Odds & Ends

Fundulus bifax update: we're making another push to get our purified PCR products sequenced. We've given up on Operon for the moment since we keep talking with the same tech who doesn't know what cytochrome-b is near we as can tell. So, we'll be sending off some bifax DNA along with Kris' four heteroclitus samples from Nantucket to MC Labs in San Diego, who come highly recommended from some colleagues. Between that and a few tweaks to our purification / concentration procedures we hope to get everything done sooner than later. Note: if you ever call MC Labs on the phone, they don't think it's funny that you refer to them as "Mac Labs"; it's M C Labs. Really.

I realized yesterday that we have about 30 scarlet shiners from Limestone Creek last month that we never measured. That'll hopefully be done soon; hey Andrew, are you up for some gut content analysis?

I got an email from Joe Scanlan today, asking how the bifax project is going. He was especially curious if we're up for any studies involving his aquarium-raised fish. There is a range of possibilities for work with such fish, especially along the lines of what we've done with shiners of late. But this would require a student or two to help push through, we'll see who's up for it.

And you'll be happy to hear that my orange-spotted sunfish are extremely well-fed and growing. They're pugnacious little suckers, too, which makes them interesting aquarium fish. They pay attention as you move around the lab in their view. And if you throw small earthworms into their tank, you have their undivided attention.