Febuary 2013 Expedition - Wanted. Cryptofauna. Small crabs, shrimp molluscs and the like…
Dolphins swimming alongside the boat. Diving with black tip sharks and mantas. Stopping off on tropical islands. What more could you want in a day?!
My role on the Chagos expedition is to investigate the diversity of the cryptofauna - the small organisms that live within the reef structure - and how these are impacted by human activities. These organisms are often overlooked, partly because they are hard to survey and identify. But they make up the majority of the biodiversity on coral reefs and contain many important groups such as the detritivores and filter feeders. Generally on a dive, I’m seeking out these small crabs, shrimp, molluscs and the like. But it still makes your dive to see the mega fauna cruising by!
Photo: A typical scene amongst the reefs of chagos (c) Catherine Head
Our day started bright and early with a morning dive on the western side of the atoll, to which we were accompanied by a pod of dolphins. A much smaller pod today than yesterday, but always a lovely sight to watch. On this dive I was searching for shrimp, one component of the reef cryptofauna, that live on other invertebrates such as sea cucumbers, sea stars and coral. From these shrimp I will take DNA, to put together a phylogeny (a genetic family tree). I can then use this phylogeny to help explain shrimp distribution and community structure across Chagos and other sites in the Indian Ocean.
After the dive I photograph the shrimp and preserve them in ethanol for genetics back at Oxford University where I’m doing my PhD.
After lunch Morgan and I carried out the same work in the lagoon. A different reef habitat where a group of resident black-tips were very curious about what we were up to! We then finished off the day with a quick look around one of the islands to check out the enormous coconut crabs, then a smooth boat ride back across the lagoon before the sun went down.
And now I must leave you to continue processing my shrimp from today’s diving!
Catherine Head
Creole translation:
Nage ek dofin , plonger ek requin ek laray , desane lor ziles inpe ki pli bon ki sa . Mo travail lor sa expediton la c’est ale etidier bane organ ki rest lor corail et couma activiter humain affecter zot . sa bane organ vraiment difficile pou etidier et pou trouver ousi . Kand mo plonger mo trouve crab , crevette , coquille mais ousi li pa empeche moi pou trouve bane gros poisson ki dans sa delo la ousi .
Nou la journee coumence par ene zoli les temp ek plonger bonere gramatin lor coter west l’iles kot bane dofin ti accompagne nou . Lor sa plonger la mo tip e rode crevette , Barbara , zetoile des mers ek corail acoz enea ene crytofauna ki reste lor sa bane zanimo la ki vraiment important pou mo reserce . mone prend zot foto et ousi mo fine met zot dans ethanol pou mo amene zot l’universite oxford kot mo pe etudier .
Après dejeuner moi ek morgan ene lot reserceur ki sorti l’universite james cook queensland australie ine ale plonger , la bas ti ena ene bane requin ki tip e interesser coner ki nou pe fer . kand nou ine fini nou travail nou ine ale visite l’iles pou ale guet bane crab sipaille ek nou ine soleile coucher kand nou tip e retourner dans bato . mo laisse zot mo bizin ale etidier mo bane crevette ki mo fine ramaser zordi .