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Gulf of Mexico

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Articles 1 - 30 of 166

Full-Text Articles in Marine Biology

Integrating Remote Sensing With Ground-Based Observations To Quantify The Effects Of An Extreme Freeze Event On Black Mangroves (Avicennia Germinans) At The Landscape Scale, Melinda Martinez, Michael J. Osland, James B. Grace, Nicholas M. Enwright, Camille L. Stagg, Camille L. Stagg, Simen Kaalstad, Gordon H. Anderson, Elena A. Flores, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo Aug 2023

Integrating Remote Sensing With Ground-Based Observations To Quantify The Effects Of An Extreme Freeze Event On Black Mangroves (Avicennia Germinans) At The Landscape Scale, Melinda Martinez, Michael J. Osland, James B. Grace, Nicholas M. Enwright, Camille L. Stagg, Camille L. Stagg, Simen Kaalstad, Gordon H. Anderson, Elena A. Flores, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change is altering the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Quantifying ecosystem responses to extreme events at the landscape scale is critical for understanding and responding to climate-driven change but is constrained by limited data availability. Here, we integrated remote sensing with ground-based observations to quantify landscape-scale vegetation damage from an extreme climatic event. We used ground- and satellite-based black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) leaf damage data from the northern Gulf of Mexico (USA and Mexico) to examine the effects of an extreme freeze in a region where black mangroves are expanding their range. The February 2021 …


An Ecological Assessment Of The Deep-Pelagic Fish Genus Cyclothone (Gonostomatidae; Stomiiformes), Possibly The World’S Most Abundant Fishes, In The Gulf Of Mexico, Olivia C. North-Menthonnex Apr 2023

An Ecological Assessment Of The Deep-Pelagic Fish Genus Cyclothone (Gonostomatidae; Stomiiformes), Possibly The World’S Most Abundant Fishes, In The Gulf Of Mexico, Olivia C. North-Menthonnex

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The fish genus Cyclothone is considered the most abundant vertebrate taxon on Earth. Despite this assertion, very few detailed ecological studies of this genus exist for any site in the World Ocean, largely due to the lack of expertise (and willingness) to identify specimens from existing sample sets. This study will provide a species-level description of the abundance, vertical distribution, and size structuring of the genus Cyclothone in the Gulf of Mexico, a hyper-diverse, deep-pelagic ecosystem that is increasingly impacted by anthropogenic disturbances. As the putative most-abundant fishes in the ecosystem, this characterization is critically needed for a holistic understanding …


Effects Of Net Type On The Quantification Of Pelagic Shrimp And Krill In The Gulf Of Mexico, Eric J. Lee Aug 2022

Effects Of Net Type On The Quantification Of Pelagic Shrimp And Krill In The Gulf Of Mexico, Eric J. Lee

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Trawls are an effective and widely used method for collecting micronekton because they can sample large volumes of sparsely distributed organisms, as well as allow for direct species identification of collected samples. However, net sampling methods are known to be highly variable in terms of design and catchability, and comparisons of deep-sea trawl data from two different types of nets over the same spatial and temporal scale are relatively rare. The current study is unique because it provides such an analysis for micronektonic crustaceans in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) by comparing the trawling efficacy of a smaller 10 m …


Size Structuring Of Myctophids In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico In The Years Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Adam Warren Aug 2022

Size Structuring Of Myctophids In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico In The Years Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Adam Warren

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Body size is one of the main determinants of marine ecosystem structure and is correlated with many behavioral processes such as diel vertical migration (DVM). Myctophidae, a highly abundant, speciose, and globally distributed fish family, perform diel vertical migrations between the epipelagic zone at night and the mesopelagic zone during the day with vertical distributions varying with ontogeny, and therefore body length. Understanding how DVM contributes to an ecosystem’s structure is important to understanding ecosystem functioning, especially in response to anthropogenic impacts such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in myctophid …


Population Genomic Dynamics Of Mesopelagic Lanternfishes Diaphus Dumerilii, Lepidophanes Guentheri, And Ceratoscopelus Warmingii (Family: Myctophidae) In The Gulf Of Mexico, Andrea Bernard, Kimberly A. Finnegan, Tracey Sutton, Ron Eytan, Max Weber, Mahmood Shivji Apr 2022

Population Genomic Dynamics Of Mesopelagic Lanternfishes Diaphus Dumerilii, Lepidophanes Guentheri, And Ceratoscopelus Warmingii (Family: Myctophidae) In The Gulf Of Mexico, Andrea Bernard, Kimberly A. Finnegan, Tracey Sutton, Ron Eytan, Max Weber, Mahmood Shivji

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Assessing the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS) on deep-sea fish assemblages of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has been hindered by an absence of baseline (pre-spill) data concerning the population genetic dynamics of these fishes. The lanternfishes (Myctophidae) are a speciose, yet understudied, taxonomic group, that comprise a significant portion of the global deep-sea biomass, making them integral members of meso- and bathy-pelagic food webs. Herein, we used a genomic approach (double digest restriction site associated DNA sequencing) to investigate the temporal genetic dynamics of three species of lanternfishes within the northern GOM in the region of …


Assemblage Composition And Vertical Distributions Of Deep-Sea Anglerfishes (Suborder: Ceratioidei) Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Kimberly S. Schmutz Apr 2022

Assemblage Composition And Vertical Distributions Of Deep-Sea Anglerfishes (Suborder: Ceratioidei) Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Kimberly S. Schmutz

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The bathypelagic zone, despite being the largest cumulative ecosystem on the planet, represents the largest data gap in biological oceanography. In a deep environment with no solar light and pressures so high that survival is impossible for most marine organisms, some species have been able to adapt and overcome these challenges to radiate into diverse and successful taxa. Among the most notable of these successful taxa are the deep-sea anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei). Ceratioid anglerfishes possess unique adaptations such as a symbiotic bioluminescent lure (females) and extreme dwarfism (males) that make them a particularly interesting group to study. Despite this research …


Spatial Variability Of Microzooplankton Grazing On Phytoplankton In Coastal Southern Florida, Usa, Nicole C. Millette, Christopher Kelble, Ian Smith, Kelly Montenero, Elizabeth Harvey Jan 2022

Spatial Variability Of Microzooplankton Grazing On Phytoplankton In Coastal Southern Florida, Usa, Nicole C. Millette, Christopher Kelble, Ian Smith, Kelly Montenero, Elizabeth Harvey

VIMS Articles

Microzooplankton are considered the primary consumers of phytoplankton in marine environments. Microzooplankton grazing rates on phytoplankton have been studied across the globe, but there are still large regions of the ocean that are understudied, such as sub-tropical coastal oceans. One of these regions is the coastal area around south Florida, USA. We measured microzooplankton grazing rates in two distinct environments around south Florida; the oligotrophic Florida Keys and the mesotrophic outflow from the Everglades. For 2-years from January 2018 to January 2020, we set up 55 dilution and light-dark bottle experiments at five stations to estimate the microzooplankton community grazing …


Dna Barcoding Enhances Large-Scale Biodiversity Initiatives For Deep-Pelagic Crustaceans Within The Gulf Of Mexico And Adjacent Waters, Carlos Varela Nov 2021

Dna Barcoding Enhances Large-Scale Biodiversity Initiatives For Deep-Pelagic Crustaceans Within The Gulf Of Mexico And Adjacent Waters, Carlos Varela

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I investigate the biodiversity of marine deep-water crustaceans of the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent waters, focusing on pelagic crustaceans. Taxonomic and molecular techniques were utilized to document adult and larval crustacean specimens to better under their taxonomy, life history, evolutionary relationships and cryptic biodiversity. The use of molecular techniques to study organisms from habitats with limited accessibility provides tremendous potential. With prevalent anthropogenic threats and the delicate nature of deep-water habitats, the need to improve our understanding of these systems is clear. Molecular techniques can act as a fundamental tool to complement traditional taxonomy. The application …


Investigating Local Adaptation To Hypoxia Stress In The Eastern Oyster Through Comparative Transcriptomics, Heather Nichole Smith Jul 2021

Investigating Local Adaptation To Hypoxia Stress In The Eastern Oyster Through Comparative Transcriptomics, Heather Nichole Smith

LSU Master's Theses

Climate change represents one of the most important challenges to biodiversity, therefore it is important to understand the mechanisms that allow species to respond to rapid environmental change. Here, we compared two populations of eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, from the Gulf of Mexico to study the mechanisms underlying hypoxia tolerance. Using a common garden experiment and comparative transcriptomics, we identified sets of genes involved in the hypoxia response and found differences in both the timing and baseline expression of hypoxia-responsive genes between tolerant and sensitive populations, consistent with a scenario of local adaptation. These genes include the signaling transcription factor …


Importance Of Low-Relief Nursery Habitat For Reef Fishes, Michael A. Dance, Ray R. Rooker, Richard J. Kline, Antonietta Quigg, Gregory R. Stunz, R. J. David Wells, Kirsten Lara, Jessica Lee, Bobbie Suarez Jan 2021

Importance Of Low-Relief Nursery Habitat For Reef Fishes, Michael A. Dance, Ray R. Rooker, Richard J. Kline, Antonietta Quigg, Gregory R. Stunz, R. J. David Wells, Kirsten Lara, Jessica Lee, Bobbie Suarez

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coastal restoration projects to mitigate environmental impacts have increased global demand for sand resources. Unfortunately, these resources are often extracted from sand/shell banks on the inner continental shelf, resulting in significant alteration or loss of low-relief reefs in coastal oceans. Experimental reefs (oyster shell, limestone rubble, composite) were deployed in the western Gulf of Mexico to assess their potential value as nurseries for newly settled reef fishes. Occurrence, abundance, and species richness of juvenile fishes were significantly higher on all three types of low-relief reefs compared with unconsolidated sediment. Moreover, reefs served as nursery habitat for a range of reef …


Elevating Dissolved Oxygen—Reflections On Developing And Using Long-Term Data, Nancy N. Rabalais Jan 2021

Elevating Dissolved Oxygen—Reflections On Developing And Using Long-Term Data, Nancy N. Rabalais

Gulf and Caribbean Research

This prospectus took me about as long to generate as my 36—year record of working on the issue of northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) oxygen deficiency, or so I felt. There was so much to cover, but I focused on the issue of hypoxia on the Louisiana continental shelf from the early 1980s to present and my participation in the research and outreach. Not that I was ignoring other aspects of my academic research career (e.g., stone crab populations and their differences in physiology and larval development along the nGOM coast; settlement of crab megalopae, especially blue crabs, on artificial …


Trophic Structure And Sources Of Variation Influencing The Stable Isotope Signatures Of Meso- And Bathypelagic Micronekton Fishes, Travis M. Richards, Tracey Sutton, R. J.David Wells Nov 2020

Trophic Structure And Sources Of Variation Influencing The Stable Isotope Signatures Of Meso- And Bathypelagic Micronekton Fishes, Travis M. Richards, Tracey Sutton, R. J.David Wells

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

To better understand spatiotemporal variation in the trophic structure of deep-pelagic species, we examined the isotope values of particulate organic matter (POM) (isotopic baseline) and seven deep-pelagic fishes with similar diet compositions but contrasting vertical distributions across mesoscale features in the Gulf of Mexico using stable isotope and amino acid compound-specific isotope analyses. Species examined included four migratory (Benthosema suborbitale, Lepidophanes guentheri, Melamphaes simus, Sigmops elongatus) and three non-migratory zooplanktivorous fishes (Argyropelecus hemigymnus, Cyclothone obscura, Sternoptyx pseudobscura). Isotopic values of POM increased with depth, with meso- and bathypelagic samples characterized by higher δ C and δ N values relative to …


First Insights Into The Vertical Habitat Use Of The Whitespotted Eagle Ray Aetobatus Narinari Revealed By Pop‐Up Satellite Archival Tags, L. R. Brewster, B. V. Cahill, M. N. Burton, C. Dougan, J. S. Herr, L. Issac Norton, S. A. Mcguire, M. Pico, E. Urban-Gedamke, K. Bassos-Hull, J. P. Tyminski, R. E. Hueter, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Mahmood S. Shivji, N. Burnie, M. J. Ajemian Sep 2020

First Insights Into The Vertical Habitat Use Of The Whitespotted Eagle Ray Aetobatus Narinari Revealed By Pop‐Up Satellite Archival Tags, L. R. Brewster, B. V. Cahill, M. N. Burton, C. Dougan, J. S. Herr, L. Issac Norton, S. A. Mcguire, M. Pico, E. Urban-Gedamke, K. Bassos-Hull, J. P. Tyminski, R. E. Hueter, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Mahmood S. Shivji, N. Burnie, M. J. Ajemian

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari is a tropical to warm‐temperate benthopelagic batoid that ranges widely throughout the western Atlantic Ocean. Despite conservation concerns for the species, its vertical habitat use and diving behaviour remain unknown. Patterns and drivers in depth distribution of A. narinari were investigated at two separate locations—western North Atlantic (Islands of Bermuda) and Eastern Gulf of Mexico (Sarasota, Florida, USA). Between 2010 and 2014, seven pop‐up satellite archival tags (PSATs) were attached to A. narinari using three methods: a through‐tail suture; external tail‐band; and through‐wing attachment. Retention time ranged from 0–180 days, with tags attached via …


Taxonomic Richness And Diversity Of Larval Fish Assemblages In The Oceanic Gulf Of Mexico: Links To Oceanographic Conditions, Corinne R. Meinert, Kimberly Clausen-Sparks, Maëlle Cornic, Tracey Sutton, Jay R. Rooker Jul 2020

Taxonomic Richness And Diversity Of Larval Fish Assemblages In The Oceanic Gulf Of Mexico: Links To Oceanographic Conditions, Corinne R. Meinert, Kimberly Clausen-Sparks, Maëlle Cornic, Tracey Sutton, Jay R. Rooker

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Biodiversity enhances the productivity and stability of marine ecosystems and provides important ecosystem services. The aim of this study was to characterize larval fish assemblages in pelagic waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGoM) and identify oceanographic conditions associated with areas of increased taxonomic richness (T ) and Shannon diversity (H’). Summer ichthyoplankton surveys were conducted in the NGoM in 2015 and 2016 using neuston net (surface layer; upper 1 m) and oblique bongo net (mixed layer; 0–100 m) tows. Over 17,000 fish larvae were collected over the two-year study, and 99 families of fish larvae were present. Catch …


The Expanded Footprint Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico Deep-Sea Benthos, Michael G. Reuscher, Jeffrey G. Baguley, Paul A. Montagna Jun 2020

The Expanded Footprint Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico Deep-Sea Benthos, Michael G. Reuscher, Jeffrey G. Baguley, Paul A. Montagna

C-IMAGE Publications

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout off the coast of Louisiana caused the largest marine oil spill on record. Samples were collected 2–3 months after the Macondo well was capped to assess damage to macrofauna and meiofauna communities. An earlier analysis of 58 stations demonstrated severe and moderate damage to an area of 148 km2. An additional 58 archived stations have been analyzed to enhance the resolution of that assessment and determine if impacts occurred further afield. Impacts included high levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the sediment, low diversity, low evenness, and …


Hiding In Plain Sight: Elopomorph Larvae Are Important Contributors To Fish Biodiversity In A Low-Latitude Oceanic Ecosystem, Jon A. Moore, Dante Fenolio, April Coan, Tracey Sutton Apr 2020

Hiding In Plain Sight: Elopomorph Larvae Are Important Contributors To Fish Biodiversity In A Low-Latitude Oceanic Ecosystem, Jon A. Moore, Dante Fenolio, April Coan, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Leptocephalus larvae of elopomorph fishes are a cryptic component of fish diversity in nearshore and oceanic habitats. However, identifying those leptocephali can be important in illuminating species richness in a region. Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, sampling of offshore fishes in the epi-, meso-, and upper bathypelagic depth strata of the northern Gulf of Mexico resulted in 8989 identifiable specimens of leptocephalus larvae or transforming juveniles, in 118 taxa representing 83 recognized and established species and an additional 35 distinctive leptocephalus morphotypes not yet linked to a known described species. Leptocephali account for ∼13% of the total …


Pelagic Habitat Partitioning Of Late-Larval And Juvenile Tunas In The Oceanic Gulf Of Mexico, Nina Pruzinsky, Rosanna Milligan, Tracey Sutton Apr 2020

Pelagic Habitat Partitioning Of Late-Larval And Juvenile Tunas In The Oceanic Gulf Of Mexico, Nina Pruzinsky, Rosanna Milligan, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Tunas are ecologically important in pelagic ecosystems, but due to their high economic value, large-bodied species are overfished. Declines in fishery landings of large-bodied tuna species in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are expected to increase fishing pressures on unmanaged, small-bodied tuna species, whose life history traits are less known. While predicting spawning stocks and recruitment success typically focuses on estimates of larval abundances, juveniles may provide a better estimate of future adult stock sizes, as they are more likely to survive to adulthood because mortality rates scale inversely with body size. However, distributional studies on juveniles are rare, leading …


The Southern Gulf Of Mexico: A Baseline Radiocarbon Isoscape Of Surface Sediments And Isotopic Excursions At Depth, Samantha H Bosman, Patrick Schwing, Rebekka A. Larson, Natalie E. Wildermann, Gregg R. Brooks, Isabel Romero, Joan-Albert Sanchez-Cabeza, Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernández, Maria Luisa Machain-Castillo, Adolfo Gracia, Elva Escobar-Briones, Steven Murawski, David Hollander, Jeffrey P. Chanton Apr 2020

The Southern Gulf Of Mexico: A Baseline Radiocarbon Isoscape Of Surface Sediments And Isotopic Excursions At Depth, Samantha H Bosman, Patrick Schwing, Rebekka A. Larson, Natalie E. Wildermann, Gregg R. Brooks, Isabel Romero, Joan-Albert Sanchez-Cabeza, Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernández, Maria Luisa Machain-Castillo, Adolfo Gracia, Elva Escobar-Briones, Steven Murawski, David Hollander, Jeffrey P. Chanton

C-IMAGE Publications

The southern Gulf of Mexico (sGoM) is home to an extensive oil recovery and development infrastructure. In addition, the basin harbors sites of submarine hydrocarbon seepage and receives terrestrial inputs from bordering rivers. We used stable carbon, nitrogen, and radiocarbon analyses of bulk sediment organic matter to define the current baseline isoscapes of surface sediments in the sGoM and determined which factors might influence them. These baseline surface isoscapes will be useful for accessing future environmental impacts. We also examined the region for influence of hydrocarbon deposition in the sedimentary record that might be associated with hydrocarbon recovery, spillage and …


Feeding Ecology Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) And Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites Aurorubens) Coexisting At The Louisiana Shelf-Edge Banks, Katherine M. Ellis Apr 2020

Feeding Ecology Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) And Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites Aurorubens) Coexisting At The Louisiana Shelf-Edge Banks, Katherine M. Ellis

LSU Master's Theses

Niche partitioning, the process by which competing species use different subsets of the available resources, is commonly used to explain the coexistence of closely related species. In the northwest Gulf of Mexico on the shelf-edge banks, red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens) are two coexisting closely related species. Yet, little is known about how these species partition resources. In this study, niche partitioning of red snapper and vermilion snapper was investigated using gut contents and stable isotopes. While dietary niche partitioning was apparent, the species relied upon similar prey and displayed isotopic niche overlap, …


Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of Carijoa Riisei (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860) (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Stolonifera: Clavulariidae), Erin E. Easton, David Hicks Apr 2020

Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of Carijoa Riisei (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860) (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Stolonifera: Clavulariidae), Erin E. Easton, David Hicks

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report the first complete Stolonifera mitochondrial genome. Carijoa riisei (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860) isolate CLP2_A03 was collected by scuba at 32 m on the USTS Texas Clipper (27° 53.7827′N, 93° 36.2702′W). The complete mitogenome has the ancestral octocoral gene order for its 14 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, and one tRNA gene. It is 18,714 bp (30.7% A, 15.8% C, 18.8% G, and 34.7% T). Of the Alcyonacea mitogenomes published to date, it is most genetically similar (94% uncorrected) to Sinularia ceramensis Verseveldt, 1977 (NC_044122).


Dynamics Of The Loop Current System And Its Effects On Surface And Subsurface Properties In The Gulf Of Mexico, Richard James Brokaw Apr 2020

Dynamics Of The Loop Current System And Its Effects On Surface And Subsurface Properties In The Gulf Of Mexico, Richard James Brokaw

Theses and Dissertations

Surface circulation in the Gulf of Mexico is dominated by the Loop Current System (LCS), including the Loop Current (LC) and its associated eddies. The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) also displays long-term surface gradients of temperature and salinity due to climatological features including the intrusion of warm, saline waters from the Caribbean Sea and the seasonal deposition of freshwater from the Mississippi River System caused by seasonal increases in snow melt and precipitation over the watershed. This research aims to increase the understanding of the LCS through the investigation of its relationship with these surface gradients. A classification system of …


The Vertical And Horizontal Distribution Of Deep-Sea Crustaceans In The Order Euphausiacea In The Vicinity Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Tamara Frank, Charles Douglas Fine, Eric A. Burdett, April Cook, Tracey Sutton Feb 2020

The Vertical And Horizontal Distribution Of Deep-Sea Crustaceans In The Order Euphausiacea In The Vicinity Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Tamara Frank, Charles Douglas Fine, Eric A. Burdett, April Cook, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The vertical and horizontal distributions of Euphausiacea in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), including the location of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, were analyzed from 340 trawl samples collected between April and June 2011. This study is the first comprehensive survey of euphausiid distributions from depths deeper than 1000 m in the GOM and includes stratified sampling from five discrete depth ranges (0–200 m, 200–600 m, 600–1000 m, 1000–1200 m, and 1200–1500 m), and expands the depth ranges of 30 species. In addition, this study demonstrates significantly higher abundance and biomass of the euphausiid assemblage from slope vs. offshore …


Chronic Pah Exposures And Associated Declines In Fish Health Indices Observed For Ten Grouper Species In The Gulf Of Mexico, Erin Pulster, Adolfo Gracia, Maickel Armenteros, Brigid Carr, Justin Mrowicki, Steven Murawski Feb 2020

Chronic Pah Exposures And Associated Declines In Fish Health Indices Observed For Ten Grouper Species In The Gulf Of Mexico, Erin Pulster, Adolfo Gracia, Maickel Armenteros, Brigid Carr, Justin Mrowicki, Steven Murawski

C-IMAGE Publications

Ten grouper species grouper (n = 584) were collected throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) from 2011 through 2017 to provide information on hepatobiliary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Liver and bile samples were analyzed for PAHs and their metabolites using triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-F), respectively. Data were compared among species and sub-regions of the GoM to understand spatiotemporal exposure dynamics in these economically and ecologically important species. Significant differences in the composition and concentrations of PAHs were detected spatially, …


Impacts Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill On Reproduction And Ontogeny Of Gulf Killifish (Fundulus Grandis), Charles Alexander Brown Jan 2020

Impacts Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill On Reproduction And Ontogeny Of Gulf Killifish (Fundulus Grandis), Charles Alexander Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released an estimated 779 million liters of Macondo-252 crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest marine oil spill in history. Over a thousand kilometers of marshland that many species of fish use as a spawning grounds and nurseries was oiled, exposing breeding adult fish and their offspring to oil. My dissertation investigates the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and associated remediation efforts on the reproduction and ontogeny of a sentinel ecotoxicological species, the Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis). Concerns were raised regarding use of …


Coral Reefs In The Gulf Of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem: Conservation Status, Challenges, And Opportunities, Diego L. Gil-Agudelo, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro, Jorge Brenner, Patricia Gonzalez-Diaz, William Kiene, Caitlin Lustic, Horacio Perez-Espana Jan 2020

Coral Reefs In The Gulf Of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem: Conservation Status, Challenges, And Opportunities, Diego L. Gil-Agudelo, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro, Jorge Brenner, Patricia Gonzalez-Diaz, William Kiene, Caitlin Lustic, Horacio Perez-Espana

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The importance of coral reefs (CR) within marine ecosystems has become widely recognized. Although shallow CR are not as abundant in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) as in other areas such as the Caribbean, their uniqueness, singularity, isolation, and conservation status make their conservation highly important. Corals and CR, both shallow and deep, are more widely distributed throughout the GoM than previously thought, providing new venues of research but also new challenges for their sustainable management. They are widely present in the three countries circumscribing the GoM (Cuba, Mexico, and the United States). Corals are also distributed throughout different depths, …


Hepatobiliary Analyses Suggest Chronic Pah Exposure In Hakes (Urophycis Spp.) Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Rachel E. Struch, Erin Pulster, Andrea D. Schreier, Steven A. Murawski Dec 2019

Hepatobiliary Analyses Suggest Chronic Pah Exposure In Hakes (Urophycis Spp.) Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Rachel E. Struch, Erin Pulster, Andrea D. Schreier, Steven A. Murawski

C-IMAGE Publications

Prior to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we lacked a comprehensive baseline of oil contamination in the Gulf of Mexico's sediments, water column, and biota. Gaps in prespill knowledge limit our ability to determine the aftereffects of the Deepwater Horizon blowout or prepare to mitigate similar impacts during future oil spill disasters. We examined spatiotemporal differences in exposure to and metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 2 hake species (Urophycis spp.) to establish a current baseline for these ecologically important, abundant, and at-risk demersal fishes. Gulf hake (Urophycis cirrata) and southern hake (Urophycis floridana) were collected throughout the Gulf …


Development And Employment Of Environmental Dna Methods For The Detection Of Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus Leucas) In A Freshwater And Estuarine Interface In The Mobile-Tensaw Delta And Mobile Bay, Alabama, Katherine Schweiss Dec 2019

Development And Employment Of Environmental Dna Methods For The Detection Of Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus Leucas) In A Freshwater And Estuarine Interface In The Mobile-Tensaw Delta And Mobile Bay, Alabama, Katherine Schweiss

Master's Theses

Species conservation and management is influenced by the quality of monitoring methods employed, especially when targeting elusive, but ecologically significant species, like elasmobranchs. Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) are highly mobile predators that rely on estuaries and freshwater rivers for maturation, resources, and refuge; their ability to withstand changing environmental conditions may mean they are linking ecosystems through their habitat usage and movements. Rather than setting nets or attaching acoustic monitoring devices, which can be expensive, time-consuming, and invasive, the analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) for tracing species presence was used to target C. leucasDNA. The present research …


The Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of Tanacetipathes Thamnea Warner, 1981 (Antipatharia: Myriopathidae), Diego F. Figueroa, David Hicks, Nicole J. Figueroa Nov 2019

The Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of Tanacetipathes Thamnea Warner, 1981 (Antipatharia: Myriopathidae), Diego F. Figueroa, David Hicks, Nicole J. Figueroa

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Specimens of the black coral Tanacetipathes thamnea were collected from the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico. The complete mitochondrial genome of one of these specimens was obtained from genomic DNA by next-generation sequencing technology on the Illumina HiSeq 2500. Only three species of black corals have a completely sequenced mitochondrial genome. These were used to reconstruct the phylogeny for the order Antipatharia. The mitochondrial genome of T. thamnea is 17,712 base pairs and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, and 2 transfer RNAs in the following order: 16s RNA, COX3, COX1 (with intron), ND4L, COX2, ND4, …


Improving The Integration Of Restoration And Conservation In Marine And Coastal Ecosystems: Lessons From The Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Richard L. Wallace, Gilbert Gilbert, John E. Reynolds Iii Nov 2019

Improving The Integration Of Restoration And Conservation In Marine And Coastal Ecosystems: Lessons From The Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Richard L. Wallace, Gilbert Gilbert, John E. Reynolds Iii

C-IMAGE Publications

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, much has been learned about the biological, ecological, physical, and chemical conditions of the Gulf of Mexico. In parallel, the research community has also gained insight about the social and organizational structures and processes necessary for oil spill response and subsequent marine and coastal restoration. However, even with these lessons from both the Deepwater Horizon and previous spills, including 1989’s Exxon Valdez and the Ixtoc 1 in 1979, our understanding of how to avoid future crises has not advanced at the same pace as offshore oil and gas development. We argue that …


Trust And Influence In The Gulf Of Mexico’S Fishery Public Management Network, Anthony Lima, Dongkyu Kim, Andrew M. Song, Gordon M. Hickey, Owen Temby Nov 2019

Trust And Influence In The Gulf Of Mexico’S Fishery Public Management Network, Anthony Lima, Dongkyu Kim, Andrew M. Song, Gordon M. Hickey, Owen Temby

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sustainable fishery management is a complex multi-sectoral challenge requiring substantial interagency coordination, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. While scholars of public management network theory and natural resource management have identified trust as one of the key ideational network properties that facilitates such interaction, relatively few studies have operationalized and measured the multiple dimensions of trust and their influence on collaboration. This article presents the results of an exploratory study examining the Gulf of Mexico fishery management network comprised of more than 30 stakeholder organizations. Using an empirically validated survey instrument, the distribution of four types of trust, three gradations of influence, …