Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Midwater Fishes And Shrimps As Competitors And Resource Partitioning In Low Latitude Oligotrophic Ecosystems, T. L. Hopkins, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Oligotrophic tropical-subtropical oceanic regimes constitute the largest and most ancient ecosystem on earth, with these enormous areas being characterized by high faunal diversity. The stability and age of the ecosystem have enabled the evolution of many similar species niches where there is considerable overlap in niche parameters such as food and space, resulting in high species packing, especially in the epi- and mesopelagic zones. Competition for limited resources undoubtedly exists and has been described by MacArthur (1972; Geographical ecology, Harper and Row, New York) as diffuse competition where each species is impacted by many other species sharing the environment. Most …

Florida Coral Reef Damage From Nuclear Submarine Grounding And Proposed Restoration, Kenneth Banks, Richard E. Dodge (Editor), Lou Fisher, David K. Stout, Walter Jaap

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The United States submarine Memphis grounded in approximately 10 m water depth on a tropical coral reef ofT southeast Florida in February, 1993. The grounding caused extensive physical and biological damage to the reef substrate and to the coral community. As part of a claim by the State of Florida against the United States, the impact of the grounding was assessed, and the area of damage was determined through field and photographic studies. A recovery rate for the reef was assigned from literature estimates. The NOAA Habitat Equivalency Model (HEM) was used to calculate the reef area needed to be …

A Near-Surface Microstructure Sensor System Used During Toga Coare. Part I: Bow Measurements., Alexander Soloviev, Roger Lukas, Sharon Decarlo, Jefrey Snyder, A. Arjannikov, Vyacheslav Turenko, M. Baker, Dmitry Khlebnikov

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

High-resolution probes mounted on the bow of the vessel at a 1.7-m depth in an undisturbed region ahead of the moving vessel were used for microstructure and turbulence measurements in the near-surface layer of the ocean during TOGA COARE. The probes measured temperature, conductivity, pressure, three-component fluctuation velocity, and two components of acceleration. Accumulation of large amounts of high-quality nearsurface data poses a difficult challenge, and deployment from the bow of a ship, such as is done with these sensors, requires rugged, well-calibrated, and low-noise sensors. The heaving motion of the ship that causes the sensors to break through the …

Observation Of Large Diurnal Warming Events In The Near-Surface Layer Of The Western Equatorial Pacific Warm Pool, Alexander Soloviev, Roger Lukas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Because of the relatively calm winds which prevail over the western Pacific warm pool, the diurnal cycle of temperature in the near-surface layer of the ocean is often quite pronounced. During the TOGA Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE), very high resolution measurements of near-surface thermohaline and turbulence structures were made using bowmounted probes and a free-rising profiler. Experimental data demonstrate a strong dependence of near-surface thermal structure on weather conditions, In calm weather, SST was observed to exceed 33.25°C; this was associated with a diurnal warming of more than 3°C in the top I m of the ocean. A 1-D …

Sharp Frontal Interfaces In The Near-Surface Layer Of The Ocean In The Western Equatorial Pacific Warm Pool, Alexander Soloviev, Roger Lukas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

During the TOGA COARE rich horizontal temperature and salinity variability of the near-surface layer of the ocean in the western Pacific warm pool was observed. High-resolution measurements were made by probes mounted on the bow of the vessel in an undisturbed region at ~1.7-m depth during four COARE cruises of the R/V Moana Wave. The authors observed several tens of cases of periodic sharp frontal interfaces of width 1– 100 m and separation 0.2–60 km. The sharp frontal interfaces were often found in frontal regions and on the periphery of freshwater puddles. Maneuvers of the ship were conducted to determine …

Species Composition, Abundance, And Vertical Distribution Of The Stomiid (Pisces: Stomiiformes) Fish Assemblage Of The Gulf Of Mexico, Tracey Sutton, T. L. Hopkins

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Species composition, abundance, and vertical distribution of the stomiid fish assemblage were investigated in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, a low-latitude, oligotrophic oceanic ecosystem. Seventy-two described species, representing 18 genera, and one undescribed species were identified from 1155 trawl samples. With an additional 10 species reported elsewhere, the stomiid species number now known equals 83, making the Stomiidae the most diverse fish family in the Gulf of Mexico. The assemblage was dominated by three species,Photostomias guernei, Chauliodus sloani and Stomias affinis. These species, as well as four other common species, exhibited an asynchronous diel vertical migration pattern (450–900 …

Observation Of Spatial Variability Of Diurnal Thermocline And Rain-Formed Halocline In The Western Pacific Warm Pool, Alexander Soloviev, Roger Lukas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

High-resolution measurements of temperature and salinity were made in the near-surface layer of the ocean during the Tropical Oceans-Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment, using probes mounted on the bow of the R/V Moana Wave. Because of surface waves and pitching of the vessel, the bow probes profiled the near-surface layer of the ocean within depths of 0–4.0 m. In the near-surface layer of the ocean in the western Pacific warm pool, strong variability of temperature and salinity produced by diurnal heating and/or rain was often observed. The contoured density field revealed cases of pronounced spatial variability. The shallow …

A 240-Year Stable Oxygen And Carbon Isotopic Record In A Coral From South Florida: Implications For The Prediction Of Precipitation In Southern Florida, Peter Koenraad Swart, Richard E. Dodge, Harold J. Hudson

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

This study reports on the δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C composition of the skeleton from a 240-year-old specimen of Montastraea faveolata growing in Biscayne National Park, South Florida. Annual variations in the δ¹⁸O of the skeleton deposited during the summer months show a bimodal correlation with summer rainfall. During wetter years, the δ¹⁸O of the coral skeleton and the amount of precipitation during the summer months are inversely correlated (r = -0. 7) reflecting dilution of the seawater by meteoric water lower in δ¹⁸O. During years in which summer rainfall is less …

Ecology And Behavior Of Maxillipius Commensalis, A Gorgonophile Amphipod From Madang, Papua New Guinea (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Maxillipiidae), James Darwin Thomas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Maxillipius commensalis Lowry, is reported as an ectocommensal on arborescent gorgonaceans from coral reefs at Madang, Papua New Guinea. The family is reviewed and the male of this species is described. In-situ behavior studies show the amphipods to crowd close together in large numbers on one side of a gorgonian stalk. The terminal articles of the sixth pereopods are greatly elongated and whip-like and are waved at the sides in a circular motion, possibly facilitating spacing or feeding. When disturbed, the amphipods react en masse as a coherent group rather than as individuals.

Taphonomy Of Isocrinid Stalks: Influence Of Decay And Autotomy, Tomasz K. Baumiller, Ghislaine Llewellyn, Charles G. Messing, William I. Ausich

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Stalks of isocrinid crinoids are differentiated into cirri-bearing columnals (nodals) and columnals lacking cirri (internodals). This skeletal differentiation allowed us to test whether stalk fragmentation is random or whether it occurs preferentially at a specific articulation. Our analyses indicate that the patterns of fragmentation in multicolumnal segments of extant isocrinids collected by submersible, by dredging, and in sediment samples, as well as those found as fossils, are nonrandom. The preferred plane of fragmentation corresponds to the synostosis, the articulation between a nodal and the internodal distal to it. In isocrinids this articulation has a characteristic morphology and is the site …

Parameterization Of The Cool Skin Of The Ocean And Of The Air-Ocean Gas Transfer On The Basis Of Modeling Surface Renewal, Alexander Soloviev, Peter Schlüssel

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Heat and gas transport in molecular sublayers at the air-sea interface is governed by similar laws. A model of renewal type based on the physics of molecular sublayers allows the derivation of a parameterization of the temperature difference across the cool skin of the ocean and of the coefficient of the direct air-sea gas transfer. The surface Richardson number controls the transition from convective instability to wind-induced instability (“rollers” on breaking wavelets) and the Keulegan number controls the transition from the regime of rollers to long-wave breaking. A critical value of the surface Richardson number and of a nondimensional constant …

Decade-Scale Trend In Sea Water Salinity Revealed Through Δ18o Analysis Of Montastraea Annularis Annual Growth Bands, Robert B. Halley, Peter Koenraad Swart, Richard E. Dodge, Harold J. Hudson

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Stable oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) of coral skeletons are influenced by ambient water temperature and by the oxygen isotope ratio in the surrounding sea water, which, in turn, is linked to evaporation (salinity) and precipitation. To investigate this relationship more thoroughly, we collected hourly temperature data from the Hen and Chickens Reef in the Florida Keys between 1975 and 1988 and compared them to the δ¹⁸O of Montastraea annularis skeleton that grew during the same interval. To ensure that we obtained the correct oxygen isotopic range in the skeleton we typically sampled the coral at a …

Compositional And Taphonomic Variations In Modern Crinoid-Rich Sediments From The Deep-Water Margin Of A Carbonate Bank, Ghislaine Llewellyn, Charles G. Messing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Multivariate analyses of the coarse-grained fraction (>2 mm) of sediments accumulating in deep water (419-434 m) along the western margin of the Little Bahama Bank reveal identifiable, small-scale compositional and taphonomic variations among local subhabitats (ridge crest, slope, foreslope, base of slope, pavements and scour pit) separated by meters to tens of meters. Bulk composition varies between planktic-(crest and slope) and lithic-dominated (pavements, scour pit) sediments. Local macrobenthic skeletal components also vary significantly among subhabitats, but are commonly dominated by echinoid and crinoid material; crinoid columnals contribute 9-52% of the coarse skeletal component of 17 sediment samples considered. Distributional …

Diet And Feeding Habits Of The Southern Stingray Dasyatis Americana In The Central Bahamas, David S. Gilliam, K. M. Sullivan

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Remote Detection Of Coral 'Bleaching' Using Pulsed-Laser Fluorescence Spectroscopy, J. T. Hardy, F. E. Hoge, J. K. Yungel, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Despite their biological and economic importance coral reefs are increasingly threatened by human activities. Recently, 'bleaching' of reefs, i.e. loss of photosynthetic pigmentation, has occurred at numerous globally-distributed sites. A number of environmental stressors, including increased water temperature, can induce bleaching. Several investigators have suggested that the widespread occurrence of coral bleaching represents an early warning signal of global greenhouse warming. Regardless of the cause, the extent of coral bleaching, both regionally and globally, needs to be documented and monitored. We conducted laboratory studies to evaluate the potential of using remotely-sensed laser-induced fluorescence to monitor coral pigmentation. Five species of …

Podocerus Kleidus, New Species From The Florida Keys (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Dulichiidae), James Darwin Thomas, J. L. Barnard

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Podocerus kleidus, a new species from high-current channels in the Florida Keys, is described. The species is very close to P. fulanus from marine channels in California but differs in the strongly cleft coxa I.

Podocerus Chelonophilus, A Testudinous Amphipod Newly Recorded From The Western Atlantic Ocean, James Darwin Thomas, J. L. Barnard

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Podocerus chelonophilus (=P. cheloniae), an amphipod inhabiting the carapace of the loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, is reported for the first time from the western Atlantic Ocean.

Carbonate Deposits In Marine Fish Intestines: A New Source Of Biomineralization, Patrick J. Walsh, Patricia Blackwelder, Kenneth A. Gill, Eva Danulat, Thomas P. Mommsen

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Marine teleostean fish are hypo-osmotic to seawater. As part of a multiorgan osmoregulatory strategy they drink seawater and selectively absorb water and minerals across the intestinal epithelium. Notably, divalent cations (Ca²⁺ and Mg^2-) are left behind. We report here that in the gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta, the ionic by-products of osmoregulation in the intestine contribute to de novo formation of a carbonate mineral, tentatively identified as calcian kutnohorite. Our data suggest that intestinal mineralization is a general feature of osmoregulation in marine teleosts and that this process is an unrecognized and possibly substantial source of marine …

The Role Of Inositol Phosphate Cascade In Visual Excitation Of Invertebrate Microvillar Photoreceptors, Tamara M. Frank, A. Fein

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The identity of the transmitter(s) involved in visual transduction in invertebrate microvillar photoreceptors remains unresolved. In this study, the role of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP₃) was examined in Limulus ventral photoreceptors by studying the effects on the light response of heparin and neomycin, agents that inhibit the production or action of IP₃. Both heparin and neomycin reduce responses to brief flashes of light and the transient component of responses to steps of light, and also inhibit IP₃-induced calcium release, indicating that IP₃ plays a direct role in invertebrate visual excitation. The effects of BAPTA, …

Wombalano Yerang, New Genus And Species Of Corophioid (Crustacea, Amphipoda) From The Great Barrier Reef, Australia, James Darwin Thomas, J. L. Barnard

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Wombalano is characterized by having a interlocked basket of large spines on the bases of male gnathopod 2; these bases arc curved inward to afford the interlocking capability.

This genus differs from Lemboides Stebbing in the even more shortened inner ramus of uropod 3, in the simple mandibular palp, the fused articles of the flagellum on antenna 2, and the immense basket-shovel formed of spines on articl 2 of male gnathopod 2.

Photis Trapherus, A New Elephantine Species From The Caribbean Sea (Crustacea: Amphipoda), James Darwin Thomas, J. L. Barnard

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Photis trapherus differs from its Californian counterpart, P. elephantis, in characters of male pereopod 6: the smallness of the posteroventral tooth on article 2, the longer article 4 with separated posterior keel and no significant posteroventrallobe, the relatively thinner article 2; the lack of distal expansion on article 4 of pereopod 7; the distinct concavity and defining tooth on the palms of gnathopods 1-2.

Two New Species Of Netamelita From The Caribbean Sea (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Gammaridea), James Darwin Thomas, J. L. Barnard

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The previously described species of Netamelita from California and the Gulf of Mexico are reviewed and two new species, N. brocha and N. tabaci, are described from the Florida Keys and Belize, respectively. A key to the species of Netamelita is provided. In the Caribbean Sea these species live on fine coralgal muds in forereef environments at depths of 30-40 m in a distinctive amphipod assemblage dominated by the genera Garosyrrhoe and Metaceradocus. The two new species of Netamelita were observed to plough through fine surficial flocculent materials, head downward, with urosomal appendages elevated above the sediment surface.

Slippery Near-Surface Layer Of The Ocean Arising Due To Daytime Solar Heating, Vladimir N. Kudryavtsev, Alexander Soloviev

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Measurements made in the Equatorial Atlantic during the 35th cruise of the R/V Akademic Vernadsky using a free-rising profiler and drifters revealed a near-surface slippery layer of the ocean arising due to daytime solar heating. The solar heating warms and stabilizes the surface layer of the ocean. This suppresses turbulent exchange and limits the penetration depth of the wind-induced turbulent mixing. The heated near-surface layer is then slipping over the underlying water practically without friction. At daytime warming of 1°C the resistance coefficient in the upper 5-m ocean, C_u = (U_*/ΔU_s)² became …

Biozonation Of Deep-Water Lithoherms And Associated Hardgrounds In The Northeastern Straits Of Florida, Charles G. Messing, A. Conrad Neumann, Judith C. Lang

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Elongated carbonate mounds ("lithoherms") oriented parallel to prevailing northerly bottom currents at moderate depths (500-700 m) along the western margin of the Little Bahama Bank exhibit a consistent faunal zonation characterized by attached, suspension-feeding invertebrates. The four most abundant macroepibenthic groups (alcyonarians, crinoids, sponges and stylasterid hydrocorals) dominate all hard substrates examined except upcurrent ends and crests of lithoherms. We recognize three faunal zones on these mounds: a Coral Zone (Lophelia prolifera) restricted to the upcurrent end; a Zoanthid Zone (?Gerardia sp.) along upcurrent crests, and a Crinoid/Alcyonarian Zone along lithoherm flanks and downstream crests. Taxa characteristic of the latter …

Ensayara Jumane, A New Species From Belize, Caribbean Sea (Amphipoda, Lysianassidae), J. L. Barnard, James Darwin Thomas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Ensayara jumane is described from Belize. It differs from the west Mexican Ensayara ramonella J. L. Barnard (1964) in the excavate posteroventral margins of article 2 on pereopods 5-7, and the sparse (9 versus 25) setae on articles 5-6 of gnathopod I. A new diagnosis for Ensayara, a key to species, list of species, references to original descriptions and geographic codes for each species are provided. This is the first record of the genus from the Caribbean Sea.

Gitana Dominica, A New Species From The Caribbean Sea (Amphipoda: Amphilochidae), James Darwin Thomas, J. L. Barnard

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The new species Gitana dominica is described from Dominica in the Lesser Antilles; it is the first record of the genus from the western Atlantic Ocean. The new species differs from its closest relative, Gitana calitemplado, from California, in the shorter and posteroventrally excavate coxa 1. Gitana is reviewed.

Gammaropsis Arawakia, A New Species Of Marine Amphipoda (Crustacea) From Jamaica, James Darwin Thomas, J. L. Barnard

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

One of the dominant amphipods in algal turf communities at Discovery Bay, Jamaica, is a new species, Gammaropsis arawakia, characterized by long peduncle of uropod 3, small coxa I, 3-articulate accessory flagellum, extremely setose gnathopod 2, one pair of dorsal teeth on urosomite I, pointed ocular lobe, and oblique upper margin of cephalic sinus for antenna 2.

Four Species Of Synopiidae From The Caribbean Region (Crustacea: Amphipoda), J. L. Barnard, James Darwin Thomas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Synopia ultramarina is redescribed from the Gulf Stream and the Florida Keys and comments are made on the tangled taxonomy in Synopia. Tiron bellairsi, originally described from Barbados, is reported from Belize, at the opposite side of the Caribbean Basin. Garosyrrhoe bigarra, a Pacific species, is also reported from Belize, but no clear subspecific differences are detected as yet between Pacific and Atlantic populations.

A New Species, Ampelisca Burkei, (Crustacea, Amphipoda) From Florida, J. L. Barnard, James Darwin Thomas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

A new species Ampelisca burkei, from Florida, is described. This species appears to be very close to A. lobata Holmes, from the eastern Pacific Ocean, but differs in the shape and setation of article 4 on pereopod 7, and the presence of an anteroventral spine-seta on article 5 of pereopod 7.

Relocation Movement In A Stalked Crinoid (Echinodermata), Charles G. Messing, M. Christine Rosesmyth, Stuart R. Mailer, John E. Miller

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.