Marine Biology Commons^™

Diversity Of Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Peracarida) In The World's Oceans - How Far Have We Come?, Gary Anderson, Magdalena Blazewicz-Paszkowycz, Roger Bamber

Faculty Publications

Tanaidaceans are small peracarid crustaceans which occur in all marine habitats, over the full range of depths, and rarely into fresh waters. Yet they have no obligate dispersive phase in their life-cycle. Populations are thus inevitably isolated, and allopatric speciation and high regional diversity are inevitable; cosmopolitan distributions are considered to be unlikely or non-existent. Options for passive dispersion are discussed. Tanaidaceans appear to have first evolved in shallow waters, the region of greatest diversification of the Apseudomorpha and some tanaidomorph families, while in deeper waters the apseudomorphs have subsequently evolved two or three distinct phyletic lines. The Neotanaidomorpha has …

Effects Of The Parasitic Dinoflagellate Hematodinium Sp. On Blue Crab (Callinectes Sapidus) Activity Predation And Habitat Selection, John M. Tiggelaar Ii

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The blue crab Callinectes sapidus occurs along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, and in high salinity regions, they are subject to lethal infection by the parasitic dinoflagellate Hematodinium. In Virginia's seaside estuaries, the prevalence of Hematodinium infection of C. sapidus can sometimes exceed 50%, threatening the commercial fishery for this species. Indeed, other commercially important crustacean fisheries have approached collapse due to Hematodinium infections. Most studies of this host-parasite interaction have focused on epidemiology, host-pathogen dynamics, and pathogen transmission, and little is known about the impact of the parasite on host behavior and population dynamics. …

Invasionsoft: A Web-Enabled Tool For Invasive Species Colonization Predictions, Matthew W. Johnston, Samuel J. Purkis

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Predicting and averting the spread of invasive species is a core focus of resource managers in all ecosystems. Patterns of invasion are difficult to forecast, compounded by a lack of user-friendly species distribution model (SDM) tools to help managers focus control efforts. This paper presents a web-based cellular automata hybrid modeling tool developed to study the invasion pattern of lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) in the western Atlantic and is a natural extension our previous lionfish study. Our goal is to make publically available this hybrid SDM tool and demonstrate both a test case (P. volitans/miles) and a …

Coral Recruitment To Two Vessel Grounding Sites Off Southeast Florida, Usa, Alison L. Moulding, Vladimir N. Kosmynin, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Over the last two decades, more than 10 major vessel groundings have occurred on coral reefs offshore southeast Florida. Lack of any published information on coral settlement, post-settlement survival, and juvenile coral growth in the southeast Florida region inhibits efforts to determine if coral populations will be able to effectively re-establish themselves. The goal of this study was to examine these processes to obtain background data needed to determine the potential for natural recovery. Over a three year period annual coral recruitment, juvenile growth, and mortality rates were measured in 20 permanent quadrats at each of two ship grounding and …

A Retrospective Analysis Of Sustainable Oyster Harvest From The Louisiana State Primary Seed Grounds, 1999-2010: A Shell-Neutral Modeling Approach, Thomas M. Soniat, Mahdi Abdelguerfi, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Eileen E. Hofmann, Shengru Tu, Nathan Cooper, Janak Dahal, John Finigan, Benjamin S. Eberline, Jerome F. La Peyre, Megan K. La Peyre, Keith B. Ibos, Brian Lezina, Patrick Banks

CCPO Publications

No abstract provided.

Insights Into Migration And Development Of Coral Black Band Disease Based On Fine Structure Analysis, Aaron Miller, Patricia Blackwelder, Husain Al-Sayegh, Laurie L. Richardson

Biology Faculty Articles

In many diverse ecosystems, ranging from natural surfaces in aquatic ecosystems to the mammalian gut and medical implants, bacterial populations and communities exist as biofilms. While the process of biofilm development has been well-studied for those produced by unicellular bacteria such Pseudomonas aeruginosa, little is known about biofilm development associated with filamentous microorganisms. Black band disease (BBD) of corals is characterized as a polymicrobial biofilm (mat) community, visually-dominated by filamentous cyanobacteria. The mat migrates across a living coral host, completely lysing coral tissue and leaving behind exposed coral skeleton. It is the only known cyanobacterial biofilm that migrates across …

Siting Study For A Hydrokinetic Energy Project Located Offshore Southeastern Florida: Protocols For Survey Methodology For Offshore Marine Hydrokinetic Energy Projects, Charles Vinick, Charles Messing, Brian K. Walker, John K. Reed, Stephanie Rogers

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Dehlsen Associates, LLC was awarded a grant by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Golden Field Office for a project titled “Siting Study Framework and Survey Methodology for Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Project in Offshore Southeast Florida,” corresponding to DOE Grant Award Number DE-EE0002655 resulting from DOE funding Opportunity Announcement Number DE-FOA- 0000069 for Topic Area 2, and it is referred to herein as “the project.”

The purpose of the project was to enhance the certainty of the survey requirements and regulatory review processes for the purpose of reducing the time, efforts, and costs associated with initial siting efforts …

Weak Prezygotic Isolating Mechanisms In Threatened Caribbean Acropora Corals, Nicole D. Fogarty, Steven V. Vollmer, Don R. Levitan

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The Caribbean corals, Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis, recently have undergone drastic declines primarily as a result of disease. Previous molecular studies have demonstrated that these species form a hybrid (A. prolifera) that varies in abundance throughout the range of the parental distribution. There is variable unidirectional introgression across loci and sites of A. palmata genes flowing into A. cervicornis. Here we examine the efficacy of prezygotic reproductive isolating mechanisms within these corals including spawning times and choice and no-choice fertilization crosses. We show that these species have subtly different mean but overlapping spawning times, suggesting …

Spatial Analyses Of Benthic Habitats To Define Coral Reef Ecosystem Regions And Potential Biogeographic Boundaries Along A Latitudinal Gradient, Brian K. Walker

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Marine organism diversity typically attenuates latitudinally from tropical to colder climate regimes. Since the distribution of many marine species relates to certain habitats and depth regimes, mapping data provide valuable information in the absence of detailed ecological data that can be used to identify and spatially quantify smaller scale (10 s km) coral reef ecosystem regions and potential physical biogeographic barriers. This study focused on the southeast Florida coast due to a recognized, but understudied, tropical to subtropical biogeographic gradient. GIS spatial analyses were conducted on recent, accurate, shallow-water (0–30 m) benthic habitat maps to identify and quantify specific regions …

Enhancing Thermal Tolerance By Eliminating The Pejus Range: A Comparative Study With Three Decapod Crustaceans, Jennifer A. Jost, Stephanie M. Podolski, Markus Frederich

Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Marine invertebrates in the intertidal and subtidal zones are often exposed to highly variable environmental conditions, especially rapid changes in temperature. The ability to survive at different temperatures has previously been described using an extended version of Shelford’s law of tolerance, with optimum, pejus (Latin: ‘turning worse’), and pessimum ranges, and the respective thresholds, critical (Tc) and pejus (Tp) temperatures, that mark the transition from one range into the next. The width of the pejus range, in which the scope for activity gradually declines, varies among species. We tested the hypothesis that the width of the …

Increased Variability Of Microbial Communities In Restored Salt Marshes Nearly 30 Years After Tidal Flow Restoration, Anne E. Bernhard, David Marshall, Lazaros Yiannos

Biology Faculty Publications

We analyzed microbial diversity and community composition from four salt marsh sites that were impounded for 40–50 years and subsequently restored and four unimpounded sites in southeastern Connecticut over one growing season. Community composition and diversity were assessed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and sequence analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Our results indicated diverse communities, with sequences representing 14 different bacterial divisions. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Planctomycetes dominated clone libraries from both restored and unimpounded sites. Multivariate analysis of the TRFLP data suggest significant site, sample date, and restoration status effects, but the exact causes of these …

Out Of Sight, But Not Out Of Mind: A Look At Nanoparticles In The Marine Environment, Evan Ward, John J. Doyle

Wrack Lines

Nanoparticles exist in many products used by humans, such as sunscreens. medications, cosmetics, paints and electronics. But what is the effect of these tiny particles on the ocean or estuarine environment when the sunscreen washes off? This article looks at that question and at shellfish in particular. Evan Ward and John Doyle are marine scientists at UConn.

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Cormorant?, Richard Jay King

Wrack Lines

How much do you really know about the cormorant? It's an amazing coastal bird, though not a very pretty one. Lately it has a bad rap as a destroyer of island ecosystems. This article talks about these avian creatures and their habits.

Dredging And Shipping Impacts On Southeast Florida Coral Reefs, Brian K. Walker, David S. Gilliam, Richard E. Dodge, Joanna Walczak

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

Many coastal regions have experienced extensive population growth during the last century. Commonly, this growth has led to port development and expansion as well as increased vessel activity which can have detrimental effects on coral reef ecosystems. In southeast Florida, three major ports built in the late 1920’s along 112 km of coastline occur in close proximity to a shallow coral reef ecosystem. Recent habitat mapping data were analyzed in GIS to quantify the type and area of coral reef habitats impacted by port and shipping activities. Impact areas were adjusted by impact severity: 100% of dredge and burial areas, …

Diversity Of The Ohio River Bacterial Communities Using Next-Generation Sequencing Techniques, Emily Michele Anneken

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The ability to sequence bacterial genetic material directly from environmental samples has unlocked the field of metagenomics. Next-generation sequencing techniques, such as pyrosequencing, have been instrumental in providing knowledge about bacterial communities. This study focused on identifying the bacterial diversity of the Ohio River via pyrosequencing and compared the diversity of cultivable bacteria versus the entire river community. To ensure the maximum number of cultivable bacteria was obtained, cultures were grown on nonselective media and incubated at river temperature. Bacterial DNA was extracted, sequenced, and classified. The dominant phyla for the Ohio River included Cyanobacteria (38-66% of the total), Actinobacteria …

Orange Matters, Tom Raynor, Jay Cox, Eileen T. Jevis, Christine Yackel, Susan Parks

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.

Deep-Sea Origin And In-Situ Diversification Of Chrysogorgiid Octocorals, Catherine S. Mcfadden, Eric Pante, Scott C. France, Arnaud Couloux, Corinne Cruaud, Sarah Samadi, Les Watling

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The diversity, ubiquity and prevalence in deep waters of the octocoral family Chrysogorgiidae Verrill, 1883 make it noteworthy as a model system to study radiation and diversification in the deep sea. Here we provide the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the Chrysogorgiidae, and compare phylogeny and depth distribution. Phylogenetic relationships among 10 of 14 currently-described Chrysogorgiidae genera were inferred based on mitochondrial (mtMutS, cox1) and nuclear (18S) markers. Bathymetric distribution was estimated from multiple sources, including museum records, a literature review, and our own sampling records (985 stations, 2345 specimens). Genetic analyses suggest that the Chrysogorgiidae as currently described is …

Ecology Of Marine Bivalves: An Ecosystem Approach, Second Edition, Richard F. Dame

CCU Faculty Books

Exploring the potential use of bivalves as indicators and monitors of ecosystem health, this book describes live and computer simulated experiments, mesocosm studies, and field manipulation experiments. This second edition discusses major new developments, including phase shifts in many coastal and estuarine ecosystems dominated by suspension-feeding bivalves, the invasion or introduction of alien bivalve species, the rapid growth of environmental restoration focused on bivalves, and the examination of geological history with regard to global climate change and its impact on bivalve-dominated systems.

Preface In New Approaches To The Study Of Marine Mammals, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

When Whales Became Mammals: The Scientific Journey Of Cetaceans From Fish To Mammals In The History Of Science, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Despite Losing Its Mittens, A Chinese Mitten Crab Finds Its Way To Connecticut, Nancy C. Balcom

Wrack Lines

A new invasive species for Connecticut: the Chinese mitten crab. Only one of this invasive crustacean species was spotted, but there will be more on the way.

Chronic Toxicity Testing In Mining Influenced Streams Of West Virginia, Leah J. Bitzer

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Whole effluent toxicity (WET) tests have become a common tool in the evaluation of effluent for discharge acceptability. In this study, four years of toxicity data from 119 sampling locations were analyzed to determine relationships with ions and conductivity as indicators of toxicity. West Virginia Stream Condition Index (WVSCI) scores were also examined to evaluate correlations between stream scores, conductivity, and IC25 endpoints from toxicity results. Conductivity was not an indicator of toxicity in the range of conductivities tested. Streams dominated by mining effluent sometimes exhibited toxicity to Ceriodaphnia dubia; however, toxicity was not found to be related to ionic …

Winter 2012, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Gametogenesis And Spawning Of Solenastrea Bournoni And Stephanocoenia Intersepta In Southeast Florida, Usa, Jenna R. Lueg, Alison L. Moulding, Vladimir N. Kosmynin, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

This study constitutes the first report of the gametogenic cycle of the scleractinian corals Solenastrea bournoni and Stephanocoenia intersepta. Tissue samples were collected near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA between July 2008 and November 2009 and processed for histological examination in an effort to determine reproductive mode and potential spawning times. Both S. bournoni and S. intersepta are gonochoric, broadcast spawning species. Gametogenesis of S. bournoni began in April or May while S. intersepta had a much longer oogenic cycle that began in December with spermatogenesis beginning in July. Though spawning was not observed in situ, spawning was inferred …

Co-Cultures Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa And Roseobacter Denitrificans Reveal Shifts In Gene Expression Levels Compared To Solo Cultures, Crystal A. Conway, Nwadiuto Esiobu, Jose V. Lopez

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Consistent biosynthesis of desired secondary metabolites (SMs) from pure microbial cultures is often unreliable. In a proof-ofprinciple study to induce SM gene expression and production, we describe mixed “co-culturing” conditions and monitoring of messages via quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Gene expression of model bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and Roseobacter denitrificans Och114) was analyzed in pure solo and mixed cocultures to infer the effects of interspecies interactions on gene expression in vitro, Two P. aeruginosa genes (PhzH coding for portions of the phenazine antibiotic pathway leading to pyocyanin (PCN) and the RhdA gene for thiosulfate: cyanide sulfurtransferase …

Characterizing And Determining The Extent Of Coral Reefs And Associated Resources In Southeast Florida Through The Acquisition Of High-Resolution Bathymetry And Benthic Habitat Mapping, Brian K. Walker, Amanda Costaregni, Ian Rodericks, Greg Lewis, Nick Gadbois

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Effective marine resource management begins with knowing the distribution of resources within the region. Minimal data, and thus limited knowledge, exists about the reef resources of Martin County. The marine benthic habitats in Martin County need to be mapped to characterize and quantify the distribution of its coral and other benthic communities, therefore, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection – Coral Reef Conservation Program, FL Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and the National Coral Reef Institute at Nova Southeastern University have partnered to expand upon previous mapping efforts to identify and classify the benthic habitats in the southeast Florida region …

Evaluation Of Rockfish Abundance In Untrawlable Habitat: Combining Acoustic And Complementary Sampling Tools, Darin Jones, Christopher D. Wilson, Alex De Robertis, Chris Rooper, Thomas C. Weber, John L. Butler

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

—Rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) are an important component of North Pacific marine ecosystems and commercial fisheries. Because the rocky, high-relief substrate that rockfishes often inhabit is inaccessible to standard survey trawls, population abundance assessments for many rockfish species are difficult. As part of a large study to classify substrate and compare complementary sampling tools, we investigated the feasibility of using an acoustic survey in conjunction with a lowered stereo-video camera, a remotely operated vehicle, and a modified bottom trawl to estimate rockfish biomass in untrawlable habitat. The Snakehead Bank south of Kodiak Island, Alaska, was surveyed repeatedly over 4 days and …

Extinction Risk And Bottlenecks In The Conservation Of Charismatic Marine Species, Loren Mcclenachan, Andrew B. Cooper, Kent E. Carpenter, Nicholas K. Dulvy

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The oceans face a biodiversity crisis, but the degree and scale of extinction risk remains poorly characterized. Charismatic species are most likely to gar- ner greatest support for conservation and thus provide a best-case scenario of the status of marine biodiversity. We summarize extinction risk and diagnose impediments to successful conservation for 1,568 species in 16 families of marine animals in the movie Finding Nemo. Sixteen percent (12–34%) of those that have been evaluated are threatened, ranging from 9% (7–28%) of bony fishes to 100% (83–100%) of marine turtles. A lack of scientific knowledge impedes analysis of threat status …

An Evaluation Of Mississippi Barrier Islands As A Spawning And Nesting Habitat For The American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus Polyphemus, With Implications For Island Restoration, Richard Fulford, Rebecca A. Haehn

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The American horseshoe crab (HSC), Limulus polyphemus, is an economically and ecologically important species in the coastal ecosystem. Horseshoe crabs inhabit the continental shelf and estuaries from Maine to the central Gulf Coast and the Yucatán Peninsula. Although the presence of horseshoe crabs in southern Mississippi is known locally, there are limited data specific to the area and population, particularly regarding spawning and nesting habitat. Surveys of HSC presence, habitat use, and behavior on Mississippi barrier islands were conducted between March and November 2007 to 2009. These data, combined with habitat surveys of the barrier islands, were used to …

Δ13c Is A Signature Of Light Availability And Photosynthesis In Seagrass, Xingping Hu, David J. Burdige, Richard C. Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

We explored the role of light-saturated (carbon-limited) photosynthesis on δ¹³C of turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum Banks ex Konig) populations from the clear, blue waters of the Great Bahama Bank and the turbid, green waters of Florida Bay using field observations and radiative transfer models. Consistent with numerous previous observations, leaf δ¹³C decreased significantly with water depth in both regions. However the δ¹³C for Bahamas turtlegrass was 3 parts per thousand heavier than that for Florida Bay turtlegrass at equivalent depths, and broadband irradiance explained even less of the δ¹³C variations than depth. Instead, leaf δ¹³C showed a stronger relationship to …