Marine Biology Commons^™

Effects Of Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) On Hatching Turtles And Prevalence Of Fire Ants On Sea Turtle Nesting Beaches In Florida, Craig R. Allen, Elizabeth A. Forys, Kenneth G. Rice, Daniel P. Wojcik

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta Buren) have increasingly been observed in loggerhead (Caretta caretta L.) and green (Chelonia mydas L.) sea turtle nests in Florida, and in the nests of freshwater turtles. They may be attracted to the disturbance, mucous and moisture associated with turtle nesting and establish foraging tunnels into turtle nests shortly after egg-laying, thus increasing the vulnerability of hatchlings to fire ant predation. We conducted experiments on a freshwater turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni Carr) to determine the potential impacts of S. invicta on turtle hatchlings. Over 70% of hatchlings were killed by …

Biological Assessment Of Artificial Reef Materials: Concrete Aggregates And Quarry Stone, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Gross Brain Morphology In The Yellow Stingray, Urobatis Jamaicensis, Brian K. Walker, Robin L. Sherman

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The yellow stingray, Urobatis jamaicensis (family Urolophidae), a short-lived, relatively small elasmobranch species (35--40 cm total length), is a common inhabitant of hard bottom and coral reef communities in southeastern Florida and many parts of the Caribbean. A paucity of published studies deal with the yellow stingray, none however on the gross morphology of its nervous system. The gross brain structure of the yellow stingray is compared with previously published studies on other batoid elasmobranchs. The external brain structure of Urobatis jamaicensis was similar to that reported for other Dasyatids, including presence of an asymmetric cerebellum. The bilaterally symmetric brain …

Rainfall Effects On Bacterial Contamination, A Clam Purging Study And A Monitoring Project, Stephen H. Jones

PREP Reports & Publications

No abstract provided.

Do Naked Goby (Gobiosoma Bosci) Larvae Exhibit Periodic Vertical Movements In Order To Facilitate Upriver Migration In The Hudson River Estuary?, Megan C. Fencil, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Estuaries provide high quality nursery habitat for larval fishes due to high productivity, predator protection, and warm temperatures. Previous studies suggest that larval naked gobies (Gobiosoma bosci) are capable of upriver migration and estuarine retention despite net seaward flow. Gobiosoma bosci larvae were collected at a fixed site in the Hudson River estuary in late July of 1998 from 4 discrete depths to provide a time-series of depth-stratified abundance during both a spring and a neap tide. Larvae were concentrated at depth, indicating that depth preference behavior is present and will likely contribute to up-river transport. Harmonic regression …

Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Broward County, Fl 2001 Report, Curtis M. Burney, Stefanie Ouellette

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Biological Assessment Of Artificial Reef Materials: Concrete Aggregates And Quarry Stone, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Memphis Project Annual Report July 2000 - July 2001, Richard E. Spieler, T. Patrick Quinn

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Fish Census Of Selected Artificial Reefs In Broward County, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Abundance And Distribution Of Commensal Amphipods From Common Marine Sponges Of Southeast Florida, Stacie E. Crowe

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Marine sponges were examined from shallow waters of southeast Florida and the Florida Keys to determine species composition and distribution of commensal amphipod crustaceans from shallow reef, mangrove, and seagrass habitats. Twenty sponge species were investigated during this study, sixteen of which housed amphipods in the families Colomastigidae and/or Leucothoidae. Six species of commensal amphipods were identified. Leucothoe spinicarpa (Abildgaard) species "complex" was the most dominant amphipod commensal, representing 63% of the total amphipods collected. The L. spinicarpa "complex" contains four local morphotypes, which are diagnosed and briefly described. Common sponge hosts included Callyspongia vaginalis, Mycale sp., and Myriastra kallitetilla.

Nitric Oxide And Cnidarian-Dinoflagellate Symbioses: Pieces Of A Puzzle, Henry G. Trapido-Rosenthal, Katherine H. Sharp

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

The presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity is demonstrated in the tropical marine cnidarian Aiptasia pallida and in its symbiotic dinoflagellate algae, Symbiodinium bermudense. Enzyme activity was assayed by measuring the conversion of arginine to citrulline. Biochemical characterization of NOS from Aiptasia was characterized with respect to cellular localization, substrate and cofactor requirements, inhibitors, and kinetics. In response to acute temperature shock, anemones retracted their tentacles. Animals subjected to such stress had lower NOS activities than did controls. Treatment with NOS inhibitors caused tentacular retraction, while treatment with the NOS substrate L-arginine inhibited this response to stress, as did …

Production Of A Novel Copper-Binding Ligand By Marine Synechococcus (Cyanobacteria) In Response To Toxic Concentrations Of Copper, Arunsi C. Brown, Andrew S. Gordon

Virginia Journal of Science

Marine Synechococcus spp. are extremely sensitive to copper toxicity. Some strains have been shown to produce high-affinity, extracellular ligands of unknown structure which form complexes with free cupric ion. They are also known to produce metallothioneins (MT) in response to cadmium and zinc stress. In the present study, marine Synechococcus PCC 73109 (Agmenellum quadruplicatum BG-1) (Van Baalen) was exposed to three concentrations of CuSO₄ for various times. Size exclusion chromatography, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and reverse phase HPLC were used to isolate an intracellular copper binding ligand of low molecular weight (< 6,500 Da). The ligand was detected after exposure to ≥ 8 μM CuSO₄ for 2 hr in BG-11 medium. …

Morphology Of The First Zoeal Stage Of Platypodiella Spectabilis (Herbst, 1794) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Xanthidae) Obtained In The Laboratory, Adilson Fransozo, Maria Lucia Negreiros-Fransozo, Joel W. Martin, Sandra E. Trautwein

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Ovigerous females of the xanthid crab Platypodiella spectabilis (Herbst, 1794) were obtained from 2 widely separated localities: the Ubatuba coast (Félix Beach, São Paulo) of Brazil and Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). First stage zoea larvae were obtained from females at both locations. Those from Brazil are described and illustrated. The first zoea bears dorsal, rostral, and lateral carapace spines, plus a well-developed and spinose antennal protopod that bears a greatly reduced exopod with 2 minute setae. This antennal morphology, along with other characters, places the species among the “Group I” xanthid zoeas of Rice (1980) and …

Environmental Analysis Of Cores From The Helike Delta, Gulf Of Corinth, Greece, S. Soter, Patricia Blackwelder, C. Tziavos, D. Katsonopoulou, Terri Hood, Carlos A. Alvarez Zarikian

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The fan delta southeast of Aigion on the southwest shore of the Gulf of Corinth was the site of ancient Helike, a city destroyed and submerged by an earthquake and seismic sea wave in 373 BC. Bore holes drilled on the Helike Delta yielded numerous ceramic fragments in the upper 12 meters, and a record of changing local environments on the delta during the Holocene period. At about 8 m below present sea level the core profiles show a general upward transition from marine to lacustrine/lagoonalc onditions.T he transition dates from about 8 kyr BP and is probably due to …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 31 - Feeding Lupins To Fish: A Review Of The Nutritional And Biological Value Of Lupins In Aquaculture Feeds, Brett Glencross

Fisheries Occasional Publications

Lupins are the harvested seed of species from the Lupinus genus, a group within the leguminous bean and pea family Fabaceae. Legumes are particularly valuable agricultural crops because of their capacity to provide a grain crop and also fix and return nitrogen to soils and improve the soil value for further cropping. The oilseeds, soybeans and peanuts are also leguminous plants, though traditionally they have been cropped for their oil value, whereas lupins, are cropped for both their protein and nitrogen fixing value (Gladstones, 1998; Perry et al., 1998).

The three key commercial species of lupins are L. angustifolius (Narrow-leafed …

Aerobic Respiratory Costs Of Swimming In The Negatively Buoyant Brief Squid Lolliguncula Brevis, Ian K. Bartol, Roger Mann, Mark R. Patterson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Because of the inherent inefficiency of jet propulsion, squid are considered to be at a competitive disadvantage compared with fishes, which generally depend on forms of undulatory/oscillatory locomotion. Some squid, such as the brief squid Lolliguncula brevis, swim at low speeds in shallow-water complex environments, relying heavily on fin activity. Consequently, their swimming costs may be lower than those of the faster, more pelagic squid studied previously and competitive with those of ecologically relevant fishes. To examine aerobic respiratory swimming Costs, O₂ consumption rates were measured for L. brevis of various sizes (2-9 cm. dorsal mantle length, DML) …

Gulf Estuarine Research Society Fall 2000 Meeting Abstracts

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The Fall 2000 meeting of the Gulf Estuarine Research Society (GERS) was held at the Holiday Inn in Hammond, Louisiana on Monday and Tuesday, November 13 and 14, 2000. Local arrangements were organized by Denise J. Reed (University of New Orleans) and Robert W. Hastings (Southeastern Louisiana University) with significant support from Carolyn Woosley and Dr. Gary P. Shaffer. The Scientific Program was organized by Mark S. Peterson (The University of Southern Mississippi).

Utilization Of Saltmarsh Shorelines By Newly Settled Sciaenids In A Texas Estuary, Bert W. Geary, Jay R. Rooker, James W. Webb

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Post-settlement patterns of habitat use along saltmarsh shorelines of Galveston Bay, Texas were examined for three sciaenids; spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), and Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus). Collections were made summer through fall of 1997 and 1998 using a 1.5-m beam trawl hand-towed along the outside edge of salt marshes. Sciaenids were collected from tidal pass, bay, and remote tidal creek areas to assess large-scale (bay-wide) patterns of distribution and abundance. Cynoscion nebulosus were smaller and most numerous at bay stations, with densities peaking in June. Conversely, S. ocellatus were collected …

Gastropod Larvae And Zooplankton In Reef-Related Areas Of The Western Caribbean Sea, Alberto De Jesus-Navarrete, Jose Juan Oliva-Rivera

Gulf and Caribbean Research

In order to estimate the composition, distribution and abundance of zooplankton in 3 areas off the western Caribbean, samples were collected in 15 stations at South Coast and Chinchorro Bank, Mexico, and Hol-Chan Belize, from April to December 1996. Duplicate samples (2.5 m³) were collected bimonthly using a submersible pump. The pumped water was filtered through a 202 μm mesh net yielding a total of 20 zooplankton groups. Chinchorro Bank had 19 groups, South Coast had 15 groups, and Hol-Chan had 14 groups. The most abundant groups were copepods (43.1%), fish eggs (29.0%), foraminifera (12.0%), decapod larvae (5.7%) …

Population Genetic Analysis Of Litopenaeus Setiferus Using Microsatellite Genetic Markers, Amy Oberhauser Ball

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Litopenaeus setiferus, Atlantic white shrimp, is a commercially and recreationally valuable species, yet little is known of its population structure. Litopenaeus setiferus are found along the Atlantic coast from New York to St. Lucie, Florida, and from the Ochlockonee River on the Gulf coast of Florida to Campeche, Mexico. Gulf and Atlantic populations probably separated sometime during the last deglaciation period (10,000 to 20,000 years ago). In addition, the extensive freshwater ourflow of the Mississippi River may provide a physical barrier to gene flow, and concentrations of shrimp in Tabasco and Campeche Bay, Mexico, are thought to form a separate …

Replacement Of The Troglomorphic Population Of Rhamdia Quelen (Pisces: Pimelodidae) By An Epigean Population Of The Same Species In The Cumaca Cave, Trinidad, W.I. 2001 Nss Convention, Aldemaro Romero Jr., Kelly M. Paulson, Joel E. Creswell, Ruth Baker, Anuradha Singh, Annabelle Mckie, Manna

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Cetaceans Of Venezuela: Their Distribution And Conservation Status, Aldemaro Romero Jr., A. Ignacio Agudo, Steven M. Green, Giuseppe Notarbartolo Di Sciara

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Humboldt’S Alleged Subterranean Fish From Ecuador, Aldemaro Romero Jr., Kelly M. Paulson

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Growth Of Captive Juvenile Tripletail Lobotes Surinamensis, James S. Franks, John T. Ogle, J. Read Hendon, Donald N. Barnes, L. Casey Nicholson

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Early-juvenile tripletail Lobotes surinamensis (n = 27; range 45–115 mm TL, 0 = 73.0 mm; range 3.2–34.7 g TW, 0 = 12.9 g) captured in pelagic Sargassum algae off coastal Mississippi in mid-July 1999 were reared in a recirculating seawater system for 210 days. Fish were maintained on a natural light-dark cycle and fed to satiation 3 times per day. Water temperature ranged from 25.2° to 29.0° C and salinity was 28.0‰. All fish were measured for length and weight on days 1, 60, 135 and 210 of the study. Between these dates, mean daily TL growth rates were 2.2 …

The Stomatopod Alachosquilla Floridensis (Manning, 1962) (Crustacea, Stomatopoda, Nannosquillidae) Reported From Guana Island, British Virgin Islands, With Observations On Color, Joel W. Martin, Todd L. Zimmerman

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Although color pattern can vary among and within species of the Crustacea, it can also be a conservative feature that can be very helpful in field identifications. This is often the case in the Crustacea Decapoda, where sibling species can be detected by subtle differences in color (e.g., Williams and Felder 1989, Zimmerman and Felder 1991, Knowlton and Mills 1992). Stomatopods are among the most colorful crustaceans when living. Many species show a great deal of variability (Manning 1969, Camp 1973), and knowledge of this coloration is often key to their identification in the field and in the lab (Schotte …

Diversity And Abundance Of Seaweeds On The Coral Reef Flats At Cape Rachado, West Coast Peninsular Malaysia, Jillian Lean Sim Ooi

Student Works (2000-2009)

Three sites on the fringing coral reef flats at Cape Rachado, West Coast Peninsular Malaysia, were selected for the study of seaweed diversity and abundance. Each of these sites was identifiable with exposure to a particular environmental stress. Site A suffered from heavy loads of total suspended solids (TSS) caused by the removal of its adjoining coastal mangrove stand. Site B, by virtue of its accessibility and location on a popular stretch of beach, received a greater number of swimmers and beachwalkers. Water effluent (sewage) outlets from the various resorts lining the coast were observed at sites A and B. …

Diversity And Abundance Of Phytoplankton In Tasek Bera, Pahang, Soo Hui Tang

Student Works (2000-2009)

Tasek Bera, located in southwest of Pahang state, is Malaysia's largest freshwater swamp and lake system. It is one of the remaining examples of a lowland alluvial riparian swamp system. Tasek Bera was designated as Malaysia's first "Wetlands of International Importance" under the Ramsar Convention in November 1994. The water quality of Tasek Bera was monitored from April to October 1998 to assess environmental conditions affecting phytoplankton assemblages. Measurement of physical and chemical parameters at selected sites ranged as follows : pH (4.45 to 6.73), temperature (25.3 to 33.3 °C), dissolved oxygen (0.40 to 5.80 mgL⁻¹), water depth (0.15 to …

Resilience And Recovery Of Coral Reefs From Large-Scale Disturbances: Contrasting Patterns For San Salvador Island, Bahamas, And Belize, Paulette Peckol, Benjamin J. Greenstein

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Coral cover and diversity are declining while macroalgal abundance is increasing in most Caribbean coral reef systems. Although a complex interaction of natural and anthropogenic disturbances is likely causal, the effects of a specific disturbance may vary dramatically for different reef systems. The coral reefs off the coasts of San Salvador Island, Bahamas and Belize, considered to be in relatively good condition, recently experienced near-direct hits by Hurricanes Floyd (1999) and Mitch (1998), respectively. In addition, NOAA scientists indicated that during 1998, tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) reached their highest levels above the normal annual maximum for this past century. …

Taphonomic Evidence For Late Pleistocene Transitions In Coral Reef Community Composition, San Salvador, Bahamas, Thomas A. Rothfus, Benjamin J. Greenstein

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Over the past 20 years, the composi­ tion of Caribbean coral reef communities has changed drastically. The ecology of modern reefs, however, has only been studied since the late 1950's. Thus, only a thirty year data set on changes in coral community composi­ tion exists with which to assess the current faunal transition. The need for longer term data has been recognized by marine ecologists as essential for determining whether the cur­ rent transition is part of a long tenn cycle or itself is an unprecedented phenomenon.

On Telephone Pole Reef, San Salva­ dor, Bahamas, a transition from Acropora cer­ …

Department Of Fisheries Annual Report To Parliament 2000 - 2001, Department Of Fisheries, Western Australia

Department of Fisheries Annual Reports

In accordance with Section 62 of the Financial Administration and audit Act 1985 and Section 263 of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994, I submit for your information the Annual report to Parliament of Fisheries WA for the financial year ending 30 June 2001.

The annual report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Administration and audit Act 1985 and Section 263 of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994.

2000/2001 was a year for Fisheries WA marked by the challenges of managing change. The year saw a change of government and, as with all new governments, …