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Shell Utilization Pattern By The Hermit Crab Isocheles Sawayai Forest And Saint Laurent, 1968 (Anomura, Diogenidae) From Margarita Island, Caribbean Sea, Venezuela, Lee A. Galindo, Juan A. Bolanos, Fernando L. Mantelatto Jan 2008

Shell Utilization Pattern By The Hermit Crab Isocheles Sawayai Forest And Saint Laurent, 1968 (Anomura, Diogenidae) From Margarita Island, Caribbean Sea, Venezuela, Lee A. Galindo, Juan A. Bolanos, Fernando L. Mantelatto

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Isocheles sawayai is a hermit crab that is occasionally mentioned in the literature, and recently its distribution was extended to Venezuelan waters. Because no information on the biology and shell use patterns of this species inhabiting Caribbean waters is available, we provide the first information on shell occupation patterns of I. sawayai from Venezuela. Specimens were collected monthly from January to December 2000 along the sandy shore of Margarita Island, Venezuela. The 942 specimens collected showed different shell use patterns between the sexes and according to the reproductive condition of the females. The gastropods Leucozonia nassa (37.37%), Engoniophos unicinctus (25.37%), …


Coral Reefs Of Miskitus Cays, Nicaragua, Ana C. Fonseca Jan 2008

Coral Reefs Of Miskitus Cays, Nicaragua, Ana C. Fonseca

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The Miskitus Cays, on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, consist of eighty mangrove and two sand and gravel cays, surrounded by seagrass beds, octocoral gardens, patch reefs, reef crests, extended algae platforms, short reef walls, and two marginal reefs around the sand cays. Seventy sites were inspected and eighteen sites were selected for rapid assessments in order to determine the status of the coral reefs. Linear transects and the intercept point methods were used to determine the relative benthic cover, and the density, size and health of coral colonies was estimated following the AGRRA protocol. Water was highly turbid due …


Habitat Condition And Associated Macrofauna Reflect Differences Between Protected And Exposed Seagrass Landscapes, Chet F. Rakocinski, Cynthia A. Moncreiff, Mark S. Peterson, Katherine E. Vanderkooy, Todd A. Randall Jan 2008

Habitat Condition And Associated Macrofauna Reflect Differences Between Protected And Exposed Seagrass Landscapes, Chet F. Rakocinski, Cynthia A. Moncreiff, Mark S. Peterson, Katherine E. Vanderkooy, Todd A. Randall

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Seagrass landscape configurations associated with different physical settings can affect habitat-structure and plant-animal relationships. We compared shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) habitat and macrofaunal variables between two fragmented seagrass landscapes at barrier-island locations subject to different disturbance regimes. Five seagrass habitat variables including above ground biomass (AGB), shoot number, per shoot biomass, epiphyte biomass and below ground biomass (BGB), differed significantly between the island landscapes. Per shoot biomass and epiphyte biomass also varied significantly over the seagrass growing season; and epiphyte biomass showed a strong landscape-time interaction. Abundances of microgastropods normalized to AGB differed significantly between landscapes. An inverse …


Variability In Estimating Abundance Of Postlarval Brown Shrimp, Farfantepenaeus Aztecus (Ives), Migrating Into Galveston Bay, Texas, Geoffrey A. Matthews Jan 2008

Variability In Estimating Abundance Of Postlarval Brown Shrimp, Farfantepenaeus Aztecus (Ives), Migrating Into Galveston Bay, Texas, Geoffrey A. Matthews

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Three sets of monitoring data were used to examine the variability associated with abundance estimation of postlarval brown shrimp, Farfantepenaeus aztecus (Ives) in Bolivar Roads, Texas—the main connection between the Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay. Abundance of postlarvae (PL) caught with Renfro beam trawl varied greatly in different years on the same dates. A “spring peak” of brown shrimp PL migrating into Galveston Bay was found for 2 April with a quadratic regression fit to 6-day moving averages of daily mean abundance from 22 yrs of monitoring data: Ln(PL+1) = 0.8736 + 0.09037Day - 0.0004934Day2 (adj-R2 = …


Preliminary Survey Of Fish Community Composition In Seagrass Habitat In Two Back-Reef Lagoons Of The Southern Mexican Caribbean, Lauren A. Yeager, J. Ernesto Arias-Gonzalez Jan 2008

Preliminary Survey Of Fish Community Composition In Seagrass Habitat In Two Back-Reef Lagoons Of The Southern Mexican Caribbean, Lauren A. Yeager, J. Ernesto Arias-Gonzalez

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Little is known about seagrass fish communities in the southern Mexican Caribbean. Diurnal and nocturnal fish community structure in seagrass habitat were compared between back-reef lagoons using a visual census technique in a natural protected area within a national park (Xcalak) and an unprotected area (Mahahual). Seagrass fish communities differed significantly between the two locations in the daytime and Xcalak supported greater total fish densities. Species richness did not differ statistically between locations. Observed nighttime fish communities were characterized by low species richness and low fish abundance when compared to diurnal communities. Heavy tourist use and coastal development may have …


Seasonal Patterns Of Juvenile Fish Abundance In Seagrass Meadows In Teague Bay Bank Barrier Reef Lagoon, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ivan Mateo, William J. Tobias Jan 2008

Seasonal Patterns Of Juvenile Fish Abundance In Seagrass Meadows In Teague Bay Bank Barrier Reef Lagoon, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ivan Mateo, William J. Tobias

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Considerable knowledge has been gained regarding fish use of nearshore habitats such as seagrass meadows or mangrove lagoons in the Caribbean (e.g., evaluation of nursery value, trophic linkages). However, few studies have been conducted on fish recruitment to seagrass habitat around the Caribbean. Juvenile reef fish in seagrass meadows at Teague Bay, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands were surveyed from October 1998 through September 1999 using a visual census technique. Grunts (Haemulidae) were the most abundant juveniles observed (60% of all fish), followed by wrasses (Labridae, 20%) and parrotfishes (Scaridae, 13%). French grunt, Haemulon flavolineatum, were the most numerous …


Carpoapseudes Heardi N. Sp. (Tanaidacea: Apseudomorpha) From Caribbean Waters Near Tobago, Tom Hansknecht, Katia Christol Dos Santos Jan 2008

Carpoapseudes Heardi N. Sp. (Tanaidacea: Apseudomorpha) From Caribbean Waters Near Tobago, Tom Hansknecht, Katia Christol Dos Santos

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Carpoapseudes heardi n. sp. is described from samples collected from depths of 421 and 537 m off Tobago and is the first Caribbean record for the genus. The new species bears a resemblance to Carpoapseudes serratospinosus Lang, 1968 and other related species in the shortened dactylus unguis combination of pereopod 1, but has parallel eyespines like Carpoapseudes bacescui Guţu, 1975 and Carpoapseudes simplicirostris (Norman and Stebbing, 1886). Other diagnostic characters include pereopods 2 and 3 with basal spurs, labrum with paired lobes, labial palp with two terminal setae, maxillipedal bases with outer crenulations, and pleopods with 1-articled rami. It was …


Documentation Of A Gulf Sturgeon Spawning Site On The Yellow River, Alabama, Usa, Brian R. Kreiser, J. Berg, M. Randall, F. Parauka, S. Floyd, B. Young, K. Sulak Jan 2008

Documentation Of A Gulf Sturgeon Spawning Site On The Yellow River, Alabama, Usa, Brian R. Kreiser, J. Berg, M. Randall, F. Parauka, S. Floyd, B. Young, K. Sulak

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The Gulf Sturgeon Recovery Plan (USFWS, GSMFC and NMFS 1995) stressed the need to provide maximum protection to Gulf sturgeon spawning habitat. The approach employed by various Gulf sturgeon researchers, including ourselves, to document spawning has been to identify potential spawning habitat on the basis of physical characteristics and/or tracking data, collect eggs, and then raise the eggs in the laboratory until the point where the larval fish can be identified (e.g., Marchant and Shutters 1996, Sulak and Clugston 1998, 1999). However, collecting eggs in any appreciable number is usually difficult, and these eggs may not always be viable upon …


Behavior Of An Escolar Lepidocybium Flavobrunneum In The Windward Passage As Determined By Popup Satellite Archival Tagging, D.W. Kerstetter, P.H. Rice, E.D. Prince Jan 2008

Behavior Of An Escolar Lepidocybium Flavobrunneum In The Windward Passage As Determined By Popup Satellite Archival Tagging, D.W. Kerstetter, P.H. Rice, E.D. Prince

Gulf and Caribbean Research

In June 2003, fisheries research was conducted in the Windward Passage using a chartered commercial pelagic longline vessel (Rice and Snodgrass 2003). This paper describes the habitat use by an escolar in this location tagged with a pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT) that remained attached to the fish for 14 d. Data recovered from the PSAT were used to directly document diel vertical migration and ambient temperature range for the first time in a mesopelagic teleost.


An Unusual Reaction And Other Observations Of Sperm Whales Near Fixed-Wing Aircraft, Mari A. Smultea, Joseph R. Mobley Jr., Dagmar Fertl, Gregory L. Fulling Jan 2008

An Unusual Reaction And Other Observations Of Sperm Whales Near Fixed-Wing Aircraft, Mari A. Smultea, Joseph R. Mobley Jr., Dagmar Fertl, Gregory L. Fulling

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Reported behavioral reactions by sperm whales to aircraft are sparse, highly variable, and largely anecdotal as summarized below. Observers since the whaling era began have noted that sperm whales tend to be skittish (Whitehead 2003). When documented, sperm whale reactions to both planes and helicopters range from no reaction (Clarke 1956, Gambell 1968, Green et al. 1992) to reactions such as increased surface intervals and dramatic behavioral changes (Clarke 1956, Fritts et al. 1983, Mullin et al. 1991, Würsig et al. 1998, Richter et al. 2003, 2006). Given the lack of supporting data for either case, it is important that …


First Record Of Ceratapsis Monstrosa, A Larval Oceanic Penaeoid Crustacean, From The Gulf Of Mexico, James S. Franks, Adrienne Russell Flowers Jan 2008

First Record Of Ceratapsis Monstrosa, A Larval Oceanic Penaeoid Crustacean, From The Gulf Of Mexico, James S. Franks, Adrienne Russell Flowers

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The genus Cerataspis (Gray, 1838) (Crustacea, Decapoda), assigned to the Penaeoidea by Burkenroad (1936) and Heegaard (1966), has circumglobal distribution between 40ºN and 40ºS (Morgan et al. 1985) and is represented in the Atlantic Ocean by two rarely collected species, C. monstrosa and C. petiti. Descriptions of both species are based on the larval forms since their adult form remain undescribed (Morgan et al. 1985). Although the larval development of Cerataspis is described by five mysis stages (I-V) (Heegaard 1966), the large larva is very un-mysid like and appears more like that of a megalops with the abdomen bend …


Seagrass Distribution In The Pensacola Bay System, Northwest Florida, Michael A. Lewis, Richard Devereux, Pete Bourgeois Jan 2008

Seagrass Distribution In The Pensacola Bay System, Northwest Florida, Michael A. Lewis, Richard Devereux, Pete Bourgeois

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Aerial surveys of seagrass coverage in the Pensacola Bay system (PBS) have been conducted during 1960, 1980, 1992 and 2003. This report summarizes the results for the 2003 survey and compares the results to those previously reported for other surveys. The estimated coverage of seagrass for the PBS during 2003 was 1,654 ha. Continuous and patchy coverages ranged from 0 to 684 ha and 11 to 543 ha, respectively, for five PBS subsystems. In 2003, the majority of seagrass coverage occurred in Santa Rosa Sound (76%). Declines in total coverage occurred for East Bay (93%) and Escambia Bay (75%) whereas …


Occurrence Of Larval And Juvenile Fish In Mangrove Habitats In The Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Matthew Campbell, Kim Withers, James Tolan Jan 2008

Occurrence Of Larval And Juvenile Fish In Mangrove Habitats In The Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Matthew Campbell, Kim Withers, James Tolan

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Mangrove forests are ubiquitous in low lying coastal areas of tropical and subtropical zones of the world, including the lagoons of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Mangroves are habitat for juvenile fish of both oceanic and estuarine origin (Vásquez-Yoemans 1992, Vásquez-Yoemans et al. 1992, Laegdsgaard and Johnson 1995). Development of the Caribbean coast of Mexico north and south of the Sian Ka’an Reserve is in large part focused on tourism-related endeavors such as destination resorts, scuba diving and fishing. While some of the development is innocuous, land acquisition for development of resorts has fragmented mangrove habitats in …