SCAMIT was formed in 1982 with the goal of promoting
the study of marine invertebrate taxonomy in southern California and developing a
regionally standardized taxonomy. To accomplish this, SCAMIT provides a regular monthly
forum to address problems in taxonomy, organizes taxonomic workshops, and maintains a
reference collection and library of taxonomic literature. SCAMlT's activities contribute
to the scientific value of the many surveys of marine benthic invertebrate communities
conducted in southern California by assuring standardized taxonomy and compatibility
between various taxonomic data sets.
SCAMIT Activities
Members meet monthly (usually on the second Monday) in various locations around southern
California. Our meetings include taxonomic workshops and/or speakers who lecture on the
systematics and related ecology of a particular taxonomic group. Special workshops, by
visiting investigators and experts from various institutions and museums, are also an
integral part of SCAMIT. Descriptive information and comparative characteristics of
species examined during these meetings are summarized in voucher sheets and tables
distributed in the SCAMIT Newsletter.
In addition to our standardization program,
SCAMIT supports with a grant program member projects to improve the quality of taxonomic
data through development and revision of taxonomic keys and publication of new species
descriptions. In 1994, SCAMIT developed a comprehensive listing of local marine
invertebrates from the infaunal monitoring programs in the Southern California Bight. This
Taxonomic Listing of Soft Bottom Macroinvertebrates is periodically updated as knowledge
of the marine invertebrate fauna expands.
The 4th
edition of A
Taxonomic Listing of Soft Bottom Macro- and Megainvertebrates from
Infaunal & Epibenthic Monitoring Programs in the Southern California
Bight has now been released and is available here for
downloading. The 4th
Edition expands on the 3rd by the addition of newly reported
taxa from POTW monitoring programs and the Southern California Bight
1998 Regional Monitoring Project (Bight’98).
The inclusion of records from Bight’98 expands the list’s
coverage to include Southern California bays and harbors, six of the
eight Channel Islands, as well as the Mexican coastal shelf south to Bahía
Todos Santos.
The 4th
edition reflects the organisms collected from over 17,700 infaunal
samples at 1,700+ sites and 4,300+ otter trawls at 650 sites within the
habitats covered. There are 2,076 species-level taxa on the list
representing 15 phyla, 37 classes, 127 orders, 526 families, and 1,229
genera. The list has also
been emended to reflect nomenclatural changes since the previous
edition.
SCAMIT Support
We are an entirely volunteer non-profit organization, with no employees. Costs of
newsletter production and distribution, along with publication support grants and stipends
for out-of-area guest speakers are virtually our only expenses. Dues from membership
partially offset these costs, but we also depend on financial support from outside
agencies.
Equally important is support of the agencies who allow their officer employees to conduct
SCAMIT business as part of their work, and the companies and agencies that allow employee
participation at the monthly meetings. Without such support it would be very difficult to
find time to conduct the organization's business. . We are also supported by the
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (LACMNH), which provides us the physical space to maintain our voucher specimen and
literature collections. As an organization we owe all of the above contributors a debt of gratitude.
SCAMIT Members
Initially formed by taxonomists associated with southern California wastewater treatment
programs, the SCAMIT membership has diversified over the years. It now also includes
consultants, museum scientists, and both students and researchers in the academic realm.
Despite our local origins we have members from one coast of the U. S. to the other, and a
scattered contingent of international members. Distance prevents most from active meeting
participation, but we attempt to include everyone through the newsletter.
If you need any other information concerning
SCAMIT please feel free to contact any of the officers.
- SCAMIT - Attn: Leslie Harris
- Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County
- Research & Collections
- 900 Exposition Boulevard
- Los Angeles, CA 90007
Click
for the latest SCAMIT Publication Support policy Added 10.18.03
- President Larry
Lovell
- 310.830.2400, County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
- e-mail: LLovell@lacsd.org
Vice-President Leslie
Harris 213. 763.3234
fax: 213.746.2999, Collection Manager
LACM-Allan Hancock Foundation Polychaete Collection,
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History,
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007,
email:
lharris@nhm.org
- SCAMIT - Attn: Leslie
Harris
- Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County Research & Collections
- 900 Exposition Boulevard
- Los Angeles, CA 90007
-
- Newsletter Editor Don
Cadien 310.830.2400 ext 5502, County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
- e-mail: dcadien@lacsd.org
-
- Treasurer
Cheryl Brantley
310.830.2400 ext 5500, Marine Biology Lab, County Sanitation
Districts of Los Angeles, 24501 S. Figueroa St. Carson, CA 90745
- e-mail: cbrantley@lacsd.org
-
- Secretary Megan
Lilly 619.758.2336
Metropolitan Wastewater Department, City of San Diego, e-mail: mlilly@sandiego.gov
-
- Webmaster Jay Shrake,
MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc.
- work e-mail: jay.shrake@mactec.com
- home email: jay.shrake@att.net
