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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The Statistics Of Natural Shapes In Modern Coral Reef Landscapes, Samuel J. Purkis, Kevin E. Kohler, Bernhard Riegl, Steven O. Rohmann Sep 2007

The Statistics Of Natural Shapes In Modern Coral Reef Landscapes, Samuel J. Purkis, Kevin E. Kohler, Bernhard Riegl, Steven O. Rohmann

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Spatial heterogeneity is a fundamental characteristic of modern and ancient depositional settings, and the scaling of many carbonate environments has been shown to follow power function distributions. The difficulty in obtaining information on the horizontal persistence of sedimentary lithotopes at the basin scale has, however, hampered evaluation of this fact over larger geographic areas. In recent years, large‐scale maps of reef facies derived from remotely sensed data have become widely available, allowing for an analysis of reef‐scale map products from 26 sites spread through four reef provinces, covering >7000 km2 of shallow‐water habitat in the U.S. territorial Pacific. For …


First Observations On The Re-Established Southeast Florida Recreational Swordfish Tournament Fishery, Juan C. Levesquee, David W. Kerstetter Jul 2007

First Observations On The Re-Established Southeast Florida Recreational Swordfish Tournament Fishery, Juan C. Levesquee, David W. Kerstetter

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Recreational tournaments for swordfish (Xiphias gladius) existed in the Florida Straits between 1977 and 1983 before disappearing due to low catch rates and an overexploitation of the stock. The first recent swordfish tournament occurred in 2001 off southeast Florida with 13 participating vessels. In 2002, three swordfish tournaments were observed and anglers were interviewed to determine catch and gear characteristics of the re-established recreational fishery. A total of 156 vessels participated in these three tournaments, catching 112 swordfish and hooking an additional 48 animals. The combination of the recovery of the North Atlantic swordfish stock and the continuation …


New Species And Host Associations Of Commensal Leucothoid Amphipods From Coral Reefs In Florida And Belize (Crustacea:Amphipoda), James Darwin Thomas, Kristine N. Klebba May 2007

New Species And Host Associations Of Commensal Leucothoid Amphipods From Coral Reefs In Florida And Belize (Crustacea:Amphipoda), James Darwin Thomas, Kristine N. Klebba

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Six new amphipod species in the genus Leucothoe from the tropical western Atlantic Ocean are described and illustrated. Extensive field collecting and specialized underwater collecting techniques have documented 43 new invertebrate host records for these new taxa. Four of these new species inhabit interior canals of sponges; Leucothoe barana n.sp., Leucothoe garifunae n.sp., Leucothoe saron n.sp., and Leucothoe ubouhu n.sp. A remarkable new species, Leucothoe flammosa n.sp., nestles in the gills of seven species of bivalve mollusks. A single species, Leucothoe wuriti n.sp., appears restricted to the branchial chamber of two species of solitary ascidians. Detailed illustrations and scanning electron …


Stalked Crinoid Locomotion, And Its Ecological And Evolutionary Implications, Tomasz K. Baumiller, Charles G. Messing Apr 2007

Stalked Crinoid Locomotion, And Its Ecological And Evolutionary Implications, Tomasz K. Baumiller, Charles G. Messing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

In the past two decades, much direct evidence has been gathered on active crawling by stalked crinoids, a group generally thought to be sessile. Detailed descriptions of crawling mechanics of isocrinids in aquaria revealed only exceedingly slow movements (~0.1 mm sec-1). Crawling at such speeds severely restricted the range of roles that this behavior could play in stalked crinoid biology and, consequently, in its potential impact on their ecology and evolutionary history. Here, we provide evidence collected in situ by submersible near Grand Bahama Island at a depth of 420 m for a different mode of crawling in …


Preliminary Observations On The Reproductive Cycle And Uterine Fecundity Of The Yellow Stingray, Urobatis Jamaicensis (Elasmobranchii: Mylioba Tiformes: Urolophidae) In Southeast Florida, U.S.A., Daniel P. Fahy, Richard E. Spieler, William C. Hamlett Jan 2007

Preliminary Observations On The Reproductive Cycle And Uterine Fecundity Of The Yellow Stingray, Urobatis Jamaicensis (Elasmobranchii: Mylioba Tiformes: Urolophidae) In Southeast Florida, U.S.A., Daniel P. Fahy, Richard E. Spieler, William C. Hamlett

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The yellow stingray, Urobatis jamaicensis is the most common elasmobranch observed among the coral reefs and associated habitats of Southeast Florida, U.S.A. In coastal waters off Broward County, Florida, gravid females were observed throughout the year. Urobatis jamaicensis is an aplacental viviparous species with evidence of a short gestation period (five to six months). Vitellogenesis occurs concurrently with gestation, with the females having both term fetuses and mature ova simultaneously. It is likely that the females have a bi-annual reproductive cycle where each female is capable of producing two broods annually. The ovulation period in the spring/summer reproductive cycle ranged …


The Crinoid Fauna (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) Of Palau, Charles G. Messing Jan 2007

The Crinoid Fauna (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) Of Palau, Charles G. Messing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Taxonomic revisions and a recent survey using scuba place the number of shallow-water (< 50 m) crinoid species known from Palau at 22. Five are new records: Clarkcomanthus littoralis, Comanthus suavia, Alloeocomatella pectinifera, Oxycomanthus comanthipinna, and O. exilis. A submersible survey (to 310 m) recovered five additional new records, four of which are the first representatives of their families from Palauan waters:Eudiocrinus venustulus (Eudiocrinidae), Glyptometra sp. (Charitometridae), Cosmiometra belsuchel Messing, n. sp. (Thalassometridae), and Porphyrocrinus verrucosus(Phrynocrinidae), the first stalked crinoid recorded from Palau. Two of the three specimens of the latter have regenerating crowns, suggesting that this species may be subject to substantial predation or an …