Craig is temporarily a post-doctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who is looking for a permanent position. He spends most of his time balancing his overwhelming geekdom with normalcy so he can function in the real world. Luckily his wife likes his geekiness.
Peter Etnoyer is a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He studies deep corals and ocean fronts, and he loves to be on the water.
Kevin Zelnio is a Graduate Student Researcher at Penn State studying the ecology of hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. He raises awareness of the plight of the spineless through folk music.
I tried to clear the matter up for Sheril and others indicating that Mollusks were way cooler than "an organism whose idea of fun is spewing its organs all over you or creating poop trails." Sheril suggested that I framed the issue wrong by choosing an inappropriate sea cucumber video and instead proposed this. Meanwhile Dr. Joan jumped on the cucumber bandwagon. Cucumber bandwagon....mmm pickles!
I followed up with a suggestion that to believe than any other phyla than Mollusks were superior was absurd. I hinted at the extreme range of body sizes exhibited by Mollusks, 11 orders of magnitude, was far greater than echinoderms with only 8.
Kevin noted that the U.S. Coast Guard was also on record as supporting mollusks as the best marine invertebrate. The full weight of the journal Nature is too.
Kevin seems to be wavering however suggesting that primitive barnacles could be a contender. I have a feeling he was lead astray by Ed Yong's post on mantis shrimp. Although Ed has appeared to get his act together and joined Team Mollusk with a wonderful post on squid beaks. Kevin appears to still be a traitor using his "other blog" to disseminate evil.
I pointed to both the radula and the existence of gastropods parasitic on echinoderms was a major blow to echinoderm coolness. Jim's retort was the rather lame Aristotle's Lantern which he proposed was better than radula. I quickly smacked that argument down. Others Jim?
Snail at the second best blog (but with a better name) on the net , A Snail's Eye View, pointed us all to the fact that Google Fight gave the definitive answer on which group was best. I can always count on Jason at Cephalopodcast as well. UPDATE: Snail delivers another blow.
Of course I am just waiting for Myriam to pipe up about the freakin' tunicates. I got a post already for that one.
Life Science
Comments
Still waiting for the nudibranch vote. And I've been considering lancelets lately ;-)
Posted by: Coturnix | March 29, 2008 8:00 PM
I'm surprised no one has stood up to defend the polychaete with those vicious eversible jaws!
Posted by: kevin z | March 29, 2008 8:27 PM
An onslaught against echinoderms like this requires me to marshal a collection of photogenic specimens against you.
http://erimo.livejournal.com/87555.html
http://erimo.livejournal.com/88831.html
http://erimo.livejournal.com/90066.html
Just one other area in which echinoderms trounce molluscs is negligible senescence; some urchins, they just keep going- up to 200 years! Switching the emphasis from species numbers to overall biomass, echinoderms are one of the most abundant groups in the ocean depths.
Posted by: Xeip | March 29, 2008 9:13 PM
I spoke too soon and forgot Ming the ocean quahog, who is estimated at about 405 years old. So I'll have to hand it to molluscs when it comes to senescence.
Posted by: Xeip | March 30, 2008 1:07 AM
Based on models derived from in situ growth rates, the tubeworm Lamellibrachia luymesi can live for over 250 years, possibly up to 400-500 years if their sulphide supply is maintained.
Posted by: kevin z | March 30, 2008 4:45 AM
Hmmm ... and even extinct molluscs win in the charisma stakes. Ammonites, anyone?
Posted by: Snail | March 30, 2008 6:20 AM
What's up with the oystergarter and their affinity for tunicates? Don't they realize that molluscs are in their URL. Ipso facto, if you ask me.
Posted by: JasonR | March 30, 2008 7:22 AM
If you want to be really impressed, check out the Hexactinellid sponge, Scolymastra joubini.
Posted by: Xeip | March 30, 2008 9:17 AM
Arthropods beat out both for population and species diversity, and even the subphylum crustaceans beat out mollusks on Google Fight. Crabs rock!
OK, but clearly mollusks are superior to echinoderms. They're tastier too. No contest.
Posted by: Melusine | March 30, 2008 11:46 AM
Jason - the molluscs may be in our URL, but the tunicates are in our hearts. That is why my heart has such a lovely incurrent and excurrent siphon.
Craig - I've been all busy doing SCIENCE but your molluscs will experience an epic fail later tonight. Down with protostomes! Up with deuterostomes!
Posted by: Miriam | March 30, 2008 2:55 PM
Xeip, colonial organisms don't count!! There are reefs of the cold water coral Lophelia pertusa off of Norway estimated to be around 10000+ years old too.
Posted by: kevin z | March 30, 2008 5:58 PM
Snail, you're in my gang in the playground. There is little more satisfying (with your clothes on, anyway) than cracking open a nodule and finding a nice fattie of an ammonite.
Posted by: Peter Mc | March 31, 2008 12:53 PM