by Ronald L. Shimek, PhD | May 24, 2019 | CORAL - Ronald L. Shimek, PhD, Marine
Dangerous Isopod Hitchhikers Are Found In Reef Tanks In a younger world, being a professional invertebrate zoologist, I wanted to learn about the variety of critters hitchhiking into our reef tanks. As a result, for about 10 years, I had online columns where I...
by Ronald L. Shimek, PhD | Jan 10, 2016 | CORAL - Ronald L. Shimek, PhD, Marine
Conus Snails & Conotoxins Once they are past being novices, most reef aquarium hobbyists have heard about venomous “cone” snails, named for their basically conical shape. Taxonomically placed in the genus Conus, some species, at least, are capable of stinging...
by Ronald L. Shimek, PhD | Dec 15, 2015 | CORAL - Ronald L. Shimek, PhD, Marine
Are Any Bristleworms Actually Venomous? That question first arose in modern times, I presume, when the first swimmer in warm tropical waters stepped on a fireworm and discovered just how much fun it was to hop around on one foot, cursing. By the time I got around to...
by Ronald L. Shimek, PhD | Nov 12, 2015 | CORAL - Ronald L. Shimek, PhD, Marine
Little Miss Muffet Sat on a tuffet, Watching her captive reef When she saw a sea spider Eat the zoanthid beside her, It gave her a lot of grief. Now, the first question you need to ask yourself, before you proceed any further in this essay is, “What is a Tuffet?” In...
by Ronald L. Shimek, PhD | Jun 29, 2014 | CORAL - Ronald L. Shimek, PhD, Marine
In a very nice, easily understood, short paper , available online here, free of charge, L.Dougherty and collaborators examined the “disco flashing” seen in the edges of the mantle of the bivalve Ctenoides ales [commonly known as the “Electric Flame...
