Work and Play

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”

– Confucious

This summer my goal is to collect at least half (30 out of 60) of the data I need from living populations of lizards and fish.

So far I have 13 lizards caught and measured.

Fishing got frustrating when expanses of kelp covered the surface as it was carried along the beach by the riptide.

As of yesterday, I now have measurements for 16 Barred Surfperch Amphistichus argenteus!!

We had gone fishing a week ago, but the wind was up and the surf was downright dangerous (tragically, a lifeguard drowned in neighboring Newport Beach that day). After fishing for a couple of hours, we had only caught two fish…. and LOTS of kelp.

Jason adjusts his bait before casting for the next fish.

In contrast, yesterday was a beautiful day at Huntington Dog Beach (chosen not only for its aquatic life but so that our dog Jilly can join us). Blue skies and the water was a tropical blue-green and crystal clear. We actually watched a school of Corbina feeding in the shallow surf! We set up our gear and as soon as the bait hit the water we were bit. Fish on!!

 

This specimen holds his breath momentarily while Jason counts his stripes!

 

Each fish that was caught was quickly removed from the hook and placed in a bucket of saltwater. Then Jason and I took turns counting the number of stripes (or bars) on each side of each fish (no peeking at each other’s results!). The fish was marked with a fin clip (a small notch on the caudal, or tail fin) to ensure that we never measured the same fish twice… then the fish was released, unharmed, to continue its life. There were no more than two fish in the bucket at any time to eliminate confusion (for us) and stress (for the animals).

“Please do not distract me. I am working!”

Jilly was a perfect field companion, relaxing near the gear, investigating everyone that came near and occasionally braving the surf to observe our progress.

Here is hoping for a few more days of perfect weather and surf to complete my dataset for fish this summer. We are planning a trip to Mono Lake for next month to collect a sample from an entirely different species… black flies!

Until then, we will just have to fish!

 

Walking in a Lizard Wonderland

Summer is slipping by fast. It was time to get some more fishing practice with Dr. Archie.

He was planning an overnighter to Ord Mountain July 1-2. I packed my bag and went to work Tuesday morning, ready to leave straight from campus. We (Archie, Justin the undergrad, and I) left late thanks to the World Cup (the buildings were eerily silent as everyone was packed into the Nugget, our campus bar and grill, for the game). When we finally got on the road there was traffic and we didn’t make it to the mountain until dusk. We decided to sleep at the top grid because the weather was warm and the wind was down. On our way to the top we disturbed a small herd of bighorn sheep (this is near Barstow, CA!!). We watched them clear the ridge before continuing to the top, where we pitched our tents and started a small campfire. We chatted and looked at the stars before calling it a night.

The next morning we rose with the sun (well, the guys did… I rose when I smelled the coffee) and broke camp. Then we broke out the crappie rods and went lizard fishing!It was an excellent day for the lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis). They were up early… and they were ALL up, it seemed. Most of them were previously marked, which means that the population has been very thoroughly sampled. The two or three that were not marked served as good practice for Justin. We also saw several collared lizards (Crotaphytus bicinctores), and I caught my first one. Add it to the life list!

S. occidentalis is important to my thesis project because it is the species that I am using to represent all reptiles in terms of evolvability. To assess evolvability I am measuring fluctuating asymmetry (random differences between the right and left sides). The trait that I am measuring on the lizards is called the femoral pores (femoral as in femur as in upper leg). These pores appear on the backs of the thighs of both male and female lizards, and can be counted by hand.

I didn’t count femoral pores this time because Jason (my dear husband and field assistant!) could not make it on this trip. It’s ok, because we didn’t have to catch most of the lizards we saw (the marking from previous captures is visible from a distance and identifies the animal). I wouldn’t have gotten much data anyway, and I got some good spotting practice on the grid. It always makes me happy to help out Dr. Archie as well.

Next time Jason and I will start collecting data (our practice runs from the past have been promising in terms of asymmetry findings and measurement error between the two of us). Then I will be on my way towards unique scientific findings… and my degree :)