Hopkins Marine Station

Hopkins Marine Station is the marine laboratory of Stanford University. It is located ninety miles south of the university's main campus, in Pacific Grove, California (USA) on the Monterey Peninsula, adjacent to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is home to nine research laboratories and a fluctuating population of graduate and undergraduate students.

History

Hopkins Marine Station was founded in 1892, making it the oldest marine laboratory on the US Pacific Coast, and the second-oldest in the US, after Cold Spring Harbor. It was originally named the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory and located on what is now called Lover's Point. In 1917, the laboratory was moved to its current location on Mussel/China/Cabrillo Point, and given its current name: Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. The marine station's namesake is Timothy Hopkins, the founder of the city of Palo Alto and an early supporter of Stanford University, not Johns Hopkins, founder of the Johns Hopkins University. The marine station is not affiliated with the latter.

Hopkins Marine Life Refuge

In 1931, the State of California adopted legislation designating the intertidal and subtidal areas around Hopkins Marine Station as the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge. The collection of marine invertebrates or plants is forbidden without a scientific collecting permit. The HMLR is the second-oldest Marine Life Refuge in California, after the San Diego Marine Life Refuge of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. More recent legislation has been enacted to prevent chemical and thermal pollution of the water, to extend the boundaries of the refuge, and to prohibit the collection of fish, as well as invertebrates and plants, without a scientific collecting permit.

Notable flora and fauna

Terrestrial

* Monterey cypress, "Cupressus macrocarpa"
* Brandt's cormorant, "Phalacrocorax penicillatus"
* Western gull, "Larus occidentalis"
* Black-tailed deer, "Odocoileus hemionus"
* Canada goose, "Branta canadensis"

Aquatic

* Giant Kelp, "Macrocystis integrifolia"
* Bull kelp, "Nereocystis luetkeana"
* Giant green anemone, "Anthopleura xanthogrammica"
* Aggregating anemone, "Anthopleura elegantissima"
* Strawberry Anemone, "Corynactis californica"
* Moon jelly, "Aurelia labiata"
* Purple Sea Urchin, "Strongylocentrotus purpuratus"
* Bat Star, "Patiria miniata"
* Warty Sea Cucumber, "Parastichopus parvimensis"
* Sunflower starfish, "Pycnopodia helianthoides"
* Black abalone, "Haliotis cracherodii"
* Red abalone, "Haliotis rufescens"
* Jewelled topsnail, "Calliostoma annulatum"
* Black turban snail, "Tegula (Chlorostoma) funebralis"
* California mussel, "Mytilus californianus"
* Hopkin's Rose Nudibranch, formerly "Hopkinsia (Okenia) rosacea"
* Spanish shawl, "Flabellina iodinea"
* Sea otter, "Enhydra lutris"
* Harbor seal, "Phoca vitulina"
* California sea lion, "Zalophus californianus"

Research at Hopkins

Scientists at the marine station pursue research in a diverse range of biological fields, including biomechanics, biochemistry, developmental biology, neurobiology, ecology, evolution, and genetics. Studies utilize a great variety of organisms, but certain particularly useful and/or charismatic critters, such as mussels, squid, tuna, tunicates, sea urchins, and mudsuckers, have been the focus of continued research efforts.

From 1963 to 1968, the station operated the research vessel R/V "Te Vega", which sailed the Pacific and the Indian Ocean undertaking various studies, most notably of the Deep Scattering Layer. Data from the twenty "Te Vega" research voyages are still cited today, and one reference work opines that, " [a] lthough ships from several nations participated in the Indian Ocean Expedition, only one has contributed significantly to marine phycology, namely, the "Te Vega" [...] ." [ In: CATALOGUE OF THE BENTHIC MARINE ALGAE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN (Univ. California Press, 1996)]

Some past and present researchers at Hopkins Marine Station:
Cornelius Van Niel,
Donald P. Abbott,
Isabella Abbott,
Colin Pittendrigh,
Lawrence Blinks,
David Epel,
George Somero,
William Gilly,
Dennis Powers,
Chuck Baxter,
James Watanabe,
Fiorenza Micheli,
Mark Denny,
Tony DeTomaso,
Stephen Palumbi,
Barbara Block,
Stuart Thompson.

References

1. "History of Algal Exploration in the Indian Ocean." In: Silva, Basson & Moe, "Catalogue of the Benthic Marine Algae of the Indian Ocean". Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996.

External links

* [http://marine.stanford.edu/ Main website]