Long Ones, Short Ones, Fat Ones, Skinny Ones...

August 16, 2017 2:56 PM

....Itsy, Bitsy Polychaete Worms: "Leslie Harris, from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, is a taxonomist who specializes in polychaetes. She’s sharing her expertise with the Smithsonian MarineGEO bioblitz currently underway at the Hakai Institute’s Calvert Ecological Observatory."

More on the Calvert Island Conservancy

The Secret Science Lab on Calvert Island

Leslie Harris - The Wonderful World of Worms

posted by mandolin conspiracy (5 comments total)

I thought this was pretty nifty (from the bioblitz link):

In the first two weeks of the three-week bioblitz, Paulay estimates they’ve seen more than 1,000 invertebrate species. Many of them are new to science, and now await a proper scientific description and a two-part Latin name. There are bound to be more gasps to come in the final week. The sleuthing continues.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:25 PM on August 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Itsy bitsy, teenie weenie, yellow polychaete bikini...
posted by ZaphodB at 4:06 PM on August 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the post. After reading about Ms. (Dr.?) Harris and her endeavors in polychaete taxonomy, I have concluded that she must be a cool lady that I'd like to get to know better. And the worms....sexxxyy!
Yeah, I'm a biology geek.
posted by strelitzia at 6:58 PM on August 16, 2017

Good timing on this post, since it is #WormWednesday
posted by yarrow at 7:26 PM on August 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is awesome. I've had the pleasure to work on more than one bioblitz, and once with Dr. Harris. I am not a taxonomist, nor do I have the right kind of brain to be one. But I am deeply impressed by (and envious of) their seemingly endless knowledge. Sadly, it's increasingly treated as something researchers should do as a hobby, rather than as an important discipline in its own right.
posted by deadbilly at 9:53 PM on August 16, 2017 [1 favorite]