I decided to redo the Anthopleura elegantissima thermal stress experiment for two reasons. First, I was not totally happy with the lab conditions leading up to the first experiment. The animals did not have good water flow or regular water changes, the temperature was a bit too low, and the light conditions were artificial. The animals also both died following the stress. Secondly, upon extracting the DNA from those samples, the yield seemed low simply based on visual assessment.

So, yesterday (3/1/15) I redid the experiment at Shannon Point, this time taking two anemones directly from the sea tables and placing them in a 35C water bath for one hour. I decided not to have the water bath quite as warm as in the earlier experiment since it seemed a bit excessive (and it killed the animals). I also clipped a few more tentacles than before so there would be more tissue mass for DNA extraction. Tentacles were clipped before and after the thermal stress and immediately placed in a freezer at -80C. As in the previous experiment, the thermal stress caused the anemones to contract and release their pedal disk from the glass substrate. This morning, however, the anemones had reattached and were even slightly expanded in the flow-through seawater system. It seems likely they will survive the stress.