Tube city: part 2
Well, friends, I wish I could tell you everything in science went as planned, but I can't. Gear implodes; weather turns bad; organisms die; and every once in a while, the Navy gets in your way.
I wish I could tell you the experiment I had set up two weeks ago worked perfectly, but that's not true. Over half my organisms died. Crepidula fornicata is an incredibly resilient organism (I've even sanded their shells before and they've lived!), but I figured out the one thing they can't handle: having their feet exposed. Crepidula have to have a substratum to grip onto, or they keel over.
So I started over. I collected more individuals and re-vamped the design of my experiment. Now each individual has its own jar, and they're all happily attached to the rock or shell I found them on. Dividing the individuals into their own jars had one main effect: the number of tubes increased by a factor of 3! My experiment really is Tube City!
So far, all the individuals are still alive, and it's been over a week. It should be a good experiment!
 |
| Tube City indeed! |
So I started over. I collected more individuals and re-vamped the design of my experiment. Now each individual has its own jar, and they're all happily attached to the rock or shell I found them on. Dividing the individuals into their own jars had one main effect: the number of tubes increased by a factor of 3! My experiment really is Tube City!
So far, all the individuals are still alive, and it's been over a week. It should be a good experiment!
Comments
Post a Comment