yes, working at a marine station where there are lots of local
species is the best way to go as rearing ascidians is a big hassle. i
remember there were hundreds of ciona growing on plastic sheets in
the holding tanks at plymouth marine station. if interested, maybe
contact john bishop.
bill
>David- I think you are probably right. You could put a lot of time and
>effort into setting up tanks with Instant Ocean in a controlled environment
>facility in a lab in Chicago and bring in Ciona from Woods Hole and feed
>them on Liquifry and they would probably live for a while, but would they
>settle down and form a breeding colony? I doubt it.
> If theres any way you can manage it, its much more fun to find an
>aquarium or marine facility where ascidians have installed themelves
>naturally , as they often do.They are not always unwelcome to aquarists as
>they help keep the water clean. I found Clavellina growing "wild" in the
>basement holding tanks at Villefranche. At the Naples aquarium, Diplosoma
>listerianum have been endemic at least since the time of Della Valle ( ca.
>1900). John Ryland told me D. similis was doing just fine in the seawater
>system at Townsville. At the U of Wales in Bangor, I could get wonderful
>healthy Cionas out of a big underground tank in the sea water system.. They
>were in excellent condition, pumping like crazy and reproducing in all
>directions. Also free of disease, unlike the Chelyosomas I try and keep
>here at UVic, which get a fungus infection in their branchial sacs.
> You mentioned Halocynthia. Perhaps our Japanese colleagues can help
>here. H .roretzi is a major aquaculture animal in Japan and is used for
>experiments in dozens of labs there- maybe they have worked out ways of
>establishing breeding colonies in inland locations?
>George
>
>> Hello tunicatists
>> Am I right in thinking that while various colonial ascidians can be grown
>> conveniently in inland laboratories attched to slides (e.g. Diplosoma,
>> Botryllus etc) and fed on algae, this is not feasible with any solitary
>> species? What we need is a continuous culture system using artifical sea
>> water for Ciona , Halocynthia etc, so that we can study reproductive
>cycles,
>> effects of light,temperature, sea water chemistry nutrition etc under
>> controlled conditions.
>> I think the answer is probably that this is not feasible, but hope I am
>> wrong! David
>>
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--
W.R. Bates
Department of Biology
Okanagan University College
3333 College Way
Kelowna, BC
Canada V1V 1V7
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