PRESSURISED: 029 – Deep se... river?! ecosystems with Melanie Stiassny

Our short and to the point PRESSURISED version of episode 29. If you don't have time for the full episode and want to get right to the science without any of our waffle, this is the place to be!

Read the show notes and find the full episode here: www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/029-deep-rivers

Everyone has been very busy this month with Thom and the Professor officially describing a new species of blue snailfish, alongside their adventures in Singapore. We hear from one of our old students about the work he’s been doing in deep freshwater ecosystems, which got us thinking about these unique environments and the kind of species that live there. We decided to throw one last curveball away from the deep sea and speak with Dr Melanie Stiassny, an ichthyologist who’s focused her research on the deep water fish of the Congo river.

We couldn’t go an episode without discussing the latest deep-sea related conspiracy theories. And of course, we hear from Don about how freshwater affects sub manoeuvres.

Check out our podcast merch! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron and a much anticipated new design...

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

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Glossary

• Acoustic doppler current profiler - a device that uses sound waves to measure the speed and direction of currents throughout the water column.
• Delta - a landform shaped like a triangle, where the mouth of a river flows into an ocean.
• Halocline - a vertical zone in the water column in which salinity changes rapidly with depth.
• Giant Isopod - (Scientific genus: Bathynomus) carnivorous crustaceans which are abundant in the deep-sea.
• Giger - H.R. Giger an award-winning Swiss artist who designed the creature from the 1979 sci-fi horror film ‘Alien’.
• Rapids - sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.
• Sargasso sea - a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre.

Links

Dr Thom’s new paper on the blue hadal snailfish

Alans paper on hadal connectivity

Eel love

Melanie’s work and recent research:

Melanie’s recent paper on the discovery of a new species of air-breathing catfish

Melanie’s article on her work in the lower Congo

Melanie’s NY times article on her research on the deep river Congo

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image - The Deep-Sea Podcast: PRESSURISED