Life Sciences Commons^™

Acute And Long-Term Manganese Exposure And Subsequent Accumulation In Relation To Idiopathic Blindness In The American Lobster, Homarus Americanus, Addison T. Ochs, Jeffrey D. Shields, Gary W. Rice, Michael A. Unger

VIMS Articles

Manganese (Mn) is a hypoxic reactive metal commonly found in marine sediments. Under hypoxic conditions the metal becomes fully reduced to Mn²⁺ and is biologically available to the benthic community for uptake. Mn is also a potent neurotoxin and it may play a role in the etiology of idiopathic blindness that has been observed in American lobsters. An acute exposure study was designed to expose American lobster, Homarus americanus, to 0, 20, 80, 150, and 300 mg L⁻¹ (ppm) for 96 hs to explore disparities in Mn accumulation among several tissues: optic nerve, brain, hepatopancreas, muscle, hemolymph, …

Cloud Shadows Drive Vertical Migrations Of Deep-Dwelling Marine Life, Melissa M. Omand, Deborah K. Steinberg, Karen Stamieszkin

VIMS Articles

Many zooplankton and fishes vertically migrate on a diel cycle to avoid predation, moving from their daytime residence in darker, deep waters to prey-rich surface waters to feed at dusk and returning to depth before dawn. Vertical migrations also occur in response to other processes that modify local light intensity, such as storms, eclipses, and full moons. We observed rapid, high-frequency migrations, spanning up to 60 m, of a diel vertically migrating acoustic
scattering layer with a daytime depth of 300 m in the subpolar Northeastern Pacific Ocean. The depth of the layer was significantly correlated, with an ∼5-min lag, …

Quantifying The Behavioral And Economic Effects Of Regulatory Change In A Recreational Cobia Fishery, Andrew M. Scheld, William M. Goldsmith, Shelby White, Hamish J. Small, Susanna Musick

VIMS Articles

Fisheries economists typically assume recreational anglers make decisions that maximize individual angler utility, which may depend on fishery and regulatory conditions. Under this framework, changes in regulations can lead to target species substitution by anglers in response to shifts in expectations of trip utility. A stated preference survey was developed and distributed to recreational cobia (Rachycentron canadum) anglers in Virginia to explore the effects of regulatory change on angler decision-making, species targeting, and resulting economic outcomes. The survey included a series of hypothetical choice scenarios, where respondents were asked to select their most preferred alternative after being presented with different …

Water Temperature During Winter May Control Striped Bass Recruitment During Spring By Affecting The Development Time Of Copepod Nauplii, Nicole C. Millette, J. J. Pierson, E. W. North

VIMS Articles

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) are anadromous fish that support an important fishery along the east coast of North America. In Chesapeake Bay, strong juvenile recruitment of striped bass can occur when larvae overlap with high concentrations of their zooplankton prey, but the mechanisms fostering the temporal overlap are unknown. Here, the influence of winter temperature on the peak abundances of a key prey, Eurytemora carolleeae, was estimated with a temperature-dependent developmental model. The role of these peaks in regulating striped bass recruitment was explored in three nursery areas: upper Chesapeake Bay, Choptank River, and Patuxent River. Model results indicated that …

Alternative Substrates Used For Oyster Reef Restoration: A Review, Taylor Goelz, Bruce Vogt, Troy W. Hartley

VIMS Articles

Oyster populations and reef habitats have notably declined in the last century around the world. The ecological, economic, and cultural values of oysters have led to a variety of restoration efforts seeking to recover these lost benefits. Limitations of the native oyster shell substrate and the large-scale nature of many restoration projects have resulted in the increased use of a variety of alternative, or artificial, substrates to create reef structures. A text mining package was used to conduct a review of alternative substrates used for oyster restoration. Specifically, the review (1) assessed commonly used alternative substrates, (2) locations where alternative …

Microplastics Affect Sedimentary Microbial Communities And Nitrogen Cycling, Meredith E. Seeley, Bk Song, Renia Passie, Robert C. Hale

VIMS Articles

Microplastics are ubiquitous in estuarine, coastal, and deep sea sediments. The impacts of microplastics on sedimentary microbial ecosystems and biogeochemical carbon and nitrogen cycles, however, have not been well reported. To evaluate if microplastics influence the composition and function of sedimentary microbial communities, we conducted a microcosm experiment using salt marsh sediment amended with polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride(PVC), polyurethane foam (PUF) or polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics. We report that the presence of microplastics alters sediment microbial community composition and nitrogen cycling processes. Compared to control sediments without microplastic, PUF- and PLA-amended sediments promote nitrification and denitrification, while PVC amendment inhibits …

Using Long-Term Data From Antarctica To Teach Ocean Acidification, Patrica S. Thibodeau

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There is a mystery to be solved! This lesson plan asks students to identify the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of ocean acidification (OA). Global oceans have absorbed approximately a third of the CO2 produced by human activities, such as burning of fossil fuels, over the past decade (Sabine et al. 2004). This accumulation of CO2 in the ocean has lowered average global ocean pH and decreased the concentration of carbonate ions (CO/ ) (Fabry et al. 2008). As a result of this OA, the carbonate chemistry of the global ocean is rapidly changing and affecting marine organisms …

Bony-Tongue Fishes (Teleostei: Osteoglossomorpha) From The Eocene Nanjemoy Formation, Virginia, Eric J. Hilton, Jeffrey Carpenter

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Bony-tongue fishes, Osteoglossomorpha, are distributed in North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia and are found on all continents except Antarctica in the fossil record. The group includes fishes such as the mooneyes (Hiodontidae), freshwater knifefishes (Notopteridae), elephantfishes (Mormyridae), and the arowanas and pirarucu (Osteoglossidae). Remains identified as belonging to the family Osteoglossidae are known from the Nanjemoy Formation of Maryland and northern Virginia and comprise isolated teeth and fragmentary jaw bones assigned to the now extinct †Brychaetus muelleri. The second author discovereda partial toothed parasphenoid among other isolated and frag-mentary vertebrate microfossils from the Fisher–Sullivan Site of the …

Comparative Transcriptomics Of Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion Nebulosus) Populations To Cold And Heat Stress, Jingwei Song, Jan Mcdowell

VIMS Articles

Resilience to climate change depends on a species' adaptive potential and phenotypic plasticity. The latter can enhance survival of individual organisms during short periods of extreme environmental perturbations, allowing genetic adaptation to take place over generations. Along the U.S. East Coast, estuarine‐dependent spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) populations span a steep temperature gradient that provides an ideal opportunity to explore the molecular basis of phenotypic plasticity. Genetically distinct spotted seatrout sampled from a northern and a southern population were exposed to acute cold and heat stress (5 biological replicates in each treatment and control group), and their transcriptomic responses …

Invasive Blue Catfish In The Chesapeake Bay Region: A Case Study Of Competing Management Objectives, Mary C. Fabrizio, Vaskar Nepal, Troy D. Tuckey

VIMS Articles

Freshwater fishes have been introduced outside their native range to establish recreational fisheries, but management conflicts arise when such introductions also result in potentially harmful effects on native species. In this case study, we focus on Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus, which were introduced in the Chesapeake Bay region and are now considered invasive. In many tidal tributaries, Blue Catfish have increased dramatically in abundance, expanded into high-salinity habitats (up to 21.8 psu), and negatively affected native species, prompting calls for the development of an effective management plan. However, management of this conflict species is complicated by multiple competing objectives, including …

Density-Dependence Mediates The Effects Of Temperature On Growth Of Juvenile Blue Catfish In Nonnative Habitats, Vaskar Nepal, Mary C. Fabrizio

VIMS Articles

The combined effects of conspecific density and climate warming on the vital rates of invasive fish species have not been well studied, but may be important in predicting how successful they will be in the future. We evaluated the effects of temperature and population density on monthly time series of sizes of age-0 Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus in the James, York, and Rappahannock River subestuaries (defined here as tidally influenced bodies of water that feed into the Chesapeake Bay) from 1996 to 2017, using growing degree-days (GDDs, °C day) as a measure of thermal time. Our pre- dictive linear mixed-effects …

Movements, Habitat Utilization, And Post-Release Survival Of Cobia (Rachycentron Canadum) That Summer In Virginia Waters Assessed Using Pop-Up Satellite Archival Tags, Douglas R. Jensen, John Graves

VIMS Articles

Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) is a cosmopolitan marine fish that inhabits tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate marine and estuarine waters and supports a major recreational fishery along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Recent changes in U.S. cobia management have sparked controversy and highlighted limitations in our understanding of the species’ biology. This study utilized pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) to assess the movements, habitat utilization, and post-release survival of cobia that summer in Virginia waters

Investigating The Efficacy Of A Proposed Marine Protected Area For The Endangered Humphead Wrasse Cheilinus Undulatus At A Remote Island Group In Seychelles, Ryan Daly, Clare A. Keating, Andrew E. Gray, Lauren R. Peel, Luke Gordon, James S.E. Lea, Christopher R. Clarke, Kevin C. Weng

VIMS Articles

The humphead wrasse Cheilinus undulatus is an iconic, ecologically important and Endangered fish species associated with coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. Due to its large size and complex life history characteristics, it is vulnerable to overfishing and has undergone substantial population declines in parts of its range. Knowledge of the species’ movement ecology is currently limited to only 2 previous studies, and very little is known about populations in the western Indian Ocean. The present study aimed to use passive acoustic telemetry to investigate the importance of a remote coral reef to a population of humphead wrasse in the …

Drivers And Trends In Catch Of Benthic Resources In Chilean Turfs And Surrounding Open Access Areas, Jennifer Beckensteiner, Andrew M. Scheld, Miriam Fernandez, David M. Kaplan

VIMS Articles

Beginning in the 1990’s, Chile implemented an extensive Territorial User Rights for Fisheries (TURFs) network that now comprises nearly 1,000 TURFs. This network provides a rare opportunity to examine spatial and temporal trends in TURF use and impacts on surrounding open access areas (OAAs). In this analysis, landings of keyhole limpet (Fissurella spp.), kelp (Lessonia spp.) and red sea urchin (Loxechinus albus) were used to estimate catch-per-unit effort (CPUEs) and catch-per-unit area (CPUAs) indices inside and outside TURFs by fishing cove. For these species, CPUEs and CPUAs in 2015 were significantly higher inside TURFs. However, temporal trends analyzed with a …

Impact Of Vaccination And Pathogen Exposure Dosage On Shedding Kinetics Of Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (Ihnv) In Rainbow Trout, Darbi R. Jones, Barbara J. Rutan, Ar Wargo

VIMS Articles

Vaccine efficacy in preventing clinical disease has been well characterized. However, vaccine impacts on transmission under diversefied conditions, such as variable pathogen exposure dosages, are not fully understood. We evaluated the impacts of vaccination on disease-induced host mortality and shedding of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) in Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Fish, in up to three different genetic lines, were exposed to different dosages of IHNV to simulate field variability. Mortality and viral shedding of each individual fish were quantified over the course of infection. As the exposure dosage increased, mortality, number offish shedding virus,daily virus quantity shed, and total …

First Comparison Of French And Australian Oshv-1 Μvars By Bath Exposure, Ca Burge, Kimberly S. Reece, Ak Dhar, P Kirkland, B Morga, L Dégremont, N Faury, B Whipple, A Macintyre, C Friedman

VIMS Articles

Economically devastating mortality events of farmed and wild shellfish due to infectious disease have been reported globally. Currently, one of the most significant disease threats to Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas culture is the ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1), in particular the emerging OsHV-1 microvariant genotypes. OsHV-1 microvariants (OsHV-1 μvars) are spreading globally, and concern is high among growers in areas unaffected by OsHV-1. No study to date has compared the relative virulence among variants. We provide the first challenge study comparing survival of naïve juvenile Pacific oysters exposed to OsHV-1 μvars from Australia (AUS μvar) and France (FRA μvar). Oysters challenged …

Contemporary And Future Distributions Of Cobia, Rachycentron Canadum, Dp Crear, Be Watkins, Vs Saba, Je Graves, Dr Jensen, Aj Hobday, Kevin C. Weng

VIMS Articles

Climate change has influenced the distribution and phenology of marine species, globally. However, knowledge of the impacts of climate change is lacking for many species that support valuable recreational fisheries. Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) are the target of an important recreational fishery along the U.S. east coast that is currently the subject of a management controversy regarding allocation and stock structure. Further, the current and probable future distributions of this migratory species are unclear, further complicating decision-making. The objectives of this study are to better define the contemporary distribution of cobia along the U.S. east coast and to project potential shifts …

Sublethal Effects Of Salinity And Temperature On Non-Native Blue Catfish: Implications For Establishment In Atlantic Slope Drainages, Vaskar Nepal, Mary C. Fabrizio

VIMS Articles

The distribution and further range expansion of non-native blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus in coastal waters throughout the United States Atlantic slope depend, in part, on the salinity tolerance of the fish. However, temperature-mediated sublethal effects of increased salinities on blue catfish biology are not yet known. We assessed the effects of salinity and temperature on growth, body condition, body composition and food consumption of juvenile blue catfish in a controlled laboratory experiment. Temperature and salinity had an interactive effect on blue catfish biology, although most fish survived 112 days in salinities up to 10 psu. At salinities 9 psu) likely …

Population Structure Of The Blue Crab Callinectes Sapidus In The Maryland Coastal Bays, Kristen A. Lycett, Jeffrey D. Shields, J. Sook Chung, Joseph S. Pitula

VIMS Articles

The population structure of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus was examined in the Maryland Coastal Bays (MCB) from 2014 to 2016. Crabs were sampled from April to December of each year. Size–frequency distributions showed a strong seasonal cycle, with small crabs being abundant in April, increasing in size through September, with adult crabs observed in the highest proportions from August through October of each year. A subsample of crabs was assayed for hemolymph ecdysone concentrations to examine molting patterns in field-collected blue crabs. Molting was observed throughout the sampling season, peaking in April for immature crabs, with lows in all …

Multidisciplinary Observing In The World Ocean's Oxygen Minimum Zone Regions: From Climate To Fish - The Voice Initiative, V Garcon, J Karstensen, A Palacz, Et Al, Kevin C. Weng

VIMS Articles

Multidisciplinary ocean observing activities provide critical ocean information to satisfy ever-changing socioeconomic needs and require coordinated implementation. The upper oxycline (transition between high and low oxygen waters) is fundamentally important for the ecosystem structure and can be a useful proxy for multiple observing objectives connected to eastern boundary systems (EBSs) that neighbor oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). The variability of the oxycline and its impact on the ecosystem (VOICE) initiative demonstrates how societal benefits drive the need for integration and optimization of biological, biogeochemical, and physical components of regional ocean observing related to EBS. In liaison with the Global Ocean Oxygen …

Selectivity Of Two Commercial Dredges Fished In The Northwest Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery, Sally Roman, David Rudders

VIMS Articles

Size selectivity curves were estimated for two commercial dredge configurations used in the United States Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) fishery. Traditionally, the New Bedford Style dredge (New Bedford dredge) has been used by the commercial fleet; however, since 2013, the Coonamessett Farm Turtle Deflector Dredge (turtle dredge) has been required seasonally in the Mid-Atlantic region to minimize the capture of sea turtles. This analysis provides estimates of selectivity and relative efficiency for the turtle dredge and the New Bedford dredge. Selectivity information for the turtle dredge is currently unknown, and selectivity for the New Bedford dredge was originally assessed …

A Conservation Palaeobiological Perspective On Chesapeake Bay Oysters, Rowan Lockwood, Roger L. Mann

VIMS Articles

The eastern oyster plays a vital role in estuarine habitats, acting as an ecosystem engineer and improving water quality. Populations of Chesapeake Bay oysters have declined precipitously in recent decades. The fossil record, which preserves 500 000 years of once-thriving reefs, provides a unique opportunity to study pristine reefs to establish a possible baseline for mitigation. For this study, over 900 fossil oysters were examined from three Pleistocene localities in the Chesapeake region. Data on oyster shell lengths, lifespans and population density were assessed. Comparisons to modern Crassostrea virginica, sampled from monitoring surveys of similar environments, reveal that fossil oysters …

Analysing Tropical Elasmobranch Blood Samples In The Field: Blood Stability During Storage And Validation Of The Hemocue® Haemoglobin Analyser, Gail D. Schwieterman, Ian A. Bouyoucos, Kristy Potgieter, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Richard Brill, Jody L. Rummer

VIMS Articles

Blood samples collected from wild-caught fishes can provide important information regarding the effects of capture (and thus post-release survival) as well as other stressors. Unfortunately, blood samples often cannot be analysed immediately upon sampling, and blood parameters (e.g. blood oxygen levels and acid–base parameters) are known to change with storage duration due to the metabolic activity of the red blood cells. We obtained blood samples from both untreated and stressed individuals of both blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and sicklefin lemon shark (Negaprion acutidens) to determine the effects of storage duration on blood pH, haematocrit and …

Minimal Effects Of Oyster Aquaculture On Local Water Quality: Examples From Southern Chesapeake Bay, Jessica Turner, M. Lisa Kellogg, Grace M. Massey, Carl Friedrichs

VIMS Articles

As the oyster aquaculture industry grows and becomes incorporated into management practices, it is important to understand its effects on local environments. This study investigated how water quality and hydrodynamics varied among farms as well as inside versus outside the extent of caged grow-out areas located in southern Chesapeake Bay. Current speed and water quality variables (chlorophyll-a fluorescence, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen) were measured along multiple transects within and adjacent to four oyster farms during two seasons. At the scale of individual aquaculture sites, we were able to detect statistically significant differences in current speed and water quality variables between …

High Salinity Tolerance Of Invasive Blue Catfish Suggests Potential For Further Range Expansion In The Chesapeake Bay Region, Vaskar Nepal, Mary C. Fabrizio

VIMS Articles

In estuaries, salinity is believed to limit the colonization of brackish water habitats by freshwater species. Blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus, recognized as a freshwater species, is an invasive species in tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. Salinity tolerance of this species, though likely to determine its potential range expansion and dispersal in estuarine habitats, is not well-known. To address this issue, we subjected blue catfish to a short-term salinity tolerance experiment and found that this species tolerates salinities higher than most freshwater fishes and that larger blue catfish tolerate elevated salinities for longer periods compared with smaller individuals. Our …

Characterization Of Microsporidian Ameson Herrnkindi Sp. Nov. Infecting Caribbean Spiny Lobsters Panulirus Argus, Hamish J. Small, Gd Stentiford, Dc Behringer, Ma Freeman, Nam Atherley, Kimberly S. Reece, Jeffrey D. Shields

VIMS Articles

The Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus supports a large and valuable fishery in the Caribbean Sea. In 2007-2008, a rare microsporidian parasite with spore characteristics typical of the Ameson genus was detected in 2 spiny lobsters from southeast Florida (FL). However, the parasite species was not confirmed by molecular analyses. To address this deficiency, reported here are structural and molecular data on single lobsters displaying comparable ‘cotton-like’ abdominal muscle containing ovoid microsporidian spores found at different locations in FL in 2014 and 2018 and in Saint Kitts and Nevis Islands in 2017. In the lobster from 2014, multiple life stages …

Comparisons Of Mean Length-Based Mortality Estimators And Age-Structured Models For Six Southeastern Us Stocks, Quang C. Huynh, Nancie J. Cummings, John M. Hoenig

VIMS Articles

Length-based mortality estimators have been developed as alternative assessment methods for data-limited stocks. We compared mortality estimates from three methodologically related mean length-based methods to those from an age-structured model (ASM). We estimated fishing mortality and determined overfishing status, i.e. if F/F_MSY > 1, for six stocks which support important recreational and commercial fisheries in the southeastern United States. The similarities in historical fishing mortality between the length-based methods and the most recent assessments varied among the case studies, but the classification of overfishing status in the terminal year did not differ based on the choice of model …

The Importance Of Antarctic Krill In Biogeochemical Cycles, El Cavan, A Belcher, Sl Hill, S Kawaguchi, S Mccormack, B Meyer, S Nicol, K Schmidt, Deborah K. Steinberg, Ga Tarling, Pw Boyd

VIMS Articles

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are swarming, oceanic crustaceans, up to two inches long, and best known as prey for whales and penguins – but they have another important role. With their large size, high biomass and daily vertical migrations they transport and transform essential nutrients, stimulate primary productivity and influence the carbon sink. Antarctic krill are also fished by the Southern Ocean’s largest fishery. Yet how krill fishing impacts nutrient fertilisation and the carbon sink in the Southern Ocean is poorly understood. Our synthesis shows fishery management should consider the influential biogeochemical role of both adult and larval …

Ecosystem Services Of Restored Oyster Reefs In A Chesapeake Bay Tributary: Abundance And Foraging Of Estuarine Fishes, Bruce Pfirrmann, Rochelle D. Seitz

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Restoration of oyster reefs in coastal ecosystems may enhance fish and fisheries by providing valuable refuge and foraging habitat, but understanding the effects of restoration requires an improved understanding of fish habitat use and trophic dynamics, coupled with long-term (>5 yr) monitoring of restored habitats. We evaluated the relationship between large (3-5 ha) restored subtidal oyster reefs and mobile estuarine fishes in the Lynnhaven River System (LRS), Virginia, more than 8 yr following reef construction. We compared the (1) diversity, (2) abundance, (3) size, (4) stomach fullness, (5) diet composition, and (6) daily consumption rate of fishes collected from …

Temporal, Spatial, And Biological Variation Of Nematode Epidemiology In American Eels, Zt Warshafsky, Troy D. Tuckey, Wk Vogelbein, Rj Latour, Ar Wargo

VIMS Articles

This is the accepted manuscript version of the article.

American eels (Anguilla rostrata) are infected by the non-native parasitic nematode Anguillicoloides crassus, which can cause severe swim bladder damage. We investigated epidemiology of A. crassus to better understand its population-level effects on American eels. Nematode prevalence, abundance, and intensity and swim bladder damage were quantified in glass eels, elvers, and yellow eels from the lower Chesapeake Bay and related to season of capture, river system, and total length. Age-variant force-of-infection and disease-associated mortality were estimated using a three-state irreversible disease model, which assumes recovery is not possible. Results showed glass …