Marine Biology Commons^™

Trophodynamics Of The Fish Valenciennellus Tripunctulatus. Ii. Selectivity, Grazing Rates And Resource Utilization, R. C. Baird, Thomas L. Hopkins

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Various patterns of resource utilization in the feeding strategy of Valenciennellus tripunctulatus, a small mesopelagic fish of tropical-subtropical oceans, were explored. Ivlev electivity indices suggest that copepods in general and the genus Pleuromamma in particular are being actively selected. Prey-size selection was apparent and strong negative indices were calculated for all plankton smaller than 1 mm. Non-crustacean prey in all size classes also gave negative indices. Strong positive indices were indicated for prey size classes greater than 2 mm. A model was developed to estimate grazing rates and efficiencies which is linearly influenced by swimming speed and plankton abundance, …

Trophodynamics Of The Fish Valenciennellus Tripunctulatus Iii Energetics, Resources And Feeding Strategy, Ronald C. Baird, Thomas L. Hopkins

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A model was constructed which relates energy in diet to metabolic requirements for the mesopelagic zooplanktivore fish Valenciennellus tripunctulatus. Linear and Von Bertalanffy growth models were used to explore the energetic consequences of a number of feasible age/growth strategies. Maxlmum efficiencies were obtained with linear growth to about 30 mm in 1 y. Efficiencies declined rapidly for slower growth strategies. It was hypothesized that an 'annual' life history strategy was optimum based on energetic considerations. Copepod prey in the 1-2 mm size class were an order of magnitude more abundant and over 4 times higher in caloric content than …

Status Of Turtles On The Mississippi Coast, Gordon Gunter

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Sea turtles have declined in numbers and federal agencies have become concerned with the numbers drowned in trawls by commercial shrimpers. Records are given of freshwater turtles and of the gopher tortoise in low-salinity waters. These include the Florida cooter Pseudemys floridana, the snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina, the alligator snapper Macroclemys temmincki, and the gopher Gopherus polyphemus. The diamondback terrapin Malaclemys terrapin pileata is common in brackish waters of Alabama and Mississippi. All sea turtles of the western Atlantic Ocean may be expected in Mississippi waters except for the Pacific ridley Lepidochelys olivacea, indigenous in …

Adaptive Behavior Of Astyanax Fasciatus (Cuvier) (Pisces: Characidae) And Of Brachyrhaphis Rhabdophora (Regan) (Pisces: Poecilidae) Associated With Subterranean Waters, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Studies On Feeding Behavior On A Population Of Cichlasoma Tuba (Pisces: Cichlidae) In Shallow Waters Of The River Puerto Viejo, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

New Records For The Northern Studfish, Fundulus Catenatus, In The Lower Mississippi And Gulf Coastal Drainages, Henry L. Bart Jr., Robert C. Cashner

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Number 10 (December 1980), Southern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

New Records for the Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus, in the Lower Mississippi and Gulf Coastal Drainages. By H.L. Bart and R.C. Cashner, plus News Notes, 5 pp.

News Notes, Southeastern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Studies Of The Ichthyofauna Of Connecticut, Paul M. Jacobson

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station

No abstract provided.

1979 Hurricane Damage To Coral Reefs Of Vieques, Puerto Rico, Richard E. Dodge, William F. Raymond

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Salinity On The Growth And Survival Of The Crayfish, Procambarus Actus Actus (Girard), Emily Deaver

OES Theses and Dissertations

The white river crayfish, Procambarus acutus acutus was tested in low salinity water for growth and survival. Thirty animals were placed in each test pool at O, 4 and 8 ppt and grown for 75 days. Growth was defined as increase in carapace length and wet weight. Crayfish grew at a faster rate and had the lowest mortality at 4 ppt. Water hardness, defined as the total concentration of calcium and magnesium expressed as the calcium carbonate equivalent, ranged from 35 mg/1 to 195 mg/1. Pools of crayfish tested at concentrations of approximately 100 mg/1 total hardness exhibited the best …

The Effects Of Elevated Calcium Chloride And Magnesium Chloride Levels On Larval Growth And Survival Of Macrobrachium Rosenbergii (De Man) (Decapoda Palaemonidae) Reared In The Laboratory, James Thomas Michaels Ii

OES Theses and Dissertations

The effects of elevated CaCl₂ , MgCl₂ , combination CaCl₂ and MgCl₂ concentrations and their associated ionic strengths on larval growth and survival of the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii were investigated in the laboratory. Larvae were reared in diluted seawater of 15 parts per thousand salinity with elevated calcium concentrations of 330 parts per million and elevated magnesium concentrations of 1275 parts per million. Control larvae were also reared with elevated NaCl concentrations to duplicate the ionic strength increases of the combination CaCl₂ - MgCl₂ test solution which had the highest ionic strength. A …

Macrobenthic Communities Of An Industrialized Seaport Ecosystem: The Southern Branch Of The Elizabeth River, Virginia, Steven D. Hawthorne

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Macrobenthic invertebrates of an industrialized seaport ecosystem were studied seasonally from October, 1977 through July, 1978. Five stations were selected along the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River, Virginia. The stations ranged from an area of heavy industrialization to a non-urbanized environment. At each station, bottom water was measured for salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH. Within each sampling area, macrobenthic infauna! invertebrates were collected from in and out of channel sites along with sediment samples for various types of physicochemical analysis.

Community structure was spatially homogeneous at station sites and throughout the stations along the River. Slightly acidic pH …

Filtration Ingestion And Assimilation Rates Of The Mysid Shrimp Neomysis Americana Smith, Fed Three Food Sources, Robert W. Grabb

OES Theses and Dissertations

Laboratory grazing and assimilation experiments were conducted on the mysid shrimp Neomysis americana in an attempt to assess the suitability of three potential food sources. It was hypothesized that the smaller size classes were primarily herbivores, not becoming omnivorous until attaining lengths of approximately 5-6 mm. Four size classes of mysids from the summer generation, juveniles, immature, adult males, and adult ovigerous females were each fed three concentrations of Artemia salina nauplii, the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis, and the diatom Coscinodiscus lineatus. The mean lengths of the size classes utilized, plus or minus one standard deviation, were 2.5 …

Distribution Of The Dinoflagellate Symbiosis In Astragia Danae As Affected By Light Attenuation, Michael Perry Weston

OES Theses and Dissertations

Spatial zonation of symbiotic and aposymbiotic forms of the temperate coral Astrangia danae provides evidence that light attenuation is an important factor in the distribution of this animal. At four locations in the lower Chesapeake Bay and adjacent offshore waters, symbiotic colonies were observed only in well illuminated surface waters, while aposymbiotic colonies were observed in less illuminated deeper waters. A transition zone exists in which both colony types are found. Colonies on substrates forming a plane parallel to the sea-surface receive a greater radiant flux than colonies on vertical substrates. This extends the depth range of symbiotic colonies located …

Notes On The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Occurrence Of Sagitta Friderici Ritter-Zahony (Chaetognatha), Jerry A. Mclelland

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The neritic chaetognath Sagitta friderici Ritter-Zahony, 1911 was identified in plankton samples from the northern Gulf of Mexico in June 1974. Specimens analyzed from two groups of adults ranged from 6 to 13.7 mm long. Meristic values did not appear to be a function of body length except for individuals in the 12.4 to 13.7 mm range that had larger numbers of hooks and teeth.

Adults of Sagitta friderici and the closely related S. tenuis Conant, 1896 were compared and found to be distinguishable chiefly by (1) the number of ova per unit length of the ovary, and (2) the …

Diatoms In The Gills Of The Commercial White Shrimp, Robin M. Overstreet, Susan Safford

Gulf and Caribbean Research

A white shrimp from Galveston, Texas, is the first reported case of a crustacean internally infected by a diatom. Even though more than one species occurred in debris on and between gill filaments, only individuals of Amphora sp. occurred within gills. To determine if a related diatom would easily reproduce within the shrimp and cause. a host-response similar to that observed, we injected cultured specimens of A. coffaeformis into white shrimp. Under the experimental conditions, individuals of that species did not divide, but they elicited an extensive melanistic host-response.

New Records Of Hyperiidea (Crustacea: Amphipoda) From The North Central Gulf Of Mexico, Kenneth C. Stuck, Harriet M. Perry, A. Geoffrey Fish

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Records of 54 species of amphipods of the suborder Hyperiidea from the Gulf of Mexico are presented. Forty-seven species are recorded from the Gulf for the first time. Previous records of occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and associated North Atlantic waters are provided for each species.

Observations On The Genus Vaucheria (Xanthophyceae, Vaucheriales) From The Gulf Of Mexico, Richard A. Pecora

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Investigations of algal mats from several locations along the Gulf of Mexico from Cameron Parish, Louisiana, to Manatee County, Florida, were conducted from February 1979 to February 1980. Habitat preference, distribution, and morphology are reported herein for nine species and one variety of Vaucheria de Candolle. Five taxa–V. arcassionensis, V. aversa, V. coronata, V. prolifera var. reticulospora, and V. pseudogeminata–are first reports for the Gulf of Mexico coastal region. Vaucheria velutina (=V. thuretii), the most abundant taxon identified in the region, is common in diverse habitats. Vaucheria prolifera var. reticulospora is reported for …

Studies On Amyloodinium Ocellatum (Dinoflagellata) In Mississippi Sound: Natural And Experimental Hosts, Adrian R. Lawler

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Four species of parasitic dinoflagellates have been found to occur naturally on the gills and fins of Mississippi Sound fishes: Amyloodinium ocellatum (Brown 1931) Brown and Hovasse 1946, Oodinium cyprinodontum Lawler 1967, and two undescribed species. Sixteen of 43 species of fishes examined had natural gill infections of A. ocellatum. Seventy-one of 79 species of fishes exposed to A. ocellatum dinospores were susceptible, and succumbed, to the dinoflagellate. Eight did not die even though exposed to numerous dinospores. The most common signs in an infested fish were spasmodic gasping and uncoordinated movements. Trophonts of A. ocellatum were found on …

Origins And Effects Of Spartina Wrack In A Virginia Salt Marsh, Thomas G. Reidenbaugh, William C. Banta

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Movements of mats of tidal wrack (dead Spartina alterniflora) and impacts of the wrack were followed in color infrared aerial photographs of a sloping foreshore salt marsh on Wallops Island, Virginia. Tidal wrack may be stranded in high marsh, where it decomposes, or it may be temporarily stranded at lower elevations. The wrack kills underlying Spartina alterniflora in low marsh and in the transition zone from low to high marsh. Wrack is the major cause of devegetated areas within the marsh, but these areas eventually revegetate, and do not evolve into pans. There are substantial short-term reductions in S. …

Occurrence And Seasonality Of Perkinsus Marinus (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) In Mississippi Oysters, John Ogle, Katherine Flurry

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Oysters from four reefs in Mississippi Sound, sampled over a period of 25 months, were found to have a low prevalence of the protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus. The greatest values were 80% prevalence, and 0.88 weighted incidence recorded for oysters from Biloxi Bay, Mississippi.

Lepidactylus Triarticulatus N. Sp., A New Haustoriid Amphipod From The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Philip B. Robertson, Charles R. Shelton

Gulf and Caribbean Research

A new haustoriid amphipod, Lepidactylus triarticulatus n. sp., from the northern Gulf of Mexico is described and illustrated. The known range is from northern Padre Island, Texas, to Grand Isle, Louisiana. The species is ecologically plastic. On surf-exposed sandy beaches it is most abundant at the highest intertidal levels, but in fine-grained sands of wave-sheltered localities it occurs throughout the intertidal region into shallow subtidal depths. In central Texas bays it has been collected subtidally at salinities as low as 10 ppt. There are differences in morphological details of peraeopod 7 between the intertidal and subtidal populations which we regard …

Prevalence Of Fimeria Funduli (Protozoa: Eimeriidae) In The Longnose Killifish Fundulus Similis From Horn Island, Mississippi, John W. Fournie, Mobashir A. Solangi

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Eimeria funduli occurred in Fundulus similis from Horn Island, Mississippi, during 1980, in contrast with its apparent absence during 1978 and 1979. Prevalence of the parasite appears to be related to the unusually low salinity in Mississippi Sound, and in ponds and off the beaches of Horn Island. The low salinity may have promoted the migration of infective intermediate hosts from inshore waters to the island.

A Partial Bibliography Of Cyprinodon Variegatus (Osteichthyes: Cyprinodontidae), David A. Bengtson

Gulf and Caribbean Research

A partial bibliography of the sheepshead minnow Cyprinodon variegatus Lacépède, 1803, is presented. Scientific works related to systematics and general biology are listed along with references to recent work involving toxicological bioassays. An extensive search of the literature on parasites of C. variegatus was not conducted.

Vertebral Anomaly In Fundulus Similis, Charles S. Manning

Gulf and Caribbean Research

On May 11, 1978, a longnose killifish, Fundulus similis. exhibiting an extreme lordotic, scoliotic condition was collected on the north shore of Big Lagoon in Escambia County, Florida. The specimen was held for observation in a flow-through seawater aquarium for several weeks prior to being preserved and placed in the Gulf Breeze Environmental Research Laboratory Museum (No. AN-2146).

Enterovirus And Bacterial Evaluation Of Mississippi Oysters, R.D. Ellender, D.W. Cook, V.L. Sheladia, R.A. Johnson

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The numbers of enteric viruses and fecal coliform bacteria in oysters and water samples collected along the Mississippi Gulf coast during 1979 were determined. Ten viral isolates, representing members of the poliovirus group, were identified from an approved oyster harvesting site. The number of virus isolations increased to 51 when oysters were collected from a prohibited harvesting location. The majority of isolates were identified as poliovirus type 1 or 2, coxsackievirus B3 and B4, and echovirus type 24. Fecal coliforms in water samples collected at approved and prohibited locations confirmed the classification assigned to each area by the Mississippi State …

Growth And Residency Of Juvenile Fishes Within A Surf Zone Habitat In The Gulf Of Mexico, Timothy Modde

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Over a 32-month study period, 154,469 fish representing 76 species were collected from the Gulf shore of Horn Island, Mississippi. Fishes collected were identified as either resident or migrant species according to length frequency data. The migrant component, dominated numerically by Anchoa lyolepis, represented the greatest number of species and individuals collected. Resident fishes constituted only six species but comprised 42.0% of all fish captured. The more abundant species residing within the Horn Island surf zone, Trachinotus carolinus, Menticirrhus littoralis, and Harengula jaguana, appeared to utilize this habitat as a nursery for approximately 3 months throughout …

The Diet Of The Florida Pompano (Trachinotus Carolinus) Along The East Coast Of Central Florida, Thomas M. Armitage, William S. Alevizon

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The diet of the Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) was investigated by examining stomach contents of adults from the Indian River and juveniles from the surf zone off Brevard County. Juveniles consumed primarily henthic crustaceans, mainly Emerita talpoida, and the bivalve, Donax variabilis. The diet of the adults consisted mainly of bivalve molluscs in the families Tellinidae, Mactridae, and Arcidae. In comparison with juveniles, the adults displayed a decrease in the number of planktonic organisms that are selected as prey items. Availability of prey appears to be more important than caloric content of prey in determining the diet of T. carolinus. …

Morphological Variation Among 14 Species Of Callogobius Bleeker (Pisces: Gobiidae), James Francis Mckinney

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

A survey of the variation among the species of the Callogobius complex has been accomplished in order to determine if recognition of more than one genus is warranted for this assemblage of species. Emphasis has been placed on the osteological variation. Relationships among certain species within the Callogobius complex have been exposed. Although there are two well defined species groups within the complex, it is felt that inclusion of all of the examined species within the single genus Callogobius is the most parsimonious course of action.