029 - Deep se…river?! ecosystems with Melanie Stiassny

LISTEN ON YOUR FAVOURITE PODCAST PLATFORM

OR LISTEN RIGHT HERE:

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE

LISTEN TO THE SHORTER VERSION

Everyone has been very busy this month with Thom and the Professor officially describing a new species of blue snailfish, alongside their adventures in Singapore. We hear from one of our old students about the work he’s been doing in deep freshwater ecosystems, which got us thinking about these unique environments and the kind of species that live there. We decided to throw one last curveball away from the deep sea and speak with Dr Melanie Stiassny, an ichthyologist who’s focused her research on the deep water fish of the Congo river. 

We couldn’t go an episode without discussing the latest deep-sea-related conspiracy theories. And of course, we hear from Don about how freshwater affects submarine manoeuvres.

Alan talks about his experience giving his TED talk, his opinions on a certain art exhibition and questions why the giant isopod keeps getting referenced in the news.

 

Amazing and grossly flattering fanart of Dr Thom from listener Eldritch Enthusiast @longarmsquid

Check out our podcast merch! Please do send in any pics of you wearing the merch.

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own comments on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!


We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook:DeepSeaPodcast, ArmatusOceanic

 Instagram: @deepsea_podcast, @armatusoceanic

Keep up with the team on social media

Twitter: Alan - @Hadalbloke, Thom - @ThomLinley, Georgia - @geeinthesea

Instagram: Georgia - @geeinthesea


Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com


Links

Dr Thom’s new paper on the blue hadal snailfish

Alans paper on hadal connectivity

Eel love

Crocs on Helium

John Quentin’s new deep-sea sci-fi novel, The Verdansky Ultimatum

The art exhibition that Alan and Thom visited in Singapore

Melanie’s work and recent research

Melanie’s recent paper on the discovery of a new species of air-breathing catfish

Melanie’s article on her work in the lower Congo

Melanie’s NY times article on her research on the deep river Congo 

Melanie’s recent work:

https://researchoutreach.org/articles/fishes-lower-congo-river-extreme-case-species-divergence-convergent-evolution/

https://www.livescience.com/congo-river-fish-with-bends.html

Oceanchild - Spidergawd

Youtube

Spotify

Selti - Skatatacama 

Youtube
Spotify

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

Image courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History/Melanie Stiassny

Glossary

Acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) - a device that uses sound waves to measure the speed and direction of currents throughout the water column.

Delta - a landform shaped like a triangle, where the mouth of a river flows into an ocean.

Halocline - a vertical zone in the water column in which salinity changes rapidly with depth.

Giant Isopod - (Scientific genus: Bathynomus) carnivorous crustaceans which are abundant in the deep-sea.

Giger - H.R. Giger an award-winning Swiss artist who designed the creature from the 1979 sci-fi horror film ‘Alien’.

Rapids - sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.

Sargasso sea - a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre.