Jan 042015
 

In the latest issue of Scientific American, David Shiffman has a short article titled “Monikers Matter“, on the potential importance of common names for the conservation of species. He highlights the case of Charopa lafargei Vermeulen & Marzuki, a species of recently discovered snail only known from a single hill in Malaysia which is slated for demolition by the cement company Lafarge. He also cites a 2012 study by Paul Karaffa et al. that examined how student’s value animals based solely on (fictional) common names, and found that patriotic or “positive” names resulted in the students being more willing to conserve those species. It’s an interesting idea, and might be something for taxonomists to consider.

But, every species name put forward in Karaffa et al.’s study was either a mammal or a bird. Do we really think the same principles will apply for all species equally, specifically the uncharismatic invertebrates like insects, snails and their overwhelmingly diverse brethren?

There are 3 species listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN which have a common name that includes the term “American” (a term that features heavily in the positive section of Karaffa et al.’s survey), 2 of which are found in the USA (the 3rd is a Central American frog). Conveniently for this comparison, one is a vertebrate, the American Eel (Anguilla rostrata; listed as Endangered), and the other an invertebrate, the American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus; listed as Critically Endangered).

To estimate how much society values the conservation of these 2 species, I simply entered their scientific species names into Google Scholar and restricted the results to papers published in 2014, with the assumption that the number of people actively studying a species should act as a pretty good approximation for the value we place on that species as a society. In 2014, there were at least 456 papers published discussing the American Eel. In comparison, there were only 26 papers discussing the American Burying Beetle.

Obviously there is more at work here than just common names, but the fact that we value (by this simple metric at least) the American Eel so much more than the American Burying Beetle (a factor of 17.5x more) suggests that monikers don’t really matter, unless of course you share a spine with the species.

Vertebrate and charismatic bias is a significant influence in conservation biology, and nomenclature is unlikely to be an easy fix for it.


Karaffa P.T. & E. C. M. Parsons (2012). What’s in a Name? Do Species’ Names Impact Student Support for Conservation?, Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 17 (4) 308-310. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2012.676708

Vermeulen J.J. & Marzuki M.E. (2014). ‘Charopa’ lafargei (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Charopidae), a new, presumed narrowly endemic species from Peninsular Malaysia, Basteria, 78 (1-3) 31-34. DOI:

Aug 302012
 
Green Lynx Spider Peucetia viridans Florida Backlit

Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans) — Archbold Biological Station

Still working on flash control, I thought I’d experiment with backlighting after seeing some of Alex Wild’s phenomenal leafcutter ant photos, where the detail in vegetation popped. I only have one off-camera flash however, so I looked around until I found this Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans) sitting nicely while the Florida sun shone brightly in behind, highlighting the leaves like I had hoped. From there, it was a matter of getting the correct combination of shutter speed, aperture and ISO (1/200, f14 & ISO 400 in this case) to allow for the natural light to filter through the leaves, while using diffused flash to expose the spider. I’m not thrilled with the glare above the spider, and the composition isn’t great (it’s pretty heavily centered), but considering the wind was blowing the plant and the spider all over the place, I’m just happy I managed a shot that’s in focus and which somewhat recreates the scene I had envisioned! I’ll certainly be trying this trick again on a calmer day, or with a tripod and plamp around…

If you want to see a much different photo of a Green Lynx Spider, check out Crystal Ernst’s (aka The Bug Geek) incredible portrait.

Jun 092012
 

While taking our dog to the basement for a bath last night, my wife encountered a stairwell full of her next-to-least favourite1 arthropod — cellar spiders (Pholcus phalangioides).

Cellar Spider - Pholcus phalangioides

Cellar Spider - Pholcus phalangioides

By the looks of that egg sac, our laundry room will be well protected for the foreseeable future, much to my wife’s chagrin!

 

—————

1- Renée’s least favourite arthropod being the house centipede of course.

Apr 102012
 

Why, you might ask? Because of this:

Cymothoid Tongue parasite SPaiero

Since a piranha-like fish with 1+ inch teeth isn’t scary enough on it’s own, this one has a frickin’ isopod for a tongue! Big sharp teeth, murky water, and a tongue-replacing parasite: need I say more?

This little beauty was fished from the depths by my labmate Steve Paiero while visiting Guyana in January. I can imagine reeling in this Hydrolycus (I think the fish is either Hyrdolycus armatus or Hydrolycus tatauia) would be exciting, but then to remove the hook and find a parasitic isopod looking back at you? Amazing. Or horrifying. I’m not sure.

Cymothoidae isopods1 are one of the stranger parasites out there, and have garnered considerable attention from other bloggers. After entering the fish’s mouth through the gills2, they begin to suck on the fish’s tongue, drawing all the blood from it. As the tongue withers and dies, the isopod takes its place, and helps itself to any food the fish may happen to ingest, making them an odd combination of parasite turned kleptoparasite!

I could find very little taxonomic or natural history information about these isopods, but there is apparently only 1 species of Cymothoid isopod with a penchant for tongue, Cymothoa exigua [Update: Dr. Alistair Dove (@para_sight) of the Georgia Aquarium informs me there are numerous tongue biting isopods. This is unsettling]. Oddly, all accounts I’ve been able to find list Cymothoa exigua as a marine species, and not something you’d expect to find hundreds of kilometers up a river in the mouth of a freshwater fish! Seeing as it has a few more legs than I’m used to dealing with, if someone has a better idea on what’s going on, I’d love to hear about it.

Needless to say, I’m glad I’m not a small guppy potentially staring this in the face one day!

Cymothoid Tongue parasite 2 SPaiero

 

UPDATE April 11, 2012: It seems there are a mouthful of tongue biting isopods in South American freshwater ecosystems. I’m in the process of doing a little more research and will update the identity and biology when I can!

___________________

1- That’s right, this beastie is a cousin of the innocuous little pill bugs (sometimes called potatoe or sow bugs) that you can find in your own backyard.

2- You can see another little isopod latched on to the right side of the mouth in both photos. Whether this is an immature Cymothoa exigua or a different species I’m not sure. Either way, tough luck for the fish!