Week Eighteen (Final Post): Jaguar

Common Name: Jaguar

Scientific Name: Panthera onca

Fun Fact: The Aztecs both feared and admired the jaguar. One of their elite warrior units was named for the animal, and the black jaguar was also the symbol of one of their most important gods, the darkly powerful Texcatlipoca.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus: Panthera

Species: P. onca

Description: Jaguars are stocky and muscular cats with heavyset features. Their fur is golden-brown and may contain hints of red. Their bodies are covered in black rings and spots. The all-black variety associated Texcatlipoca is quite common and is known as melanism—somewhat of an opposite to albinism. Jaguars may grow to around six feet in length with an additional thirty inches of tail and weigh 264 pounds. They are similar in appearance to their Old World cousins the leopards, but they are found exclusively in the Americas and are shorter and stockier in build.

Environment: Jaguars are native to South and Central America and are the largest of the New World cats. Their preferred habitat varies from forest to semi-desert but must include a nearby area of water for drinking and swimming. Poaching and habitat destruction have restricted the range of these animals.

Reproduction & Development: Jaguars reproduce sexually and females give birth to litters of 1-4 live cubs after a gestation of 93-105 days. The mother cares for her litter by herself; the cubs are weaned by about six months of age and become sexually mature at two to four years. Jaguars can live for up to 24 years.

Nutrition: Jaguars are carnivorous predators at the top of the food chain. Despite their skill at swimming, they mainly hunt on land. Their preferred prey includes various medium-sized herbivorous mammals such as peccaries, capybaras, and tapirs. Jaguars do make exceptions to the rule of terrestrial meat; they may catch fish and have even been known to kill and eat crocodiles.

 

Week Seventeen: Vegetable Caterpillar Fungus

Common Name: Vegetable Caterpillar, Caterpillar Fungus, Awheto (Maori)

Scientific Name: Cordyceps robertsii

Fun Fact: The indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori, burned the fungus stalks for charcoal, which they used to draw decorative patterns on their skin. They also used it as a food source.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Ascomycota

Class: Sordariomycetes

Order: Hypocreales

Family: Clavicipitaceae

Genus: Cordyceps

Species: C. robertsii

Description: Vegetable Caterpillar is a fungus that parasitizes the larvae of several species of moths. Vegetable Caterpillar encases the caterpillar in a cocoon that has been described as mummy-like. This so-called mummification slowly kills the insect larva as the fungus takes over its body, leaving it a hollow shell swathed in its predator. The fruiting body of the fungus is 2-3 mm in diameter and may be 20 cm tall.  To the casual observer, it may look like a small brown stem pushing up through leaf detritus.

Environment: This fungus is native to New Zealand and preys exclusively upon a variety of moth species also native to the islands. It infects its prey while the potential host is living on the soil as a larva. The host eats the almost imperceptibly small spores of the fungus and is therefore infected.

Reproduction & Development: After the host is infected, the fungus eats it from the inside out. Once the caterpillar is dead, the fungus sprouts a fruiting body from the neck of its host, which punches through any decaying plant matter on the ground to form a tall stalk. This fruiting body sprays new spores in all directions, allowing the cycle to begin again.

Nutrition: This fungus is a parasitic heterotroph, which means that it must eat a living host to survive. The nutrients the fungus steals from its host allow it to grow and produce reproductive spores.

 

Week Seventeen: Giardia

Common Name: Giardia

Scientific Name: Giardia lamblia or alternately G. intestinalis

Not-So-Fun Fact: Giardia is a parasite and is responsible for the contagious waterborne infection known as giardiasis. Giardiasis causes a number of delightfully messy and painful gastrointestinal problems before being fought off after a few weeks, though some symptoms may linger long after the initial infection.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Protista

Phylum: Sarcomastigophora

Class: Zoomastigophora

Order: Diplomonadida

Genus: Giardia

Species: G. lamblia

Description: Giardia is a microbial organism spread through contaminated water that severe gastrointestinal problems such as fatigue and malaise, abdominal cramps and bloating, frequent and noxious belching, nausea, weight loss, and diarrhea. Symptoms begin after one to two weeks and usually last from two to four weeks.

Environment: Giardia is spread in water contaminated by feces laced with the microbe. Victims usually contract the disease by drinking improperly purified or completely untreated water or by coming into direct contact with infected stool. Giardia lingers in the intestines until it is killed off or becomes dormant.

Reproduction & Development: The life of the giardia is split into two parts, called the trophozoite and cyst phases. The cysts are ingested and release freely swimming trophozoites which adhere to the intestinal lining and then undergo asexual reproduction by binary fission. It is the cyst that later forms from the trophozoite after a presently unknown trigger that is spread from host to host.

Nutrition: Giardia is a parasitic heterotroph, which means it ingests nutrients by feeding off of its host. The organism steals food from the intestine of its host and damages the tissue around it, causing the symptoms of the disease.

Week Sixteen: Lionfish

Common Name: Red Lionfish, Zebra fish, Turkey fish

Scientific Name: Pterois volitans

Not-So-Fun Fact: The beautiful fins of the lionfish hide extremely venomous spines used to deter predators and capture prey. However, contact with the spines can also be dangerous to human swimmers and it is extremely inadvisable to touch or handle a lionfish.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Scorpaeniformes

Family: Scorpaenidae

Genus: Pterois

Species: P. volitans

Description: The red lionfish is a brightly colored animal with contrasting bands of red and white covering its entire body. Its fins are very ornate and conceal sharp, venomous spines. Its coloration also gives it the common name zebra fish. The fanlike spread of its elaborate pectoral fins give it the name turkey fish. Red lionfish usually reach a size between 15-30 centimeters as adults; the largest individual ever caught and recorded was a stunning 43 centimeters in size.

Environment: The red lionfish is native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It has recently been introduced to the United States Atlantic coast and is especially problematic around the coast of Florida. The lionfish is an invasive species and is a factor in the endangered status of many species of marine life in the area. Lionfish prefer tropical ocean waters.

Reproduction & Development: Lionfish reproduce sexually by externally fertilization. This is a common practice among fish and involves females excreting ova into the water, which are then fertilized by the males’ excreted sperm cells. While solitary for most of the year, in the breeding season lionfish females are herded into harem-like groups by aggressive males. The 2,000 to 15,000 eggs hatch with the aid of marine microbes 36 hours after being fertilized and the lionfish infants become capable swimmers and predators after two to three days.

Nutrition: Lionfish are heterotrophic predators and feed on small fish, shrimp, crabs, and other marine life of a similar size. Because of the recent nature of their invasion into Florida waters, it is unsure yet whether lionfish competition will be detrimental to the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.