Lawrence, Kansas (Oct 30, 2007 17:37 EST) Scientists have described the oldest definitive jellyfish ever found, using recently discovered "fossil snapshots" found in rocks more than 500 million years old.

The jellyfish are unique because they push the known occurrence of jellyfish back from 300 million to 505 million years.

The research will be published on October 31 in the journal PLoS ONE.


Read full article: 'Fossil Record Reveals Jellyfish More Than 500 Million Years Old'

Primitive crustacean was built for sidling in and out of crevices in reefs.

By Jeanna Bryner

A fossil of a new crab species reveals the itsy-bitsy crustaceans inhabited towering sponge reefs during the Jurassic Period, where they made tasty snacks for ichthyosaurs and other ancient reptiles.

The fossil was discovered in eastern Romania within cylindrical reef structures about 100 feet (30 meters) across and just as tall, which were once blanketed by deep ocean. It represents a new species within the oldest lineage of true crabs that lived 150 million years ago when dinosaurs walked the Earth.


Read full article: 'Ancient, legless crab discovered'

Puerto Rico (Oct 17, 2007 16:46 EST) Sea cucumbers are the champions of organ regrowth because they direct their wound healing abilities towards restoring their organs, according to research published in the online open access journal, BMC Developmental Biology. The discovery that Holothuria glaberrima uses similar cellular mechanisms during wound healing and organ regeneration gives us the opportunity to discover how to repair our own wounds and, perhaps eventually, how to regenerate body parts.


Read full article: 'Sea Cucumbers Fast Track Organ Regrowth By Healing Their Wounds'

AT THE mouth of the Bay of Fundy between Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick lies a sparsely vegetated 20-acre (eight-hectare) rock called Machias Seal Island. This place, a nesting ground for the Atlantic puffin, is also at the centre of a long-rumbling border dispute between America and Canada. Neither government seems interested in sorting it out, but some locals are passionate. “We give this island away and we might as well give away all our islands, including Manhattan,” grumbles Captain John E. Norton, whose family has operated “puffin tours” to the island since 1939.


Read full article: 'The lobster wars'

(Sep 20, 2007 12:19 EST) A Smithsonian scientist and colleague report that a potentially harmful, invasive crab species that has spread to several countries is now established and reproducing in Panama. The researchers report that Harris mud crabs are reproducing in the small, man-made lake designated to become the third set of locks in Panama’s new $5 billion canal expansion project.


Read full article: 'Smithsonian Identifies Invasive Crab Species In Panama Canal'

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Sep 1, 2007 14:12 EST) Before the worst mass extinction of life in Earth’s history – 252 million years ago – ocean life was diverse and clam-like organisms called brachiopods dominated. After the calamity, when little else existed, a different kind of clam-like organism, called a bivalve, took over.

What can the separate fates of these two invertebrates tell scientists about surviving an extinction event"


Read full article: 'When Bivalves Ruled The World'

For professional diver Kuo Tao-jen, helping conserve the Pacific reef squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana has been his second life.
Throughout the past ten years, Kuo has built bamboo rolls to provide a place for the squids to lay their eggs off the northeastern coast of Taiwan.

His efforts have reaped fruits, as an estimated one million Sepioteuthis squids have bred successfully since then.

Kuo said that no place in the world engages in conservation activities like his which help extend the life of the Pacific reef squid.


Read full article: 'Professional diver sees squid conservation project reap fruit'

Abalone divers have come under fire for being partly to blame for the spread of a deadly virus which has stripped the industry of tens of millions of dollars.


Read full article: 'Divers blamed for spreading abalone virus'

Spain is recruiting a team of 'jellyfish busters' to stop swimmers getting stung at the beach.

The team's mission will be to spot the stinging blobs along the coast and summon help.

The Spanish government has been spurred into action as Spainish beaches have seen a big rise in jellyfish populations.


Read full article: 'Spain recruits jellyfish busters'

A jellyfish that invades Wellington Harbour every summer is believed to be a new species.

Visiting Australian expert Lisa Gershwin has discovered that the lion's mane jellyfish in New Zealand waters has unique features, making it different from lion's manes found throughout the world.

Though the New Zealand species can deliver a nasty sting and rash, Dr Gershwin described it as a pussycat.

Read full article: 'Unique jellyfish just a pussycat'

San Francisco, California (Apr 13, 2007 17:06 EST) The federal government today announced it is advancing the black abalone toward protection under the Endangered Species Act. The action comes in response to a formal administrative petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity in December 2006, which sought protection of the species. The black abalone, an intertidal mollusk ranging from Coos Bay, Oregon to Cape San Lucas, Baja California, has declined by as much as 99 percent in most of its range.


Read full article: 'Black Abalone Nearing Endangered Species Designation'

Manila, The Philippines (Apr 4, 2007 14:17 EST) Coral-eating starfish have infested several coastal areas in the Philippines, threatening to devastate entire sections of reefs in weeks, a conservation group warned yesterday.

Read full article: 'Starfish Invasion Threatening Philippines' Coral Reefs'

By Stefan Lovgren

Flotillas of jumbo squid are invading the length of the eastern Pacific Ocean, and the voracious predators may be upsetting ocean ecosystems and threatening fisheries, scientists warn.

At their largest, jumbo, or Humboldt, squid (Dosidicus gigas) can extend to six feet (two meters) in length and weigh more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) each.

Read full article: 'Jumbo Squid Invading Eastern Pacific'

Security cameras are to be installed to protect Sydney harbour's largest colony of wild seahorses.

The herd of around 100 Pot Belly and Whitei seahorses live on a shark net near Manly Wharf.

Read full article: 'Security cameras for Sydney's seahorses'

by Steve Butcher

Three poachers have felt the full force of Victoria's tough abalone laws when a magistrate jailed them, confiscated a car and boat and penalised the men more than $10,000.

In a legal first, they were ordered to pay compensation to the state of Victoria for the 517 abalone they took during the close season.

Magistrate Max Beck today warned that the message would eventually get through to offenders that "it's not worth the risk to poach abalone".

Read full article: 'Jail for abalone poachers'