Updates
I will post messages here about changes to the site's operation, and answers to general questions about what to do, how to send messages, images etc.
Related messages
Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ? [2]
June 11, 2010
From: Bill Rudman
Concerning message #23712:
Thanks for the kind messages of support and thanks which have been sent to both the Forum and to my email address.
As I said before, the Australian Museum is no longer able to fund the Forum or provide technical assistance. I am trying to find an alternative way of hosting the site, and hopefully we will be up and running again at the same url - www.seaslugforum.net.
For what I hope is just a temporary solution, a 'flattened' version of the whole site will be available. It will have all the messages and Fact Sheets but no changes or corrections will be possible and no new messages will be posted.
For this to take place I have been asked not to post any more messages. To find out what is happening, a bulletin board will be available on the flattened site where I can post updates on the Forum's return.
Thank you all for your support over the past 12 years. Many of you have said how grateful you are for all you have learnt. I am glad we could help. The point of the Forum was to be a two-way means of communication between scientists and non-scientists so we could share information. I am sure many of my professional colleagues would agree with me when I say that we scientists have learnt an enormous amount of new information from the photos and observations sent in by divers and naturalists world wide.
This is not the happiest message I have posted on the Forum, but hopefully we will be back shortly.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
billr@seaslugforum.net
Rudman, W.B., 2010 (Jun 11) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ? [2]. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23764Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 10, 2010
From: Marina Poddubetskaia
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill,
Let me thank you for your devotion to the sea slugs community. Numerous messages bellow show the gratefulness of many members, and I'd like to express mine too.
Your comments on the Forum provided me with many information on these wonderful animals. But more than anything else, you taught me to observe sea slugs closely, to distinguish significant characters, to analyze their environment in field. You gave me more than any book. So, thank you for sharing with us your knowledge and your experience.
Like Kathe Jensen I think that this Forum was an essential tool for the sea slugs community. It allowed contacts between enthusiast divers and scientists, established useful collaborations, so that science makes progress.
I hope solutions will be found to keep the Forum active and alive. I only have a basic HTML knowledge but if you need a financial contribution, I promise to do my best.
Good luck and thanks a lot,
Marina
nembro@yahoo.fr
Poddubetskaia, M., 2010 (Jun 10) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23760Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 8, 2010
From: Mickey Rosenau
Concerning message #23712:
I just returned from a dive trip and read this very sad news. The most important response is to thank Bill Rudman for his outstanding efforts on behalf of all of us who are interested in or experts about nudibranchs. Beyond that, if there is a viable funding plan and technical solution to the current problems, I hope we will learn about it soon enough to learn what we can do to help restore the Sea Slug Forum.
Mickey Rosenau
mdrosenau@gmail.com
Rosenau, M., 2010 (Jun 8) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23759End of Forum?
June 8, 2010
From: Marli Wakeling
Hi Bill,
As a major influence on my development as a diver and underwater photographer, I want to thank you for your tireless efforts on the Sea Slug Forum. This is a valuable resource for many stakeholders in the scientific, photographic and recreational diving communities. I have been trying to get the word out to the diving and photographic community to support you in any way they can. I have always appreciated your gift as a taxonomist, and have enjoyed stirring up discussion now and again...I fondly remember the embarrassing International Eubranchus misakiensis day! I am hoping for a positive resolution to this dilemma, and hope that an answer can be found. This is a resource too precious to dismiss.
Warm regards,
Marli Wakeling
scubamarli@gmail.com
Wakeling, M., 2010 (Jun 8) End of Forum?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23758Xmmmmm.... Why to lose you???
June 8, 2010
From: Dimitris Poursanidis
I was wondering all of us, that think Seaslugforum is a unique tool, give an amount of money to keep it alive...
Is not a dream..
Is a reality...
let say... 20$ per year...
Dimitris
dpoursanidis@gmail.com
Poursanidis N. D., 2010 (Jun 8) Xmmmmm.... Why to lose you???. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23755Thanks Dimitris,
As I said earlier, I am having help in trying to rebuild the Forum with simpler, but good, software which should be much less expensive to operate. Thanks to all who have offered money. If we can get the SSForum operating again I may ask for some voluntary contributions, but at present they are not necessary
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 8, 2010
From: Franco De Lorenzi
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Dr. Rudman
The news is simply demoralizing.
I ask the museum or who is responsible, if they understand the loss of such a knowledge now wasted not only for Australia but for all the world that from all around looked and learnt more and more about this little niche that linked people who have never seen them before and made us passionate about a subject which may enrich nothing but human culture, where others ignore it.
But I am convinced that your person is so important that you won't be left alone ... So I and many others will wait for you and your unique help.
Franco
cratena@tiscali.it
De Lorenzi, F., 2010 (Jun 8) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23753Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 8, 2010
From: Sidney K. Pierce
Concerning message #23712:
Hi Bill
Sorry to learn about the difficulties with the SSF. Looking over the list of contributors and their various areas of expertise, it is clear that you reach a broad and world-wide audience with the web site. Furthermore, unlike many web pages which can be run by any anonymous whacko, regardless of true expertise, on any subject, posting anonymous drivel from anyone else, regardless of expertise, but with access to a computer, you have maintained a high level of authority and review over the messages posted on the SSF. I have cited a Fact Sheet or two from the SSF in some of my publications in the primary literature.
Although the solutions to the SSF's current problems seem to lie in programming, I'd guess the real solutions are found in some level of reliable funding. I think most internet users never give a second's thought to how it works, how its infrastructure is maintained or where the funds come from to do it all. The internet is just there, sort of like oxygen. But the truth is lots of people have to work on it and it actually has massive costs and, for the most part there is no free lunch, as the current problems with the SSF illustrate. Some of your users have already offered to help financially. Personally, you may have no stomach for the business end of it, to which I am very sympathetic - but some sort of a business plan for the SSF may allow it to reliably generate the funds necessary to keep it running and also permit most users access. You may have considered all that already, but I thought I'd at least bring it up.
In any case, many thanks and best wishes.
I'm off to the Keys next week to see what the BP oil spill disaster is doing. There may soon be no slugs (or anything else) in the Gulf of Mexico anyway.
Skip
pierce@usf.edu
Pierce, S. K., 2010 (Jun 8) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23750Dear Skip,
Thanks for your comments. Hopefully in a relatively short time the SSF will be up again accepting and posting messages.
Every night I see the news on the oil spill. I think of all those opisthobranchs I have seen on the Forum from the Gulf of Mexico. It reminds me just how little we know about the fauna of that region which may be in the process of being destroyed. I hope your visit to Florida will not be too depressing.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
End of Forum ? - illustrated
June 6, 2010
From: Jan Kocian
Loosing a friend is hard. The Sea Slug Forum was more then just a place to check out name of a slug we just found during our dives. I will miss it terribly, and I know I am not the only one. Thank you Bill for the great work ! I am still hoping that the "News of the forum"s demise was premature" to paraphrase an old saying...
Locality: all the oceans of the world. Illustrator: Jan Kocian.
Jan Kocian
honkoc@hotmail.com
Kocian, J, 2010 (Jun 6) End of Forum ? - illustrated. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23739Dear Jan,
Thanks for another wonderful illustration - I particularly like the sad face on Melibe and the eyes of Armina peeking out of the sand. I hope, like you do, that the news of the Forum's demise is premature.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 6, 2010
From: Michael Smith
Concerning message #23712:
I am sorry to hear this as the forum is by far and away the most authoritative in the world on sea slugs. Dr. Rudman has personally helped me with identifications and nudibranch behavioural issues on several occassions and the database has helped many other times. We're passing around the message on scuba boards to see what can be done.
Michael Smith
msmith_sg@yahoo.com
Smith, M., 2010 (Jun 6) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23745Demise of Forum
June 6, 2010
From: Leslie Harris
Dear Bill --
I can only echo the sentiments of the others who have written. This is a devastating development. The highest value of the forum lies in its unique interaction between divers, beach goers, academics, and you. Once converted to a static database we lose not only access to your experience but a whole community.
Again echoing others, why not set up some kind of account into which we can contribute funds for immediate technical aid? Why not have different levels of voluntary financial memberships for ongoing support? So many of us have spent hundreds - in my case thousands - of dollars on guide books yet so often our first step towards an id is to consult the Forum. I'm sure we would happily contribute to keep it going.
Deepest regards,
Leslie Harris
lharris@nhm.org
Harris, L., 2010 (Jun 6) Demise of Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23734Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 6, 2010
From: Hugues Flodrops
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill and all sea slug forum users,
I am very sad of this news. I'm sure that we will be able to find a new way for the forum live again.
Many thanks for your works, knowledge and availability since the beginning.
I can 't believe that it's the end...
Thanks again, many thanks and take care.
NB: I want to send you a picture of Moebilli with red mouse...
See you soon.
Sincerely,
Hugues.
Etang-Salé, Reunion Island
hugues.flodrops@wanadoo.fr
Flodrops,H, 2010 (Jun 6) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23744Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 6, 2010
From: Dominique Thenot
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill,
I discovered the beauty of opistobranchs after several dives in New-Caledonia and I bought an underwater camera to take some pictures of those beautiful animals. Your forum is the only reference website to identify or share information on it. I hope you'll find another to keep it alive.
Thanks for your great job and the time taken to provide us advices and guidance on our quest.
Be confident a solution can be found soon.
Dominique
New Caledonia
domi.thenot@lagoon.nc
Thenot, D., 2010 (Jun 6) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23741Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 6, 2010
From: John Chuk
Concerning message #23712:
Hi Bill,
I'm truly saddened to hear that the Sea Slug Forum is closing. The SSF has proved itself to be a most useful resource for finding information on sea slugs and also as a means of adding to that information. It will be missed.
Thank you for all the time and effort you have put into the SSF. I sincerely hope a solution is found that will allow the SSF to reactivated in the not too distant future!
Best wishes,
John Chuk.
jchuk@optusnet.com.au
Chuk, J., 2010 (Jun 6) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23740Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 6, 2010
From: John Yasaki
Concerning message #23712:
Bill;
Thank you for your tremendous contribution to our interests and passion. The forum will be sorely missed.
Yours truly;
John Yasaki
California, USA
jyasaki@chabotcollege.edu
Yasaki, J. K., 2010 (Jun 6) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23737Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 6, 2010
From: Ron Silver
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill,
It is with great sadness that I read your message regarding the pending demise of the SSF. I have enjoyed the SSF for many years and it had become an almost daily ritual to look at the newest messages about exotic species of sea slugs.
Please let us know if there is any way that we can perhaps help to keep the SSF 'afloat'. Do you think the Australian Museum would respond positively to an e-mail campaign? I'm sure the numerous users of the SSF would gladly mount such a campaign.
If this is the end of the SSF, I would like to extend my personal 'thank you' to you for helping me to understand and enjoy the world sea slugs. My diving trips were never the same after discovering the SSF. It has been an honor and privilege to have had the opportunity to correspond with you over the years.
Thanx again.
Ron Silver
rhinopias@comcast.net
Silver, R. H., 2010 (Jun 6) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23738Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 6, 2010
From: Miquel Pontes
Concerning message #23712:
Hi Bill,
We are saddened to know that technical problems (and specially the high associated operating costs) are leading the Forum to its disappearance in its current form.
Personally, I have been more than 10 years with you, and we always had our doubts solved, and felt encouraged in opisthobranch research, thanks to the participation in the Forum of internationally renowned experts and colleagues.
We developed this activity to the point that, in January 2010, we founded a non-profit association called GROC (Grup de Recerca d'Opistobranquis de Catalunya - Opisthobranch Research Group of Catalonia - www.opistobranquis.org) where we integrated and consolidated the efforts of a few Spanish underwater photographers and biologists in a unique group whose main objective is the study and protection of opisthobranchs and their habitats. We have the Forum as the best online scientific reference, so this news has been a hard blow to all of us.
I can recall the Forum was threatened to close back in 2004, but "we" survived this. I even experienced "live" one of the hacking attacks, and "we" survived it as well. Bad things happen all the time, so this time, as I did not in the past, I do not lose hope either.
I suppose you're receiving many kinds of proposals, but following your idea about the possibility to convert the forum into an easier (and cheaper) to maintain platform, let me suggest you about converting the forum into an open source wiki engine like MediaWiki.
I would be eager to help in the conversion process, however, I lack the knowledge to convert the Coldfusion database into other systems, but the idea could enlighten other people's minds, so I decided to post it anyway.
Hope this is not our last message to the Forum.
Best regards,
Miquel Pontes
Barcelona, Spain
miquel.pontes@opistobranquis.org
Pontes, M., 2010 (Jun 6) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23735Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 6, 2010
From: Vie Panyarachun
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Dr. Rudman,
This is a sad moment for many of us. I hope something can/will be done to save this invaluable resource. If there's anything at all I can do to help, please contact me via e-mail.
Vie
vpanyarachun@hotmail.com
Vie Panyarachun, 2010 (Jun 6) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23732Re: What can we do to help?
June 6, 2010
From: Jim Anderson
Concerning message #23728:
Bill,
My fingers are now firmly crossed!
Please keep us advised what else can we do to help now or in the longer term.
Kindest regards and many thanks for your advice over the years - the SSF must not be lost.
Jim Anderson
jander4454@gmail.com
Anderson, J., 2010 (Jun 6) Re: What can we do to help?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23733Re: Sea Slug Forum
June 6, 2010
From: Kevin Lee
Concerning message #23712:
Doc, we are grateful to you and all the other able contributors who, over the years, have nurtured the Sea Slug Forum.
How cheerless to contemplate the possible passing of this favorite Forum, a resource that has disseminated much education, spawned friendships and radiated enjoyment for many around the world.
Along with others, I hold hope the Forum may survive, even if in limited form, as a testament to the valuable contributions it has made to expanding understanding of our favorite animal, the opisthobranch.
Fond wishes,
Kevin Lee
www.diverkevin.com
diverkevin@gmail.com
Kevin Lee, 2010 (Jun 6) Re: Sea Slug Forum . [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23731Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 4, 2010
From: Nerida Wilson
Concerning message #23712:
Hi Bill and others,
I am truly saddened by these events. It is ironic that nudibranch research at the Australian Museum will revive again in just a few weeks when I arrive .... hopefully we will be able to work through the challenges and have the forum live again
Kind regards
Nerida
ngwilson@ucsd.edu
Wilson, N.G., 2010 (Jun 4) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23727What can we do to help?
June 4, 2010
From: Jeff Low
Concerning message #23717:
Hi Bill,
What can we do to help keep the forum up, or transcribe it to something on a smaller scale? I'm not exactly a "computer zero", but nowhere near the top 5 either, but have some experience with Flickr, Facebook, and bulletin boards.
Cheers, Jeff
cat64fish@gmail.com
cat64fish@gmail.com
Low, J., 2010 (Jun 4) What can we do to help?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23728Dear Jeff,
I suspect at the moment the best thing you can do is keep your fingers crossed [or what ever else you do for good luck]. I was only told yesterday that the Forum had to close in a week so after 12 years I wanted to give regular participants and visitors a few days notice before it closed. As I said it will be back as a static site within a few days but nothing will be able to be added.
I am grateful for the offers of help I have received. One of these looks quite promising, so if enough of you keep your fingers crossed the forum may be back quite soon.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 4, 2010
From: Denis Riek
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill,
The closing of the Forum is sad news. Your effort in providing identifications and a wealth of information to all of us interested in Opisthobranchs is very much appreciated, especially by total amateurs such as myself.
The existence of the Forum played a major part in prompting me to buy a computer, set up my own site and enter into a fascinating world. I will miss starting the day with the latest messages from all parts of the world.
Thank you and best wishes
Denis Riek
dwriek@optusnet.com.au
Riek, D.W., 2010 (Jun 4) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23725Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 4, 2010
From: Kathe R. Jensen
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill and all Sea Slug Forum users,
This is really a sad message. The Forum has been an enormous source of information about opisthobranchs and the people - professionals, amateurs and occasional visitors - interested in this great but poorly studied group of animals. I have used it myself to find information about distribution and to find people regularly diving in places I haven't had an opportunity to go. Of course, I have also been able to contribute some of my knowledge that would otherwise be difficult to disseminate to a non-professional audience. In the last month I have reviewed 3 manuscripts on opisthobranchs, and all of them have included references to messages and fact-sheets on the Forum.
Unfortunately there seems to be a trend. My workplace just lost their in-house computer expertise, and we now have to write formal requests every time something goes wrong - and maybe ones problem will be given low priority, meaning it won't be done.
Bill, you must feel terrible. This has been a large part of your life for more than 10 years. I hope that a technical (and financial) solution can be found so that the Forum can be revived in the near future.
Thanks for everything - and please stay in touch,
Kathe
krjensen@snm.ku.dk
Jensen, K.R., 2010 (Jun 4) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23723Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 4, 2010
From: Dominique Horst
Concerning message #23712:
your SSF is an example of ww interactive knowledge between scientists and amateurs and I can't believe this is now the end of my favourite Forum.
I have the habit to consult it quit every day since 2006 and I'm very sad.
I will forward this message to all my contacts that could be in any help in web developing and support....
As for the funding, for an efficient troubleshooting, why not asking for a global fund collects. I would be surely a participant and I'm sure that many other adepts of the Forum would be also ready to do so.
And for functional costs during the year (web hosting etc...), why not asking for user's annual subscription? Many divers or photographs pay for specialized magazines guide books. The Forum is a kind of electronic magazine with daily pages updates and news !
Whatever the solution, I just hope that one or more will allow you to save the Forum and help encouraging the spirit that animate THE meeting point of all w w seaslugers....
Thanks Bill, for all you have already brought to all amateurs like me.
Kind regards,
Dom.
dominique.horst@wanadoo.fr
Horst, D., 2010 (Jun 4) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23724Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 4, 2010
From: Anderson de Oliveira Monteiro
Concerning message #23712:
Hi Dr. Rudman,
I'm sad to hear about this. I've been a lurker for quite some time and have directed people here so they know more about these animals.
Unfortunately I too lack technical skills but have passed the word ahead and hope some friends get in touch with you to see if the problems can be fixed.
I'm not wealthy too but would be willing to make financial contributions to some extent to see these problems solved and helping the forum to continue being updated as frequently as it is now due to your hard work and passion.
If I can be of any help, let me know.
Anderson de Oliveira Monteiro
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
aomont2@gmail.com
Monteiro, A.O., 2010 (Jun 4) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23722Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 4, 2010
From: Colin Redfern
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill,
What a sad day for all sea slug enthusiasts. We are all indebted to you for developing such a unique resource, and I hope very much that the Forum is somehow able to survive.
With best wishes,
Colin
mail@bahamianseashells.com
Redfern, C., 2010 (Jun 4) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23721Farewell and thank you
June 4, 2010
From: Tracy Grogan
When I began diving I had a very specific list of what I wanted to see: dolphins, sharks, whales and mantas. On my 12th dive, my buddy showed me a Flabellina iodinea. For the next 100 dives my usual attitude was facemask to the reef and fins towards the sky. And my website of choice was the sea slug forum. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This has been an invaluable resource and I for one appreciate the labor and love that went into it. I will be sad to see it go but am glad for its having been there for so long.
I hope that good fortune smiles upon you and that you continue in health and happiness.
Regards,
Tracy Grogan
tgrogan@cisco.com
Grogan, T., 2010 (Jun 4) Farewell and thank you. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23720Dear Tracy,
Hopefully the Forum will return in an active form in the not too distant future
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 4, 2010
From: Vincent Maran
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill
It's a very bad new for all divers and biologists who greatly appreciate your website. Sea Slug Forum is a reference work : a lot of good pictures and precises informations about so much species.
And a so good conviviality, it's always a pleasure to read informations and answers. I also hope that the site and all of its related resources can somehow be salvaged.
French divers tell you "Bonne chance !"
I will try to give this information to french divers and biologists.
All the very best
Vincent MARAN
Co-Webmaster of french marine biology website: http://doris.ffessm.fr/
vincent.maran@ac-lille.fr
Maran, V., 2010 (Jun 4) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23719Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 4, 2010
From: Vishal Bhave
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill,
I got Shocked after I read "The end of the Sea Slug Forum" !
As an amateur student of Indian opisthobranchs the "SEA SLUG FORUM" was the primary reference library for me (might be for all?), as in our small village/town we might get "Dial up" internet but it hard to get a very good library facility with majority of foreign journals subscribed. Which this forum quotes in factsheets.
I don't know any other resources with so many descriptive pages on the wonderful world of the Sea Slugs, with that much authenticate information (which are cited in journal articles by many authors).
In early days of my work: When we get any new sea slug on that day we used to go through forum fact sheets, we never need to refer a book for ID (as their is no comprehensive Visual ID book on Indian Marine invertebrate and also on India Sea Slugs.) This forum helped us to gather, share, comment on information we collect/observe without any boundary.
Thanks for every effort you made to keep this forum running all these years. I am hoping for the best way-out solution.
Best luck for the future and to keep the Forum alive.
Vishal Bhave.
Ratnagiri, India
vishalbhave@gmail.com
Bhave, V.J., 2010 (Jun 4) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23718Impending Forum Demise?
June 3, 2010
From: Robert F. Bolland
Hi Bill and others interested in the possible upcoming demise of the Sea Slug Forum.
So sorry to hear of the technical and financial woes being experienced by the Forum. What a terrific asset the Forum has been over the years and if indeed it's at the end this is truly a sad day for mollusk and other researchers associated with the ocean. I certainly hope that site and all of its related resources can somehow be salvaged.
Sincerely,
Bob
rfbolland@q.com
Bolland, R.F., 2010 (Jun 3) Impending Forum Demise?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23715Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 3, 2010
From: Zeineb Alhaïdari
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill ,
This is an absolute shock , as your forum is THE reference for all the slugs amateurs. As I told you I am a computer zero , and I don't know if anyone could help but I will forward your message to the french water biology forum , to check if there is any solution here. Anyway , just know that we are plenty to wait for the resurrection of the forum , and thanks again for all your energy and work in maintaining it. It has been and is a great source of informations , and for this, we are all very debtfull to you. Many , many thanks.
Take care , and best wishes,
Zeineb
z.alhaidari@wanadoo.fr
Alhaïdari, Z., 2010 (Jun 3) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23717Re:The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 3, 2010
From: Marcel Tanke
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill,
I am very sad to read your "End of the Sea Slug Forum" message. The FORUM gave me a new hobby, I checked it for new messages everyday and it made me proud on the small contributions that I could share.
I really hope that you will find a way to revive the FORUM. As mentioned in my separate message a couple of days ago, I am offering a financial contribution to support such action.
Herewith I request other FORUM users and supporters to do the same!
Please keep the FORUM alive!
Best regards,
Marcel Tanke
the Netherlands
marceltanke@cs.com
Tanke, M.A., 2010 (Jun 3) Re:The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23713Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 3, 2010
From: Lindsay Warren
Concerning message #23712:
Dear Bill
This is a really tragic turn of events. You have provided such an amazing tool which has brought together so many individuals in the world concerned with the fascinating subject world of opisthobranchs. I wish there was something I could offer in the way of help but, like you, do not have sufficient computer expertise.
I wish you the very best of luck in finding funding or other assistance that will keep the Forum alive.
All the very best
Lindsay
lwarren@datonomy.co.uk
Warren, L.C.R., 2010 (Jun 3) Re: The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23716The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?
June 3, 2010
From: Bill Rudman
I am afraid the Australian Museum is unable to support the Sea Slug Forum in its present form for more than a few days.
You have probably noticed the Forum has not been running very efficiently in recent weeks. There have been problems with the Forum since it was hacked into about 2 years ago. Because the museum web team no longer has an in-house developer/programmer, outside contractors need to be hired - at considerable expense - whenever a problem arises. Unfortunately they do not always fix the problem and at times have actually exacerbated problems.
At present the Forum runs dynamically from a database, which means that pages are created when requested. The Museum recognises the archival value of the existing material on the site so it is planning to 'flatten' the site - a process in which the data would be removed from the database and the site would become a collection of html files. Theoretically what you see now is what you would get when it is flattened. However searching the data will not be as good and may not be 100% accurate.
Moreover it will be the end of the Forum as a functional website. No more messages will be posted, no more Fact Sheets and no corrections or updates.
I have been trying to find find another institution or a source of funds to host the site so the Forum can continue as at present but time seems to have run out. It is difficult to get any information on how much it would cost to fix the existing coding problems with the Forum, but it has been indicated that an outside contractor could charge $15-20,000 (Australian) to fix the problems and upgrade the software but it may be less. We would also need ongoing expenditure of software maintenance and server costs [$5000 a year??]. The Forum is built with ColdFusion [an Adobe program] which delivers the pages from an SQL database.
I am at present trying to find some way of converting the Forum to a different operating system with much smaller operating costs. If this proves successful I would be able to host the site myself. I wish my knowledge of computer programming was equal to the task but it is not! Please pass this message on to anyone who you think may be able to assist. An archival copy of the database is going to be kept so hopefully, the many unanswered messages on the Forum, will be retrievable if I can find a way of resurrecting the Forum.
I am sorry for this short notice but I have only found out today that the website needs to close in a few days.
There is little point in posting any more species based messages. However if you wish to post a Good bye message feel free to do so
Since 1998 when the Forum began I see 14,523 messages have been posted. They range from simple identifications to important new biological discoveries. I had hoped the Forum would be an example of how the world wide web could be a vital tool in bringing amateurs and professional scientists together to learn from each other. I give my thanks to those in the Museum who have supported the site, to my professional colleagues worldwide and all those great and enthusiastic amateurs worldwide, who have made my dream a reality. Unfortunately I had thought this would become a permanent site.
I will continue to try and resurrect the site as a functioning forum. If so it will have the same address.
Bill Rudman
billr@seaslugforum.net
Rudman, W.B., 2010 (Jun 3) The end of the Sea Slug Forum ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23712Re: Continuing Problems with Forum - Species List
November 6, 2009
From: Bill Rudman
Concerning message #22726:
A bit of good news. The Species List is now working again. I couldn't wait any longer for technical assistance so I found a way to do it myself.
Fingers crossed!
Bill
Continuing Problems with Forum - Species List
October 27, 2009
From: Bill Rudman
Concerning message #22599:
As you may have noticed, the Species List has lost all its links! Unfortunately, I am still unable to get any technical assistance to fix the underlying problem which has been with us for almost 2 years. Therefore I can't say when I can expect it to be fixed.
As a hopefully short-term solution try the search facilities on the left of this page. If you are looking for a particular species just type it into the search box. If you are looking for all species in a particular genus or family use the Taxonomic Search facility
Sorry for the inconvenience but I am not quite sure what to do next.
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Oct 27) Continuing Problems with Forum - Species List. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22726Re: Problem with Forum
August 17, 2009
From: Bill Rudman
Concerning message #22539:
I am sorry I have been unable to post messages for over 2 months but unfortunately the problems I am having in editing the Forum continue. I am not sure how I can get it moved up the priority list, but I will continue to try.
In the meantime I will try to post a few messages daily. However it will be much slower for me because I will have to do most of the web editing manually.
Hopefully the Forum will get some technical assistance soon. Thank you to those who have inquired about the absence of messages - it has been mainly because of the technical problems.
Best wishes
Bill
Re: Problem with Forum
June 10, 2009
From: Bill Rudman
Sorry to say I am having a few more problems with the Forum. You may have noticed that the Species List has lost all its hyperlinks. This is only the most obvious manifestation of a quite a few niggling glitches which have to be fixed
I am reluctant to post any new messages until these problems are resolved. Hopefully it won't take long.
Best wishes
Bill
Re: Problem with Forum
May 7, 2009
From: Bill Rudman
Concerning message #22429:
At last I think I can start editing again. Please don't flood me with new messages just yet as I checking for glitches while editing messages which have arrived over the last month or so
Best wishes
Bill
Problem with Forum
April 17, 2009
From: Bill Rudman
As I am sure you will have noticed I have been unable to post messages for a week. This is because of a glitch in the database which is making the images unavailable to me. I am trying to get it fixed but I am afraid assistance is hard to come by. Hopefully we will be back in action in a few days.
Cheers
Bill Rudman
Problem with Forum
March 12, 2009
From: Bill Rudman
I am having a technical problem with the Forum at present and so can't publish any new messages until it is resolved. Hopefully it will be only a short break.
Best wishes
Bill
Messages to Forum
November 20, 2007
From: Bill Rudman
For those of you who have enquired about the lack of messages being posted recently on the Forum it has been caused by a glitch in the database which blocked my access - or any administrator's access - to the Forum. It was like a science fiction plot with the computer taking control. I wouldn't mind if the computer had taken it upon itself to answer the messages but no such luck. Please be patient while I sort out a few things - including the backlog of messages which has inevitably built up.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
New scientific publications
July 20, 2007
From: Bill Rudman
A number of colleagues have asked for a place to post pdfs of their publications so they are freely available. Unfortunately most journal publishers own the copyright and specifically ban authors from making their publications freely available in this way. However there is nothing to stop authors from distributing copies of their pdfs to individuals who request a copy. So I have made a space on the Forum for this purpose called New Scientific Publications. If you are looking for the page it will be in the General Topics list under Techniques and background information.
Authors if you wish to participate, just send a message as usual and include a full citation - with journal name in full - and either a brief summary of its contents or a copy of the Abstract. Also note whether you have a pdf or reprints available on request.
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jul 20) New scientific publications. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20271Problems with Forum
July 18, 2006
From: Bill Rudman
I am afraid we are having a few problems with the Forum at present. I can post new messages, but only if they have no images. My Forum email account has also failed, as has the system to send messages to contributors when messages are received and posted.
I am posting a couple of 'pictureless' messages to day but will not post any more messages until the site is working properly. Being eternally optimistic, hopefully it will be fixed in a few hours.
Best wishes
Bill
Re: Problems on Forum
March 22, 2006
From: Bill Rudman
THanks to the hard work of Peter Firminger I think our problems are now solved. However I am not yet able to access my seaslugforum email account. so if you notice something not working properly on the Forum could you please let me know by sending a message directly to the Forum.
Until the email is fixed I cannot send you an acknowledgement when you send a message to the Forum or a notification when I publish it. Hopefully that will be working in the next day or so
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
Problems on Forum
March 18, 2006
From: Bill Rudman
I am sure you have noticed problems accessing the Forum - and in its operation - since Thursday evening. I am afraid the hard drive on the server crashed and although everything is backed up there are a few small but vital coding instructions which have to be found and repaired manually. Hopefully everything will be back to normal as soon as possible, but it may be a few days before I can start posting new messages.Bill Rudman Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Mar 18) Problems on Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16130
More changes on Forum
February 14, 2006
From: Bill Rudman
You may have noticed a few new features appearing on the Forum recently. They are all aimed at making things easier for both you and I.
Participant's List:
This was upgraded a while ago. There is now a form which allows you to directly enter your details - or alter them, when circumstances change.
Sending Messages:
I have added a page of background information on sending messages. Please read it. It will give you some ideas on how to improve your messages's chances by making its editing easier. When you send a message to the Forum you now get an automatic copy sent to your email address. This gives you a copy for your records, and is also a way of alerting you to any message which may be falsely sent to us, in your name. This copy contains the identification number of your message which you can use to query any problem in the future.
Publishing messages:
Because there is sometimes a delay in posting messages, an email is now automatically sent to you when your message is published, or about to be published.
Searches:
If you go to the navigation bar at top left of each page you will see there are two new search facilities available on the Forum
-
Taxonomic Search: This can be used to find taxonomic Fact Sheets, both at the species level and higher levels.
-
Citation Search: Messages and Fact Sheets on the Forum are regularly being cited in the printed scientific literature. This search facility allows you to simply type in the message number or the unique 'base' name of a Fact Sheet and go to the relevant page. It means you don't have to type the whole citation into your web browser.
These are specialist searches and don't replace the general Forum Search which I would still recommend for most purposes:
Thanks:
There are also quite a few major 'behind the scenes' changes which will hopefully make my job easier and allow your contributions to appear with less delay. None of this would have been possible without the work of Peter Firminger who has stuck with the Forum since a fateful day 9 years ago when I asked him for some help in setting up a Forum on sea slugs 'for perhaps 3 or 4 messages a week'. Thanks Peter.
Please let me know if you find something acting strangely. I think I have checked everything but.....
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Feb 14) More changes on Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15854Another [good] change on Forum
January 23, 2006
From: Bill Rudman
You will note today that some messages are answered directly by Dave Behrens. Thanks Dave!
One of the 'behind the scenes' changes we have just made on the Forum makes it easier for me to enlist the support from knowledgeable colleagues to directly comment on messages within their area of expertise. I have used Dave as a 'guinea pig' to see the system works. Hopefully over the next few weeks I will get others to participate as well.
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jan 23) Another [good] change on Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15632Congratulations on the 10,000th message!
December 13, 2005
From: Matan Ninio
And thank you for all the effort, all the knowledge and all the beauty. I, for one, start my day be checking to see what new messages cropped up, and I'm sure there are may others like me out there, around the globe.
10000 messages is quite a huge number - it an average of five messages per day, five working days a week, since the beginning of 1998.
So, keep on the great work!
Matan
matan@forumhasofiot.yam.dive.ninio.org
Ninio, M., 2005 (Dec 13) Congratulations on the 10,000th message!. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15455Thanks Matan,
I think I might have missed that milestone if you hadn't noticed it. In October we passed the 100,000 visits a month barrier - it had been teetering at about 98,000 to 99,000 for some months. I must say that when I first started the Forum I was pleased when I posted four or five messages a week! My only regret at present is that I just can't keep up with the number of messages I receive.
Another piece of good news is that in the next few weeks we should be able to complete the changes and upgrading of the Forum which were begun many months ago. The main public areas to be affected will be improvements to the search facilities, some alternative ways to display messages, and the reactivation of the links pages. Other changes will help me in editing messages, and make it easier for other experts to directly participate in answering messages. To make this happen we will have to close the Forum to new messages for about 2 weeks over Christmas. You will still be able to access the Forum but we won't be able to receive or post new messages during that period.
Thanks for all of you who participate in the Forum in so many ways. As well as those who ask questions and post photos and new information, there are others who help me by checking the odd reference and respond when I ask them to check an identification. I owe a special debt of gratitude to the few who regularly let me know when I make a spelling error or post a link that doesn't compute.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Participants List - updating your details
August 2, 2005
From: Bill Rudman
Thanks to all of you who have either updated your details in the Participant's List or added your details for the first time. The new form which allows you to add and change your own details is certainly working very smoothly for me. For those of you who have been 'meaning to check your details' but haven't quite done so, could you please spend five minutes doing so.
The new form can be accessed from the Participants page. As with new messages, new details are edited before being published.
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Aug 2) Participants List - updating your details . [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14463Updating of Participant's List
July 21, 2005
From: Bill Rudman
During the upgrading of the Forum last year I lost access to the Participant's List so I have been unable to upgrade or add new information to the list. Happily it is now accessible again and we have included a form to allow you to add and change your own details. I have tried to add all new details which have accumulated over the last few months but it is possible I have missed some.
The new form can be accessed from the Participants page. As with new messages, new details will be edited before being published.
Bill Rudman
New Aegires species for the Forum
July 8, 2005
From: Bill Rudman
It has been a while since Shireen Fahey & Terry Gosliner's paper on Aegires was published but finally I have Fact Sheets for most of the species. Shireen has prepared the new species Fact Sheets, and I have prepared Fact Sheets for a number of existing species they reported on. There are still a few loose ends to complete which I hope to complete soon but I didn't want to delay posting these any longer.
Aegires flores previously on Forum as Aegires sp. 3
Aegires gomezi
Aegires hapsis
Aegires incusus previously on Forum as Aegires sp. 1
Aegires lemoncello previously on Forum as Aegires sp. 2
Aegires malinus
Aegires ninguis
Aegires petalis
Aegires sublaevis
-
Fahey, S. J. & Gosliner, T. M. (2004) A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Aegiridae Fischer, 1883 (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Phanerobranchia) with Descriptions of Eight New Species and a Reassessment of Phanerobranch Relationships. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 55, (34): 613–689, 82 figs., 4 tables (Appendix).
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
Meaning of species names
February 14, 2005
From: Matan Ninio
Dear Bill,
If there is one thing missing from the Fact sheets, it some form of translation/explanation of the meaning of the species name. Such an explanation would make remembering the names easier, and may help us look for the right features when we actually read up on a species we met.
Anyway, thanks once again for the wonderful messages - I read this forum every day, and have been doing so for a long time. The forum's revival has made me very happy!
Matan Ninio
matan@frumhsofiotyam.diving.el.ninio.org
Dear Matan,
Glad you like the Forum. Including an explanation of the scientific name on each Fact Sheet would be a valuable addition, but I'm afraid it is a question of time. If there is someone out there who would volunteer to do the job I would be very grateful.
While knowing the meaning of some names would be helpful in identifying them, many are based on ancient gods and people, or some quite whimsical invention of the author. For example I recently posted a page on Hermosita hakunamatata. The name hakunamatata is from a Kiswahili phrase meaning 'no worries' and became a popular expresson through the musical and film The Lion King. Apparently the guide who accompanied Dr Ortea in Costa Rica, when this species was found, used to often say 'no worries' and so the species was given the name hakunamatata.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Some more chromodorids for the Forum
January 31, 2005
From: Bill Rudman
To accompany Erwin Koehler's message about Durvilledoris similaris, here are Fact Sheets for four more little chromodorids:
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Jan 31) Some more chromodorids for the Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13059New Sea Hare Fact Sheets
December 23, 2004
From: Bill Rudman
As part of the refurbishment of the Forum, I am preparing Fact Sheets on opisthobranch groupings above the family level, such as the Sea Hares, Sacoglossans, Cephalaspideans etc. It won't happen overnight but I am working on it. The first group of Fact Sheets I have prepared are about the Sea Hares. The aim is to define the higher taxonomic groups and to describe some aspects of their biology and anatomy.
In the new design there will be two ways to find these pages. All will be under an appropriate subheading in the General Topics Index, and those which are about higher taxonomic groups, such as the Anaspidea, Akeroidea and Aplysioidea will all be hyperlinked in the Species List. Here are the first batch.
Anaspidea
Akeroidea
Aplysioidea
Anaspidea - gizzard
Aplysioidea - head
Aplysioidea - mantle cavity
Aplysioidea - swimming
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Dec 23) New Sea Hare Fact Sheets. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12813Re: New look and new start to the Forum [2]
December 22, 2004
From: Roberto Sozzani
This is the best gift I could expect for Christmas!
Thanks Bill, it's a pleasure to read you again!
Roberto Sozzani
roberto.sozzani@fastwebnet.it
Sozzani, R., 2004 (Dec 22) Re: New look and new start to the Forum [2]. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12809Dear Roberto,
I am glad we finally made it. If we had a prize for the quickest response - you would have won it!
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
New look and new start to the Forum [2]
December 21, 2004
From: Bill Rudman
My earlier message on restarting the Forum proved to be slightly premature. Some of the structural problems proved more time-consuming to fix than we anticipated. But at last we are ready to go again. Again I would like to thank Peter Firminger for all his work. Our aim has been to get the core activity of receiving and answering new messages going as quickly as possible. Further changes and improvements will be made over the next few weeks.
If you have sent messages before, you will notice the form is a little more detailed than before. This is so there is sufficient information in your message to make it a valuable contribution to our knowledge. It will also make editing messages much easier for me. Please spend the little extra time filling in the form as completely as you can. If you do, it will save me a lot of the time I spend editing messages. ... And any time I don't have to spend editing messages is new time I can spend answering questions.
I am celebrating the restart of the Forum with an Okenia-fest! All today's messages are about new species of Okenia, and new information on the genus, which has been published while the Forum has been hibernating.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
New look and new start to the Forum
September 29, 2004
From: Bill Rudman
Many of you have been regularly inquiring about the future of the Forum. I can assure you that there is a great desire at this end to ensure that the Forum does not die. As a first step the museum web team and I have been making changes to the site so that it is more user-friendly, easier for participants to send messages, easier for me to organise and post them, and easier for me to develop and post new material.
In particular I would like to thank Russ Weakley for the new design, and Peter Firminger for the many hours he has spent, and is still spending, on all the backroom work on the database, finding coding errors of mine that have accumulated over years, writing new code and designing new forms which will make the site even easier to use in the future. One item I take full responsibility for - against their advice - is to persist with Times New Roman as the site's font. I believe it displays italics more clearly than other fonts in popular use.
Because this has turned out to be a bigger job than we originally envisioned, I have been unable to spend time dealing with any of the backlog of questions. Peter is still in the process of developing new forms to make it easier to post new messages on the Forum. Once that is complete, I will open the Forum for receiving new messages. In the meantime I will begin to post some of the unposted messages. In the next few weeks there will be further improvements to the Forum, including more sophisticated ways to access the species list including ways to generate lists of species in one genus, one family etc.
It is possible, despite our diligent searching, that there are some problems we haven't noticed. If you find something strange please let me know.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
About the Sea Slug Forum
June 20, 2004
From: Bill Rudman
Unfortunately nothing is yet resolved about the future of the Forum, but as I don't want it to die from lack of use I will be posting a few messages daily. As I mentioned in my earlier message [m12588] I will try and deal with some of the backlog of messages. If you have comments to make on existing messages can you send them by using the REPLY button on each message. Please don't flood me with identifications at present as there is no way I can answer them
Thanks,
Bill Rudman
Sea Slug Forum to close
March 30, 2004
From: Anne Skates
I regret to inform you all that the Sea Slug Forum as you now know it will close. Bill Rudman is a Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Museum and has been the mainstay of the Forum. His work as a Research Scientist is reviewed every three years by an externally appointed Committee, independent of the Museum. Last year he was told that the Committee, although it recognised that the Forum was a valuable contribution to science, did not consider his activity on the Forum to fulfil the requirements of his classification. Dr Rudman appealed that decision, with the help of letters of support from about 30 leading scientists from around the world. A few days ago Dr Rudman learnt that his appeal had been rejected.
The most immediate effect of this decision is that Dr Rudman will be unable to answer any more questions sent to the Forum. Despite his best efforts, the backlog of unanswered messages has reached almost 1000. Bill will try to answer those, but as he will have to that in his own time, It will be a slow task.
So that the Forum does not become totally static, we will keep the REPLY form available so that discussion on messages posted can take place.
Over the last few months Bill and the Web Unit have been planning a reorganisation of the design of the Forum so that we can implement some of the forum users suggestions and the outcomes of a accessibility evaluation. The navigation will improve, the general topics will be reorganised and hopefully the FAQ’s [Frequently Asked Questions] can provide many answers. These site changes are still planned to occur in May-June and implemented 1 July.
As the Manager of the Web Unit and a communicator, not a scientist, I am very proud to have been associated with the Sea Slug Forum. From its beginning in 1997, the Sea Slug Forum has been seen as an innovative site, which fully utilises the potential of the Web. It is much more than electronic information or a question and answer site. It is an interactive site which allows professional scientists to discuss science, post observations, and post and generate new ideas. It is also a site where new information is generated by a unique interaction of professionals and amateurs.
A recent article on the Encyclopedia Britannica website described the Forum as 'the famous Sea Slug Forum'. It is indeed famous, attracting over 2000 visitors a day, from school kids with projects, to professional scientists who visit daily to see what new discoveries have been posted in the last 24 hours.
The extensive amount of information and the unique way it is organised and accessed on the Forum will remain available, without Bill’s input, in the foreseeable future.
If you want to express a view supporting the value of the Sea Slug Forum please send your email to
Send emails to: feedback@seaslugforum.net
Anne Skates
Manager, Web Development Unit
Australian Museum
annes@austmus.gov.au
Skates, A., 2004 (Mar 30) Sea Slug Forum to close. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12587RE: Sea Slug Forum to close
March 30, 2004
From: Bill Rudman
As I am sure you can imagine this is not the happiest message I have posted on the Forum. As outlined in Anne Skates' message I have no alternative but to stop working on the Forum. I apologise for all the unanswered messages still waiting in the queue. I will try and answer those gradually in my own time.
I would like to thank all of you who have supported the Forum in many different ways. A special thanks to the many professional colleagues I asked at short notice for messages of support late last year. I regret their message was not understood. I believe the Forum has greatly enhanced the study of opisthobranch molluscs and produced an immense amount of new scientific information. The Forum will remain open so that all existing information will remain available, but I will be unable to deal with new messages.
I can only hope that sometime in the near future the true scientific value of the Forum will be realised and it can restart
If you want to express a view supporting the value of the Sea Slug Forum please send your email to
Send emails to: feedback@seaslugforum.net
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Mar 30) RE: Sea Slug Forum to close. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12588No new messages today ... or tomorrow
June 16, 2003
From: Bill Rudman
Just to let you all know that although I am not sick nor on holiday I may not be able to post any new messages on the Forum for a day or so. I have a couple of jobs which need my full attention.
See you soon,
Bill
Search engine
June 14, 2003
From: Kathy Mills
It seems that when I search for a species, the search engine never directs me to the species account that's available if I scroll through the species list. It would be great if there was a way to search just the species list or to ensure that the species account would come up with a general search. Any advice?
Kathy Mills
kemills15@yahoo.com
Hi Kathy,
We are at present planning various changes to the site to improve navigation. This will include some of the search facilities.
The problem you mention is one of those we are planning to rectify. In the meantime there ar 2 ways to find what you want.
• 1. Use the search facility - which will give you a list of relevant posted messages. If you select one of the messages and scroll to the top of the page you will get the Species Fact Sheet.
• 2. Alternatively, go to the Species List and search the page EITHER by using your web browser's buttons [EDIT > FIND in Internet Explorer] OR by using Ctl-F on your keyboard
Best wishes,
Bill
Survey of Forum visitors - Closed
May 26, 2003
From: Bill Rudman
Survey is now closed. Thanks to all those who participated.
===============================
If you feel the Forum is of value to you then answering the survey is one easy way you can help us in return.
The Sea Slug Forum is part of the Australian Museum's 'stable' of websites and as such the Forum gets much valuable assistance and support from the Museum. To help justify this support and to get feedback from users and visitors to the Forum, we are conducting a survey, mainly on the Forum content. This is one way to help improve the Forum. I would be very grateful if you could spend a few minutes answering the questions.
Thanks,
Bill Rudman
Shortage of new messages this week
February 17, 2003
From: Bill Rudman
I am involved in teaching a mollusc course this week. I am not sure how much time I will have to spare for the Forum, so there may be only a meagre supply of new messages.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
Forum - Xmas holidays
December 23, 2002
From: Bill Rudman
Thank you all for your Christmas messages. I can't guarantee to be very diligent in preparing and posting messages over the next few days, so if the lack of new messages starts to really affect you and you experience withdrawal symptoms, perhaps you could have a look at the unhappy slugs lost on the Unidentified Pages and see whether you can help any of them to find a name, and a page of their own.
Again Best Wishes for Christmas and the New Year and thanks for your support in 2002.
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Dec 23) Forum - Xmas holidays. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8740Re: 6000 messages
October 28, 2002
From: Philip Lau
Dear Bill
re:6000 messages
Congratulations on this latest achievement. I have no doubt the website can only grow from strength to strength. As a person with only a healthy layman's interest in this unique invertebrate world, I am very pleased to see the website being so informative without being overtechnical.
I continue to look forward to the entries everyday.
Philip Lau
phillau@singnet.com.sg
Lau, P., 2002 (Oct 28) Re: 6000 messages. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8302Thanks Philip,
Bill Rudman
6000 messages
October 24, 2002
From: Bill Rudman
I have just posted the 6000th message on the Forum. And last week the number of Species Pages reached 1500. I have also been informed by ISI, the publishers of Current Contents, that 'after editorial review' they have included the Sea Slug Forum amongst the 'high-quality, scholarly Web sites' they now include in their web based Current Web Contents.
Thanks for your continued interest and support. Unfortunately there is still quite a backlog of messages, so those who are still waiting for answers - thanks for your patience. The Forum is now getting 1000 visitors per day, and the average visitor looks at about 16 pages and stays about 20 minutes. So anyone out there with an interesting observation that they would like to share with many interested people, the Sea Slug Forum is a good place to send it.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Having a break
August 16, 2002
From: Bill Rudman
I am taking a few days holiday so if there are no new messages posted it means I am really taking a holiday.
Cheers,
Bill
Had problems accessing the Forum recently?
July 16, 2002
From: Bill Rudman
If you are one of the many Australian Forum users who have had trouble visiting the website or emailing the Sea Slug Forum over the past 3 days, it was due to 2 hardware problems, one either side of the Pacific, that affected access to many US hosted websites. These problems affected users connecting via Telstra Bigpond or an ISP that connects via the Telstra Bigpond backbone. This was completely beyond our control and we are investigating the causes with Bigpond to ensure it doesn't occur again.
Bill Rudman
Unanswered messages of the Forum
January 12, 2002
From: Bill Rudman
Regular visitors to the Forum will have noticed an increase in the number of messages being posted daily on the Forum. This is an indication that I now have help to process the many old messages which I have not had time to answer and so have accumulated over many months. So if an old message of yours suddenly appears, please accept my apologies for its delayed appearance. To speed things up, I will answer some messages offline. Hopefully in a month or so the backlog will be nothing but a bad memory
Best wishes,
Bill
Changes to Forum
January 6, 2002
From: Bill Rudman
Regular visitors to the Forum will notice a change from today in the way messages are displayed. When you open a new message it will be displayed only with the 'fact sheet' about the species. This will save having to load all the messages and photos when reading a message. If you want the whole page with all the messages just click on the link at the bottom of the message and you will have all the messages to scroll through as before. Hopefully this will be an useful improvement to start the new year.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Back in business
January 3, 2002
From: Bill Rudman
The Forum is back in business! Thanks for the many Christmas and New Year greetings I have received. I have had a restful - if very smokey - break, as Sydney is surrounded by an almost continuous arc of forest fires [which we call bushfires] and the air is full of smoke and often pieces of dropping ash. It is a sad time for those who have lost their homes. I also feel for those students who were doing research on landsnails and other terrestrial life around Sydney. Although the Australian flora has adaptations to recover from fire, animals that can't escape, burn, and it takes many years for recovery and repopulation.
Bill Rudman
Season's Greetings
December 24, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
Over the next week or so I will be taking a few days holiday so messages may appear rather irregularly. I would like to thank you all for contributing to the success of the Forum over 2001 and to wish you and your families all the best for Christmas, and the New Year.
For those of you who have been waiting patiently, but whose messages are still unanswered, my apologies, but there have been just too many for me to deal with on my own. Happily, from the beginning of January, the Australian Museum is providing me with some help to reduce the backlog of messages to a manageable number
Bill Rudman
Sea Slug Forum - short shut down
December 18, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
Some time in the next 48 hours there will a short 2-3 hour shut down of the Forum to allow our service provider to upgrade his equipment. If you are posting messages directly to the Forum it will be obvious when it is not working. However it will also affect my email address billr@seaslugforum.net, so if the website is not operating, don't send a message to the email address or it will disappear.
Bill Rudman
Temporary Shutdown
November 27, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
Sometime in the next 24hrs the Forum will shutdown for a short period while it is moved to a new more powerful server. Hopefully there will be only a short interruption.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
4000 messages!
October 2, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
This is just a very brief note to say I have just noticed that the Forum posted its 4000th message today! Thank you all for making the Forum so successful.
For those of you who are wondering why your message hasn't been posted yet - my apologies, but I am unable to answer more messages than I do. The good news is that it looks like I will be getting some temporary assistance from the Museum to help with the backlog of messages, so please be patient.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Caldukia & Janolus from New Zealand
June 10, 2001
From: Richard Willan
Dear Bill,
As you requested last week, I have prepared pages for the Forum on:
Janolus novozealandicus,
Janolus eximius,
Caldukia affinis
Caldukia albolineata
These pages then, will complete the set for described temperate Australian - New Zealand
zephyrinids. I know of three other undescribed temperate Australian zephryinids
(besides those already listed by you as undescribed), but they are cryptic, highly host-faithful, and known to me by very few specimens, so they are probably not going to be turned up by enquirers to the Forum.
I also have comments on the two animals you a have associated with J. novozealandicus as Janolus cf. novozealandicus. Neither are J. novozealandicus. John Chuk's photos from Victoria is an unnamed species, and Andrew Green's photos from New Zealand are what Michael Miller & I consider to be the introduced species Janolus hyalinus.
Incidently, did anyone ever tell you where Debelius got the names Janolus "caruncta" and J. "carinate" from? I know at one stage you asked about their origins. [Both are invalid names (nomena nuda) of course.]
Cheers,
Richard
Richard.Willan@nt.gov.au
Willan, R.C., 2001 (Jun 10) Caldukia & Janolus from New Zealand. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4540Thanks very much Richard,
It is a very useful addition to the Forum. Any other contributions are equally welcome. I have posted your comments on the two problematic Janolus cf novozealandicus 'species' as separate messages.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Irregular posting of messages
May 18, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
Regular visitors to the Forum will have noticed a few gaps in the daily posting of new messages. I am afraid that the gaps will be continuing for awhile as I have a few health problems to sort out. The Forum and I will be back to normal soon.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
Visitors to the Forum
March 16, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
Following Edwin's message about Stylocheilus I note that I have not updated the visitor figures to the Sea Slug Forum since September 2000. Numbers have increased quite markedly.
The Australian Museum websites are independently audited each month to see if what we are doing has any relevance or any value. Amongst other things, the audit tells us how many visit, who visits, how long they stay, and how often they return.
Here are a few basic details about visitors to the Sea Slug Forum in February 2001.
The number of Pages viewed: 93,219
Visitor Sessions: 22,006
Unique visitors: 7,784
Visitors who visited more than once: 1,624
Visitors who visited more than 10 times: 417
Basically, every day 785 visits are made to the Forum and there are a 'hard core' of about 417 who visit many times a month.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
NOTE: One term you often see applied to websites is 'hits'. This ia a fairly meaningless term referring to the number of files that are opened. As each button and logo on a page is a separate image file, opening just one page can involve 20 or more 'hits'. The number of 'hits' can give a very inflated idea of a site's visitation rate. For example, the Sea Slug Forum in September had 499,352 hits [17,834 per day].
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Mar 16) Visitors to the Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3984Searching the Forum
March 8, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
I would recommend any visitor to the Forum to make use of the SEARCH button - it is one of the row of buttons at the top and bottom of every page, and also in the yellow band at the top of each message. It is a very useful and easy way to find information in the Forum.
As an example. I just received a question on the difference between Spurilla and Berghia which I thought I had answered before. By typing Spurilla in the Search box I found my earlier answer immediately.
Now that there are over 1000 species pages, 3000 messages and 300 or mor other pages, finding things in the Forum can be a problem if you are unfamiliar with the way it is organised. Using the SEARCH button is my first recommendation. Secondly, another invaluable 'trick' when you want to search a long document, or page, or list, is to press the keys CTRL and F together. For example if you go to the SPECIES LIST and want to find Berghia, just press CTRL and F together [Ctl-F] and type in Berghia.
And later, if you have trouble finding something on the Forum and want to refer back to this message, just go to the SEARCH button and type search or searching and you'll find it.
Good luck,
Bill Rudman
Re: 3000 messages!
March 2, 2001
From: Des Paroz
Congratulations Bill.
3000 messages, and all of them with information that has answered specific queries, and lead to the advancement of the nudi-literacy among divers, aquarium owners, scientists and others about these interesting little critters.
Keep up the good work.
Best regards
Des Paroz
www.divesite.paroz.com
des@paroz.com
Paroz, D., 2001 (Mar 2) Re: 3000 messages!. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3887Thanks for your comments Des,
The important thing to realise is that this is a two-way street. Sure I answer lots of questions, but I also get a lot of interesting photos and observations from hundreds of people, all of which are helping to advance everyone's knowledge of 'these interesting little critters'.
So lets ALL keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
3000 messages!
February 28, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
Earlier this week we passed the 3000 message mark. It took about 18 months to reach 1000 messages, and now 18 months later we are at 3000 messages. In that time the Forum has become truly international. If you look at the last weeks messages for example, they come from all parts of the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. They cover a wide range of topics, and while many are queries about identifications and general information, there is a continuous flow of new observations, photos and records which is useful to us all and a valuable addition to our knowledge of these fascinating animals.
The popularity of the Forum however has caused one problem. Despite posting at least 3 and usually many more messages a day, I have a growing backlog of unanswered mail. I am not sure how I am going to overcome that, so if a message seems lost, please accept my apologies. It probably isn't lost - it is probably resting quietly in a queue.
Thanks for your continuing support,
Bill Rudman
I'm back
December 12, 2000
From: Bill Rudman
I'm back in business. I returned from Lifou last week just in time for a very successful malacological conference Molluscs 2000 organised by the Malacological Society of Australasia.
Over the next few weeks I will be gradually trying to deal with the backlog of messages which have built up during my absence - so if your particularly urgent message is slow in appearing, please be patient.
When I get a chance I will write a short account about the Lifou expedition.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
See you all in December
November 2, 2000
From: Bill Rudman
As I warned a few days ago I am off to Lifou, [north east of New Caledonia], today, to join Philippe Bouchet's Lifou 2000 Expedition to study biodiversity in tropical marine environments.
I am afraid messages already in the queue, and any that arrive during November will not be dealt with until I return.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Message backlog on Forum
October 27, 2000
From: Bill Rudman
Thank you all for your growing participation in the Forum. One problem, (though I am not complaining), is that over the last few weeks I have been struggling to overcome a backlog of messages to the Forum. Despite my best efforts I can't get it down much below a queue of 100 messages. So if your valuable contribution(s) seems to have become lost it probably hasn't.
To compound matters, in a weeks time I am leaving for a month in the Loyalty Islands, off New Caledonia, as part of a continuing program organised by Dr Philippe Bouchet of the Natural History Museum, Paris to study biodiversity in tropical marine environments. Initially I thought we would have internet access and I would be able to keep the Forum 'ticking over' from the tropical South Pacific, but it seems we will be lucky to have access to a telephone, let alone an internet connection.
This means that most messages that are sent to the Forum between now and the end of November will probably not be processed until December. This will of course give you a few weeks to go and photograph a new species or make an interesting new observation on some animal's biology. Or it may give you a chance to look out those slides you have been meaning to send to the Forum but have never quite got around to doing. Hopefully I will also have some more interesting finds to share with you in December.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Visitors to the Forum
October 5, 2000
From: Bill Rudman
The Australian Museum websites are independently audited each month to see if what we are doing has any relevance or any value. Amongst other things, the audit tells us how many visit, who visits, how long they stay, and how often they return.
Here are a few basic details about visitors to the Sea Slug Forum in September 2000.
The number of Pages viewed: 50,299
Visitor Sessions: 13,597
Unique visitors: 4,971
Visitors who visited more than once: 1,145
Visitors who visited more than 10 times: 340
Basically, every day about 450 visits are made to the Forum and there are a 'hard core' of about 350 who visit many times a month.
I admit I am pleased with the popularity of the Forum, but the real reason for making these figures public is to show you that if you have something to share, or publicise, this is a good place to do it. And if you haven't added your details to the Participants List this is a good time to do so. I must say I am continually amazed how many people are interested in these fascinating animals.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
NOTE: One term you often see applied to websites is 'hits'. This ia a fairly meaningless term referring to the number of files that are opened. As each button and logo on a page is a separate image file, opening just one page can involve 20 or more 'hits'. The number of 'hits' can give a very inflated idea of a site's visitation rate. For example, the Sea Slug Forum in September had 302,988 hits [10,000 per day].
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Oct 5) Visitors to the Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3119Internet Explorer users - a solution
August 25, 2000
From: Bill Rudman.
In my earlier message I mentioned a problem we were having on the Forum when using Internet Explorer. The best way to describe it is that when you click on the next word: "message", you should go to the message I am talking about. If you have the problem, you will go to the top of the 'About the Forum' page instead.
We don't know why it has suddenly started happening even after 10 days of testing and changing how the Forum operates. All we can say is that we have solved the problem for Internet Explorer 5 users. So my advice is to upgrade from Internet Explorer v4 to version 5.
You can download an upgrade from Microsoft but it is very slow. Another way is to look at Computer magazines, which often have a free CD of software stuck on the front cover. Often they include the latest version of Netscape and Internet Explorer, which is a much quicker way of getting the program than downloading. I just did it and struck no problems - and it is a much better browser than Version 4.
However if you feel uncomfortable fiddling with your computer seek some advice first.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Internet Explorer users
August 23, 2000
From: Bill Rudman
We seem to have developed a problem when using MS Internet Explorer with the Forum. When you are reading a message and there is an underlined reference to another message, a click should take you to that message. However in the last two weeks a click will only take you to the top of the page on which the message is attached. This is not a problem with Netscape, which is working normally. The reason for this problem is not immediately obvious, so for those Forum participants who have to use MS Internet Explorer please accept our apologies. We are trying to find a solution.
Any feedback, even just confirmation that you are experiencing this problem would be useful. Just use the REPLY button on the yellow bar at the top of this message - don't worry, I won't clog the Forum with any replies.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Changes to the Forum
July 29, 2000
From: Bill Rudman
We are in the process of changing the url (address) of the Sea Slug Forum to the much simpler http://www.seaslugforum.net
Don't worry if you are slow in changing bookmarks etc because the old addresses will continue to work by automatically switching you over to the new server.
Apart from its simplicity, the new address allows me to have an email address, which I can access from anywhere, solely to deal with Forum business. So if you have comments or queries to make, or can't send a message through the SEND A MESSAGE page, could you now use billr@seaslugforum.net
We hope we have sorted out any little problems, but if by chance you find something peculiar happening while you are using the Forum in the next few days, could you please email me with details. For example, if you get an error message - could you just cut and paste it into an email and let me know what your were trying to do. Hopefully none of you will find a problem.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
billr@seaslugforum.net
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Jul 29) Changes to the Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2789HELP!
June 17, 2000
From: Bill Rudman.
I am sure all regular visitors to the Forum will have noticed that the number of messages arriving has increased considerably in recent weeks. While I very much welcome the interest, it would help me a lot if participants could makes things a bit easier for me by checking their spelling (particularly scientific names), and check that they have done a few boring things like adding a country to their locality details etc, and the other little details which I have to do if you don't.
For example, if you are commenting or inquiring about a particular publication it would be a great help if you could provide a full reference so I don't have to type it myself. The less time I have to spend on checking references, and retyping messages, the more time I have to spend on answering messages.
For those of you who are already perfect, a special thanks.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Forum shutdown for 48 hours
June 1, 2000
From: Bill Rudman.
Dear All,
The Museum website, including the Sea Slug Forum, will be shutdown this Friday, 2nd June at 5:30pm and restored as soon as possible, but no later than early Monday morning (5th June) Australian Eastern Standard Time. I won't even try to calculate the time in other parts of the world, but if you can't make contact in the next few days you will have hit the shutdown period.
Hopefully when we are up and running again you will find the Forum much faster than it has been over the last few months.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Links to other websites
December 16, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
I have finally organised a more inclusive List of sea slug websites. A few large comprehensive sites are listed at the top of the page and the rest are arranged in alphabetically ordered subheadings below.
If I have left a site you love or nurture off the list, please let me know.
Bill Rudman.
New Look Forum!
December 10, 1999
From: Peter Firminger
Hi everyone.
We have just implemented a new look for the Sea Slug Forum. Regular users may find that they need to use the "refresh" or "reload" button on your browser, if you see anything strange.
Please let me (or Bill) know if you have any error messages or problems using the Forum.
Regards,
Peter Firminger
Web Manager
Australian Museum Online
webboy@amonline.net.au
Firminger, P., 1999 (Dec 10) New Look Forum!. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1671Thanks to Russ Weakley our designer and to Peter for making sure it all works, we enter the new millenium with a new look. Any feedback is welcome. If you have any suggestions, problems etc don't be shy - let us know.
A few of you have experienced a noticeable slowing in the speed of the website in the last few days. It seems the museum site is becoming a victim of its own success. In jargon we are having 'bandwidth' problems. In layman's terms the 'pipe' through which we communicate with the outside world has become clogged. We can fix it immediately for about $40,000 or wait until sometime in January when a new much cheaper solution will become available. As you guessed we will be waiting until January.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Participants List
September 6, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
Thanks to all of you who have sent details for the Participants List. There has been a welcome rush in the last few weeks. To make it easier to access the details, the list is now included amongst the items searched by the Search the Forum facility. So if you are wondering about someone who has sent a message, just press the Search the Forum button, which you will find both in the yellow bar at the top of each message, or at the bottom of each page.
Bill Rudman.
Re: A thousand messages!
August 20, 1999
From: Heike Waegele
Dear Bill,
Congratulations to your 1000 messages. I am one the silent participants of your slug forum, although I read only few news. But nevertheless I want to express my thank you via this way.
I think that your work on this forum is very valuable for not only the "scientists" but also those who are just interested in sea slugs. There has to be a link between these groups, so actually you are one of these usually missing links. We scientists use the information of many others who earn their money with something else, but spend their money to contribute to the knowledge of sea slugs. When you help the latter,you help all of us who work on the slugs.
Therefore, thank you again and good luck with your work
Heike
Bochum,
Germany
Heike.Waegele@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Waegele, H., 1999 (Aug 20) Re: A thousand messages!. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1221Thanks Heike,
I'm sorry you couldn't come to Sicily. Unfortunately children tend to have illnesses and broken bones at the most inconvenient times. I'm glad to hear all's well now and you got our card from Menfi.
Best wishes,
Bill.
A thousand messages!
August 19, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
Today the Sea Slug Forum has posted its thousandth message. Thanks to all of you who have participated by asking questions, sending comments, sending photos, and just visiting.
When I started the Forum in January 1998 I was happy to post a message a week - now there are 3 or 4 a day! As far as statistics go, each day 600 pages on the Forum are looked at (17,000 per month). There are now over a 1000 messages, 543 pages, and over 1300 images.
I called the site a 'Forum' because I wanted it to be a place for an exchange of ideas, photos, information etc. Although I tend to answer most questions, because I see them first, please feel free to add your own comments whenever you feel the urge.
It would also be great if more research workers and students could provide illustrated summaries of their projects, or of recently published work, such as Annette and Gillianne's recent page on Bacteria in nudibranchs. The Forum is a good place to inform your colleagues about your activities. I would also like anyone who visits the site, or works on, or is interested in Sea Slugs to be on the Participants List. I now regularly use it to email colleagues or find addresses, but unfortunately many are not there.
For those of you who have asked why I bother with some of the questions. Its part of my job, and I enjoy it. And if I'm lucky, perhaps I will inspire someone to become a biologist, or just to retain into their adult life the interest and delight in the wonders of the natural world, that so many children have.
Thanks again for all your support,
Bill Rudman.
14 species of Phyllidiopsis
August 2, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
In response to Erwin Koehler's message on P. striata I have posted pages on all the species of Phyllidiopsis.
Bill Rudman.
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Aug 2). Comment on 14 species of Phyllidiopsis by Bill Rudman. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1144Citing material from the Sea Slug Forum
July 16, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
A number of participants have asked me about citing material published on the Sea Slug Forum. I discussed this with some of you at Menfi and consequently our web wizard, Peter Firminger, has developed an automatic way of producing a standard citation. You will see an example in smaller type below this message. From today all messages, pages, and other contributions of substance will automatically be given a citation in the form of a footnote. I have also added citations to previous contributions.
I hope this will encourage some of you to contribute material. The Sea Slug Forum is intended to be a permanent fixture and all messages will remain available unaltered. We will also regularly archive the files for distribution on CD. I see no reason why we should not treat the Forum as a form of scientific publication. I would be grateful for your views.
You will note that the url in the citation for individual messages is to the Message List rather than to a particular message. This will allow me, if necessary, to move messages to a more appropriate place (ie: if an unknown species is later identified). The date in each citation will always find the message, wherever I shift it to.
Bill Rudman.
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Jul 16) Citing material from the Sea Slug Forum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1077New short address for Forum
July 1, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
To make life easier for you we now have a second, much shorter, address for the Forum.
It is http://www.austmus.gov.au/seaslugs
The old long address will continue to work as well, so there is no need to change links and bookmark lists.
Bill Rudman.
Chromodoris striatella, C. lineolata, H. maritima
June 19, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
To answer Rie Nakano's message I have added pages on the following black-striped chromodorids.
Chromodoris striatella
Chromodoris lineolata
Hypselodoris maritima.
Bill Rudman.
Messages from June 8-17
June 17, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
While I was away, messages were posted to a "pending' page. I have now been through them and where possible made replies. I have added my comments to the original messages so if you are interested recheck the messages listed from June 8 to June 17 for any comments I have added.
Bill Rudman.
Your reminder on Steve Long's server
May 19, 1999
From: Gilianne D. Brodie
Dear Bill
I am really enjoying your Sea Slug Forum. The summary messages you send via Steve Long's server are much appreciated as my main difficulty is the limited time I have to explore!
I have just given your website address to my 3rd year Molluscan Biology students who are looking at opisthobranch defense and feeding this week.
Lets hope they ask lots of questions.
Best wishes
Gilianne
Dept. Marine Biology
James Cook University, Townsville 4811, AUSTRALIA
Gilianne.Brodie@jcu.edu.au
Brodie, G.D., 1999 (May 19) Your reminder on Steve Long's server. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/875Dear Gilianne,
When Steve Long asked me, I was in two minds about publishing a weekly summary list of Forum messages on his list server, because I didn't want to clog up people's email mailboxes with unwanted advertising. However from many messages like yours it seems to be appreciated.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
I've added some Aplysia spp
May 3, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
Sea Hares seem to be generating a few questions from around the world so I have added a few more species. One species I should add, Aplysia sydneyensis, is probably the most common species around my part of the world. Unfortunately I don't have a good photo of it!
Here are the ones I have added or updated:
Bill Rudman.
Dendrodoris elongata
April 18, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
I have prepared a page on Dendrodoris elongata to accompany Rie Nakano's message about Dendrodoris albobrunnea.
Bill Rudman.
Two more species of Herviella
April 9, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
I have added a couple of species of Herviella to add to Erwin Koehler's message yesterday.
They are Herviella cloaca from Tanzania and Risbec's Herviella exigua from New Caledonia.
Bill Rudman.
About the head (Dorididae, Chromodorididae)
March 26, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
Hot on the heels of the rhinophore page, here is a page on the dorid head. I'll describe more normal 'heads', like Sea Hares and aeolids, and weird heads like those of Melibe, separately.
Bill Rudman.
Pleurobranchus, Berthellina & Berthella
March 9, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
As promised here are pages on three more notaspids or side-gilled slugs.
Berthella stellata
Berthellina citrina
Pleurobranchus forskalii
Bill Rudman.
Tylodina and Umbraculum
March 7, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
Apologies to anyone who couldn't access the NEW MESSAGE list over the last two days. We had a slight problem which hopefully is now solved.
As part of my ongoing plan to fill in the gaps in the Forum, I have posted some information on two "primitive" members of the Notaspidea:
Tylodina corticalis
Umbraculum umbraculum.
I will post some pleurobranchids soon.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
A bit of "House-keeping"
February 23, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
I have just noticed a number of species never made the SPECIES LIST. In case you missed them, they are:
Glossodoris pallida
Hypselodoris messinensis
Risbecia tryoni
Flabellina bicolor
Bill Rudman.
Hypselodoris kanga
February 8, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
I have added a page on Hypselodoris kanga to accompany the information I have posted with Wayne Ellis's message on Hypselodoris nigrostriata . Hopefully I will get time to post some information on some of the other similarly coloured species soon.
Bill Rudman.
Addition: Risbecia tryoni colour group
January 22, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
For comparison with Risbecia tryoni, which Erwin Koehler has just sent us a message about, I have posted pages on three very similarly coloured species of Chromodoris,
Chromodoris geminus, Chromodoris kuniei and Chromodoris leopardus.
Bill Rudman.
New additions: Mexichromis spp.
January 16, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
I have added the following pages on Mexichromis species to accompany Michael Miller's message today. If anyone has photos of the American species it would be nice to have then on the site as a comparison.
Mexichromis festiva
Mexichromis macropus
Mexichromis mariei
Mexichromis cf. mariei
Mexichromis multituberculata
Mexichromis cf. multituberculata
Bill Rudman
14 species of Phyllidia added to site
January 12, 1999
From: Bill Rudman
With David Brunckhorst's permission, I have added the photos used in his monograph of all the species of Phyllidia. I have also compiled brief comparative notes. I plan to gradually add the rest of the species covered in his monograph, which is still available for sale.
Phyllidia babai
Phyllidia carlsonhoffi
Phyllidia coelestis
Phyllidia elegans
Phyllidia exquisita
Phyllidia flava
Phyllidia goslineri
Phyllidia madangensis
Phyllidia ocellata
Phyllidia polkadotsa
Phyllidia scottjohnsoni
Phyllidia tula
Phyllidia varicosa
Phyllidia willani
Phyllidia zebrina
Bill Rudman.
Thanks and best wishes for 1999
December 31, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
I would like to thank all of you who have participated in the Sea Slug Forum with messages, pictures, observations etc. This past year has provided me with a few more shocks than I would have wished for, in particular a visit to hospital I could have done without. They say every cloud has a silver lining, and the period of enforced rest which followed my operation gave me the opportunity to spend a lot more time "playing" with the Forum. With the invaluable help of the Museum's web manager, Peter Firminger, I hope you find the site easy to use, and useful.
When I first started the site I thought that two or three messages a week was good. Now I am surprised, if a little daunted, if I don't get two or three messages a day! We are now getting more than 200 people visiting the Sea Slug Forum every day, and from the observations and questions I post on the site and the many thank-you messages (which I don't usually post), there are clearly a wide cross-section of people using the site (professionals, graduate students, school pupils, divers, photographers etc).
The Forum has given me answers to a number of questions which have puzzled me over the years, such as what Chelidonura feeds on, and I hope it has been of similar use to others.
Any observations, photos etc are of interest. If you can't scan images yourself, I am happy to do it here, Just send a print, slide etc and I will return it as soon as possible. Remember, an interesting observation of yours may fill a vital gap in someone else story!
So once again, thanks and best wishes for 1999.
Bill Rudman.
Re: Bubble Shells for Christmas
December 24, 1998
From: Paula M. Mikkelsen
Dear Bill -
Beautiful! Thank you, and Merry Christmas!
Paula
Paula M. Mikkelsen, Ph.D.
Curator of Malacology
American Museum of Natural History
mikkel@amnh.org
Mikkelsen, P.M., 1998 (Dec 24) Re: Bubble Shells for Christmas. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/421Re: Your Christmas Bubble Shells
December 24, 1998
From: Patty Jansen
Dear Bill,
They were very nice photographs!
I have been very naughty and downloaded them. Would you mind if I used them in my Australian Microshells Homepage (with credits of course)?
Have a nice Christmas!
Patty
capric@capricornica.com
Jansen, P., 1998 (Dec 24) Re: Your Christmas Bubble Shells. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/422Dear Patty,
I am happy for you to use them. Could you also please include a mention of the Sea Slug Forum.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Re: Bubble Shells for Christmas
December 22, 1998
From: Scott Jordan
Dear Bill,
Your site is great. I, for one, am more of a student of malacology then a die hard shell collector. When diving, observing the sea slugs brings great joy. But as a collector of antiquarian books on malacology, I have come to know and own many wonderful hand coloured prints that show the beauty of opisthobranchs (same goes for cephalopods).
Keep up the good work and happy holidays,
Scott Jordan
La Habra Heights,
California, CA 90631
USA
SJORDAN2@prodigy.net
Jordan, S., 1998 (Dec 22) Re: Bubble Shells for Christmas. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/416Re: Bubble Shells for Christmas
December 22, 1998
From: Mike Cortie
Hi,
I edit the 'Strandloper', quarterly newsletter of the Conchological Society of Southern Africa. Our December 98 issue will have a colour centre fold and I wondered whether you would allow us to reproduce images of those of your shelled opisth.'s that also inhabit the Southern African coast line. Naturally, we would acknowledge the source etc. I would also fly the accompanying text past yourself, and Dick Kilburn or Dai Herbert at the Natal Museum for checking.
Best regards
Mike Cortie
Mintek,
South Africa
phone RSA-11-709-4485
mikec@mintek.co.za
Cortie, M., 1998 (Dec 22) Re: Bubble Shells for Christmas. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/417Dear Mike,
I have never been asked to feature in a colour centrefold before!
Knowing how difficult it is for Editors of societies to continuously find new material for their newsletters I am pleased to be able to help out. Please mention the URL of the Sea Slug Forum and that pictures and enquiries from your readers are most welcome.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Wayne Ellis's Australasian Nudibranch News
December 21, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
I have included a download page for all issues of Wayne Ellis's Australasian Nudibranch News. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download a copy from the link on the page. ... Bill Rudman.
Bubble Shells for Christmas
December 18, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
As a special treat for Xmas I have added the following 17 species of Cephalaspids to balance up the coverage.
Hydatina physis
Japonacteon suturalis
Maxacteon flammea
Pupa coccinata
Pupa solidula
Pupa sulcata
Bullina lineata
Atys cylindrica
Atys naucum
Liloa brevis
Phanerophthalmus smaragdinus
Ilbia ilbi
Bulla ampulla
Philine trapezia
Philine orca
Sagaminopteron psychedelicum
Thank you all for your continuing support,
Best wishes for the New Year,
Bill Rudman
Phyllidiopsis information
December 12, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
I have posted pictures and information on Phyllidiopsis fissuratus, Phyllidiopsis pipeki and Phyllidiopsis krempfi, to accompany Erwin Koehler's photos from the Philippines.
David Brunckhorst has given me permission to use the actual photos he used in preparing the plates for his monograph, and to include abbreviated notes from his descriptions in the Sea Slug Forum. So gradually I will be adding pages on all the species he covered.
This is no substitute for buying the monograph. Details on how to order it are available in the Book Review section of the Sea Slug Forum.
Bill Rudman.
Chromodoris westraliensis
November 19, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
To accompany Lindsay Warren's chromodorids from Sulawesi I have posted some information on Chromodoris westraliensis.
Bill Rudman.
New search facility in Sea Slug Forum
November 19, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
Thanks to the ingenuity of our website manager, Peter Firminger, we are now able to do a search through the Sea Slug Forum for words, names, species whatever.
"Search the Forum" buttons are in the yellow bar at the top of each message and also at the bottom of each page.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The SEARCH button at the top of each page searches the whole of the Australian Museum website.
Bill Rudman.
New additions: some Trapania spp.
November 14, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
I have added a few illustrations of species of Trapania to accompany Clay Bryce's picture of an unidentified species of Trapania.
Trapania aureopunctata
Trapania benni
Trapania brunnea
Trapania japonica
Trapania toddi
Bill Rudman.
New addition: Thorunna spp.
November 11, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
Answering Rebecca Johnson's message about Thorunna florens , gave me an excuse to add some pictures of the following species of the genus:
Thorunna africana
Thorunna australis
Thorunna daniellae
Thorunna florens
Thorunna furtiva
Thorunna horologia
Thorunna purpuropedis
Hope they are of some interest.. Bill Rudman.
Glaucus and Glaucilla
November 6, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
Following Brian Penney's mention of the Glaucus background image today, I was moved to add pictures and information on Glaucus and Glaucilla, including a photo of Glaucus feeding on Physalia. ... Bill Rudman.
Chelidonura from Tanzania
October 27, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
In reponse to Bob Bolland's welcome photos of Chelidonura tsurugensis and Aglaja? orientalis from Okinawa, I have added Chelidonura sandrana to compare with C. tsurugensis, and found that I had photos of Chelidonura electra which vastly increases its range from the western Pacific.
If anyone else wishes to add pictures to the Sea Slug Forum they will be gratefull received.
Bill Rudman.
Chelidonura amoena
October 26, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
I have just added another species, Chelidonura amoena, to the aglajids...Bill Rudman.
New Additions : Aglajidae
October 23, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
I have added a selection of aglajids to the Sea Slug Forum as the start of a program to "flesh out" some parts of the site which are a bit thin on examples. Here is a list of the additions. Any comments or additions will of course be welcome.
Chelidonura electra
Chelidonura fulvipunctata
Chelidonura hirundinina
Chelidonura pallida
Chelidonura philinopsis
Chelidonura punctata
Odontoglaja guamensis
Philinopsis gardineri
Philinopsis lineolata
Philinopsis pilsbryi
Philinopsis taronga.
.. Bill Rudman
More New Additions
October 14, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
In answering the question on defence and colour patterns I have added the following species pages (as well as general sections on defence).
Trippa osseosa (Dorididae)
Rostanga arbutus (Dorididae)
Jorunna sp. (Dorididae)
Doridella sp. (Corambidae)
Cuthona kuiteri (Tergipedidae)
Marionia sp (Tritoniidae)
Placida cf. dendritica (Limapontiidae)
Stiliger smaragdinus .(Limapontiidae).
Sakuraeolis nungunoides (Glaucidae)
Moridilla brocki (Glaucidae)
Lobiger viridis (Oxynoidae)
Mimicry between red spotted chromodorid species in south-eastern Australia.
Ceratosoma brevicaudatum (Chromodorididae)
Chromodoris woodwardae (Chromodorididae)
Any comments and questions gratefully received.
Bill Rudman
New additions
October 11, 1998
From: Bill Rudman
To help answer a question on "solar-powered" sea slugs I have added new pages on the following species. Some of these include photomicrographs showing zooxanthellae.
Pteraeolidia ianthina , Phyllodesmium longicirrum, Phyllodesmium crypticum, Elysia cf. furvacauda , and Plakobranchus ocellatus .
Bill Rudman.
Changes to the Sea Slug Forum
August 7, 1998
From: Bill Rudman.
You may have noticed over the last week that we have made a number of changes to the way the Sea Slug Forum is operated and how it displays. I would like to thank our Web Manager, Peter Firminger, for all the time he has spent getting us to this stage.
* One major change is that material can now be posted to the Forum at any time rather than once a week.
* You can now send photos directly with messages, through the website, rather than by separate email attachments. [NOTE: If you can't scan photos please post prints, negatives or slides and we will scan them here.]
* If you use the Message List, the message you choose will now appear on the screen rather than the relevant "species" or "topic" page heading.
* There is a yellow title bar at the top of each message with buttons to allow you to directly reply to the message, go to the top of the page, or initiate a new topic.
* Messages will not be posted directly as we still need to add some html code etc, but where possible I will try to post stuff daily.
Thanks to all of you who are participating, and to the large number of silent visitors. If you have any comments, suggestions, criticisms etc please let me know.
Bill Rudman.
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (Aug 7). Comment on Changes to the Sea Slug Forum by Bill Rudman.. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/194