December Monthly Meeting - 12/12/07

[melev]

For this club meeting, Susan (Ophiura) is driving up from Houston to do a presentation on Starfish. From the description she wrote, this looks like it'll be a fun discussion.

7pm - 9pm - meet & greet, presentation, raffle

E(chinoderm)! True Hollywood Story:
The hidden underworld of earth's true Brittlestars

Inspired by the "tragic" tales of Britney, Lindsay and Paris, learn
about earth's first and true 'brittle'stars!

Brittlestars are found from the intertidal to the deep sea, and from tropical to polar seas. Much of the success comes from features common to their echinoderm relatives, which I'll highlight. I'll talk about basic brittlestar morphology and ecology, as well as other informative topics, and discuss how these animals adapt to life in our tanks. It would be impossible to avoid telling some of the more bizarre and unusual facts about them through the "tabloids." Regardless of the hard lifestyle, which typically includes loss of limbs, there is no argument that brittlestars are highly successful animals. A bit of closer research into the group may yield new ideas and hold future promise in biotechnology fields to benefit us as well.

These are some 'stars worth watching!

Meeting location information is on the front page of our site at www.dfwmas.org