve (SWCMR), and he measures fishes. Here's a glimpse into his world this week!

As the Station Manager for the CCRE Program, I get the opportunity to work with a lot of wonderful researchers on a variety of projects in the many different ecosystems that are found near Carrie Bow Cay (mangroves, sea grass, coral reef and open ocean). While I have the opportunity to work with many animals, the monitoring project is one of my favorites because it is the only one that I am regularly involved with that lets me focus on my primary interest: fish.

Sharpnosed puffer

I have been working on the monitoring project with the rest of the group since its implementation almost four years ago. My role has been to identify and count fish species along our 24 transects on the reef. My partner Pete and I have been recording what fish species are found in the various habitats on the reef and how communities have changed with the establishment of the reserve. Changes are definitely taking place! We have documented the explosion of the invasive lionfish, and a boom and bust population of sharpnose pufferfish. Pete and I also do a lot of the transect maintenance at each site. This involves securing a submerged float along with tags along the 30m transect so we can sample the exact same spot every time we go back.


It is the last day of our trip and I am up bright and early to squeeze in one more dive before our mandatory 24-hour, preflight surface interval. Scott, Clare and I have to go to one of our sites to replace a float and collect more of Clare’s samples. No matter how much we accomplish and how much work we get done on days where we dive 4 times per day, it seems there is always just a little more work to do. It comes as no surprise that after having a week of wonderful weather and ideal conditions, the seas look angry and the wind is howling when we have to squeeze in this early morning dive. In a half-awake state, the three of us struggle to get all of our gear into the boat to head out to our site. After a short, bumpy ride, we reach the site, check our gear, and make sure that we have not left anything topside and roll backwards off the rocking boat.
 

Once we get in the water, we drop down to the bottom where we find our transect and the float that needs to be replaced. Clare quickly gets to work sampling her corals and Scott works to retag our transect. As soon as I finish securing the float, I look up to check on the rest of the group and see a curious hawksbill turtle checking in on us. I follow him for a while as he poses for the camera until I see him eyeing something on the bottom. He swims right down to it and takes a bite. He quickly realizes it is not his flavor, spits the object out and rapidly swims away. I swim down to see what he was so offended by and it is a mask and snorkel! I pick it up so no other curious turtles make the same mistake and once we all get back to the surface and into the boat, I share the story. Turns out that the mask belonged to Clare who had dropped it from the boat on a previous trip to the island! What are the odds of that!?

Curious hawksbill turtle

We bounce our way back to the island and I think about how lucky I am to go on a dive and see so much that goes on below the seas surface all before breakfast. The feeling quickly goes away when I remember that we have to unload the boat, pack all of our gear, and clean up the island all before the boat comes to take us back to the real world… So much to do in so little time.

This guest post comes to you from Amanda Franklin. She is a PhD student at Tufts University, having recently completed her masters degree at the University of Melbourne in Australia. She's studying sexual selection in stomatopods (more on that later!) and is working in the lab where I did my PhD work, carrying on the torch, so to speak! We're collaborating out here as she scouts her new study system. Meet other scientists I've overlapped with on Carrie Bow here.
I woke up early Wednesday morning hoping that I was prepared for my first trip to Carrie Bow Cay and my first jaunt into fieldwork for my PhD. My aim for the trip was to find stomatopods (more commonly known as mantis shrimp), which are a small crustacean known for their complex eyes and lightning fast ‘punch’. They are popular aquarium animals because they are charismatic creatures which are usually brightly coloured. Three flights and one boat ride later I received my first glimpse of the tiny island that was to be home for the next week. I must say, fieldwork on a small island surround by reef in the tropics is quite a nice way to start my PhD.  So with high hopes I donned the snorkel gear and hit the shallow reefs around Carrie Bow.



I’ve never searched for, or seen, a stomatopod in the wild before, so I was hoping that my pre-trip research would pay off. I looked in burrows, between seagrass and in every crevice and hole I could see. Eventually I saw a little one, about 50 mm long, peeking out of a hole in a large rock. I was excited to see my first stomatopod, however, I was stumped as to how to get it out. The rock was much too big to take the lot and the stomatopod was much too fast.  Eventually deciding it was a lost cause, I moved on and kept looking.  After some further searching I found another one in a hole in a small piece of coral.  By the end of the day I had found and collected 6 stomatopods, all hiding in holes in corals, rocks or conch shells.  It seems that shallow water (about 0.5m) with patchy rubble and seagrass is the ideal habitat to find this species.



Heading to the microscope, I had a fair idea what genus this species must be in. Nevertheless, I started to key it out from the Family level. Some characteristics which are important for differentiating species, genera and families of stomatopods include the structure of the telson (tail area) and the raptorial appendage (‘punching’ arm) and the presence/absence of spines on the telson and rostral plate (near the head). I soon discovered that the species which I had found was Neogonodactylus oerstedii.




During the remainder of my time at Carrie Bow, I searched for more stomatopods and observed their behaviour in the lab. I found many more of the same species, as well as 3 other species (Pseudosquilla ciliata, Lysiosquilla sp. and the third I’m yet to identify). Living up to their name, they proved to be very territorial in the lab. Individuals would fight over cavities (PVC pipe in this case) by striking each other, with the larger individual coming out victorious. Cavities are an important asset for stomatopods as there are a limited number available and remaining in the open dramatically increases the risk of predation.



The exploratory research has been very beneficial for me as now I know what species are present in Carrie Bow, which species are more abundant, where to find stomatopods and how to house them in the lab. From here, I hope to begin researching their reproductive behaviours. As yet, I am unsure which direction my research will take, but there are many unanswered questions related to communication during courtship and mating (there are visual, auditory and chemical signals used), sexual selection (e.g. sperm competition) and the effect of environmental change on reproductive behaviours. So after this amazing week at Carrie Bow, it’s back to the books to learn more about this fascinating group of animals, and, more importantly, discover what is not yet known!