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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Escorting Of Mother-Calf Pairs Of Humpback Whales (Megaptera Novaeangliae) In The Colombian Pacific During The Breeding Season, Natalia Botero Acosta Dec 2017

Escorting Of Mother-Calf Pairs Of Humpback Whales (Megaptera Novaeangliae) In The Colombian Pacific During The Breeding Season, Natalia Botero Acosta

Dissertations

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) belonging to the “breeding G-stock” annually migrate from the Antarctic Peninsula and southern Chile to the southeastern Pacific to reproduce. Associations between mother-calf pairs and escorts were examined in the Gulf of Tribugá, northern Colombian Pacific, using photo-identification and behavioral/spatial sampling. Research hypotheses included: 1. The association between cows and escorts is short-lived, consistent with a male reproductive strategy, 2. The presence of escort(s) elicits a behavioral response from mother-calf pairs and, 3. The patterns of spatial distribution reflect the spatial segregation of maternal females. Groups were classified as mother-calf pairs (Mc), mother, calf …


Species Delimitation, Phylogenetics, And Biogeography Of The Catfish Genus Rhamdia Bleeker (Heptapteridae) Of Central America And The Trans-Andean Region Of Colombia, Carmen Liliana Hernández Torres May 2015

Species Delimitation, Phylogenetics, And Biogeography Of The Catfish Genus Rhamdia Bleeker (Heptapteridae) Of Central America And The Trans-Andean Region Of Colombia, Carmen Liliana Hernández Torres

Dissertations

A recent taxonomic revision of the Neotropical catfish genus Rhamdia (Pisces: Siluriformes: Heptapteridae) reduced a number of described species to synonymy, especially under a broadly circumscribed R. quelen. Evidence is presented here from DNA sequence data, external and internal morphology, and morphometrics that argues for the recognition of R. guatemalensis in Central and northern South America and R. saijaensis and R. cinerascens in the Pacific drainages of Colombia and Ecuador, respectively. The DNA data indicate that all trans-Andean samples form a monophyletic group, within which there are separate clades corresponding to R. laticauda and the synonymized R. guatemalensis, …


The Effects Of Climate Variability On The Structure Of The Phytoplankton Community In Tumaco Bay, Colombia, Ingrid Garcia-Hansen Honkala May 2009

The Effects Of Climate Variability On The Structure Of The Phytoplankton Community In Tumaco Bay, Colombia, Ingrid Garcia-Hansen Honkala

Dissertations

Spatiotemporal variability in the diatom and dinoflagellate community structure and chlorophyll a (chl a) concentrations in Tumaco Bay during the 1993-2005 period was related clearly to seasonal and interannual variability in environmental conditions due to the migration of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITZC) and the influence of El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. A total of 134 species of diatoms that belong to 57 genera, and 78 species of dinoflagellates that belong to 25 genera were identified during the survey. The diatom community was the dominant group in the waters of the bay, being the most abundant with the greatest …


Large Pelagics In The Southern Section Of The Seaflower Marine Protected Area, San Andres Archipelago, Colombia: A Fishery In Expansion, Erick Castro, Heins Bent, Carlos Ballesteros, Martha Prada Jan 2007

Large Pelagics In The Southern Section Of The Seaflower Marine Protected Area, San Andres Archipelago, Colombia: A Fishery In Expansion, Erick Castro, Heins Bent, Carlos Ballesteros, Martha Prada

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Isolated and sparse reef atolls comprising the southern section of the Seaflower MPA have been traditionally exploited by artisanal fishers using handlines. These practices have severely depleted the demersal fish stock and now fishers have shifted their efforts to the pelagic stock. The pelagic fishery included the extraction of more than 25 species, with Thunnus atlanticus, Acanthocybium solandri, Coryphaena hippurus, and Katsuwonus pelamis being the most common. Three years of fishery-dependent data (2004–2006) were used to describe traditional fishing methods and techniques, and to document, for the first time, a declining trend in the large pelagic stock. …


Growth, Feeding And Reproduction Of The Catfish Eremophilus Mutisii (Pisces : Trichomycteridae), From Artificial Reservoirs In Colombia, Gabriel Pinilla, Maritza Abril, Esperanza González Jun 2006

Growth, Feeding And Reproduction Of The Catfish Eremophilus Mutisii (Pisces : Trichomycteridae), From Artificial Reservoirs In Colombia, Gabriel Pinilla, Maritza Abril, Esperanza González

Faculty Publications

The catfish, Eremophilus mutisii, was cultured under different densities in artificial rainfall reservoirs at Caldas, Boyaca, Colombia. At capture, the average total length of the animals was 10 cm and the weight ranged between 9 and 10 g. These fish were in initial stages of sexual development. After a year in the reservoirs, they had increased in length and weight as follows (densities in parentheses): 5.22 cm and 27.23 g (0.5 individuals/m(2))); 1.98 cm and 8.79 g (1 individual/m(2)), and 2.45 cm and 0.82 g (2 individuals/m(2)). They were at the early stages of sexual maturity, and their condition …


Community-Based Development Of Multiple-Use Marine Protected Areas: Promoting Stewardship And Sharing Responsibility For Conservation In The San Andres Archipelago, Colombia, Marion Howard, Ernesto Connolly, Elizabeth Taylor, June Marie Mow Jan 2003

Community-Based Development Of Multiple-Use Marine Protected Areas: Promoting Stewardship And Sharing Responsibility For Conservation In The San Andres Archipelago, Colombia, Marion Howard, Ernesto Connolly, Elizabeth Taylor, June Marie Mow

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The San Andres Archipelago in the western Caribbean includes some of the largest and most productive coral reef ecosystems in the hemisphere. Declared the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2000, this Colombian archipelago has 3 inhabited islands, 5 atolls, and an oceanic area of 300,000 km2. CORALINA, the local representative of the National Environment System, is responsible for environmental planning, management, and education. While setting up the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, this agency had hundreds of meetings with the islands’ communities, listening to their concerns. Issues, conflicts, and threats to marine and coastal areas were identified during these …


Feeding Selectivity Of Anchovia Clupeoides (Pisces: Engraulidae) In The Ciénaga Grande De Santa Marta, Colombian Caribbean, Guillermo Duque, Arturo Acero P Jan 2003

Feeding Selectivity Of Anchovia Clupeoides (Pisces: Engraulidae) In The Ciénaga Grande De Santa Marta, Colombian Caribbean, Guillermo Duque, Arturo Acero P

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Food selection by fishes is an important piece of information for modeling food webs in aquatic ecosystem. Monthly collections were made over a twenty-four hour period between October 1995 and June 1996 to examine the feeding selectivity of the zabaleta anchovy (Anchovia clupeoides) in the coastal lagoon Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, NE Colombia. A total of 4,389 specimens were collected, and the abundances and weights of the stomach food items were compared with similar measures calculated from samples obtained in nearby habitats. Our results indicate that the zabaleta anchovy is planktophagous, actively selecting copepods and detritus throughout …


Habitat Connectivity In Reef Fish Communities And Marine Reserve Design In Old Providence-Santa Catalina, Colombia, R.S. Appeldoorn, A. Friedlander, J. Sladek Nowlis, P. Usseglio, A. Mitchell-Chui Jan 2003

Habitat Connectivity In Reef Fish Communities And Marine Reserve Design In Old Providence-Santa Catalina, Colombia, R.S. Appeldoorn, A. Friedlander, J. Sladek Nowlis, P. Usseglio, A. Mitchell-Chui

Gulf and Caribbean Research

On the insular platform of Old Providence/Santa Catalina, Colombia, we compared nearshore lagoonal patch reefs to those on the northern bank distant from the islands to determine the importance of habitat connectivity to fish community structure. Nearshore patch reefs had greater proximity to mangrove, seagrass and rocky shore habitats, and they had significantly more individuals. Nearshore reefs also tended to have a greater total biomass, more species, a higher proportion of predators of mobile invertebrates and small fishes, and a lower proportion of herbivores. Biomass of snappers and grunts at nearshore sites was four times greater compared to bank sites, …