Marine Biology Commons^™

Shallow-Water Coral Communities Support The Separation Of Marine Ecoregions On The West-Central Florida Gulf Coast, Brian K. Walker, Shelby Eagan, Cory Ames, Sandra Brooke, Sean Keenan, Rene Baumstark

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Florida’s west coast is a 170,000 km² bedrock shelf (west Florida shelf, WFS) comprised of north-south discontinuous carbonate outcroppings extending more than 200 km from the intertidal zone to a depth of 200 m. These outcrops support diverse benthic communities, which contribute to a multi-billion dollar recreational and commercial fishing industry, yet only about 5% of their extent has been studied in detail. Benthic communities shift over a 6.5° geographic range, but the locations of these shifts are not well-defined. Previous studies have suggested a break in biogeographic regions at Tampa Bay, south at Cape Romano, and north at …

Effectiveness Of Topical Antibiotics In Treating Corals Affected By Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, Karen L. Neely, Kevin A. Macaulay, Emily K. Hower, Michelle A. Dobler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Since 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has led to mass mortality of the majority of hard coral species on the Florida Reef Tract. Following the successful treatment of SCTLD lesions on laboratory corals using water dosed with antibiotics, two topical pastes were developed as vehicles to directly apply antibiotic treatments to wild corals. These pastes were tested as placebos and with additions of amoxicillin on active SCTLD lesions on multiple coral species. The effectiveness of the pastes without antibiotics (placebo treatments) was 4% and 9%, no different from untreated controls. Adding amoxicillin to both pastes significantly increased effectiveness …

Zooplankton Diel Vertical Migration During Antarctic Summer, John A. Conroy, Deborah K. Steinberg, Patrica S. Thibodeau, Oscar Schofield

VIMS Articles

Zooplankton diel vertical migration (DVM) during summer in the polar oceans is presumed to be dampened due to near continuous daylight. We analyzed zooplankton diel vertical distribution patterns in a wide range of taxa along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) to assess if DVM occurs, and if so, what environmental controls modulate DVM in the austral summer. Zooplankton were collected during January and February in paired day-night, depth-stratified tows through the mesopelagic zone along the WAP from 2009-2017, as well as in day and night epipelagic net tows from 1993-2017. The copepod Metridia gerlachei, salp Salpa thompsoni, pteropod …

Cal Poly Pier Master Plan, Troy A. Lawson

Master's Theses

The Cal Poly Pier (Pier) Master/Facility Plan (FP) document provides the vision of the future for the Pier, a marine science research facility. The Plan facilitates project development and management of the Pier while meeting university and department research goals. Specifically, the FP document establishes goals and strategies to direct long-term development of the Pier, streamlines agency approval and permit requirements, provides context for pier management, and assists the permitting process for future development as it relates to regulatory permits and programmatic growth on the Cal Poly Pier to help meet goals of the Center for Coastal Marine Sciences (CCMS). …

Accreting Coral Reefs In A Highly Urbanized Environment, Fraser A. Januchowski-Hartley, Andrew G. Bauman, Kyle M. Morgan, Jovena C. L. Seah, Danwei Huang, Peter A. Todd

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Globally, many coral reefs have fallen into negative carbonate budget states, where biological erosion exceeds carbonate production. The compounding effects of urbanization and climate change have caused reductions in coral cover and shifts in community composition that may limit the ability of reefs to maintain rates of vertical accretion in line with rising sea levels. Here we report on coral reef carbonate budget surveys across seven coral reefs in Singapore, which persist under chronic turbidity and in highly disturbed environmental conditions, with less than 20% light penetration to 2 m depth. Results show that mean net carbonate budgets across Singapore’s …

Uncovering The Role Of Symbiodiniaceae Assemblage Composition And Abundance In Coral Bleaching Response By Minimizing Sampling And Evolutionary Biases, Timothy D. Swain, Simon Lax, Vadim Backman, Luisa A. Marcelino

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background

Biodiversity and productivity of coral-reef ecosystems depend upon reef-building corals and their associations with endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae, which offer diverse functional capabilities to their hosts. The number of unique symbiotic partners (richness) and relative abundances (evenness) have been hypothesized to affect host response to climate change induced thermal stress. Symbiodiniaceae assemblages with many unique phylotypes may provide greater physiological flexibility or form less stable symbioses; assemblages with low abundance phylotypes may allow corals to retain thermotolerant symbionts or represent associations with less-suitable symbionts.

Results

Here we demonstrate that true richness of Symbiodiniaceae phylotype assemblages is generally not discoverable from …

Porewater Carbonate Chemistry Dynamics In A Temperate And A Subtropical Seagrass System, Theodor Kindeberg, Nicholas R. Bates, Travis A. Courtney, Tyler Cyronak, Alyssa Griffin, Fred T. Mackenzie, May-Linn Paulsen, Andreas J. Andersson

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Seagrass systems are integral components of both local and global carbon cycles and can substantially modify seawater biogeochemistry, which has ecological ramifications. However, the influence of seagrass on porewater biogeochemistry has not been fully described, and the exact role of this marine macrophyte and associated microbial communities in the modification of porewater chemistry remains equivocal. In the present study, carbonate chemistry in the water column and porewater was investigated over diel timescales in contrasting, tidally influenced seagrass systems in Southern California and Bermuda, including vegetated (Zostera marina) and unvegetated biomes (0–16 cm) in Mission Bay, San Diego, USA …

Behavioural Effects Of The Common Brain-Infecting Parasite Pseudoloma Neurophilia In Laboratory Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Helene L. E. Midttun, Marco A. Vindas, Lauren E. Nadler, Øyvind Øverli, Ida B. Johansen

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Research conducted on model organisms may be biased due to undetected pathogen infections. Recently, screening studies discovered high prevalence of the microsporidium Pseudoloma neurophilia in zebrafish (Danio rerio) facilities. This spore-forming unicellular parasite aggregates in brain regions associated with motor function and anxiety, and despite its high occurrence little is known about how sub-clinical infection affects behaviour. Here, we assessed how P. neurophilia infection alters the zebrafish´s response to four commonly used neurobehavioral tests, namely: mirror biting, open field, light/dark preference and social preference, used to quantify aggression, exploration, anxiety, and sociability. Although sociability and aggression remained unaltered, …

Erratum: Charles G. Messing (2020) A Revision Of The Unusual Feather Star Genus Atopocrinus With A Description Of A New Species (Echinodermata: Crinoidea). Zootaxa, 4731: 471–491., Charles G. Messing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Erratum.

Fine-Scale Coral Connectivity Pathways In The Florida Reef Tract: Implications For Conservation And Restoration, Charles Frys, Antoine Saint-Amand, Matthieu Le Henaff, Joana Figueiredo, Alyson Kuba, Brian K. Walker, Jonathan Lambrechts, Valentin Vallaeys, David Vincent, Emmanuel Hanert

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Connectivity between coral reefs is critical to ensure their resilience and persistence against disturbances. It is driven by ocean currents, which often have very complex patterns within reef systems. Only biophysical models that simulate both the fine-scale details of ocean currents and the life-history traits of larvae transported by these currents can help to estimate connectivity in large reef systems. Here we use the unstructured-mesh coastal ocean model SLIM that locally achieves a spatial resolution of ~100 m, 10 times finer than existing models, over the entire Florida Reef Tract (FRT). It allows us to simulate larval dispersal between the …

Survivorship And Growth In Staghorn Coral (Acropora Cervicornis) Outplanting Projects In The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Matt Ware, Eliza N. Garfield, Ken Nedimyer, Jessica Levy, Les Kaufman, William F. Precht, R. Scott Winters, Steven Miller

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Significant population declines in Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata began in the 1970s and now exceed over 90%. The losses were caused by a combination of coral disease and bleaching, with possible contributions from other stressors, including pollution and predation. Reproduction in the wild by fragment regeneration and sexual recruitment is inadequate to offset population declines. Starting in 2007, the Coral Restoration Foundation™ evaluated the feasibility of outplanting A. cervicornis colonies to reefs in the Florida Keys to restore populations at sites where the species was previously abundant. Reported here are the results of 20 coral outplanting projects …

The Role Of Bacterial Symbionts And Bioluminescence In The Pyrosome, Pyrosoma Atlanticum, Alexis Berger

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The pelagic tunicate, Pyrosoma atlanticum, is known for its brilliant bioluminescence, but the mechanism causing this bioluminescence has not been fully characterized. This study identifies the bacterial bioluminescent symbionts of P. atlanticum collected in the northern Gulf of Mexico using various methods such as electron microscopy, light microscopy, and molecular genetics. The bacteria are localized within a specific pyrosome light organ. Bioluminescent symbiotic bacteria of Vibrionaceae composed >50% of taxa in tunicate samples (n=13), which was shown by utilizing current molecular genetics methodologies. While searching for bacterial lux genes in 2 tunicate samples, we also serendipitously generated a draft …

Harold B. "Bud" Rollins (1 February 1939-9 January 2017), Daniel H. Sandweiss

Andean Past

This is an appreciation of the life and work of invertebrate paleontologist. Harold B. Rollins emphasizing his contributions to our understanding of ENSO.

Critical Habitats And Biodiversity: Inventory, Thresholds And Governance, Alex Rogers, Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, Ward Appeltans, Jorge Assis, Lisa T. Ballance, Philippe Cury, Carlos M. Duarte, Fabio Favoretto, Joy Kumagai, Catherine Lovelock, Patricia Miloslavich, Aidi Niamir, David Obura, Bethan C. O'Leary, Gabriel Reygondeau, Callum Roberts, Yvonne Sadovy, Tracey Sutton, Derek P. Tittensor, Enriqueta Velarde

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Key Messages:

• Evidence suggests that ocean biodiversity at all levels is being lost as a result of the direct and indirect impacts of human pressures. The main drivers of biodiversity loss are overexploitation and human pressures in coastal environments (development, habitat loss, pollution, disturbance). Increasingly, climate change and ocean acidification are and will be drivers of biodiversity loss especially in sensitive coastal ecosystems.
  
  
• Despite advances in understanding the distribution of species and habitats in the ocean, many aspects of marine biodiversity remain poorly understood. As a result, changes in marine biodiversity are difficult to ascertain and there is a critical …

Providential Tides: The Double Low Water Of Narragansett Bay, D. G. Bowers, J. M. Brubaker

VIMS Articles

We investigate a mechanism for producing double-lows and double-highs in the semi-diurnal tide by selective amplification of higher harmonics in a resonant gulf. A double low water is observed at Providence, RI, near the head of Narragansett Bay on days when there is a flattening of the low water tidal curve at Newport, at the mouth of the bay. The flattening is caused by an unusually large quarter-diurnal component to the tide at Newport. The quarter diurnal component has the right phase (a maximum close to the time of the minimum in the semi-diurnal tide) to produce a prolonged flattening …

The Microscopic Threat With A Macroscopic Impact: Microplastics Along The Southeast Florida Reef Tract, Emma Wightman

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Microplastics have been found in large quantities in marine water samples and biota around the world. These microplastics, when present in the marine environment, decrease water quality and negatively impact marine life. This research quantified and classified marine plastic pollution along the Southeast Florida Reef Tract (SEFRT), in order to understand how this plastic is entering the ocean and the scope of the microplastic contamination in the northern SEFRT. Surface and bottom water samples were collected at 7 sites along the SEFRT for 6 months, filtered, and microscopically analyzed for microplastic content and composition using Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR). Classification …

Symbiosis And Bioinvasive Dynamics Of Durusdinium Trenchii And Its Acroporid Coral Hosts, David Craig Lawson

HCNSO Student Capstones

Biological invasions are a growing threat to coral reef ecosystems, as increasing anthropogenic transport and changing environmental patterns allow invasive species to establish and spread. Durusdinium trenchii is a dinoflagellate that has invaded the Greater Caribbean reef system and established symbioses with coral hosts. Establishment and persistence of invasive endosymbionts like D. trenchii could indicate a shift in the clade composition of coral holobionts worldwide. Statistical analyses were performed on the GeoSymbio database (Franklin et al. 2012) to determine whether differences in clade composition have occurred over time. Factors that influence biological invasions in marine ecosystems were assessed and analogous …

A Biogeographical Assessment Of Arctic Marine Fungi, Bentley E. Simpson

Honors College

Marine fungi play a crucial role in recycling nutrients and channeling energy to higher trophic levels in the world oceans. Despite their critical role, their distributions and community composition, particularly in the Arctic, are largely unknown. This study reveals depth-related trends of abundance, diversity, and community composition of Arctic marine fungi through analysis of data obtained in the Tara Oceans expedition. With samples from surface (0-50 m), deep chlorophyll max (50-200 m), and mesopelagic (200-1000 m) depths, relative abundance, operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness, and diversity were found to increase as a function of depth. Basidiomycota and Ascomycota were found …

Examination Of Parasite Assemblages In Killifish Of The Genus Fundulus Across The Atlantic Coast Of The United States And Canada, Derek Garvey

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Killifish of the genus Fundulus were examined to assess the factors shaping parasite community structure at a genus level. A database of previous parasite surveys on Fundulus species across the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada was created from a literature review. The database included parasite and environmental factor data from 15 sources. Additional sites from New Brunswick, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and South Carolina were sampled for Fundulus species. The resulting database includes data for 10 species from a total of 57 unique geographic sites. Data on the diversity and abundance of metazoan parasites were …

Fish Assemblages Associated With A Newly Deployed Eco-Engineered Artificial Seawall In The Intercoastal Waters Of Port Everglades, Olmo Cinti

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

As the demand for urbanization of coastal areas increases, there is a strong interest to create new infrastructures that would replace natural habitats (Airoldi & Beck, 2007; Dugan et al., 2011). These infrastructures, due to their differences in composition and structure, are often associated with decreasing biodiversity, and proliferation of invasive species (Firth et al., 2014; Moschella et al., 2005). To minimize or attenuate these negative effects of hardening shorelines eco-engineering can be implemented. This kind of approach focuses on the modification of artificial habitats to enhance services that would not be otherwise obtained (Barbier et al., 2011; Mayer-Pinto et …

Understanding The Toxicity Of Single Hydrocarbons, Oil, And Dispersed Oil: A Species Sensitivity Assessment For Five Atlantic Coral Species, Nicholas R. Turner

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral reefs are keystone coastal ecosystems that are at risk of exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons from a range of sources, including oil spill incidents and chronic runoff, and are usually one of the highest valued natural resources for protection in Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA)/Spill Impact Mitigation Assessment (SIMA) of response methods and environmental damage. Previous research evaluating hydrocarbon impacts to corals has resulted in no clear characterization of sensitivity, as work has generally focused on higher-level effects, compounded by significant variability in experimental methodology. This represents an important knowledge gap in oil spill preparedness and response as it relates …

A Temporal Analysis Of The Euphausiid Assemblage In The Gulf Of Mexico After The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, With Notes On Seasonal Reproduction, Nathan A. La Spina

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the results of the first multi-year study on the euphausiid assemblage in the vicinity of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS), covering depths down to 1000 m. There are no data on the euphausiid assemblage from this region prior to the oil spill; therefore, the data in this study were analyzed with respect to year (samples collected in 2011 vs. those collected between 2015 – 2016), and season (May vs. August) to determine if any trends were present. These results presented here show a statistically significant decrease in both abundance and biomass between 2011 and 2015 – …

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella Frontalis) And Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) Nearshore Distribution, Bimini, The Bahamas, Skylar L. Muller

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Bimini, The Bahamas, includes two islands surrounded by a diverse assemblage of ecosystems and a large array of organisms, including two delphinid species, Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus, inshore ecotype). Within a predefined nearshore zone, individuals of both species had largely overlapping distribution from 2003-2018; Atlantic spotted dolphins tended to disperse farther to the north while bottlenose dolphins were located farther south. The distribution of both species varied significantly by year. Atlantic spotted dolphin sightings varied across years and months while bottlenose dolphin sightings varied by month, with differences between …

Hiding In Plain Sight: Elopomorph Larvae Are Important Contributors To Fish Biodiversity In A Low-Latitude Oceanic Ecosystem, Jon A. Moore, Dante Fenolio, April Coan, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Leptocephalus larvae of elopomorph fishes are a cryptic component of fish diversity in nearshore and oceanic habitats. However, identifying those leptocephali can be important in illuminating species richness in a region. Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, sampling of offshore fishes in the epi-, meso-, and upper bathypelagic depth strata of the northern Gulf of Mexico resulted in 8989 identifiable specimens of leptocephalus larvae or transforming juveniles, in 118 taxa representing 83 recognized and established species and an additional 35 distinctive leptocephalus morphotypes not yet linked to a known described species. Leptocephali account for ∼13% of the total …

A Survey Of The Order Tetraodontiformes On Coral Reef Habitats In Southeast Florida, Anne C. Sevon

HCNSO Student Capstones

The economy of south Florida relies, in part, on the recreation and tourism industries; both of which are integrally linked to Florida’s coastal ecosystems. These ecosystems provide tourists the opportunity to explore mangroves and the Everglades, enjoy local beaches, and experience the ocean with fishing charters, scuba diving adventures, and snorkeling. One of the major attractions for tourists is the Florida Reef Tract (FRT), which includes multiple coral reef and hardbottom habitats that extend from St. Lucie Inlet through the Florida Keys and into the Dry Tortugas. The FRT has been a major part of research because a wide range …

Predation Efficiency And Prey Choice Of Estuarine Organisms Under Varying Anthropogenic Light Types And Intensities, Carmen Montalvo

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The coastlines of Florida are becoming highly urbanized, and the growing human population is affecting many mangrove and estuarine habitats. Exploring the predation efficiency and prey choice of estuarine organisms under varying anthropogenic light types and intensities could help determine anthropogenic effects. Mangrove habitats support both relatively large predators such as Blue Striped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) and Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus), and a diversity of smaller taxa that occupy lower trophic levels, including Grass Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus) and Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). Understanding how predation (or predation evasion) efficiencies are affected by different …

Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Analysis Of Mangrove Ecosystems Using Gis, Kayla Caldwell

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is accelerating beyond what is natural due to excessive emissions from human activities. The sea level has been rising for many years and is currently at a rate of 3.6 mm/yr. Mangroves are known to only keep pace with a sea level rate of less than 1.2 mm/yr. Mangroves are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels if they are not able to keep pace through vertical sediment accretion or inland migration. To test the vulnerability of the south Florida mangrove ecosystems to sea level rise, this study analyzed changes in the mangrove forest coverage of the Oleta River …

Comparative Study Of The Effects Of Light On Photophore Ultrastructure From Two Families Of Deep-Sea Decapod Crustaceans: Oplophoridae And Sergestidae, Jamie E. Sickles

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Counterillumination, the mechanism by which pelagic species produce bioluminescence to replace the light blocked by their bodies to hide their silhouettes, has been known for over 100 years. However, little is known about how these animals are able to so precisely replicate the intensity of downwelling light. The recent discovery of opsins in photophores (Bracken-Grissom et al. 2020) suggests that these autogenic organs (i.e. non-bacterial) may be sensitive to light, in addition to their function of emitting visible light. The study presented here is 1) the first ultrastructural assessment of photophores in species Systellaspis debilis, Janicella spinicauda, Parasergestes armatus, …

Pelagic Habitat Partitioning Of Late-Larval And Juvenile Tunas In The Oceanic Gulf Of Mexico, Nina Pruzinsky, Rosanna Milligan, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Tunas are ecologically important in pelagic ecosystems, but due to their high economic value, large-bodied species are overfished. Declines in fishery landings of large-bodied tuna species in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are expected to increase fishing pressures on unmanaged, small-bodied tuna species, whose life history traits are less known. While predicting spawning stocks and recruitment success typically focuses on estimates of larval abundances, juveniles may provide a better estimate of future adult stock sizes, as they are more likely to survive to adulthood because mortality rates scale inversely with body size. However, distributional studies on juveniles are rare, leading …

An Investigation Into The Factors Influencing Growth And Survival Of Caribbean Acroporid Corals In A Floating Nursery, Cassie M. Vanwynen

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

For decades, coral reef ecosystems have been in decline. To promote recovery, restoration efforts have been implemented for many degraded reefs across the globe. In the Caribbean, there is restoration focus on the coral genus Acropora. Current methods target Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata, two threatened species of branching coral that can mate to form a hybrid taxon, A. prolifera. By including the hybrid in restoration efforts, researchers may better understand how this taxon may promote nursery expansion and outplanting in restoration efforts. Establishing efforts in novel areas may further advance restoration methods by comparing location differences in nursery …