Red king crabs and urchins on toast
Ok, so monday was down to business.
Hernan Canon collected me in the morning and took me to meet his colleagues at IFOP in central Pt Montt. Following the visit, we went to iMAR, an institute of the Universidad Los Lagos. iMAR have a diverse portfolio of projects with most concerned with the farming of salmon in the regions lakes and fjords but also the experimental production of mollusc species such as abalone.
My host in iMAR was Professor Juan Cavarajal, a parasitologist well known for his works on the parasite fauna of skates and rays and more recently on Calagid (sea lice) parasites which plague the Chilean salmon industry. Prof Cavarajal gave me a whistle stop tour of the laboratory and the assocated research staff before we headed for lunch at an excellent local seafood restuarant to once again sample the local delicacies. The menu of the average Chilean seafood restaurant is not similar in any way to those seen in the UK. They major on filter feeders and grazers and are not adverse to consuming species for which most Brits may feel slightly wary....try barnacles for starter and sea urchin ovaries on toasted bread for main. I must say that both were excellent though the texture of the latter was only adequately compensated by the fact that it has reputed potent aphrodisiac properties...more on that later.
Following lunch we progressed to another of the four universities in Pt Montt, the Universidad Austral ('southernmost'). Meetings with fish disease researcher Sandra Bravo and associated staff in the aquaculture division were productive, with lots of ideas for future collaborations. Perhaps most exciting for me was the prospect of investigating the range of maladies potential within red king crabs (the subject of experimental production in Austral - the spiky crab at the top) and the Cancer spp. local to the lake region (see below...this image is especially for Kelly!).
Cancer spp. from Chilean water - parasite fauna unknown!
At the end of the day, Prof Caravajal and his wife drove me around the peninsula to take a look at one of the volcanoes that overlooks Pt Montt...it looked pretty amazing in the evening light...as did the sunset that ensued.
Ok, so monday was down to business.
Hernan Canon collected me in the morning and took me to meet his colleagues at IFOP in central Pt Montt. Following the visit, we went to iMAR, an institute of the Universidad Los Lagos. iMAR have a diverse portfolio of projects with most concerned with the farming of salmon in the regions lakes and fjords but also the experimental production of mollusc species such as abalone.
My host in iMAR was Professor Juan Cavarajal, a parasitologist well known for his works on the parasite fauna of skates and rays and more recently on Calagid (sea lice) parasites which plague the Chilean salmon industry. Prof Cavarajal gave me a whistle stop tour of the laboratory and the assocated research staff before we headed for lunch at an excellent local seafood restuarant to once again sample the local delicacies. The menu of the average Chilean seafood restaurant is not similar in any way to those seen in the UK. They major on filter feeders and grazers and are not adverse to consuming species for which most Brits may feel slightly wary....try barnacles for starter and sea urchin ovaries on toasted bread for main. I must say that both were excellent though the texture of the latter was only adequately compensated by the fact that it has reputed potent aphrodisiac properties...more on that later.
Following lunch we progressed to another of the four universities in Pt Montt, the Universidad Austral ('southernmost'). Meetings with fish disease researcher Sandra Bravo and associated staff in the aquaculture division were productive, with lots of ideas for future collaborations. Perhaps most exciting for me was the prospect of investigating the range of maladies potential within red king crabs (the subject of experimental production in Austral - the spiky crab at the top) and the Cancer spp. local to the lake region (see below...this image is especially for Kelly!).
Cancer spp. from Chilean water - parasite fauna unknown!At the end of the day, Prof Caravajal and his wife drove me around the peninsula to take a look at one of the volcanoes that overlooks Pt Montt...it looked pretty amazing in the evening light...as did the sunset that ensued.
posted by Dr Grant Stentiford at 3:19 PM
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