November was a developmental month. I spent the month trying to create a new system for the ephyrae, as the experimental system. With the guidance and excellent help of Aaron and Nao, we developed a third system (non-Kreisel) to house the ephyrae. The system consists of cylindrical filter housing with an air hose along the bottom. The air hose serves as a bubbler to keep the ephyrae off of the bottom, as ephyrae are planktonic by nature, or require currents or other water movement for locomotion. I included a mechanical pencil in the image, as a reference point to help show the size of the system. It is not large by any means, considering we are dealing with small organisms.
Upon maturing to the medusa stage, the ephyrae will require movement to a kreisel system. Bubbles from the air hose bubbler could become trapped under the bell of the medusa, which could cause serious problems such as infection from dry tissues, which could lead to death.
In relation to the polyps themselves, I decided to get a better look at them and try to make some observations on growth. In a time span of about three to four weeks, I had noticed an increase in size of certain polyps. The polyps labeled in the rightmost picture had grown to that size, starting at the size of the polyps in the rightmost Petri dish (the polyps are small pinkish dots).
In this last portion, I'd like to address/discuss some changes I've made to my experiment. The change in mind is an addition to the main ephyrae study. I wish not only to find out the mortality rates of the ephyrae, but also to find out what causes strobilation in these particular polyps. After speaking with Aaron about ideas on how to get the polyps to strobilate, I thought that it would be beneficial to the overall understanding of Chrysaora fuscescens to attempt to pinpoint which environmental stresses can potentially cause strobilation in this particular group. In general, there are many different environmental variables that can cause strobilation, but by seeing whether or not the same manipulated variable (eg. salinity) works for all polyps in this system, it may help determine the cooperation or if there exists any recognition between polyp colonies.
Upon maturing to the medusa stage, the ephyrae will require movement to a kreisel system. Bubbles from the air hose bubbler could become trapped under the bell of the medusa, which could cause serious problems such as infection from dry tissues, which could lead to death.
In relation to the polyps themselves, I decided to get a better look at them and try to make some observations on growth. In a time span of about three to four weeks, I had noticed an increase in size of certain polyps. The polyps labeled in the rightmost picture had grown to that size, starting at the size of the polyps in the rightmost Petri dish (the polyps are small pinkish dots).
In this last portion, I'd like to address/discuss some changes I've made to my experiment. The change in mind is an addition to the main ephyrae study. I wish not only to find out the mortality rates of the ephyrae, but also to find out what causes strobilation in these particular polyps. After speaking with Aaron about ideas on how to get the polyps to strobilate, I thought that it would be beneficial to the overall understanding of Chrysaora fuscescens to attempt to pinpoint which environmental stresses can potentially cause strobilation in this particular group. In general, there are many different environmental variables that can cause strobilation, but by seeing whether or not the same manipulated variable (eg. salinity) works for all polyps in this system, it may help determine the cooperation or if there exists any recognition between polyp colonies.