#sapphirina

[colorsoutofearth]

Sapphirina spp.

Photo by Solvin Zankl

[splashing-water]

Sapphirina

[todropscience]

FISH EAT MICROPLASTIC BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE PREY

Fish may be actively seeking out microplastic in the oceans as the tiny pieces looks similar to their natural prey, research suggests. 

Plastic pollution is a BIG problem for our oceans nowaday. As results, over 50 species of fish have been found to consume plastic trash at sea, and the list is expanded as more research is done. The factors influencing the ingestion of microplastics by fish remain unclear despite their importance to a better understanding of the routes of microplastics through marine food webs. 

According to the study, Amberstripe scads (Decapterus muroadsi), a common fish along the coast of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) have ingest microplastics, mainly blue polyethylene fragments that were similar in colour and size to blue copepod species consumed by the same fish. Amberstripe scads is a planktivorous fish, as a consequence of their feeding behaviour as visual predators, are directly exposed to floating microplastics. Despite scad have a preference for other colored microplastics, as orange and white, the proportion of blue microplastics in scad guts was higher than expected by their proportion in water samples.

This threat may be exacerbated in the clear oceanic waters of the subtropical gyres, where anthropogenic litter accumulates in great quantity. Microplastics may induce deleterious effects to the organisms that ingested them.  Specifically, the shape of a particle may reflect its potential to cause harm. 

Photo:  Examples of  blue microplastics in Amberstripe scads digestive tracts, and copepod prey  in superficial water along the coast of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Scale bars represent 0.5 mm.

Photo:  Amberstripe scads by Paddy Ryan.

Reference (Open Access): Ory et al., 2017  Amberstripe scad Decapterus muroadsi (Carangidae) fish ingest blue microplastics resembling their copepod prey along the coast of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the South Pacific subtropical gyre.  Science of the Total Environment

[gallinagomedia]

Le Sapphirina (genre)

Ce crustacé est un mâle de la famille des copépodes. Son dos est recouvert de cristaux de guanine.

["Les cristaux de guanine sont des plaquettes de forme losange composées de plusieurs couches transparentes ayant un indice de réfraction élevé qui, partiellement, reflète et transmet la lumière d'une couche à une autre, produisant ainsi un éclat nacré." La guanine est communément extraite du guano, d'où son nom. Elle entre dans la composition des cosmétiques et plus généralement des matières industrielles auxquelles on cherche à donner des reflets irisés. *]

Sans ces cristaux, le sapphirina serait transparent, mais ceux-ci sont espacés de telle sorte qu'ils reflètent fortement certaines couleurs. L'angle formé par le rayon de lumière avec la surface du crustacé induit ces couleurs. La plupart du temps, il s’agit du bleu, mais quand la lumière frappe à 45 degrés, elle est réfléchie dans le spectre des ultraviolets et devient donc invisible à l'oeil nu.

source :  nanodash ( This is a Sea Sapphire! ) via Typhlonectes

* wikipédia article “guanine”

[currentsinbiology]

The secret to the sea sapphire's colors -- and invisibility

Sapphirina, or sea sapphire, has been called "the most beautiful animal you've never seen," and it could be one of the most magical. Some of the tiny, little-known copepods appear to flash in and out of brilliantly colored blue, violet or red existence. Now scientists are figuring out the trick to their hues and their invisibility. The findings appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and could inspire the next generation of optical technologies.

Dvir Gur, Ben Leshem, Maria Pierantoni, Viviana Farstey, Dan Oron, Steve Weiner, Lia Addadi. Structural Basis for the Brilliant Colors of the Sapphirinid Copepods. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015; 137 (26): 8408 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b05289

[libutron]

Sea Sapphire - Sapphirina sali 

What you see in this photo is a marine planktonic copepod commonly named Sea Sapphire. It belongs to the species Sapphirina sali (Poecilostomatoida - Sapphirinidae), and is a female with two egg cases (the blue lobes).

This species has been recorded from the North Atlantic, Peru and Philippines.

References: [1]

Photo credit: ©Solvin Zankl | Locality: not indicated (2007)

[terramarproject]

When I first saw a sea sapphire I thought I was hallucinating. The day had been anything but normal, but this part will always stand out. PHOTO by scientist, wildlife photographer and filmmaker Stefan Siebert.

[blackshweep]

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