EduQuarium in Cairns, Queensland, Australia | College & University

EduQuarium

Locality: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Address: E11, 14-88 McGregor Road, Smithfield 4878 Cairns, QLD, Australia

Website: http://www.jcu.edu.au/eduquarium

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• Educational research centre

23.01.2022 Have you seen how Professor Jamie Seymour and Dr Robert Courtney milk the worlds most venomous fish? Check it out!

23.01.2022 Meet the Team Emily O’Hara What got you interested in science? I’ve always like biology, learning how things work. I think going to Sea World and watching the blue planet documentaries a child really got me interested in the marine side of things and my interest grew form there.... How did you get into science? I was really lucky, I knew I wanted to be involved in marine science from a really young age. So I put all my efforts into getting into university to study marine biology. Best under grad memory? I did my undergrad in the UK, and first year we did a residential field trip to a little marine science station off the west coast of Scotland. Everyone on our course suddenly became a team on that trip, we had so many fun practical learning about the local marine life and adventures exploring the island. Post grad life. What did you do, where did you go? I stayed at Newcastle University in the UK to do my Masters degree (MPhil). I’d always had a keen interest in ecology and then we did an undergraduate module on marine venoms and toxins which I loved and I really wanted to explore that area too. So I developed a Masters project to combine them both looking at the effect of environmental temperature on sea anemone toxins. How did you end up with TASRU Team? Continuing my ecology/venom interest, I wanted to move on from sea anemones to jellyfish given the dangerous nature of some jellyfish stings, research on more medically relevant species was appealing. I did some research into the leading jellyfish scientists around the world, and contacted Prof Jamie Seymour about the possibility of developing a PhD project with him, and now here I am How are you finding PhD life? I really love it! My supervisors and the whole of the TASRU team are amazing, and my PhD project has a good amount of field work in it which is really exciting. Best PhD life memory to date? My very first field trip collecting Irukandji jellyfish (Carukia barnesi) was the first trip of this stinger season. I’d be warned sometimes we don’t catch anything, but that night we caught over 80 jellyfish, everyone was so excited and it was a fantastic first trip for me! (In this photo is Emily giving her first 3min seminar on her project at the Conference last year. And she won the second best talk!)

22.01.2022 eduQuarium and TASRU are part of a huge institute of tropical health and medicine in FNQ. Check out their page for other medical research being done right here in the tropics!

21.01.2022 Tentacular Tuesday! Under the microscope we show these Aurelia aurita polyps, the asexual and sessile stage of moon jellyfish. They will eat and create little clone polyps that will create another polyp. This can cause a huge l population growth in a very little amount of time. Can you see their tentacle, mouth and body? Photography by @sallybrowning ... #tentacles #tentacular #jellyfish #moonjellyfish #oceans #marinelife #bestbuds #asexual #asexualreproduction #coral #cnidarian #pink #research #aquariums #marineaquariun #nature #microscope #underthescope #eduquarium

21.01.2022 Weird Wednesday: These Irukandji jellyfish polyps (Carukia barnesi) are morphing into baby jellyfish. Photography by Sally Turner... To read more about this life stage, check out our journal article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4783009/

20.01.2022 "The boys are back in town" Prof Jamie Seymour and Dr Robert Courtney are back from Weipa early with an early Christmas present! They had male and female Chironex fleckeri (Sea Wasp/Box Jellyfish) spawn and we now have planula! The team is now running around gathering containers to put our many millions of planula they have brought back. Here is to a lot of microscope and long hours at work!... Great work team TASRU and team Eduquarium

19.01.2022 Today is Swim a Lap day! Swimmers train hard and long hours to swim as fast as they can to win the gold in an Olympic event. BUT did you know that the Box Jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri, can swim the same speed of an Olympic swimmer! They must be fast enough to catch their prey and then quickly kill with the venom in their tentacles to avoid being damaged.... How fast can you swim?

19.01.2022 Celebrating International Womens Day today with Danica, PhD candidate researching therapeutic potentials of stonefish skin toxin. "Growing up, the image of a scientist that was instilled in my brain was the classic mad genius stereotype. In my eyes, the world’s greatest minds; Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and the likes, were not only all male, but also all seemed to be born with this unexplainable talent of great and unmatched wisdo...m. That was until I read the book ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ by Bill Bryson, which humanized these great minds and made me realize that to stand on the shoulders of these giants is not an impossible dream. So, from where I stand now, I would love to be a real-life role model to inspire women and show them that the pursuit of knowledge and discovery is an option, it is obtainable, and it is right there for the taking for everyone and anyone who wants it. Women in science; because you already know you are awesome, so why not discover more?"

19.01.2022 Congratulations to PhD candidate Danica Lennox-Bulow taking out the win from the My Research Rules talks that were held last Thursday. Danica shared with everyone her research on stonefish Ichyocrinotoxins and their potential therapeutic applications. These talks were held over the whole Division of Tropical Health and Medicine with so many fantastic talks. Well done to all who shared their amazing research! JCU: James Cook University, Australia

17.01.2022 Our neighbour and friend at JCU, and part of the Sea Grass lab from TropWater, Abbi Scott talks about the importance of sea grass. Great job!

17.01.2022 New Research Paper out for the team!!! Jamie Seymour and PhD student Emily O'Hara and Pupillary response to light in three species of Cubozoa (box jellyfish) Check it out!... https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp//15_P1502/_article/-char/ja/

17.01.2022 The Impaler The Banded Mantis Shrimp hides in a hole in the sand, waiting patiently for an unknowing prey to swim above him. Watch as our own Mantis Shrimp, Charlie, uses his sharp raptor-like claws to impale the damsel-in-dis-fish to drag him away into his dark sandy home.... Would you want to cross him?

16.01.2022 You may think this little clown fish is confused hiding in coral, however this beautiful coral can pack a punch. Ricordia yuma is a Corallimorph which are brightly coloured, asexually reproduce via budding and can be quite aggressive in attacking its coral neighbours. The sting of this coral have also been observed to defend itself from marine vertebrates. So this clownfish may have found a temporary home until he can find a suitable anemone. #cleverclownfish #clownfish #nemo #colourfulcorals #ocean #cairns #jcucairns #eduquarium #ricordia #corals #orange #aquarium #research

16.01.2022 Our very own Emily O'Hara will be talking all about jellyfish and her incredible research at this months Inspiration on Tap. Head on down to the Salt House March 11th

16.01.2022 We are so proud of Emily O'Hara receiving the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation grant this year! Emily will use this grant to research how the chaning ocean temperatures will effect box jellyfish venom, a huge deal for all beach and reef goers. JCU: James Cook University, Australia AITHM EduQuarium... Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation See more

15.01.2022 We Can See Everything The Peacock Mantis Shrimp have the ability to move their eyes independently of each other. They are found to have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, being able to see with short wave lengths and 12-16 photoreceptors (humans have 3!). This serves them well when others enter their territory or prey come knocking....... **can you guess which movie we got the title from?**

15.01.2022 Its beginning to look a lot like jellyfish season We have caught our first two Irukandji jellyfish of the season on Friday night. Dr Rob and PhD students Danica and Kat were very excited! Commence the jellyfish research! Tis the season Please listen to the surf life guards on duty. Safe summer for all

14.01.2022 Big congratulations to Olivia Rowley, Dr Robert Courtney, Professor Jamie Seymour and Sally Browning. Well done libby, you are well into your way in completion of your PhD! So much hard work, time and money goes into projects, experiments and papers, so it is always an exciting time when it is accepted into a journal! Check it out! ... Drones, beaches, jellyfish.... the team was really in their element with this one. Follow the link and go check out what we did and what we found.... its really exiting! https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article

14.01.2022 A True Hypnotist Cuttlefish have a incredibly hypnotising way to capture their prey. A harmless light display to distract you, and then next thing you know, you are being engulfed in tentacles heading towards a sharp beak!

13.01.2022 Throw back to the start of the month when Jamie did a video with Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef discussing all things venomous! "Things that sting"

12.01.2022 Epaulette sharks have a unique skill that allows the to "walk" over the shallow reefs during low tides toescape or look for food. This little guy has learnt to come up for food, but so have our other fish..... #foodfight #sharksandrays #sharks #spots #patch #reef #aquarium #oceans #cairns #jcucairns #areyougoingtoeatthat

12.01.2022 Devils in Disguise Is its a rock..... coral.... Ouch! Nope, it's a stonefish. Stonefish have an incredible ability to blend into their environment. The reef stonefish, Synanceia verrucosa, have bright coloured patches to blend in with the reef, whereas the estuarine stonefish, Synanceia horrida, are dark browns to blend in with rocks, silt and sand in the estuaries. Estuarine stonefish also have their eyes and mouth situated higher to stick out when they have buried in th...e substrate. Research has found that they secrete a toxin from their nodules to promote algae growth, making them look more like the environment, but deters animals from burying into their skin. They are highly adapted to their environment, so tread carefully when playing in their garden, that rock may just be a devil in disguise.......

11.01.2022 Jellyfish, cone snail, stonefish, oh my! Halloween is upon us and we would like to share some spooky facts about the animals we house in our facility. For the rest of October, keep an eye out for our posts!

11.01.2022 Trick or Treat This stonefish saw his dinner swim past, not knowing that this was no ordinary fish. This stonefish tried to eat a Barred Soapfish and got tricked! The soapfish secretes a skin toxin, grammitsin, when stressed and uses it as defence. This toxin resembles soap suds, and fish tend to react as they have eaten a bar of soap. From us at Eduquarium, we hope you get treats this Halloween. ... Happy Halloween See more

10.01.2022 We have reached 600 likes!! The Eduquarium team would like to thank all our new and old friends. We are a small facility that is reaching for the stars in venomous research with big dreams. Thank you for all your support! We would love to share our adventures and research with more people, bringing knowledge and awareness, so if you have friends that would be interested in what we do, please invite them over!... Here is to many more adventures

10.01.2022 If Its A Cone, Leave It Alone You would only need a small amount of cone snail venom to be potentially fatal to a human. People tend to see the pretty shell and think it is smart to take home and add to their collection, not knowing that there is a dangerous and potentially fatal animal waiting inside. All of these shells below are cone shaped, but its hard to tell which one is deadly. So we have a saying: "If its a cone, leave it alone!"... Photo by Sally Turner

10.01.2022 Meet the Team, our Creative Mermaid If Sheree had her choice, she would have gills instead of lungs, a breath hold to rival the sperm whale and a sparkly green mermaid-esque tail. Since she doesn’t, she spends most of her time blowing bubbles and developing innovative marine environmental projects that bridge the gap between science and the public. A marine biologist, speaker and science communicator, Sheree loves sharing her quick whit and humour of the natural world throug...h radio, television appearances and documentaries. She’s also a former Young Australian of the Year and award-winning author with several publications including KamaSEAtra Secrets of Sex in the Sea, a humorous read about the unique reproductive methods of sea creatures and the parallels they share with humans. She’s our temperate mermaid, representing the cooler southern shores of Australia when she’s not annoying the team in ether tropics and putting inappropriate backgrounds on her zoom calls. We love having Sheree as a part of our group and look forward to many more projects and adventures!

09.01.2022 Our very own Emily O'Hara will be presenting tonight at the Nautilus Dive Club talking about all things jellyfish. Head on over to their facebook page for more details if you can come along. Have fun Emily!

07.01.2022 Wow! Great job Robin Beaman from JCU: James Cook University, Australia and team discovering a coral reef more than 400m tall! Thanks for the mention at about 3hrs 57m, love it when you visit us and Biopixel

06.01.2022 Did you catch this? Tentacular news! Innovative drone research to detect Box Jellyfish off FNQ beaches by Libby and the TASRU Team 7NEWS Cairns JCU: James Cook University, Australia... NQ Surfs life Saving See more

06.01.2022 Look at these cute baby Carukia barnesi jellyfish! Emily has been tirelessly looking after these in the lab. Even at this size, these irukandji are ready to pack a punch! #jellyfish #aquarium #research #phdstudent #phdlife #babyjelly #jcucairns #eduquarium #lablife #laboratorylife #jellymama #microscope

06.01.2022 Happy World Oceans Day 2020 Today we are celebrating the worlds ocean with focus on biodiversity! We love our jellyfish and believe they are important to biodiversity! Check out this Catostylus jellyfish housing a juvenile trevally as he makes his way across the ocean... Photography by @oliviarowley4 #biodiversity #worldoceansday2020 #worldoceanday #jellyfish #trevally #greatbaiierreef #fishhouse #peekaboo #blue #oceans #naturephotography #jcucairns #cairns

06.01.2022 Danger Lurking Below Can you guess what kind of predator this is? It lurks in the sand, always looking up and laid flat ready to gulp any prey who passes by........

05.01.2022 Whacky Wednesday: Strobilation Aurelia aurita, moon jellyfish, strobilate to asexually reproduce. From a polyp, they stretch out and segment their body. Each segment turns into a baby jellyfish, ephyra. These look like little flower stacks. One at a time, when ready, the ephyra pop off one by one, creating hundreds of jellyfish to eat and grow into an adult and the sexual reproduction stage. This is one of the ways jellyfish polyps create Medusa. What do you think??... Photography @sallybrowning #jellyfish #stacks #microscopephotography #moonjellyfish #research #science #jellyfishtank #aquarium #researcheverything #wonderfulnature #wondersoftheworld #tentacles #tentacular #stingers #venomous #instascience @ JCU eduQuarium

05.01.2022 We got a question about our recent research, so we asked our cone snail expert Danica Some cone snails (including Conus geographus) have been found to have two completely separate venom profiles specialised for either offence and defence. Now that’s pretty amazing in itself! However, my research has recently uncovered that Conus geographus, a very dangerous piscivorous cone snail that is known to cause human fatality, may also alter certain groups of components (molecules) ...within its’ defensive venom profile in response to both increased predation pressure and starvation! It does this by upregulating (increasing the amount) of some components, while simultaneously downregulating (reducing the amount) of other components! Further evidence that these guys really are mobile chemical factories! COOL! - Danica #conesnail #venomousofinstagram #venomousanimals #research #science #marineanimals #oceans #nature #shells #predatorsnail #silentkiller #aquarium #researchaquarium #honours #gbr #jcu #cairns

04.01.2022 Movember is Upon us! Are you growing your beard out this month? Mr Wobby has been working on his since he was born. Who is going to brave it an have a wobbygong-Mo? Beard hair everywhere except your top lip

04.01.2022 Meet Doctor Sleep... Imagine being tucked away for a good nights sleep, to wake up wrapped and facing a radula of potent venom to paralyse you! That is exactly what Conus geographus, the most venomous predatory cone snail does. It sneaks up on sleepy prey, engulfs them within their oral hood, then quickly injects them with venom using its modified tooth, the radula, to avoid the fish escaping. It is one slow beginning but a very quick death for the fish. Sounds like a wh...ole new meaning of sleep paralysis....... Video by Sally Turner

04.01.2022 Untouchable: Covered in Worts The irukandji jellyfish, Carukia barnesi, is covered in stinging cells, not only on the tentacles, but also on their bell. This makes every part of this little jellyfish deadly! And you only need the smallest amount of contact with one to land you in hospital. 1st of November, the tropics gets a little scary. But suit up and swim between the flags folks and you will be fine ... Photography by Olivia Rowley

03.01.2022 Its NAIDOC Week! This is an opportunity to learn and celebrate indigenous traditions and cultures. Did you know that the Irukandji jellyfish was named after the Yirriganydji peoples. The Yirrganydji people are an indigenous Australian people of Queensland who trace their descent from are the original custodians of a narrow coastal strip within Djabugay country that runs northwards from Cairns, Queensland to Port Douglas. In 2010, Yirrganydji Traditional owners became increas...ingly concerned about the issues affecting their traditional sea country from Cairns to Port Douglas, North Queensland. So various Yirrganydji families and people initiated the development of a TUMRA with the assistance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority over the following years. Follow the link and learn about the programs that they have been running to continue connection to the land and collaborate in management of the Yiriganydji land and sea. #NAIDOC2020 #yirriganydji #irukandji #Cairns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Y_gHuklyc

03.01.2022 DID YOU KNOW? Anemone fish live among the stinging tentacles of Anemones by producing a mucous covering. This allows them to hide from bigger fish that would make him lunch! The Anemone also benefits from the territorial Anemone fish. Anemone fish feces also provide a source of nitrogen to the Anemone! Pretty cool, right? This mutual relationship is called Symbiosis

02.01.2022 13 Deadly Spines, so Tread Carefully Running along the dorsal spine of a stonefish is 13 venomous spines that are raised and embedded into predators and unsuspecting feet. We have placed extracted spines under the microscope giving you a closer look at these deadly spines. Each one as sharp as a needle to peirce the animal. As pressure is brought down along those spines, the venom sacs are squeezed, causing the venom to travel up along either side on the spine to then be ...deposited into the predator. This causes immense and immediate pain. On a scale of 1 to 10, its about an 11! Can you see the venom sacs and the groove it travels up? Photos by Sally Turner

01.01.2022 Lunch time for our jellyfish! We feed our Moon jellyfish newly hatched artemia 3-4 times a day! Artemia is also known as brine shrimp or Sea-Monkeys. Did you ever play with these as a kid? Out in the ocean they usually feed on small crustaceans, protozoan, diatoms, and invertebrate larvae. ... #moonjellyfish #lunch #artemia #jellyfish #aquarium #research #invertebrates #nervenet