May 9, 2018 | News, sustainability, Uncategorized
The South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON), in collaboration with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), will be launching a unique, first of its kind book in South Africa. The book titled Field Guide to the Offshore Marine...
Apr 30, 2018 | News, sustainability, Uncategorized
Cape Town – DNA sequencing techniques have placed the spotlight on two ‘introduced’ seaweed species previously not known in South Africa, one of them being the ‘Devil’s tongue weed’. Like any responsible scientific researcher Prof John Bolton from the University...
Apr 21, 2018 | News, sustainability, Uncategorized
Pretoria – The Foundational Biodiversity Information Programme (FBIP) calls for large and small grants 2018 have opened; South African researchers are encouraged to apply. For an overview of the FBIP, feel free to consult the programme’s Framework Document...
Apr 16, 2018 | News, sustainability, Uncategorized
In taxonomy, the ‘holotype’ specimen can be considered the cornerstone of a species description – the single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. When this specimen goes missing the foundation upon...
Mar 27, 2018 | News, sustainability, Uncategorized
Studies on South African marine invasive species have neglected key phases of the invasion process, a SeaKeys systematic review has shown. According to Stellenbosch University researcher and co-author on the study, Dr Tammy Robinson, invasion biology (until recently)...
Mar 15, 2018 | News, sustainability, Uncategorized
A highly invasive ‘ecosystem engineer’ is gaining ground at Zandvlei Estuary in Cape Town, a study linked to the SeaKeys project has shown. Over a period of 25 years the alien reef-building polychaete Ficopomatus enigmatus (AKA the Australian tubeworm) population has...
Feb 28, 2018 | News, sustainability, Uncategorized
A study on the taxonomy of a pharmaceutically important brown algae has highlighted the challenges of integrating historical taxa into the era of modern DNA-based taxonomy. A group of South African and international algae experts, led by Christophe Vieira from Ghent...
Feb 16, 2018 | News, sustainability, Uncategorized
A parasitic copepod previously known only from Luderitz Bay in Namibia has been found on the coast of the Cape Peninsula, according to a SeaKeys study. “This discovery is the first record of any siphonostomatoid copepod infecting an invertebrate host in South Africa,”...
Jan 31, 2018 | News, sustainability
Genypterus capensis, commonly known as Kingklip, is one of South Africa’s most valuable marine resources. At present the fish, which belongs to the cusk-eel family, is caught as a by-catch of the Cape hake trawling and longline fisheries. In economic and perhaps...
Jan 31, 2018 | News, sustainability
There are countless ways to describe planet earth. One could describe it in relation to other planetary objects like the moon in the branch of science called astronomy. We could also describe it in terms of its smallest components, called ‘quarks’ by physicists....
