Marine Biology Commons^™

Impacts Of Natural And Anthropogenic Colonized Habitats On The Range Shifting Mangrove Tree Crab (Aratus Pisonii), Zachary John Cannizzo

Theses and Dissertations

Mis-matches in climate-mediated shifting rates cause the ranges of some species to become decoupled from their historic ecosystem, leading to the colonization of ecosystems they have not previously inhabited. When this occurs, the shifting species may experience suboptimal conditions which challenge its ability to persist and expand into the novel ecosystem. However, within the colonized ecosystem, shifting species may encounter artificial habitat analogues: artificial habitats that more closely resemble the species’ historic ecosystem than the surrounding habitat and which mitigate some of the negative impacts experienced elsewhere in the novel ecosystem. Despite their importance to the ecology, life history, and …

What Can Computational Modeling Tell Us About The Diversity Of Odor-Capture Structures In The Pancrustacea?, Lindsay D. Waldrop, Yanyan He, Shilpa Khatri

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

A major transition in the history of the Pancrustacea was the invasion of several lineages of these animals onto land. We investigated the functional performance of odor-capture organs, antennae with olfactory sensilla arrays, through the use of a computational model of advection and diffusion of odorants to olfactory sensilla while varying three parameters thought to be important to odor capture (Reynolds number, gap-width-to-sensillum-diameter ratio, and angle of the sensilla array with respect to oncoming flow). We also performed a sensitivity analysis on these parameters using uncertainty quantification to analyze their relative contributions to odor-capture performance. The results of this analysis …

Hypoplectrus Liberte, A New And Endangered Microendemic Hamlet From Haiti (Teleostei: Serranidae), Benjamin C. Victor, Kenneth W. Marks

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The hamlets of the genus Hypoplectrus comprise a species flock of about 20 species found on coral reefs of the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, distinguished by complex color patterns and sharing mitochondrial DNA haplotypes within the Caribbean Sea (Gulf of Mexico and Florida-centered species are about 3% divergent in the COI marker). The species show a variety of biogeographic patterns, from widespread common species to relatively rare species limited to small parts of the Greater Caribbean region. We describe here a distinctive striped morph of barred hamlet, apparently limited to Fort-Liberté Bay in northeastern Haiti, as the new species Hypoplectrus …

Impacts Of A Regional, Multi-Year, Multi-Species Coral Disease Outbreak In Southeast Florida, Charles Walton, Nicole K. Hayes, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Globally coral reefs have been declining at alarming rates as a result of anthropogenic stressors, leading to increased frequency and severity of widespread bleaching and disease events. These events are often associated with increased water temperatures due to climate change as well as regional and local stress from nutrient enrichment through runoff and sedimentation from coastal development. In late 2014, a white syndrome disease outbreak was reported off the coast of southeast Florida and was subsequently documented spreading throughout the region. This study examined the regional impacts of the disease event on the southeast Florida stony coral population utilizing stony …

An Additional Nomenclatural Transfer In The Pantropical Genus Myrsine (Primulaceae: Myrsinoideae), John J. Pipoly Iii, Jon M. Ricketson

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Rapanea pellucidostriata Gilg & Schellenb. is transferred to Myrsine L. as M. pellucidostriata (Gilg & Schellenb.) Pipoly & Ricketson, comb. nov. To our knowledge, this is the last species of Rapanea Aubl. remaining that did not have a name in the genus Myrsine. With the transfer of this species complete, all species of Rapanea and Suttonia A. Rich. have been transferred into Myrsine.

Short-Term Low Salinity Mitigates Effects Of Oil And Dispersant On Juvenile Eastern Oysters: A Laboratory Experiment With Implications For Oil Spill Response Activities, Meagan N. Schrandt, Sean Powers, F.Scott Rikard, Wilawan Thongda, Eric Peatman

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico were exposed to oil and various associated clean-up activities that may have compromised oyster reef health. Included in the exposure was oil, dispersant, and in some locales, atypical salinity regimes. Oil and dispersants can be detrimental to oysters and the effects of salinity depend on the level. In addition to these extrinsic factors, genetic diversity of oyster populations may help the oysters respond to stressors, as demonstrated in other systems. We used a 3×3×2 factorial design to experimentally examine the effects …

The Assemblage Structure And Trophic Ecology Of A Deep-Pelagic Fish Family (Platytroctidae) In The Gulf Of Mexico, Michael Novotny

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Members of the family Platytroctidae (tubeshoulders) are found throughout the meso- and bathypelagic waters of the World Ocean. Due to the lack of specimens collected globally, this taxon has received little attention, despite recent evidence suggesting its predominance in the bathypelagic biome. Prior to this study, only four species had been reported in the Gulf of Mexico’s (GoM) highly diverse deep-pelagic ecosystem. An extensive meso- and bathypelagic trawl series in the GoM allowed a detailed examination of this family, which included analyses of species composition, abundance, vertical distribution, sex ratios, and trophic ecology. A total of 16 species were collected, …

The Importance Of Marine Predators In The Provisioning Of Ecosystem Services By Coastal Plant Communities, Trisha B. Atwood, Edd Hammill

Ecology Center Publications

Food web theory predicts that current global declines in marine predators could generate unwanted consequences for many marine ecosystems. In coastal plant communities (kelp, seagrass, mangroves, and salt marsh), several studies have documented the far-reaching effects of changing predator populations. Across coastal ecosystems, the loss of marine predators appears to negatively affect coastal plant communities and the ecosystem services they provide. Here, we discuss some of the documented and suspected effects of predators on coastal protection, carbon sequestration, and the stability and resilience of coastal plant communities. In addition, we present a meta-analysis to assess the strength and direction of …

Spatial And Temporal Variability Of PCo2, Carbon Fluxes, And Saturation State On The West Florida Shelf, L. L. Robbins, Kendra L. Daly, L. Barbero, R. Wanninkhof, R. He, H. Zong, J. T. Lisle, W. J. Cai, C. G. Smith

C-IMAGE Publications

The West Florida Shelf (WFS) is a source of uncertainty for the Gulf of Mexico carbon budget. Data from the synthesis of approximately 135,000 p CO₂ values from 97 cruises from the WFS show that the shelf waters fluctuate between being a weak source to a weak sink of carbon. Overall, the shelf acts as a weak source of CO₂ at 0.32 ± 1.5 mol m⁻² yr⁻¹. Subregions, however, reveal slightly different trends, where surface waters associated with 40–200‐m isobath in the northern and southern WFS are generally weak sinks all year, except for summer …

A Multidisciplinary Approach For Generating Globally Consistent Data On Mesophotic, Deep-Pelagic, And Bathyal Biological Communities, Lucy C. Woodall, Dominic A. Andradi-Brown, Andrew S. Brierley, Malcolm R. Clark, Douglas Connelly, Rob A. Hall, Kerry L. Howell, Veerle A. I. Huvenne, Katrin Linse, Rebecca E. Ross, Paul Snelgrove, Paris V. Stefanoudis, Tracey Sutton, Michelle Taylor, Thomas F. Thornton, Alex D. Rogers

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Approaches to measuring marine biological parameters remain almost as diverse as the researchers who measure them. However, understanding the patterns of diversity in ocean life over different temporal and geographic scales requires consistent data and information on the potential environmental drivers. As a group of marine scientists from different disciplines, we suggest a formalized, consistent framework of 20 biological, chemical, physical, and socioeconomic parameters that we consider the most important for describing environmental and biological variability. We call our proposed framework the General Ocean Survey and Sampling Iterative Protocol (GOSSIP). We hope that this framework will establish a consistent approach …

Development Of Hurricane Storm Surge Model To Predict Coastal Highway Inundation For South Texas, Sara E. Davila, Adan Garza, Jungseok Ho

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Forecasting areas prone to flooding will allow us to send off our information gathered to departments such as TxDOT and the United States Department of Transportation. This would then enable these departments to create appropriate evacuation routes, depicting which roads are clear and which cannot be used in the event of a storm. Simulating hurricanes that have passed through this area such as Dolly in 2008, Beulah in 1967, and Bret in 1999 will display the roads and federal highways that frequently tend to get flooded. Identifying the “danger roads” and which federal highways will ultimately be useful for various …

Ulva Spp. Bloom Dynamics In A Hyper-Eutrophic Estuary: Jamaica Bay, New York, Annesia Lamb

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I present three studies that further our understanding of macroalgae identity, growth, and proliferation. Eutrophication is prevalent in shallow coastal ecosystems world-wide. One of the ecosystem consequences is the development of a bloom forming green marine macroalgae, Ulva spp. Ulva can have negative effects such as Zostera spp. degradation, fish, and shellfish declines. I performed assessments of (1) identity of the bloom-forming Ulva and other macroalgae assemblage, (2) physical, chemical, and biological drivers of Ulva bloom growth and proliferation, and (3) optimal irradiance and temperature requirements for early growth stages in Ulva linza.

The first study …

Genetic Patterns In Peripheral Marine Populations Of The Fusilier Fish Caesio Cuning Within The Kuroshio Current, Amanda S. Ackiss, Christopher E. Bird, Yuichi Akita, Mudjekeewis D. Santos, Katsunori Tachihara, Kent E. Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Aim: Mayr’s central‐peripheral population model (CCPM) describes the marked differences between central and peripheral populations in genetic diversity, gene flow, and census size. When isolation leads to genetic divergence, these peripheral populations have high evolutionary value and can influence biogeographic patterns. In tropical marine species with pelagic larvae, powerful western‐boundary currents have great potential to shape the genetic characteristics of peripheral populations at latitudinal extremes. We tested for the genetic patterns expected by the CCPM in peripheral populations that are located within the Kuroshio Current for the Indo‐Pacific reef fish, Caesio cuning.

Methods: We used a panel of 2,677 …

Dermal Mycobacteriosis And Warming Sea Surface Temperatures Are Associated With Elevated Mortality Of Striped Bass In Chesapeake Bay, Maya L. Groner, John M. Hoenig, Roger Pradel, Rémi Choquet, Wolfgang K. Vogelbein, David T. Gauthier, Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Temperature is hypothesized to alter disease dynamics, particularly when species are living at or near their thermal limits. When disease occurs in marine systems, this can go undetected, particularly if the disease is chronic and progresses slowly. As a result, population-level impacts of diseases can be grossly underestimated. Complex migratory patterns, stochasticity in recruitment, and data and knowledge gaps can hinder collection and analysis of data on marine diseases. New tools enabling quantification of disease impacts in marine environments include coupled biogeochemical hydrodynamic models (to hindcast key environmental data), and multievent, multistate mark-recapture (MMSMR) (to quantify the effects of environmental …

Challenges, Pitfalls And Surprises: Development And Validation Of A Monoclonal Antibody For Enzyme Immunoassay Of The Steroid 1Α-Hydroxycorticosterone In Elasmobranch Species, Catharine J. Wheaton, Natalie D. Mylniczenko, John M. Rimoldi, Rama S.V.S. Gadepalli, R. Hart, Bobbi R. O'Hara, Andrew N. Evans

Faculty Publications

Sharks and rays are popular species used in wildlife ecotourism and aquariums to educate the public on the behavior, ecology and conservation challenges of elasmobranchs. To understand long-term physiological health and welfare under varying social and husbandry conditions, we developed and validated an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to measure stress/ionoregulatory hormones in managed and semi-free range southern rays (Hypanus americanus). Banked serum and interrenal samples from 27 female rays managed at Disney’s The Seas with Nemo and Friends^® and Castaway Cay were used to evaluate measurement of 1α-hydroxycorticosterone (1αOHB) relative to corticosterone (B). Although commercial EIAs are available …

Environmental Controls On Depositional Patterns Of Isolated Carbonate Platforms, Jeremy M. Kerr

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the influence of the environment on the lateral spatial patterning of facies in modern isolated carbonate platforms through six studies. The first study describes the creation of a database of benthic habitat and bathymetric maps derived from multispectral satellite imagery and the field data used calibrate and validate the mapping algorithms. The second study develops and assesses a new approach for remotely-deriving water depth from multispectral satellite imagery without the need for ground-truth information. The third study identifies a criterion for distinguishing between facies belts and mosaics and deploys the criterion to investigate the co-occurrence of these …

The Effects Of Density Gradients On The Distribution And Behavior Of Copepods, Connor Cayson

Theses

Observations of fine-scale behavioral dynamics of zooplankton may shed insight into much larger-scale ecosystem patterns and phenomena. Some zooplankton, such as copepods, are known to aggregate near density gradients; however, it is not clear the extent to which density gradients alone affect copepod distribution and behavior, since these gradients are often associated with phytoplankton layers. In this study, we investigated the behavior of Calanus pacificus in response to salinity gradients through laboratory experiments observed with high-resolution video and analyzed using computational techniques. Image data were collected using two cameras recording continuously for a duration of 30 minutes or more, allowing …

The Microbiome Of The Gastrointestinal Tract Of A Range-Shifting Marine Herbivorous Fish, Jacquelyn Jones, Joseph D. Dibattista, Michael Stat, Michael Bunce, Mary C. Boyce, David Fairclough, Michael J. Travers, Megan J. Huggett

Fisheries Research Articles

Globally, marine species’ distributions are being modified due to rising ocean temperatures. Increasing evidence suggests a circum-global pattern of poleward extensions in the distributions of many tropical herbivorous species, including the ecologically important rabbitfish Siganus fuscescens. Adaptability of a species to such new environments may be heavily influenced by the composition of their gastrointestinal microbe fauna, which is fundamentally important to animal health. Siganus fuscescens thus provides an opportunity to assess the stability of gastrointestinal microbes under varying environmental conditions. The gastrointestinal microbial communities of S. fuscescens were characterized over 2,000 km of Australia’s western coast, from tropical to …

Thresholds And Drivers Of Coral Calcification Responses To Climate Change, Niklas Kornder, Bernhard Riegl, Joana Figueiredo

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Increased temperature and CO₂ levels are considered key drivers of coral reef degradation. However, individual assessments of ecological responses (calcification) to these stressors are often contradicting. To detect underlying drivers of heterogeneity in coral calcification responses, we developed a procedure for the inclusion of stress–effect relationships in ecological meta‐analyses. We applied this technique to a dataset of 294 empirical observations from 62 peer‐reviewed publications testing individual and combined effects of elevated temperature and pCO₂ on coral calcification. Our results show an additive interaction between warming and acidification, which reduces coral calcification by 20% when pCO₂ levels exceed …

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 …

Genomic Analysis Of Acropora Cervicornis Mucus And Sediments In The Florida Keys Tavernier Nursery, Rachel Zimmerman

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

White Band disease has devastated the staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis in recent decades, and it continues to impinge upon restoration efforts. The etiological agent(s) remain unknown as Koch’s postulates have yet to be satisfied, but disease may originate when opportunistic pathogens in the surface mucus layer exploit a stressed host. Using 16s rRNA sequencing, differences in the taxonomic diversity and relative abundances of bacteria within the mucus of A. cervicornis were documented between colonies of the same genotype, genotypes (n=8) categorized as having either high or low WBD susceptibility, and during a transplantation event. A. cervicornis colonies suspended from midwater …

Using Local Fishery Monitoring To Understand Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries In Tanzania, Matthew Robertson

LSU Master's Theses

Nearshore marine fisheries provide the main source of protein for nearly 9 million people in the coastal villages of Tanzania, yet for decades the fisheries have shown signs of overexploitation. These fisheries are small-scale and co-managed by local coastal communities in groups known as Beach Management Units (BMUs). BMUs monitor individual fishing trip data (e.g. gear, vessel, taxa); however, these data have only been analyzed in nationally aggregated statistics and to our knowledge, are not presently used in management decision making. The present thesis aimed to identify the forms of data and information that local fishery monitoring can record about …

A Comparison Of Benthic Habitats And Faunas Between The Miami Terrace (Proposed Calypso Pipeline Site) And The Pourtales Terrace (Coral Habitat Of Particular Concern), Laura Dell

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Quantitative photographs of benthic communities at two northern Miami Terrace sites, originally investigated as part of an environmental impact survey in advance of the proposed Calypso pipeline, and two Pourtalès Terrace sites, investigated as part of an exploration of deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems (DSCEs) within the Pourtalès Terrace Deep-water Coral Habitat Area of Particular Concern (CHAPC), were reanalyzed and compared for similarities and differences. Both terraces are part of an elongated lithified platform that parallels the southeastern Florida coast at depths averaging between 250 and 450 m. Although both sites have similar geological origins and lie under the Florida …

Next Generation Sequencing Methods For Coastal Zone Water Quality Monitoring, Catherine Iskrenko

HCNSO Student Capstones

When analyzing the water quality of the coastal zone, culture-based techniques have been utilized most often to identify Fecal Indicator Bacteria in samples. Since the advent of the Sanger Method for DNA sequencing, other techniques have arisen that provide significantly more information on the microorganisms in sample, but they are still not the mainstream for water quality analysis. This capstone reviews and compares culture-based techniques, DNA sequencing, RNA sequencing, qPCR for biomarker, and 16S rDNA sequencing to highlight their merits and shortcomings for analyzing environmental water samples. The technique presented that provides the broadest range of information (including the identification …

Meta-Analytic Summary Of Parasites And Diseases Of Elasmobranchs Found In Florida Waters, Alexis S. Modzelesky

HCNSO Student Capstones

Elasmobranchs have conservational and commercial importance. There is a need for a more complete understanding of their health, due to their ability to shape trophic webs and their money-making potential with fishers and ecotourists. Sharks have been known to influence the strength of food webs, including reef ecosystems where many fish species are harvested for food. The investigation of pathogenic agents and diseases in elasmobranchs has been biased to favor those natural enemies that inhabit the digestive system and epidermal surfaces. Certain groups of parasites such as cestodes, copepods, and monogeneans, were most often recorded in this study. The bacterial …

The Transcriptome Of The Bermuda Fireworm Odontosyllis Enopla (Annelida: Syllidae): A Unique Luciferase Gene Family And Putative Epitoky-Related Genes, Mercer R. Brugler, M. Teresa Aguado, Michael Tessler, Mark Siddall

Publications and Research

The Bermuda fireworm Odontosyllis enopla exhibits an extremely tight circalunar circadian behavior that results in an impressive bioluminescent mating swarm, thought to be due to a conventional luciferase-mediated oxidation of a light-emitting luciferin. In addition, the four eyes become hypertrophied and heavily pigmented, and the nephridial system is modified to store and release gametes and associated secretions. In an effort to elucidate transcripts related to bioluminescence, circadian or circalunar periodicity, as well as epitoky-related changes of the eyes and nephridial system, we examined the transcriptomic profile of three female O. enopladuring a bioluminescent swarm in Ferry Reach, Bermuda. …

Analysis Of Temperature And Salinity Effects On Growth And Mortality Of Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) In Louisiana, Troy Sehlinger

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Salinity (S) and temperature (T) control every facet of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) life cycle, principally reproduction, development, growth, and mortality. Previous studies conducted in in the Breton Sound (BR) and Barataria (BA) estuaries have reported differences in growth and mortality rates between the basins. In the present study, environmental conditions were synchronized to compare growth and mortality rates between basins at similar combinations of T and S. Results indicate that when T and S are the same (synchronized), seasonal oyster growth and mortality rates differ between BR and BA. Seasonal analyses revealed that as salinities increased …

Zooplankton Community Composition In Natural And Artificial Estuarine Passes Of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Arnaud Kerisit

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

I assessed the composition of zooplankton communities at the three tidal inlets connecting Lake Pontchartrain to Lake Borgne and subsequently to the Gulf of Mexico. The objectives of my research were to better understand the factors contributing to both spatial and temporal differences in zooplankton communities at the three locations. Monthly samplings of the neuston were conducted from September 2009 until April 2011 and then again from September 2012 until May 2013. Sampling consisted of triplicate tows using SeaGear “Bongo” nets. Water quality data along with water turbidity were recorded at each site and during each sampling effort. All specimens …

Laboratory Growth Of Denitrifying Water Column Microbia Consortia From Deep-Sea Shipwrecks In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Dhanya Haridas, Justin C. Biffinger, Thomas J. Boyd, Preston A. Fulmer, Leila J. Hamdan, Lisa A. Fitzgerald

Faculty Publications

Background: Shipwrecks serve as a rich source for novel microbial populations that have largely remained undiscovered. Low temperatures, lack of sunlight, and the availability of substrates derived from the shipwreck’s hull and cargo may provide an environment in which microbes can develop unique metabolic adaptations.

Methods: To test our hypothesis that shipwrecks could influence the microbial population involved in denitrification when a consortium is grown in the laboratory, we collected samples proximate to two steel shipwrecks in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Then under laboratory conditions, we grew two independent denitrifying microbial consortia. Each consortium was grown by …

Bubble Stream Production By Belugas (Delphinapterus Leucas), Megan Slack

Theses

Bubble stream production in belugas has been poorly characterized and its function is not well understood. I examined behavioral states when producing bubble streams (“bubbling”), and when bubbling calls, to determine whether bubbling was significantly associated with a particular call category or behavioral state. Using 19 hours of video and audio recordings collected over a two-day period, I quantified bubble streams of a 4-month old calf and an unrelated adult female housed together. Based on the overall activity budgets and pool of vocalizations for both animals, I calculated the expected counts of bubble streams with and without vocalizations, assuming that …