Figuring it out
I recently saw a meme online that said "Ages 18-25 are like playing a video game where you've skipped the tutorial and you're just sort of running around with no idea how anything works." I sympathize with the author's sentiment, but I also suspect they're not a scientist. Because in science, the feeling of running around and figuring out how things work does not end at age 25.
Allow me to explain. I'm currently working with an intern to identify the specimens I collected last summer from the Arctic. There are sponges and soft corals from stones in the deep sea and a couple unknown species that settled on moorings. We're using any and all scientific literature we can get our hands on, but there's no magic bullet - or even comprehensive guide - for identifying species. You have to do the hard work yourself. And when you've got a wide range of diverse phyla, each with its own unique anatomy and terminology, it definitely feels like you're running around with no idea how things work.
Many of the specimens are sponges, so I searched through my institution's library and came up with a seemingly helpful title: Sponges of the northeast Atlantic. I immediately requested it, then was delighted when it became available just a few days later. I excitedly marched down the street to the library, stepped into the office, and gave my name. The librarian handed me my prize, and...
It's a CD-ROM from 1998, formatted for Macintosh computers. Thank goodness I have a collaborator's Mac in my lab, but it turns out the CD is so old it requires an operating system that's no longer supported. I'm unable to install the Sponges of the northeast Atlantic program, but at least I can still open all the figures. It will be slow going, but hopefully my intern and I can use the photos and diagrams to identify our species.
One of our most challenging specimens was from a mooring. Several individuals had settled on an instrument at 25 m depth, and they each had bright red coloration and distinct, branched appendages. I was originally torn between identifying the species as a sea slug or a sea cucumber and had settled on cucumber at sea because of what I believed to be tube feet along the animal's lateral body wall. As it turns out, I was wrong, and it's actually a sea slug. I sent photos to a couple taxonomic experts and came up with the genus name Dendronotus. After searching through a couple papers myself, I believe it belongs to the species Dendronotus frondosus, which is common in the Barents Sea, Bear Island, and Svalbard.
I'm deeply grateful to the taxonomic experts who helped me out, and I look forward to identifying more of the specimens with my intern! One way or another, we scientists always figure things out.
Allow me to explain. I'm currently working with an intern to identify the specimens I collected last summer from the Arctic. There are sponges and soft corals from stones in the deep sea and a couple unknown species that settled on moorings. We're using any and all scientific literature we can get our hands on, but there's no magic bullet - or even comprehensive guide - for identifying species. You have to do the hard work yourself. And when you've got a wide range of diverse phyla, each with its own unique anatomy and terminology, it definitely feels like you're running around with no idea how things work.
Many of the specimens are sponges, so I searched through my institution's library and came up with a seemingly helpful title: Sponges of the northeast Atlantic. I immediately requested it, then was delighted when it became available just a few days later. I excitedly marched down the street to the library, stepped into the office, and gave my name. The librarian handed me my prize, and...
It's a CD-ROM from 1998, formatted for Macintosh computers. Thank goodness I have a collaborator's Mac in my lab, but it turns out the CD is so old it requires an operating system that's no longer supported. I'm unable to install the Sponges of the northeast Atlantic program, but at least I can still open all the figures. It will be slow going, but hopefully my intern and I can use the photos and diagrams to identify our species.
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| The specimen I now believe to be Dendronotus frondosus. |
I'm deeply grateful to the taxonomic experts who helped me out, and I look forward to identifying more of the specimens with my intern! One way or another, we scientists always figure things out.
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