Marine Biology Commons^™

A Near-Surface Microstructure Sensor System Used During Toga Coare. Part Ii: Turbulence Measurements, Alexander Soloviev, Roger Lukas, Peter Hacker, H. Schoeberlein, M. Baker, A. Arjannikov

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

New techniques developed for near-surface turbulence measurements during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) employ a difference in spatial scales of turbulence and surface waves. According to this approach, high relative speed of the measurements provides separation of the turbulence and surface wave signals. During the TOGA COARE field studies, highresolution probes of pressure, temperature, conductivity, fluctuation velocity, and acceleration were mounted on the bow of the vessel at a 1.7-m depth in an undisturbed region ahead of the moving vessel. The localization in narrow frequency bands of the vibrations of the bow sensors allows …

The Coral Reef Fishes Of Broward County Florida, Species And Abundance: A Work In Progress, B. D. Ettinger, David S. Gilliam, L. K. B. Jordan, Robin L. Sherman, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

The inshore environment of Broward County, FL consists of three coral reef/hard bottom reef tracts, separated by sand substrate, running parallel to the coast in sequentially deeper water. At quarter nautical mile intervals, for a five mile coastline section, fishes were censused at western, eastern and crest sites of each of the three reef tracts. On SCUBA and using the Bohnsack/Bannerot point-count method, we recorded: fish abundance, species richness, size, and general habitat of an imaginary cylinder 15 m in diameter. The position of each site was recorded by DGPS after census. One hundred and eighty-one sites were censused during …

North Fork Of The New River Benthic Macroinvertebrate Recruitment Study: Final Report, Charles G. Messing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Over the last several years, the Broward County Department of Natural Resource Protection has identified a series of major environmental problems in the North Fork of the New River, including illegal wastewater sludge discharge and heavy metal contamination of sediments (DNRP 1993 1994). A qualitative survey suggests that benthic macroinvertebrates have been negatively affected (DNRP 1997). Restoration projects have included removal in the summer of 1997 of a remnant sludge blanket from an area of the channel east of Interstate 95 and north of Broward Boulevard. However, the effectiveness of such dredging in terms of habitat restoration has not previously …

Isotope Ratio Studies Of Marine Mammals In Prince William Sound, Donald M. Schell, Amy Hirons

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Fall 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Final Technical Report For The Enhancement Of Autonomous Marine Vehicle Testing In The South Florida Testing Facility Range, South Florida Ocean Measurement Center (Sfomc) Partners

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

The purpose of this grant was to carry out the six scientific experiments on the South Florida Testing Facility (SFTF) Range. In addition to the enhancements to the range, work was performed on all six with some being successfully completed while research continues on the long term tasks.

Moolapheonoides Utmas, New Species, From Coral Reefs In The Madang Lagoon, Papua New Guinea (Amphipoda, Cyproideidae), James Darwin Thomas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Moolapheonoides utmas, new species, is described from coral reefs at Madang, Papua New Guinea. M. utmas differs from other species in the genus by the large tooth-cusp projecting posteroventrally on article 2 of pereopod 7 and the lower dorsal crest of the urosome. It shares an unusual dorsolateral bulbous projection of pereonite segments 3 and 4 with other cyproideid species Hoplopohoenoides obessa Shoemaker from Florida, and Naraphoenoides mullaya Barnard from Australia. Identification keys for the genus Moolaphoenoides are presented and relationships to other genera in the family are discussed.

What Does It Take To Become A Marine Scientist?, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Note: This material may not meet current educational standards and is presented as part of the Institute's historical publications.

Summer 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

The Crest, Summer 1999, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• New Research Aquarium System
• Finfish Aquaculture at VIMS
• Virginia Creates State Research Reserve System
• Pollution-Laden Sediments In Constant Flux
• Survey of Mid-Atlantic Sea Scallop Closed Areas
• Pfiesteria Update
• New Computer Program Helps Planners Balance Growth, Protection
• Virginia Sea Grant to Administer Commercial Fishery Resource Program
• VIMS Stranded Sea Turtle Project Underway Coastal Sediments Offer Clues to Climate Change, Pollution
• Seemingly Barren Habitat Proves Vital for Economically Important Virginia Fish (juvenile flounder)

Molecular Techniques Reveal Wide Phyletic Diversity Of Heterotrophic Microbes Associated With Discodermia Spp. (Porifera: Demospongiae), Jose V. Lopez, Peter J. Mccarthy, Kathleen E. Janda, Robin Willoughby, Shirley A. Pomponi

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Sponges are well known to harbor large numbers of heterotrophic microbes within their mesohyl. Studies to determine the diversity of these associated microbes have been attempted for only a few shallow water species. We cultured various microorganisms from several species of Discodermia collected from deep water using the 'Johnson-Sea-Link' manned submersibles, and characterised them by standard microbiological identification methods. Characterisation of a small proportion (ca. 10%) of the total and potential eubacterial isolate collection with molecular systematics techniques revealed a wide diversity of microbes. Phylogenetic analyses of 32 small subunit (SSU) 16S-like rRNA gene sequences from different micorbes indicated high …

Spring 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Epi-And Mesopelagic Fishes, Acoustic Data, And Sst Images Collected Off Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, And Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, During Cruise "La Bocaina 04-97", F. Bordes, F. Uiblein, R. Castillo, A. Barrera, J. J. Castro, J. Coca, J. Gomez, K. Hansen, V. Hernandez, N. Merrett, M. Miya, T. Moreno, F. Perez, A. Ramos, Tracey Sutton, M. Yamaguchi

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

During cruise "La Bocaina 0497" a series of 14 tows with a commercial pelagic trawl at depths between 20 and 700 m and an acoustic survey with a SIMRAD EK-500 echosounder were carried out in neritic and adjacent oceanic waters off Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, and Gran Canaria, Canary islands. In addition, SST images were obtained to get some informations on the prevailing hydrological conditions in the study area.

Of the 14 trawl tows ten were successful and resulted in capture of a total of 2166 fishes belonging to 81 species, 53 genera and 28 families. Ten species proved to be new …

Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Broward County, Fl 1999 Report, Curtis M. Burney, William E. Margolis

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Skeletal Architecture And Density Banding Analysis Technique For Diploria Strigosa By X-Ray Computed Tomography, Kevin P. Helmle, Richard E. Dodge (Editor)

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Coral skeletal density information is a useful growth parameter and may be coupled with extension rates to determine calcification rates. The conventional process for density determination is often cumbersome and requires some parameters which are difficult to precisely specify (e.g., Mass absorption coefficients). We have developed a technique and windows based computer program which enables the rapid collection of coral density data. The coral skeleton slab is xradiographed with an aluminum wedge. Thickness and density of the aluminum wedge, thickness of the coral slab, density of pure coral aragonite, and digitized images of the coral and wedge x-radiographs provide necessary …

Winter 1999, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Environmental Stress In Hard Coral: Evaluating Lipid As An Indicator Of Sublethal Stress On Short Time Scales, David Harold Niebuhr

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Lipid quality was evaluated in Montastrea spp. under sediment- and heat-stressed conditions to evaluate lipid ratio as an indicator of sub-lethal stress on short time scales. The ratio of storage lipid (wax ester + triacylglyceride) to structural lipid (sterol esters + phospholipid) decreased significantly (0.25 to 0.14, p < 0.01) after experimental sedimentation. FAME analysis of colonies exposed to experimental sedimentation showed a reduction of the algal, 18:3(n-6) and 18:4(n-3), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the polar lipid fraction. This loss of PUFA suggests a loss of algal membrane in sediment-stressed colonies. Lipid quality was similarly measured in M. faveolata over a 10-day period. Mean (n = 20) ratio of storage to structural lipid in M. faveolata dropped from 2.43 to a level of 0.98 immediately following a natural sedimentation event before recovering to levels of 1.4 and 2.9 on post-storm days 2 and 4, respectively. Colonies of M. annularis subject to heat-stress (35??C) exhibited no significant change in storage lipid ratio, while levels of Free Fatty Acids increased significantly from 0.012 (n = 22) to 0.156 mg lipid/g dry tissue (n = 22)(p < 0.05). FAME analysis of tissue lipids extracted from the heat-stressed colonies showed changes in the polar fraction, with significant decreases in the 18:3(n-6), 18:3(n-3), 18:4(n-3), 20:4(n-6) and 20:5(n-3) (p < 0.05) PUFA and subsequent significant increases in the saturated fatty acids, 16:0 and 18:0 (p < 0.05). These changes in lipid quantity and quality indicate possible oxidation and preferential digestion of zooxanthellar membranes. Stress experiments were repeated in M. annularis using VacutainerRTM blood collection tubes to collect micro-tissue samples without destroying skeleton of the sample colonies. A significant decrease in storage: structural lipid ratio after sedimentation was also detected using the micro-tissue technique. This study indicates that the relative abundance of lipid subclass components can indicate sub-lethal environmental stress, on short time scales, in M. annularis and M. faveolata. Furthermore, micro-tissue collection techniques permit repeated monitoring coral colonies to assess the manifestation of stress from first detection of impact at the cellular level to changes in community to changes in community structure detectable over longer time scales.

Estimation Of Bacterial Respiration And Growth Efficiency In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, C. A. Carlson, N. R. Bates, H. W. Ducklow, D. A. Hansell

VIMS Articles

Seawater cultures were conducted in large volume (36 l) gas impermeable tri-laminate bags for the purpose of empirically deriving bacterial growth efficiency (BGE) and carbon conversion factors (CCF) in the south central Ross Sea. This experimental design allowed for concomitant measurements of metabolic reactants (loss of total and dissolved organic carbon [TOC and DOG]) and products (gain of total carbon dioxide [TCO2] and bacterial biomass) to be made from a single incubation vessel. Some previous studies have relied on proxy measurements (e.g. O-2, H-3-thymidine incorporation and cell abundance) to determine BGE and CCF rather than direct carbon measurements. Our experimental …

Bacterial Growth In Experimental Plankton Assemblages And Seawater Cultures From The Phaeocystis Antarctica Bloom In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, H. W. Ducklow, C. Carlson, Walker O. Smith Jr.

VIMS Articles

A series of seawater culture experiments was carried out during the Phaeocystis antarctica bloom in the Ross Sea polynya (76.5 degrees S, 180 degrees W; November to December 1994 and December 1995 to January 1996) to examine bacterioplankton growth and derive empirical factors for estimating bacterial production rates. Bacterial growth was exponential over 3 to 10 d in all experiments, at rates of ca 0.1 to 0.7 d(-1), even in persistently cold waters (-2 to + 1 degrees C). Growth rates were lower in the early part of the bloom (early to mid-November) and highest during the period of peak …

Phytoplankton Growth Rates In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, Determined By Independent Methods: Temporal Variations, Walker O. Smith Jr., D. M. Nelson, S. Mathot

VIMS Articles

The development of the seasonal phytoplankton bloom in the Ross Sea was studied during two cruises. The first, conducted in November-December 1994, investigated the initiation and rapid growth of the bloom, whereas the second (December 1995-January 1996) concentrated on the bloom's maximum biomass period and the subsequent decline in biomass. Central to the understanding of the controls of growth and the summer decline of the bloom is a quantitative assessment of the growth rate of phytoplankton. Growth rates were estimated over two time scales with different methods. The first estimated daily growth rates from isotopic incorporation under simulated in situ …

Comparative Study Of Selenium Requirements Of Three Phytoplankton Species: Gymnodinium Catenatum, Alexandrium Minutum (Dinophyta) And Chaetoceros Cf. Tenuissimus (Bacillariophyta, Martina A. Doblin, Susan I. Blackburn, Gustaaf M. Hallegraeff

OES Faculty Publications

This study investigated the selenium (Se) requirements of three phytoplankton species which commonly bloom in southern Australian estuaries. The present study showed that the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum Graham had an obligate requirement for Se (IV) in culture. After two transfers (~ 4 weeks ≈ 7 generations) in Se-deficient seawater medium, this phytoplankton species exhibited a decline in growth rate (25%) and biomass yield (90%), while complete cessation of cell division occurred under prolonged (8 weeks ≈ 12 generations) Se starvation. Addition of 10^-9-10^-7 M H₂SeO₃ to nutrient-enriched seawater medium resulted in increased G.catenatum …

New Polyether Toxins From Shellfish And Marine Phytoplankton: Isolation Studies And Development Of Analytical Methods, Alan G. Bishop

Theses

There are three classes of polyether toxins responsible for Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) world-wide. The causative toxins are okadaic acid (OA) and derivatives (DTXs), pectenotoxins (PTXs) and yessotoxins (YTXs). The origin of these toxins are phytoplankton from Dinophysis or Prorocentrum spp. OA has been demonstrated for most outbreaks in Europe and more recently a new isomer DTX-2 has been reported in Ireland.

Marine phytoplankton biomass samples consisting predominantly of Dinophysis acuta, were acquired using a large double plankton net from waters off the South-west coast of Ireland. Analysis of unialgal samples using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence and …

Modeling The Effects Of Doliolids On The Plankton Community Structure Of The Southeastern Us Continental Shelf, A. G. Edward Haskell, Eileen E. Hofmann, Gustav-Adolf Paffenhofer, Peter G. Verity

CCPO Publications

A model of the lower trophic levels that consists of a system of coupled ordinary differential equations was developed to investigate the time-dependent behavior of doliolid populations associated with upwelling features on the outer southeastern US continental shelf. Model equations describe the interactions of doliolids with two phytoplankton size fractions, five copepod developmental stages and a detrital pool. Additional equations describe nitrate and ammonia. Model dynamics are based primarily upon data obtained from field and laboratory experiments for southeastern US continental shelf plankton populations. Variations on a reference simulation, which represents average upwelling conditions without doliolids, were carried out to …

Carbon Production And Growth Physiology Of Heterotrophic Bacteria In A Subtropical Coral Reef Ecosystem, Peter Dylan Countway

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Indo-Pacific Population Structure Of The Black Marlin, Makaira Indica, Inferred From Molecular Markers, Brett Falterman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Habitat Fragmentation In Transplanted Eelgrass (Zostera Marina) Beds: Effects On Decapods And Fish, Alfonso Vollmer Lombana

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Sensory Development In Settlement-Stage Larvae Of Caribbean Labrids And Scarids: A Comparative Study With Implications For Ecomorphology And Life History Strategies, Monica R. Lara

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The sensory capabilities of settlement-stage fishes are unknown but this information is necessary to studies of larval settlement and recruitment. The morphology of the cephalic lateral line, eye and external olfactory organ of thirteen species of settlement-stage Caribbean labroids was described. Scanning electron images of the cephalic lateral line neuromasts, lateral line canals and olfactory epithelia and histological studies of the retinae and morphological measurements of visual acuity were used to assess the level of sensory development attained at settlement. The sensory capabilities of settlement-stage fishes are discussed in relation to the possible cues settlement-stage fishes may be using to …

The Crest, Winter 1999, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• Experimental Fishery on Georges Bank Holds Promise for the Scallop Industry
• New VIMS Center Boosts Aquafarming
• Invader Threatens Stressed Ecosystem (Rapa Whelk)
• Microscopic Phytoplankton Live Large
• Reality By the Numbers (Computer Modeling)
• Tautog Research
• Latest Returns From the Game Fish Tagging Program
• Educational Landscape Center (VIMS Teaching Marsh)
• Responding to the Chesapeake Executive Council Directive for Wetlands Protection and Restoration Goals
• Dangers to Blue Crabs Accelerating

Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 1998, John A. Lucy, C.M. Bain, M. D. Arendt

Reports

The Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program (VGFTP), a cooperative project of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), set records for fish tagged and fish recaptured during 1998, its fourth year of operation.

Oyster Reef Habitat Restoration : A Synopsis And Synthesis Of Approaches; Proceedings From The Symposium, Williamsburg, Virginia, April 1995, Mark Luckenbach, Roger L. Mann, James A. Wesson

Reports

This volume has its origin in a symposium held in Williamsburg, VA in April 1995, though most of the chapters have been significantly revised in the interim. The primary purpose of the symposium was to bring together state fisheries managers involved in fisheries-directed oyster enhancement and research scientists to refine approaches for enhancing oyster populations and to better develop the rationale for restoring reef habitats. We could hardly have anticipated the degree to which this been successful. In the interim between the symposium and the publication of this volume the notion that oyster reefs are valuable habitats, both for oysters …