Sea Shore Antics

[nrp]

Amazing creatures: so delicate, dainty, weirdly alien, always active, fascinating to watch, prettily coloured and

transparent to boot!

[Melanie]

Elegant indeed! someone agreed with you so much they may have updated the name I like your description, nrp, you have good

observations.

Common prawn -
Palaemon elegans
Scientific name: Palaimon is Greek and the name of a cult on Inos and for the drowned son of Athamas,

Melikertes, worshipped as the patron saint of ships. Isthmic games were celebrated every second year in his honour and a celery wreath was the prize. Elegans is Latin

and means dainty or elegant.
Other scientific names: Leander squilla.

Info gleened from here:


http://tmbl.gu.se/vattenkikaren/Fakta/arter/crustace/decapoda/palaeleg/palaelne.html

Mel

[nrp]

Is "Leander squilla" out of date? I was using "The sea shore" by C M Yonge (5th impression, 1970). He also refers to "Gobius ruthensparri" which

is now called "Gobiusculus flavescens". I hadn't realised that taxonomy was in such a muddle. It's tricky identifying these little critturs. In fact, as you're an admin,

could I suggest a new forum called "What is it?" I can even post the first query, a small kind of anemone.

Usually I check with

http://www.marbef.org/data/ermssearch.php, not that I know if it's especially sound, but it gives me a fixed point of reference. It doesn't have "Leander squilla" but it

does have "Palaemon elegans" so I'll use that from now.

I like the site you gave - I've been wondering exactly what the various ranks meant and that site give

the kind classical background I enjoy. It's more mythology than science, but the combination is satisfying.

Sorry to go on at such length but the topic's

interesting!

[Melanie]

Yep, up to date info is a must in order to 'speak the in date lingo'. Considering there are:
48,000 names; 30,000 valid species; 2,000

References just on the site you mentioned, it is a professional, ful-time job to list the catalogue.

Your idea of a list for reference is perhaps a good one. It would

be inefficient to start one from scratch as many other sites are dedicated to just that.... so rather than repeat (as soooooo many sites do!), we considered it a good

idea to set up a reference forum for info.... listing the existing reference sites themselves.... A list in itself which would grow as people discovered, or had, their chosen

site.

Think that's prob the best way of tackling the point. Valid point that it is you've made.
Be couple days I expect, but have emailed the gang to set in a

new forum catagory.

No worries about going on... the subject is indeed vast. This site comes at it from 'story telling, with a science foundation'... It's really out

to CAUSE more questions than answer them!! (as many a teacher has written in to 'complain' about!)... as they were bombarded with fired up questions from the

inspired youngsters. heha.

Anyway thanks for idea

Mel

[nrp]

Melanie-

I didn't mean yet another species list, but something I've not seen anywhere yet, namely a discussion forum to help identify

animals and plants. For example, I could post a description of an anemone, maybe with a jpg, and respondents could ask questions to help identify it, or suggest what

specific it might be, which would give the thread-starter a place to start searching.

Mere species lists aren't much use by themselves. As I say, I've not seen

such a forum anywhere else. The best I've seen is a site offering pictures of things, but as they aren't selected or sorted, you get all sorts of irrelevant things, and

there's no accomanying text for key features to aid identification.

[Melanie]

Ah, I see. Yep good idea and very helpful. I do know of one that opporates as an open info messeging system.
You join the yahoo group, then

upload pic and then place a messege on their board and this messege is then emailed out to all the members...... You then get replies from those that know an

answer.

The link to that one is:l
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/glaucus

Will have a think if would work on this (if

not duplicating what can be acheived through the yahoo method). Certainly we should list these sites as reference sites, that would be a worthy cause.

See

what you think of the group. Its different from here, as here we collect and collate info as have quiet visitiors who visit to peruse the wealth of wisdom and on

the yahoo it comes to the 'inbox' but CRUCIALLY general public dont see it, whereas they do here.

we'll see if a need is still required to be 'sorted'
Mel