Digital Commons Network^™

Validity, Identification, And Distribution Of The Roundscale Spearfish, Tetrapturus Georgii (Teleostei: Istiophoridae): Morphological And Molecular Evidence, Mahmood S. Shivji, Jennifer E. Magnussen, Lawrence R. Beerkircher, George Hinteregger, Dennis W. Lee, Joseph E. Serafy, Eric D. Prince

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The roundscale spearfish, Tetrapturus georgii Lowe, 1840, is known only from four specimens from the Mediterranean and eastern North Atlantic. Additional specimens have not been identified since 1961, making the validity and distribution of this species unclear. Analysis of 16 billfish specimens from the western North Atlantic on the basis of scale morphology, anus position, and mitochondrial DNA confirms the validity of this species and extends its distribution. Mid-lateral scales are soft, notably rounded anteriorly, and bear 2–3 points distinct from those of the sympatric longbill spearfish (Tetrapturus pfluegeri Robins and de Sylva, 1963) and white marlin (Tetrapturus …

Fall 2006, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Documenting Decadal Spatial Changes In Seagrass And Acropora Palmata Cover By Aerial Photography Analysis In Vieques, Puerto Rico: 1937-2000, Luz Raquel Hernandez-Cruz, Samuel J. Purkis, Bernhard Riegl

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Aerial photographs from 1937–2000 of Bahía Salina del Sur on vieques, Puerto Rico were analyzed to detect and describe spatial changes in the areal cover of sea-grass beds in Bahía Salina del Sur. The images were pre-processed to minimize noise and unsupervised classification was used to detect areas colonized by seagrass. The number of individual seagrass patches, direction, and characteristic of growth were quantified and described. Seagrass coverage increased by 85.8% over the 64-yr period and this increase was best described by a 2nd order polynomial function (r² = 0.91). Between 1937 and 2000, the spatial expression of the …

Morphological And Phylogenetic Description Of An Unusual Amphidinium (Dinophyceae) Species, Tyler Cyronak, Isaac R. Santos

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Amphidinium carterae, an important harmful algal species that produces powerful antifungal and hemolytic compounds (amphidinols) and cytotoxic macrolides (amphidinolides) is ubiquitous in coastal waters. Samples from coral rubble contained an unusual and previously unreported Amphidinium (D2) with a circular outline. Genetic analysis of clone D2 of this species, involving the sequencing of large subunit (LSU) rDNA, revealed a relationship between Amphidinium sp. D2 and both A. carterae and A. massartii. However, morphological and genetic differences suggest that Amphidinium sp. D2 is not conspecific with A. carterae or A. massartii. Further studies to describe this species are presently …

Some Preservation Techniques For (Deep Water) Coral Samples For Subsequent Molecular Studies: A Special Supplement From Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Jose V. Lopez

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Around the time that the thirteen original Atlantic colonies were fighting for independence from Britain, there existed little agreement among naturalists as to the nature of corals. Were they inanimate (stones), plants, animals, or intermediate between the latter two (zoophytes)? This diversity of definition and opinions undoubtedly produced considerable confusion and disagreement among naturalists interested in such things. The symbiotic nature of algal cells in the tissues of some corals was also not well understood. It was not until the Darwinian period in the nineteenth century that little doubt remained, and therefore it was generally agreed, that corals were actually …

Summer 2006, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Patterns Of Scleractinian Health In Broward County, Florida, Melody J. White

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This study was survey of disease distribution and abundance relating to coral diseases present in Broward County. Data of the 1330 scleractinian coral individuals found, 88 showed signs of disease. 19 coral species, 3 diseases and bleaching were represented. Diseases affected 9 of the species. Bleaching was the most common disease noted in this survey, followed by dark spot, red band, and yellow band.

Disease distribution appears to be scattered on the reef system. No apparent patterns were found when grouped by reef or corridor locations. MDS cluster analysis revealed a clumping of disease, but this was not correlated with …

Survival Of White Marlin (Tetrapturus Albidus) Released From Commercial Pelagic Longline Gear In The Western North Atlantic, David W. Kerstetter, John E. Graves

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

To estimate postrelease survival of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) caught incidentally in regular commercial pelagic longline fishing operations targeting swordfish and tunas, short-duration popup satellite archival tags (PSATs) were deployed on captured animals for periods of 5-43 days. Twenty (71.4%) of 28 tags transmitted data at the preprogrammed time, including one tag that separated from the fish shortly after release and was omitted from subsequent analyses. Transmitted data from 17 of 19 tags were consistent with survival of those animals for the duration of the tag deployment. Postrelease survival estimates ranged from 63.0% (assuming all nontransmitting tags were …

Bathypelagic Fish Association With The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Tracey Sutton, F. Uiblein, I. Byrkjedal, A. Dolgov, M. Heino, J. Horne, N. King, Tone Falkenhaug, O. R. Godo, Odd Aksel Bergstad

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

The bathypelagic zone, Earth’s largest living space, is essentially boundless in three dimensions for most of its extent, structured only by fluid features (e.g., salinity, temperature) of the seawater itself. However, near certain topographic features this zone intersects the seafloor. The mid-ocean ridge system is by far the largest of these features. Unlike the ecosystems of the continental margins, the mid-ocean ridge systems do not receive terrigenous nutrient inputs. Thus, the deep-water fauna associated with mid-ocean ridges ultimately depend on the generally limited local surface production. Despite this limited surface production, there is evidence that near-ridge demersal fish biomass is …

Spring 2006, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Testing The Effectiveness Of Pollution Control Measures At The South Dade Landfill: The Reduction Of Un-Ionized Ammonia In Landfill Leachate, Matt Mitchell

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the pollution control measures in place at the South Dade Landfill, located in Miami, Florida. Pollution control measures in place at the landfill include the lining and capping of landfill cells, a landfill wetland retention basin and a groundwater remediation interceptor trench (GWRIT). This study was performed over a ten (10) month span beginning in October, 2002 and ending in July, 2003. This study dealt specifically with the effectiveness of the GWRIT and landfill wetlands in reducing the amount of un-ionized ammonia (NH₃) in the landfill …

The Influence Of High Temperature And Two Hurricanes On The Success Of Late Season Loggerhead Nests In Broward County, Florida, In 2005, Stefanie Ouellette, Curtis M. Burney

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

The success of loggerhead nests, defined as the percentage of the eggs per nest resulting in live released hatchlings, declined to unusually low levels during the latter part of the 2005 season. The mean successes were 81.1, 61.1, 32.8 and 13.4 percent for nests deposited in May, June, July and August, respectively. Many eggs from the August nests appeared to be unusually dried. There was a significant inverse relationship (P < .0001) between the daily air temperature anomaly on the day of nest deposition and the average daily success rate of loggerhead nests in 2005. The daily temperature anomaly is the deviation of the average air temperature each day from the daily climatological average values. There was also a highly significant inverse relationship between maximum daily air temperature and nest success rate in 2005. These relationships were not found in the previous two years. The actual average temperature during August in 2005 was 29.7°C, compared to 28.9 and 29.2°C in 2004 and 2003, respectively. The 2005 average was statistically different from the other two years (one way ANOVA, P < .001) and also from the climatological average temperature of 28.6°C. Mean daily success rates were less than 50 percent for nests deposited during the 50 days preceding the impact of Hurricane Katrina on August 25. Nests deposited in the first two weeks of August were also impacted by Hurricane Rita. Mean daily success rates were less than 10 percent on 7 days during this period.

Southeast Florida Coral Reef Evaluation And Monitoring Project 2005 Year 3 Final Report, Jennifer Wheaton, Carl Beaver, Walter Jaap, Michael Callahan, Selena Kupfner, Shannon Wade, David S. Gilliam, B. D. Ettinger, Daniel P. Fahy, Shaun M. Gill, Lindsey Habakuk Klink, Jamie A. Monty, M. A. Philips, Lauren F. Shuman, Nicole R. Stephens, Brian K. Walker, Joanna C. Walczak, Richard E. Dodge, Tim Mcintosh, Steven Blair, Kenneth Banks, Louis E. Fisher, David Stout, Joe Ligas, Janet Phipps

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

A Fish Habitat Classification Model For The Upper And Middle Sections Of The Bay Of Quinte, Lake Ontario, C. K. Minns, Andrea Bernard, C. N. Bakelaar, M. Ewaschuk

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

A fish habitat classification model was developed and applied to the upper and middle sections of the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario. Available habitat inventories were assembled in a GIS database, bringing bathymetric, shoreline, substrate, and vegetation data together in a series of layers. The classification model was developed in four steps. In the first step, the Defensible Methods (DM) model developed by Minns et al. (2000) was used to estimate suitability values in all habitat patches for a set of nine fish groups each with three life stages. The fish groups were formed from the assemblage of fish species …

Sponges Of Navassa, Janie L. Wulff, Timothy D. Swain

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

This photographic guide was compiled from data collected during the 2004 NOAA survey of the coral reefs of Navassa and does not represent a comprehensive list of all Porifera in Navassa. Specifically missing are taxa that inhabit caves, overhangs, vertical walls; species that live in the interstices of the reef framework; and species found at depths greater than 50 meters. Specimens were identified by Janie Wulff and Timothy Swain of Florida State University using a combination of digital photography, field observations, and microscopic examination of siliceous spicules. Genera are organized into higher taxa according to Systema Porifera, Hooper & van …

An Experimental Histopathological Rating Scale Of Sedimentation Stress In The Caribbean Coral Montastraea Cavernosa, Bernardo Vargas-Ángel, Bernhard Riegl, David S. Gilliam, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Colonies of Montastraea cavernosa were exposed to daily applications of approx. 200–225 mg cm– 2 sediments, during a four-week period, in order to investigate coral responses to increased sedimentation. Effects were assessed based on the histopathological condition of specimen tissues. Mild stress responses were noted as early as week one, including tissue swelling and polyp retraction, as well as changes in size and appearance of mucous secretory cells. As stress progressed, further inflammation of the mucous secretory cells was observed. Severe effects were observed in weeks 3 and 4, including atrophy of the outer epidermis, increased granularity and debris in …

Visual_Hea: Habitat Equivalency Analysis Software To Calculate Compensatory Restoration Following Natural Resource Injury, Kevin E. Kohler, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) is a means to determine the amount of compensatory restoration required to provide services that are equivalent to the interim loss of natural resource services following an injury. HEA includes a discounting procedure to account for asset valuation in that the total asset value is equal to the discounted value of the future stream of all services from the natural resource or the compensatory resource. Discounting is used to include the relative valuation of loss and gain of ecological services of the resources over time. Visual_HEA is a computer program developed to calculate the amount of …

Growth And Survivorship Of Scleractinian Coral Transplants And The Effectiveness Of Plugging Core Holes In Transplant Donor Colonies, Elizabeth Glynn Fahy, Richard E. Dodge, Daniel P. Fahy, T. Patrick Quinn, David S. Gilliam, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Replicate scleractinian coral transplants were obtained from the species Meandrina meandrites and Montastrea cavernosa on a natural reef, off Dania Beach, Florida, using a hydraulic drill fitted with a 4 in. (~10 cm) core barrel. The transplants were fixed to Reef Ball™ substrates using an adhesive marine epoxy. Drill holes in the donor corals (core holes) were filled with concrete plugs. Control corals, of comparable size to both donor colonies and transplant corals, were monitored for comparison. Transplant corals, donor corals, and controls on the natural reef were monitored for growth and survivorship. Core holes were monitored for tissue regrowth …

Spatial Patterns In Arabian Gulf Coral Assemblages (Jebel Ali, Dubai, U.A.E.) In Response To Temperature-Forcing, Bernhard Riegl, Samuel J. Purkis, Kevin E. Kohler, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

We evaluated spatial and temporal patterns using maps from Ikonos satellite imagery in combination with 8 years of line transects and photosquares and the HadISST1 sea-surface temperature data set to explain why coral assemblages in the southern Arabian Gulf (Dubai) are impoverished and mostly do not build framework reefs. Analysis of archive sea surface temperature (SST) data confirms that the area is subjected to recurrent temperature anomalies. Frequencies of anomalies might suggest at least a partial link to the El Niño Southern Oscillation possibly via the Indian Ocean Zonal Mode. The dominant driver of local temperature was oscillations in the …

Fractal Patterns Of Coral Communities: Evidence From Remote Sensing (Arabian Gulf, Dubai, U.A.E.), Samuel J. Purkis, Bernhard Riegl, Richard E. Dodge (Editor)

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

In this study, the spatial character of benthic communities is investigated in an Arabian Gulf shallow subtidal carbonate ramp setting, using IKONOS satellite imagery. The patchy distribution of three assemblages of live and dead corals on extensive (but also fragmented) hardground pavements was investigated using a variety of spatial statistics. It was found that the spatial expression of the benthic groups display characteristics that approximate to power-law distributions over several orders of magnitude to an extent that suggests fractal behaviour. Pronounced anisotropy was observed between the spatial patterns in the near-shore and off-shore region which is attributed to different mechanisms …

A Comparison Of Reef Fish Assemblages On The East And West Sides Of Central Eleuthera, Bahamas, Robert B. Patterson, Lance K. B. Jordan, David R. Bryan, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Eleuthera is a long, narrow crescent-shaped Atlantic margin island on the eastern extremity of the Great Bahama Bank in the central Bahamas. It is 144 km long and less than 5 km at its greatest width. Fringing reefs with substantial vertical relief (to 5 m in depths of 6 m) are found approximately 500 m offshore on the eastern side of the island facing the Atlantic Ocean. The western side of the island has stretches of rock cliffs and large fallen boulders providing substrate with similar vertical relief. No open passes exist between the two sides of the island and …

Tires: Unstable Materials For Artificial Reef Construction, Robin L. Sherman, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Artificial reefs of varied materials have been deployed worldwide to acquire large and diverse fish assemblages for both commercial and sport fishers, and SCUBA divers. Beginning in 1967, environmental resource managers and local fishers initiated a project to build an artificial reef using banded, but unballasted, waste automobile and truck tires offshore Broward County, Florida, USA. Estimates of the number of tires placed offshore range between 1,000,000– 2,000,000. Since deployment, storm events and ocean currents have caused the bands to give way and the break-up of the reef. Over the years, many tires have washed ashore onto recreational beach areas. …

Implications Of Natural Variation Of Fish Assemblages To Coral Reef Management, Lance K. B. Jordan, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

In order to evaluate the impact of a planned beach renourishment project we obtained baseline data on hardbottom coral reef fish assemblages adjacent to the beach. During the summers of 2001 and 2003 we conducted 92 and 89 visual transect-counts, respectively, each 30x2x1m. Fish were recorded by species, abundance, and size class. Fish exhibited a 62.8% decrease in abundance between the 2001 and 2003 surveys. Juvenile Haemulon spp. (<5cm total length, TL) alone decreased 72.8% in abundance and, due to their predominance, primarily drove the decrease seen for total abundance. The second most abundant species Halichoeres bivittatus, also primarily juveniles (<5cm TL), contributed 8% of the total abundance and also showed a significant decrease between the 2001 and 2003 surveys. Even after removal of the two most abundant taxa, total abundance remained significantly lower the second survey year, suggesting the possibility of a community-wide decrease in abundance. However, the decrease between years was mainly due to a decrease in juveniles. When fish less than 5cm TL were removed from the dataset, no significant difference in abundance between years was detected. Species richness also declined significantly with fewer species noted in 2003 and eight fewer total species between years. Nonetheless, multivariate examination of assemblage structure did not indicate a difference between years. These results have important implications for determining potential anthropogenic change in fish assemblages (e.g. caused by beach renourishment).

Metabolites From The Marine-Derived Fungus Chromocleista Sp. Isolated From A Deep-Water Sediment Sample Collected In The Gulf Of Mexico, Young Chul Park, Sarath P. Gunasekera, Jose V. Lopez, Peter J. Mccarthy, Amy E. Wright

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

As part of our ongoing chemical investigation of biologically active metabolites from marine fungi, three new compounds, p-hydroxyphenopyrrozin (1) and diketopiperazines (3, 4), have been isolated from the marine-derived fungus Chromocleista sp. In addition, the fungus gave the known compound phenopyrrozin (2), four known diketopiperazines (6-9), N-acetyltryptamine (10), and agathic acid (11). Another new diketopiperazine (5) was separated and identified as a decomposition product of 3 and 4. The structures of the new metabolites were determined on the basis of mass spectroscopy, …

Effects Associated With Dredging For Beach Renourishments On Reef Fish Communities Offshore Of Miami-Dade County, Florida:, Christian L. Avila

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Beach erosion is an ongoing problem in South Florida. Beach replenishment has been the primary means of maintaining these economically important beaches, and dredging offshore sand deposits, adjacent to reef tracts, has been the pervasive method since the 1970's. Over the past ten years, greater attention has been paid to potential impacts dredging can have on adjacent reef communities, which has led to increased monitoring efforts. With the increase in monitoring efforts, scope has expanded from a strict focus on the benthic community to include the fish communities. This study evaluates the effects of dredging on reef fish communities associated …

The Influence Of Supplemental Feeding On The Movement Patterns Of The Southern Stingray, Dasyatis Americana, At Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, Mark John Corcoran

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

There are currently over 300 sites in nearly 40 countries where a variety of marine animals are provided supplemental food by humans. The influence of this supplemental feeding on the behavior, physiology, growth, reproduction and movements of the animals involved is seldom known. Intentional supplemental feeding of the southern stingray, Dasyatis americana, has occurred at Stingray City (SC) and Stingray City Sandbar (SCS) at Grand Cayman since 1986. There are no specific regulations governing the feeding of D. americana at Grand Cayman, and neither the species nor the feeding sites are afforded any official protective status. This study investigated …

Winter 2006, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Broward County, Fl 2006 Report, Curtis M. Burney, Stefanie Ouellette

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Since 1978, the Broward County Environmental Protection Department (BCEPD) has provided for the conservation of endangered and threatened sea turtle species within its area of responsibility. Broward County is within the normal nesting areas of three species of sea turtles: the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). The loggerhead is listed as a threatened species, while the green and leatherback are listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, 1973, and Chapter 370, F.S.

Since these statutes strictly forbid any disturbance …

Coral Of Opportunity Survivorship And The Use Of Coral Nurseries In Coral Reef Restoration, Jamie A. Monty, David S. Gilliam, Kenneth Banks, David K. Stout, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Coral reef damage is unfortunately becoming a common occurrence off southeast Florida, U.S.A. Reattachment of the dislodged scleractinian corals usually initiates damage site restoration. Because mortality of dislodged colonies is typically high and natural recovery in southeast Florida is typically slow, transplantation of additional scleractinian corals into a damaged area has been used to accelerate reef recovery. Donor colonies available for transplantation have been grown in situ, grown in laboratories, and taken from nondamaged reef areas. An alternative source of donor colonies for transplantation into damaged sites is “corals of opportunity,” which we define as scleractinian corals that have been …

Application Of Paleoclimatology To Coral Reef Monitoring And Management, C. Mark Eakin, Peter K. Swart, Terrence M. Quinn, Kevin P. Helmle, Jennifer M. Smith, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

The skeletons of reef-building corals are valuable archives of climatic and environmental information. Paleoclimatic data chiefly have been generated in areas most sensitive to global or regional climatic variability. However, these records also provide valuable information on anthropogenic influences – guidance of value to resource managers. NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch targets observations of current and past coral reef health in or near marine protected areas through satellites, in situ sensor platforms, and paleoclimatic analyses. Paleoclimatic data provide retrospective monitoring through multi-century environmental reconstructions that improve our understanding of past stress to coral reefs. Two sites in the Florida Keys National …