Life Sciences Commons^™

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia, Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 1999-2003 Annual Report, 1 September 2001 - 31 October 2002, Philip W. Sadler, Robert J. Latour, Robert E. Harris, Kristin L. Maki, John E. Olney

Reports

This report presents the results of striped bass (Marone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the penod 1 September 2001 through 31 October 2002. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2002 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survtval based on annual spring tagging, and the results of the fall 2001 directed mortality study that is cooperative with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The information contained in this report is required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is used to implement a coordinated management plan for striped bass …

Long-Distance Dispersal Potential In A Marine Macrophyte, Mc Harwell, R J. Orth

VIMS Articles

Plant populations have long been noted to migrate faster than predicted based on their life history and seed dispersal characteristics (i.e., Reid's paradox of rapid plant migration). Although precise mechanisms to account for such phenomena are not fully known for all plant species, a combination of theoretical and empirically driven mechanisms often resolves this paradox. Here, we couple a series of direct and indirect field and laboratory exercises on one marine macrophyte, Zostera marina L. (eelgrass), to measured distances between new patches and established beds in order to elucidate the longdistance dispersal and colonization potential of this marine seagrass. Detached, …

Application Of An Integrated Watershed And Tidal Prism Model To The Poquoson Coastal Embayment, Jian Shen, Harry V. Wang, Mac Sisson

Reports

No abstract provided.

Application Of An Integrated Watershed And Tidal Prism Model To Cockrell Creek, Jian Shen, Harry V. Wang, Mac Sisson

Reports

No abstract provided.

Instruction For Using An Integrated Watershed Tidal Prism Modeling System For Simulating Fecal Colifrom, Jian Shen, Mac Sisson, Harry V. Wang

Reports

No abstract provided.

A Perspective On Two Decades Of Policies And Regulations Influencing The Protection And Restoration Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Chesapeake Bay, Usa, R J. Orth, Ra Batiuk, Pw Bergstrom, Ken Moore

VIMS Articles

Seagrasses along with many other species of freshwater rooted submerged macrophytes in Chesapeake Bay (collectively called SAV) underwent serious declines in population abundances in the 1970s and have not as yet rebounded to previous levels. Cooperative efforts by scientists, politicians, federal and state resource managers, and the general public have developed policies and plans to protect, preserve and enhance SAV populations of Chesapeake Bay. These include the Chesapeake Bay Agreements (1983, 1987, 1992, 1993, 2000), an SAV Management Policy and Implementation Plan for Chesapeake Bay and Tidal Tributaries (1989 and 1990), Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan (1997), as …

The Magnitude Of Spring Bacterial Production In The North Atlantic Ocean, Hw Ducklow, Dl Kirchman, Tr Anderson

VIMS Articles

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a major reservoir in the ocean carbon cycle, is produced by a profusion of plankton sources and processes but is consumed mainly by bacterioplankton. Thus bacterial metabolism regulates the entry of DOC into the longer scale global carbon cycle. Bacterial production (BP) is the routinely measured quantity for evaluating the roles of bacteria in carbon cycling. However BP cannot be measured directly and instead is estimated from related metabolic processes requiring the use of poorly constrained conversion factors. BP and thus the total carbon utilization, are potentially uncertain by a factor of two or more. In …

The Crest, Fall 2002, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• VIMS researchers win 5-year, $1.7 million NSF award
• Pair complete 3-year study of clam disease
• VIMS joins National Shark Research Consortium
• McNinch receives Young Investigator award
• Field research sheds light on barndoor skate
• Management is key to scallop fishery's success
• VIMS acquires new code for model
• Yes vote on bond referendum good news for VIMS
• CBNERR announces Summer 2003 educational programs
• Workshop series targets charter boat operators
• Ducklow elected AAAS Fellow
• VIMS takes to the air(port)
• VIMS scientists to host international conferences
• Web update
• VIMS researchers in educational videos
• Hoenig writes "hot paper"
• VIMS and partners win …

Evaluating The Recruitment Of American Eel, Anguilla Rostrata, To The Potomac - Spring 2002 : February 2002 - June 2002, Hank Brooks, M. Todd Mathes, Marcel M. Montane

Reports

Measures of juvenile recruitment success have long been recognized as valuable fisheries management tools. In Chesapeake Bay, these measures provide reliable indicators for future year class strength for blue crabs (Lipcius and Van Engel, 1990), striped bass (Goodyear, 1985), as well as several other recreationally and commercially important species (Geer and Austin, 1999).

The American Eel, Anguilla rostrata, is a valuable commercial species along the entire Atlantic coast from New Brunswick to Florida. Landings along the U.S. Atlantic coast have varied from 290 MT in 1962 to a high of 1600 MT in 1975 (NMFS, 1999). In recent years, harvests …

The Microbial And Metazoan Community Associated With Colonies Of Trichodesmium Spp.: A Quantitative Survey, Cc Sheridan, Deborah K. Steinberg, Gw Kling

VIMS Articles

Association with resource-rich particles may benefit a number of planktonic species in oligotriphic, open-ocean regimes. This study examined communities of microbes and Zooplankton associated with colonies of the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium spp. in the Sargasso Sea. Trichodesmium colonies and seawater controls were collected near Bermuda using SCUBA during September 1995, and June, July and August 1996. Organisms associated with the colonies and those in the surrounding seawater were enumerated using light and fluorescence microscopy. We found that 85% of the Trichodesmium puff and tuft colonies examined harbored associated organisms. Associated organisms included bacteria (rod and coccoid),fungi, pennate diatoms, centric diatoms, heterotrophic …

A Study Of The River Origin Of American Shad Captured In The Atlantic Ocean Intercept Fishery In Virginia : Final Report, 2001, Kristin L. Maki, John E. Olney, John M. Hoenig

Reports

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) has been releasing larval American shad into the James and York river systems since 1993 and these fish are given river-specific marks before release. Our in-river monitoring program had established that we could estimate the proportion of fish returning to spawn in the rivers that have hatchery marks. Furthermore, we were able to obtain a sample of 200 fish from the intercept fishery off Chincoteague Island, Virginia, in 2000 and screening of the otoliths by VDGIF personnel revealed the presence of one fish with a James River hatchery mark and one …

Estimating Population Parameters Of American Shad In The York River, Virginia : Final Report, 2001, K. L. Maki, J. E. Olney, J. M. Hoenig

Reports

No abstract provided.

Restoration Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (Sav) In The Tidal Freshwater James River: Year 3, Kenneth A. Moore, Britt Anderson, Betty Neikirk

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Crest, Summer 2002, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• To B or not to B: Pair use trout to study kidney's role in nurturing fish immune cells
• VIMS researchers use sonar to study impact of pound nets on sea turtles
• New findings surprise Perkinsus researchers
• VIMS and Wales scientists initiate study of turbulence and sediment movement

Observations On The Distribution Of Meroplankton During A Downwelling Event And Associated Intrusion Of The Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Plume, Al Shanks, J Largier, L Brink, J Brubaker, R Hooff

VIMS Articles

We investigated the dispersal of larvae of benthic invertebrates and tested the hypothesis that larvae behaved as if they were passive particles. Observations were made off Duck, North Carolina, USA diving a period of wind driven downwelling at the coast and an intrusion of estuarine water from the Chesapeake Bay. The plume of estuarine water (salinity < 30 psu) was strongest at the shoreward stations in the more northern transects. Wind driven shoreward surface flow, converged at the seaward edge of the plume and downwelled. Offshore flow was present below the thermocline and caused the thermocline to bend downward and contact the bottom at between 5 and 10 km offshore. In the zooplankton samples, we enumerated 33 taxa of larvae (17 taxa of bivalve veligers, 10 taxa of gastropod veligers, and 6 taxa of polychaete larvae). Using cluster analysis, larvae were separated into groups with similar patterns of distribution. If larvae were acting as passive particles then we hypothesized that: 1) Their distribution should remain tied to a water mass and 2) around a convergence or divergence, there should be no change in larval concentration. The distributions of larvae in Clusters 1, 4, 5, and 6 were consistent with the hypothesis that thy were acting as passive particles. Larvae in Clusters 2 and 3, however, did not appear to be acting as passive particles. Larvae in Cluster 2 did not remain tied to a water mass. They entered the study area in the estuarine plume waters, but within 20 km they were nearly absent from the plume water and were found seaward of the plume and at greater depth. Larvae in Cluster 3 were most abundant in areas of converging currents where the shoreward flowing surface waters downwelled at the plume front or against the shore. We hypothesized that larvae of organisms which as adults live in the intertidal or shallow, subtidal zones would have more nearshore distributions than the larvae of adults that are broadly distributed across the shelf. We compared the depth of the habitat of the adult bivalves from which the bivalve larvae in the different clusters were derived. The results were consistent with the hypothesis; larvae with distributions closer to shore tended to come from adults found at shallower depths or in the intertidal zone.

The Crest, Spring 2002, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• Computer modelers solve real-world problems
• Scientists take a new look at sources of nitrogen in estuaries
• VIMS beach research reveals erosional hotspots
• Large squid discovered
• VIMS develops new online tools for managers
• Marine industry trends--a tale of two fisheries
• VIMS urges caution in commercial release of non-native oysters
• VIMS scientists part of national study in Antarctica
• Pilot Sam White

Widespread Distribution In Polar Oceans Of A 16s Rrna Gene Sequence With Affinity To Nitrosospira-Like Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria, Jt Hollibaugh, Hw Ducklow, N Bano

VIMS Articles

We analyzed the phylogenetic compositions of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria of the beta subclass of Proteobacteria from 42 Southern Ocean samples. We found a Nitrosospira-like 16S rRNA gene sequence in all 20 samples that yielded PCR products (8 of 30 samples from the Ross Sea and 12 of 12 samples from the Palmer Peninsula). We also found this sequence in Arctic Ocean samples, indicating a transpolar, if not global, distribution; however, slight differences between Arctic and Antarctic sequences may be evidence of polar endemism.

Sea Turtles, John A. Musick

VIMS Books and Book Chapters

Description, keys, habitat and distribution of sea turtles.

2001 Annual Awards, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Miscellaneous

The Annual Awards ceremony is an occasion in which new employees and volunteers are introduced, employee service is recognized and student and faculty awards are presented.

Distribution, Fluxes, And Bacterial Utilization Of Different Molecular Weight Fractions Of Dissolved Organic Matter In The York River Estuary, Carol J. Pollard

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Temporal And Geographic Occurrences Of Cetacean Strandings And Manatee Sightings In Virginia, With Notes On Adverse Human-Cetacean Interactions, From 1983-1989, Lee W. Morgan, John A. Musick, Charles W. Potter

VIMS Articles

From 1 January 1983 to 31 December 1989, 416 cetacean strandings consisting of five families and 15 species, and five manatee sightings were recorded in Virginia waters. Most records were of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus (339, 1.3%). Most cetacean strandings were reported from Virginia Beach (230, 55.1 % ). The highest number of strandings occurred in 1987 (265, 63.5%) when an epizootic killed many Tursiops. There were five confirmed sightings of manatees in Virginia waters during the study period. Thirty-four stranded cetaceans showed signs of adverse interactions related to human activities.

Distribution Of The Euryhaline Squid Lolliguncula Brevis In Chesapeake Bay: Effects Of Selected Abiotic Factors, Ik Bartol, Roger L. Mann, M Vecchione

VIMS Articles

The majority of cephalopods are thought to have limitations arising from physiology and locomotion that exclude them from shallow, highly variable, euryhaline environments. The brief squid Lolliguncula brevis may be a notable exception because it tolerates low salinities, withstands a wide range of environmental conditions, and swims readily in shallow water. Little is known about the distribution of L. brevis in Chesapeake Bay, a diverse and highly variable estuary. Therefore, a survey of L. brevis was conducted in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay from 1993 to 1997 using a 9.1 m otter trawl, and the effects of selected factors …

Assimilating High-Resolution Salinity Data Into A Model Of A Partially Mixed Estuary, Jiangtao Xu, Shenn-Yu Chao, Raleigh R. Hood, Harry V. Wang

VIMS Articles

[1] A three-dimensional circulation model of the Chesapeake Bay is used to validate a simple data assimilation scheme, using high-resolution salinity data acquired from a ship-towed undulating vehicle (a Scanfish). The simulation period spans the entire year of 1995 during which the high-resolution Scanfish data were available in July and October, lasting a few days each. Since Scanfish data were irregularly distributed in time and space, only salinity fields are nudged in the model for simplicity. Model improvements through data assimilation are evaluated from a pair of experiments: one with data assimilation and one without. Data from scattered Chesapeake Bay …

Estimating The Spatial Extent Of Bottom-Water Hypoxia And Habitat Degradation In A Shallow Estuary, Cp Buzzelli, Ra Luettich, Sp Powers, Ch Peterson, Je Mcninch, Jl Pinckney, Hw Paerl

VIMS Articles

Bottom-water hypoxia (less than or equal to2 mg l(-1) dissolved oxygen [DO]) greatly modifies the benthic habitat of estuaries, depending upon spatial extent, duration, and frequency. Bottom-water hypoxia often develops under conditions of density stratification, which inhibits vertical mixing, and warm temperatures, which enhance biological oxygen demand. Long-term, mid-channel data from the Neuse River Estuary in North Carolina permitted evaluation of how stratification and temperature combined to affect DO concentrations at the bottom. Salinity stratification (AS) and water temperature (T) explained respectively 30 and 23 % of the variance in bottom-water DO concentrations. The amount of salinity stratification required to …

Organism -Sediment Interactions: The Role Of Seabed Dynamics In Structuring The Mesohaline York River Macrobenthic Community, Elizabeth K. Hinchey

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Estuaries are dynamic physical environments. The stability of the sediment-water interface is influenced by sources and rates of sediment delivery and physical reworking of sediments by currents, tides, waves and biology, but effects of disruption of this interface on benthic biology are poorly resolved. For this study, I investigated effects of prevalent gradients in seabed disturbance processes and associated seabed characteristics on estuarine benthic community structure and function in the mesohaline York River, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay, USA. I used a variety of approaches to characterize the seabed, including sediment grain size, sediment water content, maximum depth of 7Be, …

Factors Affecting Sperm Motility Of Tetraploid Pacific Oysters, Qx Dong, B Eudeline, Standish K. Allen Jr., Tr Tiersch

VIMS Articles

Factors such as osmotic pressure, extender solution, addition of caffeine, and pH have been shown to affect sperm motility in aquatic species. We evaluated the effects of 18 osmotic pressures, two extender solutions, seven caffeine concentrations, and a pH range of 3 to 14 on motility of sperm from tetraploid Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas. Motility was highest at 1000 mOsmol/kg (mean +/- SD: 83 +/- 14%). Calcium-free Hanks' balanced salt solution yielded significantly higher sperm motility than did artificial seawater. Sperm motility increased with caffeine concentrations to 20 mM (81 +/- 12%) and decreased when concentrations were higher than 50 …

Rapa Whelk Rapana Venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) Predation Rates On Hard Clams Mercenaria Mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758), D Savini, Jm Harding, Roger L. Mann

VIMS Articles

The recent discovery of adult veined rapa whelks Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) in the Lower Chesapeake Bay, U.S.A. offers cause for both ecological and economic concern. Adult rapa whelks are large predatory gastropods that consume bivalves including commercially valuable species such as hard clams, Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758). Laboratory feeding experiments were used to estimate daily consumption rates of two sizes of whelks feeding on two size classes of hard clams. Large rapa whelks (shell length, SL > 101 mm) are capable of consuming up to 2.7 g wet weight of clam tissue daily, equivalent to 0.8% of their body weight. …

Transmission Of Withering Syndrome In Black Abalone, Haliotis Cracherodii Leach, Cs Friedman, W Biggs, Jeffrey D. Shields, Rp Hedrick

VIMS Articles

Withering syndrome (WS) has been associated with catastrophic declines in black abalone populations in southern and central California. In an effort to identify the etiological agent of WS and to characterize the progression of this disease, we initiated a transmission study in which abalone from Ano Nuevo Island, a location free of WS, shared aquaria with animals from Vandenberg Airforce Base, a location where WS is epizootic. The mean incubation period of WS (time to develop overt signs of the disease) was 245 days with a mean time to death after development of clinical signs of 42 days. Median time …

Haplosporidium Costale (Seaside Organism), A Parasite Of The Eastern Oyster, Is Present In Long Island Sound, I Sunila, Na Stokes, R Smolowitz, Rc Karney, E. M. Burreson

VIMS Articles

A haplosporidian parasite, Haplosporidium costale (seaside organism or SSO), is associated with high mortalities of eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in seaside bays of Virginia and Maryland. Its presence in Long Island Sound has been tentatively suggested in several publications for the last 50 y. Positive identification of H. costale and differentiation from another haplosporidian parasite, Haplosporidium nelsoni (MSX), from histological sections is difficult and requires the presence of spores. We detected H. costale spores in 4 out of 5010 (0.08%) oysters collected from Long Island Sound in 1997-1999. In situ hybridization using an oligonucleotide DNA probe designed to detect small …

Hybridization Of Tetraploid And Diploid Crassostrea Gigas (Thunberg) With Diploid C-Ariakensis (Fujita), H Que, Standish K. Allen Jr.

VIMS Articles

Three replicates of hybrid crosses of tetraploid and diploid C gigas (Thunberg) with diploid C ariakensis (Fujita) were produced with controls. Larval survival and growth were documented. Cytological events were also monitored in oocytes from hybrid crosses following insemination. Among the four types of hybrid crosses, diploid C. gigas (female) x diploid C. ariakensis (male) (GA) was the most successful. Survival of GA was about the same as that of controls in two of three replications, although its growth rate was 25-30% lower. Crosses of tetraploid C. gigas (female) and diploid C. ariakensis (male) (GGA) had poor yield at day …