katemn

Unido: 18.dic.2018 Última actividad: 19.mar.2024 iNaturalist Australia

Marine biologist and dive guide! I have a PhD in genetics and marine biology, and I mostly work in taxonomy and the phylogenetics of echinoderms (sea urchins, sea stars, brittle stars and feather stars - also technically sea cucumbers, but I'm not very good at those!).

My main taxonomic focus is feather stars, although they can sometimes be tricky to ID based purely on photographs. I also have a special interest in the biscuit star genus Tosia, as I described a new species (T. neossia) in my Honours project based on genetics, morphology and larval development. I'm always happy to tell people how to tell the three accepted species of Tosia apart when they're having trouble! Also, if you find them in August/September, it's worth having a look to see if there's a mass of orange larvae underneath (take a photo! Tag me!).

The only drawback is that I imprinted on them: as soon as I get in the water on the southern coast of Australia, my brain starts hunting for biscuit stars.

I also work on a few groups of brittle stars, mostly Ophionereis and Clarkcoma, so I sometimes cruise around and put names on those. In my PhD project, I uncovered undescribed species in both those genera, as well as the feather star genus Cenolia - so there's always more to know and see.

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