Marine Biology Commons^™

Age And Growth Estimates Of The Thorny Skate (Amblyraja Radiata) In The Western Gulf Of Maine, James A. Sulikowski, Jeff Kneebone, Scott Elzey, Joe Jurek, Patrick D. Danley, William Huntting Howell, Paul C.W. Tsang

Biological Sciences

The northwest Atlantic population of thorny skates (Amblyraja radiata) inhabits an area that ranges from Greenland and Hudson Bay, Canada, to South Carolina. Despite such a wide range, very little is known about most aspects of the biology of this species. Recent stock assessment studies in the northeast United States indicate that the biomass of the thorny skate is below the threshold levels mandated by the Sustainable Fisheries Act. In order to gain insight into the life history of this skate, we estimated age and growth for thorny skates, using vertebral band counts from 224 individuals ranging in size from …

2005 Shellfish Spotlight, Steve Adams, Raymond E. Grizzle, Peter Koufopoulos, Tim Mcclare, Chris Nash, Bruce Smith, John Wimsatt

PREP Reports & Publications

No abstract provided.

The Underwater Life Off The Coast Of Southern California, Kathie Lyn Purkey

Theses Digitization Project

This project reviews the basic chemical and geographical features of the ocean, biological classification of marine life, background of the ocean's flora and fauna, and the ocean's environment. These facts are presented through an underwater documentary filmed at various sites along Southern California's coast and complemented with lesson plans designed for grades K - 4.

Access And Allocation Arrangements For The Commercial 'Wetline' Fisheries. Proposals For Discussion., Commercial Access Panel

Fisheries Management Papers

The Minister for Fisheries established this review of open access (wetline) commercial fishery arrangements to provide a more effective management framework for wetline fishing and to complement the recreational initiatives. This must involve the removal of excess fishing capacity, including latent effort, from the fishery and the establishment of a dedicated commercial fishery with clear entry criteria and an appropriate limit on catch in each bioregion. However it must be made clear that the ‘wetline review’ is not a sectoral resource sharing exercise. Following the implementation of new management arrangements for the ‘wetline’ fisheries, the appropriateness of the existing levels …

Proposed Management Arrangements For The West Coast Commercial 'Wetline' Fishery. A Discussion Paper., West Coast And Gascoyne Management Planning Panel

Fisheries Management Papers

The ‘Wetline Review’ was established to implement an effective management framework for the commercial sector to complement the recreational initiatives. It must be stressed at the outset that this review is focussed on the take of scalefish by the commercial sector. The levels of use between the various user groups in the West Coast region will be examined under the new integrated fisheries initiative following the implementation of new management arrangements for scalefish taken by the commercial sector.

Management Of The Proposed South West Beach Seine Fishery. Management Discussion Paper., Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

This Management Discussion Paper for the proposed South West Beach Seine Fishery is designed to inform the fishing community and general public about the issues and management proposals relating to the South West Beach Seine Fishery (the fishery). The Department of Fisheries (the Department) encourages comment about the issues raised and the proposed management recommendations in this report.

Fish Colonization Of A Newly Deployed Vessel-Reef Off Southeast Florida: Preliminary Results, Paul T. Arena, Lance K. B. Jordan, Patrick Quinn, Arlo H. Hemphill, David R. Bryan, Brian Buskirk, Richard E. Spieler

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

Fish colonization on the Ebenezer II, a 25.5m merchant marine vessel, was studied from May 2002 - July 2003. The ship was scuttled in May 2002 off Broward County, Florida at a depth of 21m and was censused 10 times during the study period using a modified Bohnsack and Bannerot visual census method. Adjacent natural reefs and the Mcallister, a nearby, 30m tugboat deployed in June 1998, were censused during the same period.

Distinct changes in the fish assemblage on the Ebenezer II were observed throughout the sample period. A pioneer assemblage was observed during the first three months, characterized …

In The Land Of The Mermaid: How Culture, Not Ecology, Influenced Marine Mammal Exploitation In The Southeastern Caribbean, Aldemaro Romero Jr., Joel E. Creswell

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Oxford Avenue Sewer Extension Project In The City Of Portsmouth, Natalie Landry, Peter Rice

PREP Reports & Publications

Financial support provided by the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) to the City of Portsmouth helped with the cost of installing a new sewer line at Oxford Avenue that replaced the on-site subsurface disposal systems (septic systems) for fourteen homes. The homes border the Great Bog and Pickering Creek watersheds. The construction occurred during the autumn of 2004.

Winter 2005, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

The State Of Coral Reef Ecosystems Of Florida, Katherine Andrews (Ed.), Larry Nall (Ed.), Chris Jeffrey (Ed.), Simon Pittman (Ed.), Kenneth Banks, Carl Beaver, James A. Bohnsack, Richard E. Dodge, David S. Gilliam, Walter Jaap, Brian Keller, V. R. Leeworthy, Tom Matthews, Ramon Ruiz-Carus, Deborah Santavy, Richard E. Spieler, Jerald Ault, Gabriel Delgado, Fleur M. Ferro, Carol R. Fretwell, Bill Goodwin, Doug Harper, John Hunt, Margaret Miller, Christy Pattengil-Semmens, Bill Sharp, Steve Smith, Jennifer Wheaton, Dana Williams

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Broward County, Fl 2005 Report, Curtis M. Burney, Stefanie Ouellette

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Highly Streamlined Pcr-Based Genetic Identification Of Carcharhinid Sharks (Family Carcharhinidae) For Use In Wildlife Forensics, Trade Monitoring, And Delineation Of Species Distributions, Marcy Henning

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

An increase in worldwide industrialized shark fisheries resulting from the growing demand for shark products, especially shark fins in Asian markets, as well as high levels of bycatch mortality associated with multi-species fisheries have raised suspicions of substantial declines in global shark populations. Due to varying responses by individual species to fishing pressure, it has become necessary to manage sharks on a species-specific basis, which requires the collection of more accurate catch and trade data. The accumulation of such data is hindered, however, by difficulties in identifying species from only landed carcasses, body parts, or fins. This is especially true …

The Pathogenic Copepod Phrixocephalus Cincinnatus (Copepoda: Pennellidae) In The Eye Of Arrowtooth Flounder, Atherestes Stomias, And Rex Sole, Glyptocephalus Zachirus, From British Columbia, Reginald B. Blaylock, Robin M. Overstreet, A. Morton

Faculty Publications

We report Phrixocephalus cincinnatus, a pennellid copepod infecting the eyes of flatfishes, from a single specimen of rex sole, Glyptocephalus zachirus, for the first time. In the typical host, the arrowtooth flounder, Atherestes stomias, the parasite occurred commonly in sampled populations from the Broughton Archipelago in British. Columbia, infected primarily the right eye of the flounder, and on only one occasion presented more than two parasites per eye. The copepod attached to the choroid layer and ramified throughout the posterior compartment of the eye, resulting in the disruption of the retina and probably impairing host vision. Inflammation and hyperplasia progressed …

Recent Observations Of The Whale Shark (Rhincodon Typus) In The Northcentral Gulf Of Mexico, Eric R. Hoffmayer, James S. Franks, John P. Shelley

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828) is the world’s largest fish, reaching 15 meters (m) and 18 metric tons (Colman 1997) and is found in all tropical and warm temperate seas (Compagno 2001). The whale shark is listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN 2004) and is included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES 2004). Little is known about whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). Only reports on the occurrence of whale sharks off Texas …

Demonstration Of Toxicity To Fish And To Mammalian Cells By Pfiesteria Species: Comparison Of Assay Methods And Strains, Joann M. Burkholder, Andrew S. Gordon, Peter D. Moeller, J. Mac Law, Kathryn J. Coyne, Alan J. Lewitus, John S. Ramsdell, Harold G. Marshall, Nora J. Deamer, S. Craig Cary, Jason W. Kempton, Steven L. Morton, Parke A. Rublee

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Toxicity and its detection in the dinoflagellate fish predators Pfiesteria piscicida and Pfiesteria shumwayae depend on the strain and the use of reliable assays. Two assays, standardized fish bioassays (SFBs) with juvenile fish and fish microassays (FMAs) with larval fish, were compared for their utility to detect toxic Pfiesteria. The comparison included strains with confirmed toxicity, negative controls (noninducible Pfiesteria strains and a related nontoxic cryptoperidiniopsoid dinoflagellate), and P. shumwayae strain CCMP2089, which previously had been reported as nontoxic. SFBs, standardized by using toxic Pfiesteria (coupled with tests confirming Pfiesteria toxin) and conditions conducive to toxicity expression, reliably detected …

New Species Of Amphipod Crustaceans In The Genera Tegano And Melita (Hadzioidea : Melitidae) From Subterranean Groundwaters In Guam, Palau, And The Philippines, Thomas R. Sawicki, John R. Holsinger, Thomas M. Iliffe

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Three new species of Tegano are described, two from caves on Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines, and one from a cave on Peleliu Island, Palau. Sriha vagabunda from Sri Lanka is reassigned to the genus Tegano based primarily on the high degree of similarity between Sriha vagabunda and species of Tegano and the fact that these species exhibit a great deal of variation in the reduction of the mandibular palp. A new species of Melita with characters intermediate between those defining the genera Abludomelita, Melita, and Paraniphargus is described from a spring on Guam. The characters of the new …

Ecology Of The Rock Shrimp Sicyonia Dorsalis Kingsley, 1878 (Crustacea: Sicyoniidae) In A Subtropical Region Of Brazil, Rogerio Caetano Da Costa, Adilson Fransozo, Maria Lucia Negreiros-Fransozo

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The present study analyzes the abundance and distribution of the rock shrimp Sicyonia dorsalis, in relation to water temperature, salinity, depth, organic matter content, and sediment texture in Mar Virado (MV), Ubatuba (UBA) and Ubatumirim (UBM), 3 distinct bays along the northern coast of São Paulo State (23°S, 45°W), Brazil. Six transects were taken in each bay, 4 being parallel to the coastline and 2 next to the rocky shores. Monthly samples were taken over a 2-year period (1998 and 1999) with a shrimp fishing boat equipped with double-rig nets. A total of 2,498 specimens was obtained with 804 …

Fishery And Biology Of Blackfin Tuna Thunnus Atlanticus Off Northeastern Brazil, Katia M.F. Freire, Rosangela Lessa, Jorge Eduardo Lins-Oliveira

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Blackfin tuna, Thunnus atlanticus, is the target species of a handline artisanal fishery off northeastern Brazil in September–January, but it is also caught by anglers and as by-catch in industrial fisheries. The population structure, morphometric relationships, mortality, reproduction, and fishery dynamics were studied during 2 fishing seasons (1996 and 1997). The maximum length and weight observed were 87 cm FL and 10 kg W_d, respectively. Males were larger and predominant (1.9:1). The length at 50% maturity was 49.8 cm FL for females and 52.1 cm FL for males. This species uses the area for reproduction, although a …

Coastal Origin Of Common Snook, Centropomus Undecimalis, In Florida Bay, Heather M. Patterson, Ronald G. Taylor, Richard S. Mcbride

Gulf and Caribbean Research

We used the elemental signatures of otoliths to investigate the coastal origin of common snook (Centropomus undecimalis) in Florida Bay, Florida and evaluate current management boundaries. We examined juvenile otoliths from Florida’s Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) populations and determined that there were significant differences in several elemental ratios (Mn/Ca, Cu/Ca, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca). In addition, a discriminant function analysis (DFA) indicated a significant separation between the juveniles from each coast and otoliths were never misclassified by coast, indicating a distinct difference in their otolith chemistry. Using only juvenile otoliths to derive a calibration function, a separate DFA …

Parasites Of The American White Pelican, Robin M. Overstreet, Stephen S. Curran

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Metazoan symbionts, including parasites, infecting the American white pelican (AWP) Pelecanus erythrorhynchos comprise a list of 75 species, 7 of which are new host records. Several new geographic records are also presented, but generally these have a low value because of the migratory nature of the bird. Evidence suggests that some parasites, mostly flies and other arthropods but also nematodes and digeneans, produce detrimental behavioral or pathologic changes in the AWP. Some of the arthropods transmit microbial agents to the pelican. Two digeneans that have the AWP as a definitive host harm and even kill their catfish intermediate host, especially …

Distribution Of Myodocopid Ostracods In Tampa Bay, Florida, And Association With Abiotic Variables, Stephen A. Grabe

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Myodocopid ostracods were identified from > 600 benthic samples collected from Tampa Bay, Florida, during 1995 to 2001, as part of an annual synoptic survey of the benthos. At least 24 taxa were present. Parasterope pollex was the most abundant (76%) and most frequently collected (48%) species; Rutiderma darbyi (28%) and Eusarsiella disparalis (16%) were the next most frequently collected species. Logistic regression and “center of abundance” calculations were used to identify habitat “preferences” for the most frequently occurring species. With the exception of P. pollex, these were more likely to occur in coarser sediments, in more saline waters, and at …

High Cyanobacterial Abundance In Three Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico Estuaries, Michael C. Murrell, Jane M. Caffrey

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Aquatic phytoplankton comprise a wide variety of taxa spanning more than 2 orders of magnitude in size, yet studies of estuarine phytoplankton often overlook the picoplankton, particularly chroococcoid cyanobacteria (cf. Synechococcus). Three Gulf of Mexico estuaries (Apalachicola Bay, FL; Pensacola Bay, FL; Weeks Bay, AL) were sampled during summer and fall 2001 to quantify cyanobacterial abundance, to examine how cyanobacterial abundance varied with hydrographic and nutrient distributions, and to estimate the contribution of cyanobacteria to the bulk phytoplankton community. Cyanobacterial abundances in all 3 estuaries were high, averaging 0.59 ± 0.76 X 10⁹ L^–1 in Apalachicola Bay, …

First Report Of The Mayan Cichlid, Cichlasoma Urophthalmus (Günther 1862) Collected In The Southern Littoral Zone Of Lake Okeechobee, Florida, Wilfredo A. Matamoros, Keith D. Chin, Bruce Sharfstein

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Here we report the collection of five juvenile Mayan cichlids in Lake Okeechobee, a large, shallow subtropical lake (26°60'N, 80°50'W). These specimens were collected on 4 and 10 November 2003 in the southern littoral zone of Lake Okeechobee at a site off the southwest tip of Torry Island (26°42'N, 80°44'W). The lake stage of this densely vegetated area is highly variable. Nico (in press) reported a single collection of 16 juvenile Mayan cichlids in 2001 from a backwater area in the rim-canal along the NE portion of Lake Okeechobee; an area that is hydrologically isolated from the lake proper, except …

Trophic Relationships Of Demersal Fishes In The Shrimping Zone Off Alvarado Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico, Edgar Pelaez-Rodriguez, Jonathan Franco-Lopez, Wilfredo A. Matamoros, Rafael Chavez-Lopez, Nancy J. Brown-Peterson

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The diet of demersal piscivorous fishes captured as bycatch of the commercial shrimping fleet off the Alvarado lagoonal system, Veracruz, Mexico, was studied. Nine collections distributed throughout the nortes (windy), wet, and dry seasons were made from November 1993 to January 1995. Sampling yielded a total of 646 fishes representing 10 families and 14 species, of which 44.9% had empty digestive tracts and were excluded from analysis. Trichiurus lepturus and Synodus foetens were the most abundant demersal predators in the collections. Differences in food consumption of the 7 most abundant predators were observed among the 3 seasons, with the greatest …

Body-Induced Vortical Flows: A Common Mechanism For Self-Corrective Trimming Control In Boxfishes, Ian K. Bartol, Morteza Gharib, Paul W. Webb, Daniel Weihs, Malcolm S. Gordon

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Boxfishes (Teleostei: Ostraciidae) are marine fishes having rigid carapaces that vary significantly among taxa in their shapes and structural ornamentation. We showed previously that the keels of the carapace of one species of tropical boxfish, the smooth trunkfish, produce leading edge vortices (LEVs) capable of generating self-correcting trimming forces during swimming. In this paper we show that other tropical boxfishes with different carapace shapes have similar capabilities. We conducted a quantitative study of flows around the carapaces of three morphologically distinct boxfishes (spotted boxfish, scrawled cowfish and buffalo trunkfish) using stereolithographic models and three separate but interrelated analytical …

A Review Of Phytoplankton Composition Within Chesapeake Bay And Its Tidal Estuaries, Harold G. Marshall, Lubomira Burchardt, Richard Lacouture

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Based on a continuous 20-year data base ofmonthly sampling in Chesapeake Bay and tidal regions of its major tributaries, 1454 phytoplankton taxa have been identified in these waters. They represent a diverse assemblage of species with a dominant diatom flora throughout the year, in addition to large seasonal representation by chlorophytes, cyanobacteria, cryptophytes and dinoflagellates. Included among this flora were 34 potential harmful or toxin producing species. The phytoplankton compositions associated with the seasonal successional patterns are discussed, in addition to characterizing the dominant floral relationships, with comparison to early composition records within the Bay. Several of the present day …

Can Otolith Elemental Signatures Record The Capture Site Of Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus Eleginoides), A Fully Marine Fish In The Southern Ocean?, J. R. Ashford, C. M. Jones, E. Hofmann, I. Everson, C. Moreno, G. Duhamel, R. Williams

CCPO Publications

Otolith chemistry has been successfully used to reconstruct the environmental history experienced by estuarine-dependent teleost fish, including movement between estuaries and coastal areas. However, application has been more limited in species exposed exclusively to oceanic waters, where gradients in physical and chemical properties are less extreme. To test whether otolith elemental signatures record spatial information in an oceanic species, we sampled otoliths from Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) and used an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) coupled to a laser ablation system to target the outer otolith edges corresponding to the period immediately before capture. Using multivariate analysis …

The Role Of Feeding Behavior In Sustaining Copepod Populations In The Tropical Ocean, J. D. Wiggert, A. G. E. Haskell, G.-A. Paffenhofer, E. E. Hofmann, J. M. Klinck

CCPO Publications

A fundamental question regarding marine copepods is how the many species coexist and persist in the oligotrophic environment (i.e. Hutchinson’s paradox). This question is addressed with a stochastic, object-oriented Lagrangian model that explicitly simulates the distinct foraging behaviors of three prominent tropical species: Clausocalanus furcatus, Paracalanus aculeatus and Oithona plumifera. The model also individually tracks all prey cells. Each particle’s motion combines sinking, turbulent diffusion and active swimming when applicable. The model successfully simulates observed size partitioned carbon uptake rates. Based on the model results, the wide-ranging translational ambit employed by C. furcatus is best suited for the acquisition …

Feeding Ecology Of Juvenile Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Interruptus, On The Pacific Coast Of Baja California Sur, Mexico, Verónica Castañeda‐Fernández‐De‐Lara, Elisa Serviere‐Zaragoza, Sergio Hernández‐Vázquez, Mark J. Butler Iv

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Many aspects of the early life history of the red lobster Panulirus interruptus are little known, including the relationship between habitat structure, food resource availability, and nutrition of juveniles. We investigated the spatial and temporal differences in food intake, diet composition, and nutritional condition of juveniles at two sites along the Pacific coast of the Baja California Peninsula (Mexico) with contrasting oceanographic and biological conditions. One site (Arvin) is located inside a protected bay, Bahia Tortugas, where the waters are cooler and temperate seagrasses and macroalgae are the dominant benthic flora. The second site (Queen) in Bahia Sebastian Vizcaino was …