DRUM and CROAKER A Highly Irregular Journal for the Public Aquarist Volume 52 Feb. 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume 52, 2021 2 Drum and Croaker 50 Years Ago Richard M. Segedi 3 Aquaculture of Patiria miniata Ben Morrow 11 The Use of Antibiotics to Treat Brown Jelly Disease within a Closed System Aquarium Jack Willans and Matthew Bradshaw 18 Collection, Culture, and Display of Gonionemus vertens at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk Bianca Milano, Lindsey Levine, and Rachel Stein 24 Book Review - Frogfishes: Biodiversity, Zoogeography, and Behavioral Ecology Theodore W. Pietsch and Rachel J. Arnold Reviewed by Barrett L. Christie 26 Behavioral Responses of Bonnethead Sharks (Sphyrna tiburo) to Changing Exhibit Salinity Lindsay Phenix and Michael O’Neill 36 Visual Signals of the East Pacific Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens) During Conspecific Interactions Rachel L. Borisko, Kirt L. Onthank, and E. Alan Verde 57 The Use of Visible Implant Elastomer Tags in Jellyfish Rachel Stein, Bianca Milano, and Lindsey Levine 69 Historical Book Review - A Summer Cruise on the Coast of New England Robert Carter, 1865 Reviewed by Pete Mohan 71 Case Report of the Leech Zeylanicobdella arugamensis in a Public Aquarium Setting, with a Review of Management Options Timothy Smith, Malini Pather, José Ganess, and Kerry Lavender 84 Stegostoma fasciatum Breeding Program at Loro Parque Aquarium Héctor Toledo and Ester Alonso 91 Husbandry Techniques and Medical Intervention in the Care of Green Morays (Gymnothorax funebris) at New England Aquarium Chris Bauernfeind, Melissa Joblon, and Michael O’Neill 99 The End of the Dallas Aquarium/Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park? Barrett L. Christie, Stephen D. Walker, David M. Schleser, and Ruston Hartdegen 123 The 1955 Joint Symposium on Aquaria: The First Public Aquarium Meeting in North America? Pete Mohan 127 Buoyancy Compensation Device for a Large Mouth Bass, Micropterus salmoides, to Help Alleviate Negative Buoyancy Disorder Melissa Morrow 133 A Sea Turtle Wetsuit as a Therapeutic for Buoyancy Issues Aiyana Reissman 139 Guide to Authors Cover Photo: Bat Stars from B. Morrow’s paper, p. 3 Interior Gyotaku: Bruce Koike Interior Line Art: Craig Phillips, D&C Archives Drum and Croaker 52 (2021) 1 DRUM AND CROAKER 50 YEARS AGO (From the January 1971 issue) Richard M. Segedi . Aquarium Symposium - An End to the Confusion Wm P. Braker, Director, John G. Shedd Aquarium Two national meetings attracted a good representation of aquarists last year: the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists meeting in New Orleans and the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums meetings in Buffalo. It was apparent, in both places, that there was much concern over the future meetings and permanent affiliations for our group. After much correspondence and due deliberations, it is the consensus of this committee that we should all meet in Salt Lake City on September (?) 1971, with the AAZPA. (Also see related topic on page 123 of this 2021 issue.) Phase-out of the National Fisheries Center and Aquarium Bill Hagen, Assistant Director - NFC&A The Fisheries Center, authorized by the Congress of 1964, and for which construction and operating appropriations have been provided, appears to be on the economy rocks. The National Aquarium in the Department of Commerce Building will continue to function. Permanent personnel of the Fisheries Center presumably will be absorbed into the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. Use of Laminated Plastic in Wood Aquariums Herbert W. Reichelt, Millen National Fish Hatchery, Millen, GA We have experienced some trouble in the aquarium at Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Hatcheries with blistering and peeling paint in display tanks. These are of wood construction and painted with epoxy resin. To correct this, we have been gluing laminated plastic (Formica®) to the tank sides. Several companies make a smooth texture, solid color, varying in shades of green and blue, suitable for aquarium use. The glue is contact cement. A sufficient bond can be arrived at by sanding the rough areas and gluing directly to the old paint. Several tanks with the laminated plastic sides have been in use for over two years and no problems have been encountered. Signs and Sense George B. Rabb, Chicago Zoological Park. The stereotypy prevailing in labeling exhibits in zoos and aquaria seems to stem from traditions of the natural history curiosity cabinet. Thinking about the content of signs, rather than just consulting Axelrod and other bibles leads, to very fruitful thoughts about exhibits. The basic one is: why have a particular animal or exhibit at all? What biological, sociological or other point is being made? Are signs the way to communicate this point? Etc. Drum and Croaker 52 (2021) 2 AQUACULTURE OF Patiria miniata Ben Morrow, Aquarist [email protected] Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, 3701 S 10th St, Omaha, NE, USA Abstract Bat stars, Patiria miniata, are a readily available species that are displayed in many public aquariums. While this animal has been captively raised before, it is not commonly done in the public aquarium setting. The aim of this paper is to condense the necessary information needed to raise these sea stars. This includes spawning methods, target sperm and algal concentrations, and an exploration into effective rearing vessels. Patiria miniata were cued to spawn and their larvae were raised in multiple styled bins with variable conditions to see what could be most effective. Small, static bins circulated by bursts of air have shown to be efficient vessels. Successful aquaculture and trade of these sea stars could reduce or eliminate the need of wild collection for this species, but the extended juvenile growth period does provide some obstacles that should be considered before you raise this species. Introduction The bat star, Patiria miniata, is a common temperate species exhibited by many public aquariums. They can be found in the Pacific Ocean ranging from Alaska to Baja California. The distribution of this sea star is likely related to substrate availability. They prefer areas with boulders (Schroeter et al., 1983). Stable substrates, like boulders, are also used by most adult kelp plants (Schroeter et al., 1983). Because of these preferences, Bat stars are often seen in kelp beds. These ecosystems are negatively affected by Lytechinus urchins. They limit kelp growth by grazing on the smaller life stages, reducing the overall recruitment rates of new algal species. Fortunately, P. miniata are omnivorous and predate upon these urchins so much so that adult Lytechinus anamesus actively avoid areas, or kelp beds, where these sea stars are present (Schroeter et al., 1983). While their ecological role might not always be positive, these sea stars do affect the health of the kelp forest environment. A long-term warming trend from 1976 to 1998 occurred in southern California. Two years after this trend began, sea star wasting disease started to appear showing a relationship between the two (Eckert et al., 2000). This disease destroyed populations of several sea star species including P. miniata. With the scare of wasting disease in the past, the collection of sea stars, in general, has fluctuated. While P. miniata showcases lots of variety in color, it may not be an easy choice to collect from the wild forever as diseases and climate may change what we take for granted today (Eckert et al., 2000). The ability to captively reproduce these animals will help ensure their representation throughout aquariums without the need of wild collections. P. miniata can also be found with ripe gonads throughout the entire year unlike other stars (Strathmann, 2017). However, these animals take a long time to reach a displayable size. Therefore, attempts made should be effective enough to supply other aquariums that cannot dedicate this time or space. This paper will detail the successes and failures here in Omaha as well as a review of other used practices. Drum and Croaker 52 (2021) 3 Spawn When selecting stars to reproduce, animals with plump arms (Fig. 1) were chosen. This is a strong indicator that they are ripe with gametes. Once selected, stars were cleaned of debris, and all water used here after was filtered to 5µm to reduce culture contaminates. Spawning was cued through heat shock. Six stars were brought from their display temperature of 12.2°C and were placed into a container at 16.6°C. These stars were all in the same container because an individual spawning asteroid can stimulate others to spawn (Motti et al., 2018). However, a few minutes after a sea star began to spawn, they were moved to a new bin. One for females and one for males. This was done to provide greater control over sperm concentration for fertilization. You can distinguish female and male sea stars based on the size of their respective gametes. Eggs are much larger, heavier, and often yellow in color (Fig. 1a). Sperm is much smaller and white (Fig. 1b). In total, four females began to spawn after an hour, all within 15 minutes of each other. One male started spawning after 3 hours and one star never spawned. Figure 1. a) Female Patiria miniata (Left) spawning; b) Male Patiria miniata (Right) spawning. Additionally, stars can be induced to shed their gametes through the injection of methyladinine-1 (Wessel et al., 2010). To achieve this, inject a 25-ppm solution of Methyladinine- 1 at 1 ml/50 grams wet weight into the celomic cavity of the star (Simon, 1974). Spawning should begin 30 minutes or more after the injection (Strathmann, 2017). Fertilization Once eggs were collected, they were fertilized by transferring 5 ml of diluted sperm from the male container (~10,000 ml) to the egg container and gently stirred with a pipette every 3-4 Drum and Croaker 52 (2021) 4 minutes for 20 minutes.