Among the highlights of the collection is a series of Notocypraea declivis dennyorum Lorenz & Morrison 2013 from different localities. That subspecies has been described only in the year 2013 and the MSF owns a series of paratypes. A large Sassia sp., tentatively identified as parkinsoniana, may turn out to be new to science. Live-collected specimens of Pterochelis triformis, Philippa lutea, and Cancellaria lactea are rarely, if ever, seen. There are exceptional sets of perfect Phasianella australis and Callanaitis disjecta as well as outstanding specimens of Penion maximus, P. mandarinus, and Cabestana spengleri.
Collecting and DNA Sampling in Tasmania
The mobile laboratory was equipped with microscopes and lamps, a laptop, and a laser-printer to generate labels. A microwave was used to extract animals from their shells. The tissue obtained by that method has proven to be ideal for DNA extraction and sequencing. Various trays and sieves were used to obtain micro-molluscs from the material obtained using the brush or the Blue Box. The animal tissue was preserved in 98% purified ethanol in small plastic tubes and kept along with the shell and label. Of each species that was found alive, 5 to 10 specimens were treated in this manner. All dead-collected material and the excess of live collected specimens were processed for the collection of the Molluscan Science Foundation (> 300 lots, close to 1,000 specimens of > 200 species).
Among the highlights of the collection is a series of Notocypraea declivis dennyorum Lorenz & Morrison 2013 from different localities. That subspecies has been described only in the year 2013 and the MSF owns a series of paratypes. A large Sassia sp., tentatively identified as parkinsoniana, may turn out to be new to science. Live-collected specimens of Pterochelis triformis, Philippa lutea, and Cancellaria lactea are rarely, if ever, seen. There are exceptional sets of perfect Phasianella australis and Callanaitis disjecta as well as outstanding specimens of Penion maximus, P. mandarinus, and Cabestana spengleri.
Generally, we noted that the marine environments of Tasmania had suffered badly from the waste produced by salmon-farms in the past years, especially in the Hobart area. More serious, and irreversible, is the damage caused by introduced species. The sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersi, originally from Japan, is spreading rapidly along the entire east coast. The effects are a loss of the kelp forests. Several dive sites we visited had the apparent impact of the sea urchin, which denudes the growth on and under rocks. In the upper litoral zone, the porcellanid crab Petrolistes elongatus, originally from New Zealand, occupies the undersides of rocks by the millions.
