Protocols

In June 2011, three of the team, Liz Harper, John Taylor and Emily Glover headed out to Hong Kong to collect specimens for the project. They spent a week based at the Swire Institute of the Marine Sciences, located on a remote peninsula on the south east of Hong Kong Island far from the bustle of city life.

Despite arriving on a very early morning flight from London, securing supplies and making a base in the lab, the team were out on the shore for a full low tide collection — an excellent cure for jet lag! Armed with sieves and grapefruit knife they visited the shores at Cape d’Aguilar, Shek O, Tai Tam and Hoi Sing Wan the team managed to bag a number of BivAToL “must haves” including Gari, Plicatula, Trapezium and the noetiid Didimacar, as well as a number of other bivalves including galeommatids. A morning of torrential rain and a high tide combined to give the perfect opportunity to visit the fish markets at Sai Kung. Despite the weather, the markets abounded with a range of bivalves, such as Spondylus, Mactra, Ensis and Atrina, all collected from the South China Sea. But the real prize for the team was the purchase of a specimen of a Geoduck, Panopea generosa, shipped in from the western coast of North America. This hiatellid has magnificent siphons and is a highly valued Chinese delicacy.

Of particular interest for us, is that this specimen appeared to be full of sperm, which one of us, John Healy, needs for his analyses. Bivalve sperm is very useful in determining phylogeny, but it is often very difficult to come by due to the vagaries of timing collecting trips when the species are reproducing. It is often a matter of luck.

Despite a busy week, the team had time to visit the University of Hong Kong and give seminars on chemosymbiotic molluscs and brachiopods just before leaving for their flight home.

[+] Cape d'Aguilar and the Swire Marine Lab.	[+] John Taylor and Emily Glover sieving for bivalves.	[+] The team at Tai Tam bay, very rich in bivalve fauna.
[+] Living Panopea in the Sai Kung Market.	[+] Panopea showing the large siphons!