Well, Christmas is just around the corner so I get to go home to join in the cold winter festivities! I can't wait. It has been a long, tough semester, but I got a lot of work done. I need to keep trucking and it looks like I might ACTUALLY get my PhD.
We have two parrotfish in the lab where I have been doing most of my microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. Apparently, they think they are new species, but the people who would figure that out are out of town. So in the meantime, we are taking care of them in the tank. We go out to collect algae a few times a week for them to munch on and it's a nice break to look for exciting invertebrates. Here is a brittle star that we found. The algae is covered with them. They are related to sea stars, sea cucumber and urchins.
Steven and I put up our Christmas tree and a moth decided to take its place among the ornaments.
Our new kitties LOVE my stuffed squid! I knew they were cephalopod lovers too. I don't think I've ever seen anything cuter than a kitten cuddling a squid.
It's been so clear and calm out on Coconut these days. I decided to take a picture of the beautiful Ko'olau mountains...
