Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

What Does It Take To Become A Marine Scientist?, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Note: This material may not meet current educational standards and is presented as part of the Institute's historical publications.

The Crest, Summer 1999, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• New Research Aquarium System
• Finfish Aquaculture at VIMS
• Virginia Creates State Research Reserve System
• Pollution-Laden Sediments In Constant Flux
• Survey of Mid-Atlantic Sea Scallop Closed Areas
• Pfiesteria Update
• New Computer Program Helps Planners Balance Growth, Protection
• Virginia Sea Grant to Administer Commercial Fishery Resource Program
• VIMS Stranded Sea Turtle Project Underway Coastal Sediments Offer Clues to Climate Change, Pollution
• Seemingly Barren Habitat Proves Vital for Economically Important Virginia Fish (juvenile flounder)

Habitat Fragmentation In Transplanted Eelgrass (Zostera Marina) Beds: Effects On Decapods And Fish, Alfonso Vollmer Lombana

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Diet Composition And Feeding Habits Of Large Striped Bass, Morone Saxatilis, In Chesapeake Bay, John F. Walter

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Carbon Production And Growth Physiology Of Heterotrophic Bacteria In A Subtropical Coral Reef Ecosystem, Peter Dylan Countway

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Indo-Pacific Population Structure Of The Black Marlin, Makaira Indica, Inferred From Molecular Markers, Brett Falterman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Sensory Development In Settlement-Stage Larvae Of Caribbean Labrids And Scarids: A Comparative Study With Implications For Ecomorphology And Life History Strategies, Monica R. Lara

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The sensory capabilities of settlement-stage fishes are unknown but this information is necessary to studies of larval settlement and recruitment. The morphology of the cephalic lateral line, eye and external olfactory organ of thirteen species of settlement-stage Caribbean labroids was described. Scanning electron images of the cephalic lateral line neuromasts, lateral line canals and olfactory epithelia and histological studies of the retinae and morphological measurements of visual acuity were used to assess the level of sensory development attained at settlement. The sensory capabilities of settlement-stage fishes are discussed in relation to the possible cues settlement-stage fishes may be using to …

Environmental Stress In Hard Coral: Evaluating Lipid As An Indicator Of Sublethal Stress On Short Time Scales, David Harold Niebuhr

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Lipid quality was evaluated in Montastrea spp. under sediment- and heat-stressed conditions to evaluate lipid ratio as an indicator of sub-lethal stress on short time scales. The ratio of storage lipid (wax ester + triacylglyceride) to structural lipid (sterol esters + phospholipid) decreased significantly (0.25 to 0.14, p < 0.01) after experimental sedimentation. FAME analysis of colonies exposed to experimental sedimentation showed a reduction of the algal, 18:3(n-6) and 18:4(n-3), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the polar lipid fraction. This loss of PUFA suggests a loss of algal membrane in sediment-stressed colonies. Lipid quality was similarly measured in M. faveolata over a 10-day period. Mean (n = 20) ratio of storage to structural lipid in M. faveolata dropped from 2.43 to a level of 0.98 immediately following a natural sedimentation event before recovering to levels of 1.4 and 2.9 on post-storm days 2 and 4, respectively. Colonies of M. annularis subject to heat-stress (35??C) exhibited no significant change in storage lipid ratio, while levels of Free Fatty Acids increased significantly from 0.012 (n = 22) to 0.156 mg lipid/g dry tissue (n = 22)(p < 0.05). FAME analysis of tissue lipids extracted from the heat-stressed colonies showed changes in the polar fraction, with significant decreases in the 18:3(n-6), 18:3(n-3), 18:4(n-3), 20:4(n-6) and 20:5(n-3) (p < 0.05) PUFA and subsequent significant increases in the saturated fatty acids, 16:0 and 18:0 (p < 0.05). These changes in lipid quantity and quality indicate possible oxidation and preferential digestion of zooxanthellar membranes. Stress experiments were repeated in M. annularis using VacutainerRTM blood collection tubes to collect micro-tissue samples without destroying skeleton of the sample colonies. A significant decrease in storage: structural lipid ratio after sedimentation was also detected using the micro-tissue technique. This study indicates that the relative abundance of lipid subclass components can indicate sub-lethal environmental stress, on short time scales, in M. annularis and M. faveolata. Furthermore, micro-tissue collection techniques permit repeated monitoring coral colonies to assess the manifestation of stress from first detection of impact at the cellular level to changes in community to changes in community structure detectable over longer time scales.

Estimation Of Bacterial Respiration And Growth Efficiency In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, C. A. Carlson, N. R. Bates, H. W. Ducklow, D. A. Hansell

VIMS Articles

Seawater cultures were conducted in large volume (36 l) gas impermeable tri-laminate bags for the purpose of empirically deriving bacterial growth efficiency (BGE) and carbon conversion factors (CCF) in the south central Ross Sea. This experimental design allowed for concomitant measurements of metabolic reactants (loss of total and dissolved organic carbon [TOC and DOG]) and products (gain of total carbon dioxide [TCO2] and bacterial biomass) to be made from a single incubation vessel. Some previous studies have relied on proxy measurements (e.g. O-2, H-3-thymidine incorporation and cell abundance) to determine BGE and CCF rather than direct carbon measurements. Our experimental …

Bacterial Growth In Experimental Plankton Assemblages And Seawater Cultures From The Phaeocystis Antarctica Bloom In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, H. W. Ducklow, C. Carlson, Walker O. Smith Jr.

VIMS Articles

A series of seawater culture experiments was carried out during the Phaeocystis antarctica bloom in the Ross Sea polynya (76.5 degrees S, 180 degrees W; November to December 1994 and December 1995 to January 1996) to examine bacterioplankton growth and derive empirical factors for estimating bacterial production rates. Bacterial growth was exponential over 3 to 10 d in all experiments, at rates of ca 0.1 to 0.7 d(-1), even in persistently cold waters (-2 to + 1 degrees C). Growth rates were lower in the early part of the bloom (early to mid-November) and highest during the period of peak …

Phytoplankton Growth Rates In The Ross Sea, Antarctica, Determined By Independent Methods: Temporal Variations, Walker O. Smith Jr., D. M. Nelson, S. Mathot

VIMS Articles

The development of the seasonal phytoplankton bloom in the Ross Sea was studied during two cruises. The first, conducted in November-December 1994, investigated the initiation and rapid growth of the bloom, whereas the second (December 1995-January 1996) concentrated on the bloom's maximum biomass period and the subsequent decline in biomass. Central to the understanding of the controls of growth and the summer decline of the bloom is a quantitative assessment of the growth rate of phytoplankton. Growth rates were estimated over two time scales with different methods. The first estimated daily growth rates from isotopic incorporation under simulated in situ …

Oyster Reef Habitat Restoration : A Synopsis And Synthesis Of Approaches; Proceedings From The Symposium, Williamsburg, Virginia, April 1995, Mark Luckenbach, Roger L. Mann, James A. Wesson

Reports

This volume has its origin in a symposium held in Williamsburg, VA in April 1995, though most of the chapters have been significantly revised in the interim. The primary purpose of the symposium was to bring together state fisheries managers involved in fisheries-directed oyster enhancement and research scientists to refine approaches for enhancing oyster populations and to better develop the rationale for restoring reef habitats. We could hardly have anticipated the degree to which this been successful. In the interim between the symposium and the publication of this volume the notion that oyster reefs are valuable habitats, both for oysters …

Limitation Of Bacterial Growth By Dissolved Organic Matter And Iron In The Southern Ocean, Matthew J. Church

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Spatial And Temporal Distributions Of Organic Matter And Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) In Surface Waters Of The York River, Va Estuary, Rebecca E. Countway

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Crest, Winter 1999, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Table of Contents:

• Experimental Fishery on Georges Bank Holds Promise for the Scallop Industry
• New VIMS Center Boosts Aquafarming
• Invader Threatens Stressed Ecosystem (Rapa Whelk)
• Microscopic Phytoplankton Live Large
• Reality By the Numbers (Computer Modeling)
• Tautog Research
• Latest Returns From the Game Fish Tagging Program
• Educational Landscape Center (VIMS Teaching Marsh)
• Responding to the Chesapeake Executive Council Directive for Wetlands Protection and Restoration Goals
• Dangers to Blue Crabs Accelerating

Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program Annual Report 1998, John A. Lucy, C.M. Bain, M. D. Arendt

Reports

The Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program (VGFTP), a cooperative project of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), set records for fish tagged and fish recaptured during 1998, its fourth year of operation.