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Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology
Characterizing Gray Snapper (Lutjanus Griseus) Life History In The Northcentral Gulf Of Mexico: Age And Growth, Mortality, And Reproduction, Edward Kim
<strong> Theses and Dissertations </strong>
Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) constitute a significant recreational fishery and minor commercial fishery throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and review of the recent assessment determined that the stock is overfished and has been undergoing overfishing. The absence of regional baseline data in the northcentral Gulf of Mexico, combined with projections of range expansion and subsequent population growth due to climatic warming, highlight the need for the present investigation into the age and growth, mortality, and reproduction of this species in Alabama and Mississippi. Sex-specific growth curves constructed using the von Bertalanffy growth function demonstrated a significantly greater mean asymptotic length …
Site Fidelity Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Using Elemental Analyses And Photo-Identification, Lauren R. Clance
Site Fidelity Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Using Elemental Analyses And Photo-Identification, Lauren R. Clance
<strong> Theses and Dissertations </strong>
The objective of this study was to determine if bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Alabama waters acquire location-specific elemental signatures indicative of site fidelity. I measured trace metal concentrations (Chapter II) and stable isotope ratios (Chapter III) in skin from free-ranging dolphins remotely biopsied in Mobile Bay, the northern Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and eastern Mississippi Sound (EMSS). Elemental findings were corroborated with photo-identification data. I found that dolphins acquired some location-specific elements indicative of site fidelity, with the greatest differences at geographic extremes, particularly relative to salinity. For trace metals, highest concentrations were found in winter, consistent with higher …
Coastal Sediment Response To The Diel Oxygen Cycle, Kara Gadeken
Coastal Sediment Response To The Diel Oxygen Cycle, Kara Gadeken
<strong> Theses and Dissertations </strong>
Shallow coastal sediments are sites of intense respiration and organic matter breakdown. Macroinfauna bioturbate and bioirrigate sediments which supplies microbes with oxygen and newly deposited organic material from surface sediments, facilitating microbial remineralization of organic matter. These processes depend heavily on the concentration of dissolved oxygen in overlying water. Shallow water oxygen patterns often follow a diel cycle as dissolved oxygen decreases at night due to respiration and then increases during the day with photosynthesis, creating recurring suboxic conditions that are potentially stressful to organisms. Sediment oxygen flux is known to depend on ambient dissolved oxygen concentration, but behavioral responses …