Invitation to online talk - An Unsolved San Francisco Bay Mystery: The Enigmatic Beach-Hopper of Lake Merritt

Dr. Jim Carlton will kick off a series of talks, "Lakeside Chats", about Lake Merritt, its diverse wildlife and human community. Fri, Dec 4, 2020 7:00 PM - 8:00 pm
Interactive: 25 min of Q&A

Please register at:
Event URL:
https://lakemerritt-mystery_drjimcarlton.eventbrite.com
Lakeside Chats Organizer: Rotary Nature Center Friends

Beach Hoppers and other invertebrates are at the bottom of the food chain on which the birds of Lake Merritt depend. Join us for the first in a series of "Lakeside Chats" honoring the tradition of Bringing Nature and People Together.

Abstact: A small, one-half inch, semi-terrestrial crustacean living in Lake Merritt is one of San Francisco Bay’s biggest mysteries. Beach-hopper amphipods (distantly related to shrimps and crabs) live in a unique but narrow and fragile habitat — the uppermost edges of beaches around the world, and are typically found under decaying seaweed, driftwood, and rocks. Our native beach-hoppers are found both in San Francisco Bay and along outer coast beaches. However, one species of beach-hopper, Bulychaeva enigmatica, is found in only one place in the world — Lake Merritt! Is it a native relict of the Bay Past, or a non-native species from somewhere else in the world? We trace its discovery, the most current thinking about its origins, and how this enigmatic beach hopper may have come to be in Lake Merritt.

See you there! Katie Noonan

Publicado el 11 de noviembre de 2020 por ktnoon