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Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology

Development Of A Dna Mini-Barcoding Protocol Targeting Coi For The Identification Of Elasmobranch Species In Shark Cartilage Pills, Rowena J. Zahn, Anthony J. Silva, Rosalee S. Hellberg Sep 2019

Development Of A Dna Mini-Barcoding Protocol Targeting Coi For The Identification Of Elasmobranch Species In Shark Cartilage Pills, Rowena J. Zahn, Anthony J. Silva, Rosalee S. Hellberg

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Many elasmobranch (shark and ray) species are considered threatened and their identification in processed products is important for conservation and authentication purposes. However, identification of elasmobranch species in shark cartilage pills has proven difficult using existing methodologies. The objective of this study was to develop a DNA mini-barcoding protocol using a ~130 bp region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene for species identification in shark cartilage pills. A total of 22 shark cartilage products underwent DNA extraction in duplicate using the DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit (Qiagen). The effectiveness of a clean-up step following DNA extraction was …


Identification Of Shark Species In Commercial Products Using Dna Barcoding, Rosalee S. Hellberg, Rachel B. Isaacs, Eduardo L. Hernandez Oct 2018

Identification Of Shark Species In Commercial Products Using Dna Barcoding, Rosalee S. Hellberg, Rachel B. Isaacs, Eduardo L. Hernandez

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Sharks are harvested globally and sold in a variety of commercial products. However, they are particularly vulnerable to overfishing and many species are considered protected or endangered. The objective of this study was to identify species in various commercial shark products and to assess the effectiveness of three different DNA barcoding primer sets. Thirty-five products were collected for this study, including fillets, jerky, soup, and cartilage pills. DNA barcoding of these products was undertaken using two full-length primer sets and one mini-barcode primer set within the cytochrome c oxidase subunit (COI) gene. Successfully sequenced samples were then analyzed and identified …


Cellular Mechanisms Of Slime Gland Refilling In Pacific Hagfish (Eptatretus Stoutii), Sarah Schorno, Todd E. Gillis, Douglas S. Fudge Aug 2018

Cellular Mechanisms Of Slime Gland Refilling In Pacific Hagfish (Eptatretus Stoutii), Sarah Schorno, Todd E. Gillis, Douglas S. Fudge

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Hagfishes use their defensive slime to ward off gill-breathing predators. Slime gland refilling is a surprisingly slow process, and previous research has shown that the composition of the slime exudate changes significantly during refilling, which likely has consequences for the functionality of the slime. This study set out to expand our understanding of slime gland refilling by examining the cellular processes involved in refilling of the glands, as well as determining where in the gland the main slime cells – the gland thread cells and gland mucous cells – arise. Slime glands were electro-stimulated to exhaust their slime stores, left …


Emptying And Refilling Of Slime Glands In Atlantic (Myxine Glutinosa) And Pacific (Eptatretus Stoutii) Hagfishes, Sarah Schorno, Todd E. Gillis, Douglas S. Fudge Apr 2018

Emptying And Refilling Of Slime Glands In Atlantic (Myxine Glutinosa) And Pacific (Eptatretus Stoutii) Hagfishes, Sarah Schorno, Todd E. Gillis, Douglas S. Fudge

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Hagfishes are known for their unique defensive slime, which they use toward off gill-breathing predators. Although much is known about the slime cells (gland thread cells and gland mucous cells), little is known about how long slime gland refilling takes, or how slime composition changes with refilling or repeated stimulation of the same gland. Slime glands can be individually electrostimulated to release slime, and this technique was used to measure slime gland refilling times for Atlantic and Pacific hagfish. The amount of exudate produced, the composition of the exudate and the morphometrics of slime cells were analyzed during refilling, and …


Shifts In Attack Behavior Of An Important Kelp Forest Predator Within Marine Reserves, J. S. Berriman, M. C. Kay, D. C. Reed, A. Rassweiler, D. A. Goldstein, William G. Wright Mar 2015

Shifts In Attack Behavior Of An Important Kelp Forest Predator Within Marine Reserves, J. S. Berriman, M. C. Kay, D. C. Reed, A. Rassweiler, D. A. Goldstein, William G. Wright

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Marine reserves have become increasingly valuable tools with which to manage ecosystems. These reserves consistently restore populations of top predators, often reducing availability of their favored prey. We hypothesized that such prey reduction in reserves causes protected predators to alter their attack behavior to include less palatable prey, potentially amplifying top-down effects on community structure. To test this hypothesis, we presented the relatively unpalatable sea hare Aplysia californica to freely foraging spiny lobsters Panulirus interruptus in 4 marine no-take reserves, each paired with an adjacent fished area. We found that lobsters only attacked sea hares inside reserves, where lobster density …