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[Annelida] inking in alciopids

Eric Gonzales via annelida%40net.bio.net (by eegonzales from berkeley.edu)
Tue Mar 3 19:55:20 EST 2009


Regarding Colin Hermans intriguing idea:

Sea hares are known to ink - http://home.earthlink.net/~huskertomkat/hare.html 
  - but are not known for their great vision.  Definitely want to  
learn more about alciopid ink & eyes.

Best,
Eric


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Eric Gonzales PhD
Postdoc - Rokhsar Laboratory
University of California at Berkeley
Molecular and Cell Biology
543 Life Sciences Addition
Berkeley CA 94720
Phone  	510 643 9944
Cell		415 601 4923
Email 	eegonzales from berkeley.edu
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On Mar 3, 2009, at 4:29 PM, Colin Hermans wrote:

> Dear Mikhail and Geoff:
>
> I think it is an outrageous coincidence that alciopids and  
> cephalopods have evolved eyes that are so similar in structure right  
> down to the ultrastructural level (Hermans, C.O. and R.M. Eakin  
> (l974) Fine structure of the eyes of an alciopid polychaete, Vanadis  
> tagensis.  Zeit. Morph. Tiere. 79:245-267).  Now on top of that,  
> both groups have evolved inking. - Do alciopids really ink?
>
> What other group of aquatic animals ink?  Is their a connection  
> between great vision, and the evolution of inking?  Like the  
> shedding of tails by certain lizards, inking must be of value to the  
> prey of a visual predator.  The complexity of the eyes of alciopids  
> suggests that they may be visual predators. - but then why would  
> they ink?  It would just mess up their own vision.  Maybe visual  
> deception, as practiced by cephalopod, and perhaps, by alciopids,  
> could be the link between inking in the two groups?
>
> Just a thought, with best regards, Colin
>
> On Mar 2, 2009, at 5:26 PM, Geoff Read wrote:
>
>> Hi Mikhail,
>>
>> I didn't know of this ability. But as it is in Google's database  
>> you will have seen the 1975 reference below. I mention it for  
>> others as a starter point for any earlier references.
>>
>> Hamner, W.M.; Madin, L.P.; Alldredge, A.L.; Gilmer, R.W.; Hamner,  
>> P.P. (1975). Underwater observations of gelatinous zooplankton:  
>> sampling problems, feeding biology, and behavior. Limnology and  
>> Oceanography 20(6): 907-917.  http://aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_20/issue_6/0907.pdf
>>
>> p.915 "several alciopid polychaetes that released reddish-brown  
>> streamers of pigment as they swam away"
>>
>> Tomopterid bioluminescence is apparently mentioned in Herring, P.J.  
>> 1987. Systematic distribution of bioluminescence in living  
>> organisms. J.
>> Biolum. Chemilum. 1 :147-163.
>>
>>
>> Geoff
>>
>>
>>>>> On 3/03/2009 at 1:37 p.m., mikhail matz <matz from mail.utexas.edu>  
>>>>> wrote:
>>> Dear colleagues,
>>>
>>> I am looking for references on inking in acyopids. This remarkable
>>> phenomenon seems to be common knowledge among blue-water divers, but
>>> proves to be surprisingly difficult to trace in the literature. I am
>>> now writing a review about animal fluorescence, and want to see if
>>> anybody described what I observed - fluorescent ink in some  
>>> alcyopids
>>> (would look pale yellow in a collection jar in daylight). If not
>>> that, I would tremendously appreciate references to any kind of
>>> defensive inking in these cute worms.
>>>
>>> best,
>>>
>>> Misha
>>>
>>> Mikhail V. Matz
>>> University of Texas at Austin
>>> Integrative Biology Section
>>> 1 University station C0930
>>> Austin, TX 78712
>>> phone 512-992-8086 cell, 512-475-6424 lab
>>> fax 512-471-3878
>>> web http://www.bio.utexas.edu/research/matz_lab
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> Geoff Read <g.read from niwa.co.nz>
>>  http://www.annelida.net/
>>  http://www.niwascience.co.nz/ncabb/
>> About NIWA http://www.niwa.co.nz/about
>> ***************************
>>
>>
>> NIWA is the trading name of the National Institute of Water &  
>> Atmospheric Research Ltd.
>>
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