Academy scientist John McCosker describes a healthy, tropical shallow coral reef as an intricate network of shape, motion, and color. “The variety, amount, and numbers of coral, fish and invertebrates is impossible to describe,” he says. “It’s visually overwhelming.” In contrast, a reef damaged by dynamite, poison, or other methods of excessive resource extraction, appears as an ash-gray scar of calcium carbonate rubble along the ocean floor.

McCosker knows the difference first-hand. He made his first dive in the tropical Indo-Pacific with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1972 in the vicinity of Raja Ampat. Recently, he accompanied Terry Gosliner, the Academy’s Dean of Science and Research Collections on a scouting expedition to Northwestern Papua in Indonesia. “There is no comparison between a healthy coral reef and one that’s been dynamited,” says McCosker. “That said, Raja Ampat remains one of the least inhabited and most pristine areas of the Coral Triangle.”

Many are working to keep it that way. The trip, explains Gosliner, is an initial step in what will be a five-year collaboration with the government of Indonesia, LIPI (the Indonesian Institute of Sciences), Conservation International, Papuan Indonesian scientists, educators and local fisherman. The Academy will work with Papuan residents to provide baseline documentation and training that will strengthen their effort to monitor and protect their newly formed marine sanctuaries.

Gosliner is working to complete a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Indonesia that will identify marine sites off of Birds Head peninsula where Academy scientists and their partners will document the biodiversity of those coral reefs.

Academy scientists will use the same methodology employed during the 2011 Hearst Philippines Biodiversity Expedition. Gosliner hopes the five-year effort will also settle an ongoing question among scientists—exactly where is the richest part of the ocean? “Some say it’s the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines,” Gosliner says, “others say it’s Raja Ampat. We hope to gather enough data to compare the two areas.

“Coral reefs are actually far more resilient than people realize,” says Gosliner. “We’ve seen transformation of once-decimated reefs into productive, recovering ecosystems. The key is to work with the local population to adopt sustainable practices. We will survey the biodiversity. But it’s just as important to build relationships with Indonesian scientists.”

The Academy, Gosliner explains, is not a newcomer to the issue of sustainability. “It’s been part and parcel of what we’ve done throughout our entire history. But we’re stepping up our efforts because the issue is so urgent and the challenges we face today are so great.”

Barbara Tannenbaum is a science writer working with the Academy’s Digital Engagement Studio. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, San Francisco Magazine and many other publications.

Image: Terry Gosliner

Female Komodo dragons live about half as long as their male counterparts because the physically exhaustive nature of housework, such as building huge nests and guarding eggs from predators, leaves them weak.

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the world’s largest lizard—sometimes reaching ten feet in length! Their formidable body size enables them to serve as top predators. They are able to kill water buffalo, deer, wild boar, and even humans.

Researchers from Australia, Indonesia, and Italy tracked 400 individual Komodo Dragons living in eastern Indonesia for ten years and produced a model of the dragons’ growth rate, published recently in the journal PLoS ONE.

Males and females grow at the same rate and remain the same size until age seven, when they reach sexual maturity. From then on, females start putting all their energy into the chores of motherhood, which makes them grow more slowly and die younger.

Meanwhile, the males’ energy reserves go into growing their bodies larger and larger to give them an edge in competing with other males for females and territory. The researchers found that male Komodo dragons live an average of 60 years, while females average just 32 years.

Professor Tim Jessop from the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne and a co-author on the study says that “these sex-based differences seem to be linked to the enormous amounts of energy females invest in producing eggs, as well as building and guarding their nests, a process that can take up to six months, during which they essentially fast, losing a lot of weight and body condition.”

The results could have dramatic consequences for the survival of this endangered species. Conservationists estimate that up to 5,000 individuals remain in the wild, but just 350 are breeding females. Early mortality of females affects fertility rates, making it more difficult to mate, and may be aggravating competition between males over the remaining females. The study could help conservation efforts.

Zuberoa Marcos is a former biologist and current science writer based in Barcelona. She writes articles regularly for Science Today.

Las “labores del hogar” acortan la vida de las hembras de dragón de Komodo

Por Zuberoa Marcos

Las hembras de dragón de Komodo viven, en promedio, la mitad que los machos debido al esfuerzo físico que requieren labores como construir los nidos enormes y proteger los huevos de los depredadores.

El dragón de Komodo (Varanus komodoensis) es el mayor lagarto del mundo. Su tamaño enorme les permite ser depredadores voraces. Son capaces de matar búfalos, ciervos y jabalíes e incluso atacar a seres humanos.

Investigadores de Australia, Indonesia e Italia han realizado durante 10 años un seguimiento de 400 dragones de Komodo que viven en el este de Indonesia, su único hábitat natural. Con los datos obtenidos, el equipo elaboró un modelo de la tasa de crecimiento del dragón. Los resultados has sido recientemente publicados en la revista PLoS ONE.

Machos y hembras crecen a la misma velocidad y tienen el mismo tamaño hasta que alcanzan la madurez sexual, lo cual ocurre alrededor de los siete años de edad. A partir de entonces las mujeres destinan toda su energía a la maternidad, crecen más lento y mueren más jóvenes.

Mientras tanto, los machos emplean sus reservas de energía en hacerse más grandes para poder competir con otros machos por las hembras y el territorio. Los investigadores han descubierto que los dragones de Komodo macho viven un promedio de 60 años y las mujeres sólo 32.

El profesor Tim Jessop, del Departamento de Zoología de la Universidad de Melbourne y co-autor del estudio, comenta que “estas diferencias entre sexos parecen estar vinculadas a las enormes cantidades de energía que las hembras invierten para producir los huevos, construir y cuidar sus nidos, un proceso que puede durar hasta seis meses, durante los cuales pierden mucho peso y su cuerpo se torna frágil. ”

Los resultados podrían tener consecuencias dramáticas para la supervivencia de esta especie en peligro de extinción. Los conservacionistas estiman que hay unos 5,000 individuos en la naturaleza, pero sólo 350 son hembras en etapa reproductiva. La mortalidad precoz de las hembras está dificultando el apareamiento y puede estar agravando la competencia entre los machos por las pocas hembras. El estudio podría ayudar a los futuros esfuerzos de conservación.

Zuberoa Marcos es bióloga molecular y actualmente trabaja como productora de TV y periodista científica. Escribe de forma regular para Science Today.

Image: Sleeping Komodo dragon, Wikipedia

What the…?

Remember this video we produced a while ago about the super cool mimic octopus? It compresses and conforms itself to look like a sea snake, flatfish, or lionfish—adjusting its look for different situations. Thanks to these brazen habits, it can swim in the open with relatively little fear of predators.

Well, it now appears the mimic octopus has a companion mimic. Last summer, Godehard Kopp of the University of Gottingen, Germany took this video while diving in Indonesia. A black-marble jawfish is seen closely following a mimic octopus as it moves across the sandy bottom. The jawfish has brown-and-white markings similar to the octopus and is difficult to spot among the many arms. The octopus, for its part, doesn’t seem to notice or care.

Kopp sent the video to Rich Ross and Luiz Rocha here at the Academy, who identified the jawfish species. Since this association had not been recorded before, they published their observations last month in the scientific journal Coral Reefs. The authors surmise that the jawfish hitches a ride with the octopus for protection, allowing it to venture away from its burrow to look for food—a case of “opportunistic mimicry.”

“This is a unique case in the reefs not only because the model for the jawfish is a mimic itself, but also because this is the first case of a jawfish involved in mimicry,” says Rocha, assistant curator of ichthyology. “Unfortunately, reefs in the Coral Triangle area of southeast Asia are rapidly declining mostly due to harmful human activities, and we may lose species involved in unique interactions like this even before we get to know them.”