This video shows some non-coralline red algal crusts placed in the family Peyssonneliaceae (Peyssonneliales) in the Zapatillas, Bocas del Toro, Caribbean Panama. Other peyssonnelioid crusts only superfiiclally resemble Peyssonnelia and belong to other red algal familes and orders. The first part of the vide clip focuses on the crusts, the middle part on other green, red and brown leafy seaweeds an corallines, and the clip ends with some views of smaller turf algae inhabiting a patch reef dominated by stony corals, sponges, gorgonians and zoanthids. Filmed by S. Fredericq at about 40-30 ft. depth, August 24th, 2009. Away from the immediate vicinity of the patch reef, most of the algae were covered under a blanket of silt and detritus.
Filming took place during the NSF-funded Pan American Advanced Studies Institute: Advanced Methods in Tropical Phycology Workshop, Aug. 14-Sept. 4, 2009 (Rachel Collin, PI; B. Wysor & S. Fredericq, Co-PIs).
http://striweb.si.edu/taxonomy_training/future_courses/20...Seaweeds were also collected for ongoing biodiversity research funded by grants from the following National Science Foundation Programs: Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories (DEB-0743024, DEB-0919508); PASI: Advanced Tropical Phycology Workshop (OISE-0819205); AToL: Red Algal Tree of Life (DEB-0937978).
Participating phycologists studying Panamanian seaweeds include: Suzanne Fredericq (University of Louisiana at Lafayette), Brian Wysor (Roger Williams University); D. Wilson Freshwater (University of North Carolina at Wilmington); and James N. Norris (Smithsonian Institution, NMNH). Amy Driskell (NMNH Smithsonian Institution's Barcode Initiative), and Rachel Collin (Director, STRI's Bocas Research Laboratory), have various ongoing collaborations with the seaweed biologists as well.
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Haven't seen any campus wildlife lately. Hope all's well with you.