Monday, August 25, 2008

Part of the other 95%.

As seen on The Other 95%.



Thanks to Juanhui for the alert.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Star!



Adopted by Blythe Ho on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.

Bluey



Adopted by Blue Water Volunteers on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.

Srisri



Adopted by Rajaratnam on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.244' N, 103º 45.109' E
Minor radius: 33 mm

Little Strange



Adopted by Mark Wen Strange on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.295' N, 103º 45.101' E
Minor radius: 30 mm

Hell Of A Star



Adopted by National Biodiversity Reference Centre on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.251' N, 103º 45.89' E
Minor radius: 30 mm

Blondie



Adopted by Wong Ley Kun on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.252' N, 103º 45.94' E
Minor radius: 29 mm

Al



Adopted by Anthony Seow on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.256' N, 103º 45.111' E
Minor radius: 27 mm

Cocoa



Adopted by Jane Lau on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.257' N, 103º 45.108' E
Minor radius: 28 mm

Ginger



Adopted by Chan Qinghao on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.256' N, 103º 45.102' E
Minor radius: 32 mm

Pun Pui



Adopted by Lim Guat Khim on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.256' N, 103º 45.102' E
Minor radius: 28 mm

I. K.



Adopted by Ivan Kwan on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 23 June 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.241' N, 103º 45.83' E
Minor radius: 36 mm

Qisti



Adopted by Nurul Qisti on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 9 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.303' N, 103º 45.169' E
Minor radius: 43 mm

A. M. Y.



Adopted by Adelle Wang on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 9 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.266' N, 103º 45.242' E
Minor radius: 39 mm

Tia



Adopted by Teresa Guttensohn on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 9 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.282' N, 103º 45.210' E
Minor radius: 45 mm


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 June 2008.

Balex-Chan



Adopted by Alex Yee and Ng Wen Qing on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 9 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.302' N, 103º 45.157' E
Minor radius: 36 mm


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 21 July 2008.
Minor radius: 39 mm

Surbana



Adopted by Surbana International Consultants Pte Ltd on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 9 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.305' N, 103º 45.151' E
Minor radius: 42 mm

Regal



Adopted by Ling Chai Joo on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 9 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.335' N, 103º 45.148' E
Minor radius: 46 mm


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 June 2008.


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 21 July 2008.
Minor radius: 48 mm

Apollo



Adopted by Prof. Chou Loke Meng on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 June 2008.


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 19 August 2008.

Bibi



Adopted by The Hantu Bloggers on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.330' N, 103º 45.157' E
Minor radius: 44 mm

Glade



Adopted by Justin Havird on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.322' N, 103º 45.158' E
Minor radius: 54 mm

Patrick



Adopted by Kevin on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.328' N, 103º 45.160' E
Minor radius: 50 mm


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 June 2008.

Got Milk?



Adopted by Chek Jawa Project Warriors on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.300' N, 103º 45.178' E
Minor radius: 54 mm


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 21 July 2008.

Angie



Adopted by Angie on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.297' N, 103º 45.175' E
Minor radius: 46 mm

Nudistarre



Adopted by Naked Hermit Crabs on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.298' N, 103º 45.172' E
Minor radius: 39 mm


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 June 2008.

Save My Home Please!



Adopted by Andy Dinesh on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.337' N, 103º 45.144' E
Minor radius: 41 mm


Encountered at Cyrene Reef on 21 July 2008.
Minor radius: 41 mm

Dutchie



Adopted by Lineke on 9 August 2008.

First encountered at Cyrene Reef on 8 May 2008.
Coordinates: 1º 15.349' N, 103º 45.135' E
Minor radius: 50 mm

Monday, August 11, 2008

26 Stars Adopted!

Twenty-six seastars (Protoreaster nodosus) from Cyrene Reefs were adopted by individuals as well as groups during the two-day event Be a Star! Adopt a Star!, International Year of the Reef on 8-9 August 2008.



Thank you for your generous donations.



Star Trackers would like to thank Vyna (top) and November (bottom), who were there at the booth till the stars shine (pun intended ;p).



We All Have A Name And IC!

Star Trackers were featured in the newspaper, My Paper on 11 August 2008. Thank you Koh Soo May for the interview.

MyPaper, 11 August 2008, Page 34.




Translation:

We all have a name and IC!

Two days ago, 24 local seastars were each given a name, becoming unique stars in the ocean.

These seastars, belong to a species commonly as the "Knobbly Seastar" as well as the "Chocolate Chip Seastar", were adopted by the public for a minimum sum of $50 donation at the International Year of the Reef event.

These seastars are not only unique in name but are also unique in the number and arrangement of knobs on the body surface.

Twenty-four knobbly seastars and at least 162 other individuals currently inhabit a local southern reef known as Cyrene Reefs. They can have their own "IC" (Identification Card) due to the hard work of two young men.

Since May this year, Chim Chee Kong (31 years old, research assistant) and Tan Sijie (26 years old, education and public relations officer) have visited Cyrene Reefs six times, took photographs and measurements for each seastar.

They have taken 220 photographs, of which 186 were recognised as individuals, including 55 juveniles.

Most of the seastars have five arms, although a few have only four arms, some of which were due to injury. In addition, the body may be of different colours, which consist of different shades of red, brown, beige etc.

The Knobbly Seastar is a locally endangered animal and the juveniles of this species are rare. This research project is extremely important to Chim Chee Kong and Tan Sijie, as it helps Singaporeans to better understand that we have these "lucky stars".


Two people started "Star Chasing" in May this year

Chim Chee Kong is a research assistant with the Tropical Marine Science Institute and Tan Sijie is a education and public relations officer with the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. Both have strong interests in marine life.

Chim Chee Kong said "Seastars are charismatic animals, as demonstrated by their presence in many advertisements that promote the tropical island feel. Nonetheless, many do not know that Singapore has seastars, and related research are also few."

Chim Chee Kong and Tan Sijie started "star chasing" in May this year at Terembu Pandan, which is one of the reef of Cyrene Reefs.

Cyrene Reefs have two other smaller reefs.

They said that even though the Knobbly Seastar is also found at local sites such as Pulau Semakau, Chek Jawa and Changi Beach, the number of individuals are not as many as in Cyrene Reefs, and that is the reason why the ecology of the Knobbly Seastar population at Cyrene Reefs is worth investigating. "Although the Knobbly Seastar was classified as endangered in 1994, Cyrene Reefs is inhabitated by a large number of adults as well as juveniles, and is possibly the only sustainable population that remains locally.

Because Cyrene Reefs is submerged by 3m of water during high tides, they can only survey during low tides, with the help of boatmen.

They hope to have a long-term study on individuals regarding their growth rates, movements, ontogenetic change in morphology etc.

MyPaper, 11 August 2008, Page 35.

Translation:

Recording, Touching

Recording is often the touching action of people who cares.

Because of the hope not to let things die out by themselves, because of the fear that precious things and feelings be forgotten, thus the need for recording.

We record histories, sceneries, feelings, and daily things that happen around us, they chose to record seastars.

Two young men with a passion for marine life, tirelessly went to our country's southern reef in search of a species of seastar (Knobbly Seastar), took photographs and measurements of each seastar they encounter, provide each with an identification code, such that they are no longer just a population of seastars but are unique individuals.

MyPaper, 11 August 2008, Page 36.



All images were downloaded from mypaper.sg, Singapore Press Holdings.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Will Knobbly Join The Buffalo?

The echinoblog posted an informative entry as well as a conservation message on the knobbly seastar. Thanks to Juanhui for the alert.

WISHING UPON A STAR!

A talk on the knobbly seastar will be held on 9 August 2008, 11.30 am, by the Star Trackers team. This is just one of the many exciting events during the Reef Celebrations! launch of IYOR (International Year of the Reef) in Singapore. A good way to celebrate National Day. ;)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

UPDATES ON THE CYRENE REEF POPULATION

A total of 220 photographs of the knobbly seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) were taken by the Star Trackers, Lin Juanhui and Lim Swee Cheng during six field trips to Cyrene Reef in May (8, 9 & 23) and June (6, 8 & 23) 2008.

Based on a recognition technique, these photographs belong to
186 individuals.

Measurements taken from 123 individuals showed that
45% of them are juveniles (seastar with minor radius less than 30 mm).

Adults were found in seagrass beds as well as sandy bottoms but juveniles were encountered only in
seagrass beds.

These results reaffirm the observation in 14 May 2008 that Cyrene Reef is an extremely important habitat for the locally endangered seastar. This is a large population, which is likely to contain a much larger number of individuals than the 186 recorded so far, as the reef is yet to be surveyed intensively. The high proportion of juveniles is also exceptional. There are at least seven populations in Singapore but none of them appears to be as sustainable as the one at Cyrene Reef. The seagrass bed seems to be especially important to the juveniles. This microhabitat probably serve as recruitment, feeding and refuge grounds for the seastars. The charming seastar and the ecologically important seagrass beds deserve more attention in research.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

ECOLOGICAL STUDY ON KNOBBLY SEASTAR IN PALAU

Abundance, Spatial Distribution, and Size Structure of the Sea Star Protoreaster nodosus in Palau, with Notes on Feeding and Reproduction

Scheibling, R. E. & Metaxas, A., 2008.

Bulletin of Marine Science 82(2): 221-235

Abstract

Protoreaster nodosus (Linnaeus, 1758) is a common sea star in shallow sand and seagrass habitats in the tropical Indo-pacific region. It has been extensively harvested as an ornament, but little is known of its biology and ecology. We quantitatively sampled populations at five sites in palau to obtain baseline information on abundance, spatial distribution, and population structure of this species in areas unaffected by human depredation. Density on sand bottoms ranged from 4 to 32 individuals 100 m-2 and biomass from 3.1 to 20.7 kg 100 m-2. Population size estimates at two locations were 100 and 630 individuals. Mean size (radius) of individuals ranged from 14 to 16 cm among populations, and was negatively related to density. Density was greatest in a seagrass bed (51 individuals 100 m-2, 12.3 kg 100 m-2) where the population was composed of juveniles (8-12 cm). Spatial distribution of sea stars in each population was random, as indicated by nearest-neighbor distance. Manipulations of density and spatial distribution, performed by removing or by adding and centrally aggregating individuals in circular plots (78.5 or 314 m2), showed that sea stars reestablish pre-manipulation densities and nearest-neighbor spacing within 2-5 d. Protoreaster nodosus feeds on meiobenthos and microbial/microalgal films by extra-oral ingestion of sediments and seagrass. The incidence of daytime feeding is generally high (> 60% of individuals), suggesting these sea stars are important consumers and bioturbators in sedimentary habitats. Synchronous spawning occurred at full moon (in May) in the laboratory, yielding planktotrophic larvae.

REVISITING KNOBBLY SEASTARS OF TANJUNG CHEK JAWA

Two knobbly seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) individuals were recognised from blog postings on Tanjung Chek Jawa.

TCJ001


Original photographs were captured by Ria Tan (left) and Kok Sheng (right) on 27 October 2007.

TCJ002

Original photographs were captured by Ria Tan (left) and Kok Sheng (right) on 24 December 2007.

Photographs were re-oriented in a standardised method so that individuals can be recognised.

These photographs were captured after Tanjung Chek Jawa recovered from a mass death event that occurred in early 2007. Did other individuals survived this natural disaster? This question can be answered if photographs of individuals captured before and after the event are compared. If you have such photographs, please send them to chimck@yahoo.com.

Friday, May 16, 2008

JUVENILE KNOBBLY SEASTARS

Juveniles of the knobbly seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) are known to be rare in Singapore waters (Lane and Vandenspiegel 2003). The first visual documentation of a juvenile knobbly seastar is perhaps a posting in the blog of the Blue Waters Volunteers on 23 August 2005. The find happened during a ReefWalk activity at Kusu Island. Ever since juveniles were encountered at Cyrene Reef on 21 April 2007 by TeamSeagrass, recruitments of knobbly seastars were also observed at Pulau Semakau, Labrador Nature Reserve and Changi Beach.

REFERENCE

Lane, D. J. W. and Vandenspiegel, D., 2003. A guide to sea stars and other echinoderms of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre, p. 64-65.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

PAST RECORDS OF KNOBBLY SEASTARS

The knobbly seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) has been recorded at seven sites (Figure 1) in Singapore by various authors between 2005 and 2008. These records are compiled and listed here:


Figure 1. Distribution of knobbly seastars (Protoreaster nodosus) at seven sites (black circle) in Singapore.

Cyrene Reef (CR)

9 May 2008: Wildfilms & Kok Sheng
25 April 2008: Kok Sheng
10 April 2008: Wildfilms, TeamSeagrass, Kok Sheng & Marcus Ng
26 October 2007: TeamSeagrass, Kok Sheng, Marcus Ng & Ron Yeo
21 April 2007: TeamSeagrass & Marcus Ng


Pulau Semakau (PS)

26 April 2008: Ron Yeo
21 March 2008: Chay Hoon & July Lin
9 March 2008: July Lin
8 March 2008: Ron Yeo
23 February 2008: Kok Sheng & Ron Yeo
24 November 2007: Ron Yeo
28 October 2007: July Lin
27 October 2007: Ron Yeo
30 September 2007: Ron Yeo
28 September 2007: July Lin
8 August 2007: Samson Tan
4 August 2007: Ron Yeo
15 July 2007: July Lin
17 June 2007: Samson Tan
3 June 2007: July Lin & Samson Tan
19 May 2007: Samson Tan
6 May 2007: July Lin & Samson Tan
22 April 2007: Samson Tan
21 April 2007: July Lin & Samson Tan
24 March 2007: Samson Tan


Kusu Island (KI)

23 August 2005: Blue Water Volunteers


Labrador Nature Reserve (LNR)

13 October 2007: Andy Dinesh


Changi Beach (CB)

10 May 2008: Samson Tan
9 May 2008: July Lin & Samson Tan
12 April 2008: Samson Tan


Tanjung Chek Jawa (TCJ)

24 December 2007: Wildfilms & Kok Sheng
27 October 2007: Wildfilms & Kok Sheng


Beting Bronok (BB)


14 July 2007:
Wildfilms, Kok Sheng & Marcus Ng

CYRENE REEF - AN IMPORTANT HABITAT FOR KNOBBLY SEASTARS

The short population census conducted at Cyrene Reef on 8 and 9 May 2008 revealed that there are at least 62 individual knobbly seastars (Protoreaster nodosus) at the intertidal habitat. This is perhaps the largest Protoreaster population ever documented in Singapore. The population size is likely to be much larger than estimated as the two surveys were carried out on only a small (~20% of total area) intertidal area of Cyrene Reef. In addition, the population contained a wide range of body size (minor radius: 21-56 mm). There were at least 12 juveniles, which are seastars with minor radius less than 30 mm. The presence of juveniles, subadults and adults indicated that there is a healthy level of recruitment at Cyrene Reef. This habitat may be the only sustainable population of knobbly seastars left in Singapore today.


Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Sightings @ Cyrene Reef on 9 May 2008

On 9 May 2008, a total of 45 knobbly seastar (Protoreaster nodosus) individuals were sighted at Cyrene Reef. Twelve of these were first encountered on 8 May 2008. Photographs of 33 'new' individuals are given below. Our recognition programme indicated that there are at least 62 individual seastars on this intertidal reef.

CR030


CR031


CR032


CR033


CR034


CR035


CR036


CR037


CR038


CR039


CR040


CR041


CR042


CR043


CR044


CR045


CR046


CR047


CR048


CR049


CR050


CR051


CR052


CR053


CR054


CR055


CR056


CR057


CR058


CR059

CR060


C061


C062