Allen Collins
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agcollins.bsky.social
Allen Collins
@agcollins.bsky.social

Appreciator of comb jellies, medusan jellies, medusan polyps, medusan other stages, sponges (particularly the glass ones). I speak for myself.

Environmental science 43%
Biology 21%

A Caitlin Bailey special

NOAA #OceanExploration created a nice write up of research led by Javier Montenegro on the jellyfish Botrynema. oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/news/jellyfi... Demonstrating the value of exploring and collecting for understanding #MarineLife
Jellyfish Found by Team Aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer Shatters Range Assumptions - NOAA Ocean Exploration
oceanexplorer.noaa.gov

"I know faces, because I look through the fabric my own eye weaves, and behold the reality beneath." --Kahlil Gilbran
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zK5...
#MarineLife #SciArt
Deep Dive: Face Value
YouTube video by Global Foundation For Ocean Exploration
www.youtube.com

Great write up on how NOAA and Smithsonian scientists work together to build resources supporting marine research.
www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-stor...
NOAA Fisheries Partners with Smithsonian to Archive Marine Specimens for Genetic Research
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center partnered with the Smithsonian Institution to preserve fish and squid specimens that will expand the genetic reference libraries needed for ongoing and future ...
www.fisheries.noaa.gov

Arizona. Parker Dam.
n2t.net/ark:/65665/3...
Invertebrate Zoology Collections Search
n2t.net

Yes. One

Good luck! Please let me know. And you can reach me at collinsa@si.edu.
This is great - we a huge need in the #eDNA community to have data-informed standards for eDNA identity cutoffs, not just the bog-standard 97%
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
For Chordata there is no cutoff that leads to 0% error when assigning species!! (Table S4)
Taxon‐specific BLAST percent identity thresholds for identification of unknown sequences using metabarcoding
The identification of organisms in environmental samples using metabarcoding relies on factors such as taxonomic assignment methods, genetic markers, reference databases and confidence thresholds ...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
🗣NEW PAPER: Taxon‐specific BLAST percent identity thresholds for identification of unknown sequences using metabarcoding - Pappalardo et al. - Methods in Ecology and Evolution - Wiley Online Library besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Taxon‐specific BLAST percent identity thresholds for identification of unknown sequences using metabarcoding
The identification of organisms in environmental samples using metabarcoding relies on factors such as taxonomic assignment methods, genetic markers, reference databases and confidence thresholds ...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

I cannot wait to own a copy of this!!
Our science photo book The Radiant Sea is out Sept 2nd!!
30 years of research, 10 years of "we should", and a year of collating pix and writing.
Sönke and I show (mostly for the first time) images of how organisms produce, use, and interact with light in the sea. #bioluminescence #fluorescence 🦑🧪🌊
Our science photo book The Radiant Sea is out Sept 2nd!!
30 years of research, 10 years of "we should", and a year of collating pix and writing.
Sönke and I show (mostly for the first time) images of how organisms produce, use, and interact with light in the sea. #bioluminescence #fluorescence 🦑🧪🌊

Wow. So cool to see so many associates!

nautiluslive.org Dive going on at this moment.
Predatory tunicate.

... shifts in biodiversity from mesopelagic to bathyal depths, which will inevitably cause redistribution of ecosystem functions and services ....climate change impacts at the ecosystem level are not restricted to shallow depths..." Rakka, Metaxas & Nizinski onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Climate Change Drives Bathymetric Shifts in Taxonomic and Trait Diversity of Deep‐Sea Benthic Communities
This study uses modeling techniques to predict the characteristics of deep-water coral communities under climate scenarios. It reveals that climate change will drive shifts of many deep-water corals ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Allen G. Collins

Record your sightings! ⭐📋

Citizen science is a huge part of marine conservation and one of the most fun ways of helping our seabeds. Whether you’re out snorkelling or rock pooling, you can record your findings by submitting them to the iNaturalist app.

#NationalMarineWeek

This is the best write up of the recent observation of a species of stalked medusa that hadn’t been seen in 50 years. www.britishwildlife.com/lost-and-fou... Some of the press is reporting this with the narrative “rediscovery of an extinct species”, which is not the case. It is positive news though.
Lost and found: the mystery of Depastrum cyathiforme - British Wildlife
Lost and found: the mystery of Depastrum cyathiforme The first photographs of the stalked jellyfish Depastrum cyathiforme, taken at Pollachar, South Uist, in June 2023. © Neil Roberts In June 2023, na...
www.britishwildlife.com

Check out this gorgeous video of some spectacular #MarineLife, posted via IG. Halicytus salpinx, we thinks… www.instagram.com/reel/DM8VuGR...
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com

JellyCamp2025. Coming up in October, hosted at Mystic Aquarium!! www.maritimeaquarium.org/jelly-camp-2...
Jelly Camp 2025
www.maritimeaquarium.org

Reposted by Allen G. Collins

Sponges are called ecosystem engineers because they provide habitat for MANY types of OTHER animals! Including these "creeping" or bottom comb jellies-note the two white strings coming off them? feeding tentacles! #spongeThursday #Okeanos 2015 Bank 9 North

Reposted by Allen G. Collins

Last weekend I got to see NZ velvet worms in their native forest habitat. These animals are so bizarre, taxonomists gave them their very own Phylum, next to tardigrades - that's insane!

This Ooperipatellus sp. is an egg-laying genus, but there's another here that gives live birth!

Mind. Blown. 🧪

Reposted by Allen G. Collins

I’m so excited to have finally found one of these copepods! This is from the family Corycaeidae - I’ll be IDing it to genus (hopefully) later on, but I wanted to share it straight away because I’m so thrilled! LOOK AT THE EYES!! Aren’t they super cool?! 🦑

Reposted by Allen G. Collins

I got up close with a Portuguese man-o-war and my god these animals are shockingly beautiful.

Reposted by Allen G. Collins

Excited to share our study on sailing siphonophores, AKA bluebottles or man-o'-war! 🌊 we received hundreds of samples from scientists around the world, part of a huge effort to sequence genomes and test for multiple species 🧬 out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... 🦑🧪📌

This is great work!!
Excited to share our study on sailing siphonophores, AKA bluebottles or man-o'-war! 🌊 we received hundreds of samples from scientists around the world, part of a huge effort to sequence genomes and test for multiple species 🧬 out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... 🦑🧪📌

"In our region of study, OBIS has 26 records of ctenophores representing six families over the course of nearly 140 years; our single set of samples yielded 67 ctenophore ASVs representing 11 families."

Our latest collaborative paper, led by NMNH intern Annemarie Wood, reports on a new tool for understanding ctenophore and medusozoan diversity. "Anthozoan eDNA primer set characterizes Ctenophora and Medusozoa ..." Characterizing #MarineLife

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Reposted by Allen G. Collins

🌳 Nature visits can improve wellbeing

A study of 3,500 residents in Tokyo & Osaka finds both visiting nature and feeling connected to it linked to better health – especially in deprived, urban areas.

🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#Nature #Wellbeing #SciComm 🧪
Association between objective and subjective relatedness to nature and human well-being: Key factors for residents and possible measures for inequality in Japan’s megacities
Enhancing human well-being based on relatedness to nature requires a clear understanding of the associations between nature relatedness and well-being…
www.sciencedirect.com

I think so!!

Reposted by Allen G. Collins

The twin ships that will succeed #Okeanos Explorer! Discoverer and Oceanographer! www.omao.noaa.gov/omao/news-me...