Some light reading on opae ula

[i<3Opae]

I came across this blog post “Oahu's anchialine ponds host `opae ula” by Diane Ako, it detailed her 2015 visit to Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge. It has lots of interesting facts and is a really fun read!

http://smalltalk.staradvertiserblogs.co ... -opae-ula/

[jcfrank922]

Thank you for this article! I found this part particularly interesting: "What they're working on now is to figure out why they have never seen berried females in the ponds. They've seen pregnant females from other species of shrimp, but not the Halocaridina rubra - the `opae ula of pet store fame. (The ones I'm keenly interested in and keep forcing you to read about.)

They have figured out why there are no babies in the ponds; the salinity changes every 24 hours with the ocean tides, and the babies are too sensitive to the osmotic pressure, so they hide underground where it's more stable."

[DrKirk]

Nice article. I highly recommend this book: Hawaiian Anchialine Pools: Windows to a Hidden World. Offers a good overview of habiats. https://mutualpublishing.com/product/ha ... den-world/

[i<3Opae]

The part that was most surprising to me was the two lineages don’t mix. I wonder if that’s going on in my own tank.

The book was sold out on Amazon temporarily. The authors were there with Ms Ako at the wildlife refuge.

[DrKirk]

You can buy the book directly from the publisher.

[DrKirk]

Re the absence of interbreeding mentioned in the article, this is in reference to some Maui populations. Halocaradina rubra populations also occur on the Big Island. You’d need to know the locality from which the stock came from that you purchased.

[i<3Opae]

You can buy the book directly from the publisher.

Thanks DrKirk, I will be getting it pretty soon. Very excited. Apparently it has a chapter on opae ula's DNA!

Re the absence of interbreeding mentioned in the article, this is in reference to some Maui populations. Halocaradina rubra populations also occur on the Big Island. You’d need to know the locality from which the stock came from that you purchased.

The blog post mentioned Ewa and Waianae lineages, which I assumed to be from Oahu. While waiting for the book, I did more reading on the internet and found another excerpt which gave more background on opae ula's DNA. This is from one of Fuku Bonsai's micro-lobster pages, written by David Fukumoto. It described his 2007 trip (with Thomas Iwai and Mike Yamamoto, authors of the "Hawaiian Anchialine Pools") to the same opae ula pond that was visited by Ms Ako in 2015 (http://www.fukubonsai.com/M-L2b4.html):

"A plastic pipe has been anchored to take tide readings and temperature data is also collected. Opae'ula specimens have been forwarded to Scott Santos at Auburn University for DNA analysis. To date Scott has found seven different lineages on three different islands. The Big Island has two, Maui has two, and Oahu has three. The DNA research is producing new information and we look forward to release and publication of that information.

This is the only pond to date that has two different lineages in the same pond. There seems to be no evidence of hybridizing! Although the "pond" opening is small compared to the Big Island anchialine ponds, it is clear that several feet below the surface, that there is an interconnected labyrinth of passageways that allow the opae'ula to travel long distances through Oahu coral in much the same way as the lava tubes and cracks allow travel through porous Big Island lava." (Except from Fuku Bosai's webpage)

I definitely have Oahu opae ula in my tank, because the distinctive "bands" on the body. I also have redder ones without bands. So far I've seen berried females in both strain, so I probably have enough of each strain (whatever else I have besides Oahu strain) since they don't hybridize. Maybe I'll be able to tell once I get the book, if there are other delineating characteristics to their appearance.

I remember Mustafa mentioned Scott Santos from Auburn University before. Besides the DNA findings published in the "Hawaiian Anchialine Pools" book, does anyone know if he has any other publication or report on opae ula?

[Mustafa]

I definitely have Oahu opae ula in my tank, because the distinctive "bands" on the body. I also have redder ones without bands. So far I've seen berried females in both strain, so I probably have enough of each strain (whatever else I have besides Oahu strain) since they don't hybridize. Maybe I'll be able to tell once I get the book, if there are other delineating characteristics to their appearance.

Thanks for the link! However, what you say above isn't an identifying characteristic. My shrimp are all from Hawaii island (Big Island) and you can find striped and non striped ones. It seems that stripes are pretty common in all populations. I'm pretty sure phenotypically the shrimp from all populations pretty much look the same.

[i<3Opae]

I finished reading the book “Hawaiian Anchialine Pools: Windows to a Hidden World” today, I couldn’t put it down! The work (research, restoration, advocacy) the authors did was amazing. Not to mention great pictures of the pools throughout Hawai‘i and of different color variations of opae ula. I wish there was more description on the lineages. But I guess as the book title points out, there’s still so much to know about these remarkable creatures.

[i<3Opae]

My shrimp are all from Hawaii island (Big Island) and you can find striped and non striped ones. It seems that stripes are pretty common in all populations.

When I first read about the banded look on Fuku Bonsai’s website, there was a photo (pasted below) that led me to say “Hey I have that!”. Upon closer examination of my tank, I was less certain. Today I read in the book that O‘ahu population has “a banded appearance, with alternating red and clear body segments”, and there was a picture showing “white bands” as wide as as the “red bands”. I realize I misinterpreted the picture below. It’s the absent red segment (each shrimp has one or two clear segments) that’s the “banded look”. It’s a very unique look, and none of my shrimp has it.

Photo from Fukubonsai.com

[Mustafa]

That's still not true. My Hawaii Island population has both characteristics....wide bands and what you see in the photo above. Again, I wouldn't draw any conclusion about the origin of your shrimp based on just looks. Phenotype is very variable within a population.