I will be checking my email to look for any help from Ron; meanwhile, I'll see if I can find other sources for shipping info...

Sure hope we can work it out!

--Diane

PS: I look forward to seeing your work at the url you included! 

What a wonderful project, and esp., what wonderful pictures! If those have scales, then so very well may mine!

I'm a bit confused, tho--with the jump from Aphroditidae to Polynoidae (and the other family designations in Gallery 3).  Are we now talking subfamilies or something? Sorry I'm so anal......

--Diane 

Shipping alive... ah, yes... 

Put the animal in a reasonably sized vial/jar.  Fill the jar no more than 1/2 full of water.  The air will provide enough oxygen for the animal to make the trip. Seal the jar well; a tight seal with vinyl electrican's tape wrapped around the cap and jar top works well.  Put this in a plastic bag/Ziploc etc.  Pack well in a small box.  Ship by the means you choose.

Best not to tell anybody it contains living creatures.  Some carriers get exercised over that and will tell you that they won't ship living animals (They don't want to be liable for their deaths).  

As far as carriers and people sending me things...  I have had good luck with Express Mail and Priority Mail from the USPS, as well as overnight from FedEX and UPS.  DHL/Airborne kills things... don't ship livies with them.

Good luck.

Leslie, I would like to see what you find with this animal.  The pattern of setae is really like nothing I could find in my litereature and I have a pretty good polychaete data base (albeit for the NE Pacific).  

Cheers, Ron

"The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind. The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man." Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

(Ron, if you can get back to me in time, would it help to have a bit of macro in the jar, for the worm to cling to?)

--Diane

Well, you're going to get a look at my guy, anyway, as I had already shipped him off before I read your post.  He's supposed to arrive by noon today (Friday).  Hope he's still in one piece and alive when he gets there...

Thanks for the ID!  A couple of days ago I did a lot of searching on P. aurifera but could find no images or descriptions...

It's sort of reassuring to know that I didn't see the scales because they weren't there!

And yes, thanks for the clarification of the family relations. Very helpful!

(BTW--several other stunning pics at your Flickr page as well!)

Cheers,

--Diane

PS:  These were a couple of refs I found:

This one says P. aurifera's in the Red Sea:

http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/aquazool/mev2/wehe_&_fiege.pdf

And I thought this one was interesting--see excerpt below:

http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medias/publication/2557_z04n3a2.pdf

Excerpt:

Lamarck, although

originally a botanist, was appointed professor in

zoology at MNHN in 1793. A number of his

polychaete types were actually collected by

Savigny, who was one of the naturalists on

Napoléon’s campaign to Egypt in 1798. Savigny

wrote a manuscript that included these descriptions,

and which formed the basis of many of

Lamarck’s descriptions. These descriptions were

published also by Savigny in Description de

l’Égypte, but due to uncertainties relating to the

actual date of his contributions, the International

Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

(1987) took the decision that the relevant parts

were issued in 1822. Lamarck’s descriptions

thereby have priority over Savigny’s, and the former

should therefore be referred to as author of

the taxa. If considered appropriate, the specification

“Savigny in Lamarck” may be used to credit

Savigny’s input. Not many of Lamarck’s types

remain: Clymene amphistoma, Glycera unicornis,

Hermione hystrix, the aforementioned Hesione

splendida, Ophelia bicornis, Palmyra aurifera,

which was relatively recently transferred from

Chrysopetalidae to Aphroditidae by Watson

Russell (1989),

Hmm, well, it looks like my guestimate of this being a member of the Palmyridae wasn't as bad as it might have been. 

Cheers, Ron

"The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind. The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man." Charles Darwin (1809-1882)