News
November 2011
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Danny! Rumour has it that Danny Tang will celebrate a particular milestone this Friday (21 again, right Danny?)
Welcome Amy Foulkes, who plans to join the Marine Parasitology Laboratory at JCU for a minor project in 2012 investigating parasites of marine turtles. In the meantime, Amy plans to volunteer at the turtle hospital to assist with the care of stranded turtles over summer.
October 2011
Kate Hutson was one of ten recipients of a JCU Early Career Researcher Rising Stars Research Leadership Award. The award includes funding towards a new research project on blood fluke diagnostics in aquaculture fishes and professional development towards building her research leadership capacity.
September 2011
Thane has successfully infected clown fish in the laboratory with Cryptocarion irritans. Bring on the garlic!
August 2011
Welcome Jess Rostagno! Jess will start a Minor Research Project in the Marine Parasitology Laboratory in 2012. In the meantime she is volunteering on various research projects including a potential biological control for parasites.
Welcome Thane Militz! Thane is investigating the efficacy of garlic extract on protozoan parasites of ornamental fishes as part of his Honours research project. Thane officially starts his Honours in September. In the interim he is working as a casual research assistant in the laboratory as part of the Enhancing adaptive capacity for farming barramundi project.
July 2011
We warmly welcome Joint Investigator Ian Whittington (South Australia Museum/The University of Adelaide) to the tropics. Ian is making the most of the experimental Neobenedenia infection in the laboratory as well as attending the opera and chillaxing with fruitful dessert wines (nice beret Ian!).
We welcome Emeritus Professor Lesley Warner to the laboratory who has been dissecting northern bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus). The bandicoots were road kill collected by Kate Hutson in anticipation of Professor Warner's visit. The bandicoots were host to some interesting nematode fauna, but of course the one Lesley was most interested in was a female and both sexes are needed for identification. Lesley reckons 'At least with monogeneans you get both sexes in the one package'.
July has been a busy time for Marine Parasitology Laboratory members in South Australia and Queensland. Kate and Thane attended the First International Aquatic Animal Health Conference while Kate, Ian, Sarah and Alex went along to the Australian Soceity for Parasitology conference the following week. In between the conferences Kate and David Blair ran the Aquatic Parasitology Workshop (pictured) which had 36 participants and 18 presenters/demonstrators. We thank everyone for making the workshop such a huge sucess, especially the Australian Society for Parasitology who funded the event.
April 2011
Congratulations Alex! Alex won an Honours Research Support Grant from NCCARF (National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility - Marine Biodiversity and Resources). The funds will be used to support Alex's research project on copepod and monogenean infections in barramundi. Here is a recent photo of Alex helping out with a dugong necropsy at the JCU Veterinary School.
March 2011
A few days on and Alex's progeny is growing up! His copepod nauplii have moulted into the infective copepodite stage (pictured). Alex plans to examine the effect of temperature on time to maturity (following successful infection of juvenile barramundi).
Alex has successfully cultured his first progeny with more than 500 copepod hatchlings (= Nauplii Stage II larvae) in his laboratory experiments! They exhibit an uncanny resemblance to Boba Fett's spaceship, don't you reckon? Alex is looking forward to the next larval stage - the infective copepodite - where he will test infection success on some unsuspecting host fish.
The final report for our three year project on parasites of wild and farmed fishes is currently at the printers and will be available later this month through the FRDC and the National Library of Australia. A huge thank you to all involved in the project.
February 2011
Welcome Natalie Bool! Natalie completed her BSc with first class Honours at the University of Adelaide in 2006. Following epic adventures in Alaska and Maquarie Island, she is now discovering parasites in paradise! In her position as Research Associate, Natalie will facilitate the development of our current research projects on parasites of barramundi.
Welcome Alex Brazenor! Alex joins the Marine Parasitology Laboratory for his Honours research project, having recently completed his Bachelor of Science at James Cook Univeristy. He plans to investigate ectoparasite responses to varying temperature and salinity. This will aid development of strategic parasite management strategies as part of a larger research project on Enhancing adaptive capacity for farming barramundi
January 2011
Sarah Catalano's image of her favourite parasite, Argulus diversicolor, features on the cover of the current issue of Marine and Freshwater Research. You will also find Sarah's most recent publication 'The value of host and parasite identification for arripid fish' in the same issue. For more information about Argulus diversicolor check out our poster on Australian salmon sea lice
Congratulations to Emma Brock on her first published paper 'Spatial variation in parasite abundance: evidence of geographical population structuring in southern garfish Hyporhamphus melanochir' in the current issue of the Journal of Fish Biology!
November 2010
Welcome Dr Tim Dempster (University of Melbourne) who is currently visiting the Marine Parasitology Laboratory at James Cook University to engage in collaborative research development.
Congratulations Emma Brock on receiving First Class Honours for your thesis! Emma's study examined King George whiting parasite communities with reference to fish age and capture location. Emma also discovered a new parasite species!
September 2010
Dr Kate Hutson featured on the children's science television show Scope on Australia's Channel Ten Network (25 September at 9am) as part of a special episode on parasites!
August 2010
Lookout during the International Congress of Parasitology in Melbourne (August 16th-20th): rumour has it there will be a few marine parasites about...
April 2010
Honours student Sarah Catalano graduated this month! Sarah successfully completed her thesis ‘Parasite assemblages of the Arripidae in southern Australia’ with First Class Honours and has published two research papers from her thesis with another on the way! She secured an Australian Postgraduate Award to begin a PhD in July 2010. In the meantime, Sarah is working as a Research Assistant in the laboratory.
February 2010
Emma Brock (graduate from a Bachelor of Marine Biology) continues in the Marine Parasitology Laboratory at the University of Adelaide for her Honours project in 2010. An ABRS Capacity-Building Scholar, Emma is studying ontogenic influences on parasitism in King George whiting - already she has made some exciting discoveries. Stay tuned.
January 2010
Marineparasites.com has moved to tropical Queensland! Primary Investigator Dr Kate Hutson is now at James Cook University, Townsville, where she will continue working on parasites of fishes.
Marine parasites in southern Australian waters will continue to be a focal point of the research of Joint Investigator Assoc Prof Ian Whittington at the South Australian Museum. Together, we continue to support students at the University of Adelaide.
Kate's tropical sea change will bring more diversity to the website. She is looking forward to discovering plenty of worms in the tropics and establishing a new research group at JCU.
Farewell Elizabeth Perkins. Lizzie is now Station Assistant at Heron Island Research Station, Queensland! We wish her all the best in her new position.
November 2009
Thank you to Prof Ian Beveridge, who was instrumental in identifying the parasitic red mite (Dermanyssus) outbreak in Kate Hutson’s pet chickens, although his suggested ‘kerosene and lighted match’ treatment wasn’t applied to the coop (or the chooks).
September 2009
Dr Kate Hutson spent August and September 2009 at the Natural History Museum, London, working with Prof Geoff Boxshall and Dr Rod Bray (Official Collborators) on copepods and digeneans, respectively
Farewell Dr Danny Tang! Danny (Official Collaborator) is leaving Australian shores to begin a postdoctoral position in Laboratory of Aquaculture , Hiroshima University, Japan. We wish him all the best in his new position.
Fifteen year old Field Volunteer ‘Dr Charlie’ Walsh is off to Germany! Charlie was accepted in the Rotary Youth Exchange after being nominated by his local district committee (and an ensuing application and 2 hour interview). Good luck Charlie! We hope you come across many European fishes (and parasites!) in 2010.
Sarah Catalano continues to excel, winning third prize for outstanding academic achievement in Level III Environmental Biology courses in 2008. Well done Sarah!
Sarah Catalano was awarded the Unibooks Scholarship for Honours 2009. She was selected according to academic merit, as determined by her cumulative grade point average achieved over preceding years of study. Only one scholarship is awarded to a University of Adelaide Honours student each year. Congratulations Sarah!
Honours student Sarah Catalano was awarded a Playford Memorial Honours Scholarship for her research on parasites of Australian endemic fishes. Congratulations Sarah!
Kate Hutson and Emma Brock will present their research work at the FRDC Aquatic Animal Health Scientific Conference, 22-24 July 2009, Cairns
Kate Hutson and Sarah Catalano will present their recent discoveries at ASP & ARC/NHMRC Research Network for Parasitology Annual Conference 12-15 July 2009 at The University of Sydney, New South Wales