Marine Biology Commons^™

Primary Utricle Structure Of Six Halimeda Species And Potential Relevance For Ocean Acidification Tolerance, Katherine E. Peach, Marguerite S. Koch, Patricia Blackwelder, Debbie Guerrero-Given, Naomi Kamasawa

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Variations in utricle morphology may be responsible for different tolerances to ocean acidification (OA) within the macroalgal genus Halimeda, an important sediment producer on reefs. However, differences in species’ utricle morphology and their relationship to calcification and crystal formation have not been well articulated. In the present study, we characterized the utricle morphologies of six Halimeda species. Primary utricle ultrastructure was quantitatively and qualitatively compared to tissue inorganic content and crystal microstructure. Morphologies differed across species and several morphometric relationships were revealed. Primary utricle size (r²=0.70) and diffusion pathway length (r²=0.87) had inverse relationships with …

Experimental Impacts Of Climate Warming And Ocean Carbonation On Eelgrass Zostera Marina, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill, Malee Jinuntuya, Billur Celebi, David Ruble, Miranda Smith, Tiffany Cedeno, W. Mark Swingle

OES Faculty Publications

CO₂ is a critical and potentially limiting substrate for photosynthesis of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In addition to being a climate-warming greenhouse gas, increasing concentrations of CO₂ will dissolve in the oceans, eliciting both negative and positive responses among organisms in a process commonly known as ocean acidification. The dissolution of CO₂ into ocean surface waters, however, also increases its availability for photosynthesis, to which the highly successful, and ecologically important, seagrasses respond positively. Thus, the process might be more accurately characterized as ocean carbonation. This experiment demonstrated that CO₂ stimulation of primary production enhances …

Multiple Mating By Females In The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Callinectes Sapidus Population, S. Wells, J. Mcconaugha, L. Horth

OES Faculty Publications

Mature females of the Chesapeake Bay (USA) blue crab Callinectes sapidus population mate multiple times. Microsatellite DNA analysis of sperm stored in the spermathecae has shown that virtually all (~97%, 104 out of 107) females collected in a 2009−2010 study mated with at least 2 males. Enumeration of stored sperm revealed that despite multiple mating, some females did not have enough sperm to fulfill their lifetime reproductive potential, suggesting that female blue crabs may experience varying levels of sperm limitation. This could result from multiple factors. The average body size of males in the population has decreased, which reduces the …

The Lower Actinopterygian Fauna From The Lower Carboniferous Albert Shale Formation Of New Brunswick, Canada – A Review Of Previously Described Taxa And A Description Of A New Genus And Species, Kathryn E. Mickle

College of Humanities and Sciences Faculty Papers

The Lower Carboniferous Albert shale formation of New Brunswick, Canada, is well-known for the preservation of countless articulated lower actinopterygian palaeoniscoid fishes. This site is at the boundary between the Devonian and the Lower Carboniferous, making the lower actinopterygians preserved at this site important. The taxonomic history of previously described Albert shale formation actinopterygians is reviewed here. Many of the earliest described actinopterygian taxa from the Albert Formation are represented by poorly preserved type specimens and have the distinction of being moved from one paraphyletic genus to another paraphyletic genus. While these taxa are in need of major redescriptions, such …

Comparative Transcriptomics Of Elasmobranchs And Teleosts Highlight Important Processes In Adaptive Immunity And Regional Endothermy, Nicholas J. Marra, Vincent P. Richards, Angela Early, Steve M. Bogdanowicz, Paulina D. Pavinski Bitar, Michael J. Stanhope, Mahmood S. Shivji

Biology Faculty Articles

Background: Comparative genomic and/or transcriptomic analyses involving elasmobranchs remain limited, with genome level comparisons of the elasmobranch immune system to that of higher vertebrates, non-existent. This paper reports a comparative RNA-seq analysis of heart tissue from seven species, including four elasmobranchs and three teleosts, focusing on immunity, but concomitantly seeking to identify genetic similarities shared by the two lamnid sharks and the single billfish in our study, which could be linked to convergent evolution of regional endothermy.

Results: Across seven species, we identified an average of 10,877 Swiss-Prot annotated genes from an average of 32,474 open reading frames within each …

Bioethics In The Work Of Ernest Everett Just: + Missing - Some 400 Pages, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Biology + ethics = bioethics. Here we see that Howard University biologist Ernest Everett Just (born 1883, died 1941) connected biology to ethics.

According to Just, various forms of specific biology (including especially cell biology) plus “general biology” are necessary for explaining adequately the origin of ethical behaviors. Social ethical behaviors, especially mutual aid and cooperative interactions with others and the environment, are essential to evolutionary advances among living creatures, ranging from humans to cells. Accordingly, theory of ethics (moral theory) should have roots in biology.

Also, Just wrote an unpublished book-length manuscript—“some 400 typed pages” (Just 1940)—on seeking the …

Habitat And Community Associations And The Population Dynamics Of A Temporary Coral-Reef Fish Ectoparasite, John Michael Artim

Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral reef is habitat constructed by the scleractinian coral after which the habitat is named. While scleractinian coral colonies are often meters in extent, they are composed of small individual organisms—typically on the scale of millimeters across. Coral reefs that include an abundance of many coral species support a diverse abundance of fish and conspicuous invertebrate life. These macro constituents of coral reefs—coral colonies, reef fish and conspicuous invertebrates—have been the primary focus for much of the existing body of coral reef ecology research. One of the inconspicuous and understudied coral reef invertebrate constituents are gnathiid isopod fish parasites. These …

Feeding Habits And Dietary Overlap Of Age-0 Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes Americanus) And Summer Flounder (Paralichthys Dentatus) In Southern New England Tidal Rivers, David L. Taylor, Carissa L. Gervasi

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Age-0 winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus; 20-90 mm in total length [TL]) and summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus; 19-172 mm TL) were collected from the Seekonk and Taunton Rivers (in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, respectively) from May through September during 2009-2015, and stomach content analysis was used to assess diet composition and resource overlap for these species. Winter and summer flounder underwent ontogenetic dietary shifts. Winter flounder < 40 mm TL predominantly fed on copepods, transitioning to amphipods, isopods, and bivalves with increasing size. Polychaetes also were consumed frequently by winter flounder, irrespective of size. The principal prey of summer flounder < 60 mm TL were mysid shrimp and copepods, whereas sand shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa), amphipods, and fish were the dominant prey of larger conspecifics. There was minimal dietary overlap for the flounder species when comparisons were made independent of body size, indicating food niche segregation. For winter and summer flounder of equivalent sizes, however, dietary overlap was inversely related to TL. Moderate to high resource overlap occurred for small winter and summer flounder (< 40 mm TL) and was attributed to their mutual reliance on copepods and amphipods. Despite evidence of dietary overlap, it is unlikely that shared prey resources were diminished enough to negatively affect either flounder species.

Oceanographic Data In Rhode Island Waters Ocg 150, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Comparative Postembryonic Skeletal Ontogeny In Two Sister Lineages Of Old World Tree Frogs (Rhacophoridae: Taruga, Polypedates), Gayani Senevirathne, Ryan R. Kerney, Madhava Meegaskumbura

Biology Faculty Publications

Rhacophoridae, a family of morphologically cryptic frogs, with many genetically distinct evolutionary lineages, is understudied with respect to skeletal morphology, life history traits and skeletal ontogeny. Here we analyze two species each from two sister lineages, Taruga and Polypedates, and compare their postembryonic skeletal ontogeny, larval chondrocrania and adult osteology in the context of a well-resolved phylogeny. We further compare these ontogenetic traits with the direct-developing Pseudophilautus silus. For each species, we differentially stained a nearly complete developmental series of tadpoles from early postembryonic stages through metamorphosis to determine the intraspecific and interspecific differences of cranial and postcranial …

Coral Bleaching And The Effect Of Disturbances On The Damselfish Community On Lizard Island, Australia, Alejandra Munoz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Coral reefs are characterized by their dynamic ecological processes that supports a high diversity through the recruitment of marine species and temporal disturbances that can have positive effects on the system. In the face of global climate change however, coral reefs face intense coral bleaching and increased degradation as they may begin to have less time to recover between bleaching events in the near future. Little is known on the long term effects of coral bleaching and habitat degradation on reef fish communities and much less is known about the mechanisms that bring about changes to reef fish assemblages.

This …

Caged Oysters Still Get Scared: Predator Presence And Density Influence Growth In Oysters, But Only At Very Close Ranges, Stephen Gosnell J., Kali Spurgin, Erica A. Levine

Publications and Research

Two common forms of variation that may influence consumptive and non-consumptive effects differently are how the biomass of predators is allocated among individual predators (e.g., several small vs few large predators) and how predators are spaced throughout a community. We analyzed how varying the presence, biomass (density, size, and total biomass), and distance to crown conchs (Melongena corona) impacted growth in eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) grown in field conditions. The presence of predators decreased growth (new shell added and mass) and increased shell thickness in a 58-day experiment. Although these effects were more pronounced as predator …

Fisheries Management Paper No.283 - Abalone Resource Of Western Australia Harvest Strategy 2106 - 2021, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

Harvest strategies for aquatic resources managed by the Western Australian Department of Fisheries (the Department) are formal documents prepared to support the decision-making processes required to ensure the management of these resources are consistent with the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD). The objectives of ESD are reflected in the objects of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (FRMA) and Section 9 of the Aquatic Resources Management Act, which will replace the FRMA once proclaimed.

The publication of these strategies is intended to make the decision-making considerations and processes for the management of specified aquatic resources publicly transparent and provide …

Acute And Sub-Acute Toxicity Of The Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon 1-Methylnaphthalene To The Shallow-Water Coral Porites Divaricata: Application Of A Novel Exposure Protocol, Dorothy-Ellen A. Renegar, Nick Turner, Bernhard Riegl, Richard E. Dodge, Anthony H. Knap, Paul Schuler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Previous research evaluating hydrocarbon toxicity to corals and coral reefs has generally focused on community-level effects, and results often are not comparable between studies because of variability in hydrocarbon exposure characterization and evaluation of coral health and mortality during exposure. Toxicity of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 1-methylnaphthalene to the coral Porites divaricata was assessed in a constant exposure toxicity test utilizing a novel toxicity testing protocol uniquely applicable to shallow-water corals, which considered multiple assessment metrics and evaluated the potential for post-exposure mortality and/or recovery. Acute and subacute effects (gross morphological changes, photosynthetic efficiency, mortality, and histologic cellular changes) were …

Distribution And Habitat Use Of The Golden Crab Chaceon Fenneri Off Eastern Florida Based On In Situ Submersible And Rov Observations And Potential For Impacts To Deep Water Coral/Sponge Habitat, John Reed, Stephanie Farrington, Charles Messing, Andre David

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

This study documents the distribution and habitat preferences of the golden crab, a commercially fished species, in relation to deep-sea coral/sponge ecosystems (DSCEs) at 200-900 m depths off eastern Florida. A total of 386 h of videotapes from 94 submersible and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives from 1999 to 2009, covering a total distance of 376 km, were reviewed and characterized for habitat type and presence of crabs. The DSCEs surveyed included Lophelia coral mounds, Miami Terrace, Pourtalès Terrace, and Tortugas Valleys. Video transect data also included environmental surveys of proposed deep-water routes for Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) pipelines, LNG …

Dna Analysis Of Surfactant-Associated Bacteria In A Natural Sea Slick Observed By Terrasar-X And Radarsat-2 Over The Gulf Of Mexico, Kathryn Howe, Cayla Whitney Dean, John Alexander Kluge, Alexander Soloviev, Aurelien Tartar, Mahmood S. Shivji, Susanne Lehner, Hui Shen, William Perrie

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The damping of short gravity-capillary waves (Bragg waves) due to surfactant accumulation under low wind speed conditions results in the formation of natural sea slicks. These slicks are detectable visually and in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. Surfactants are produced by natural life processes of many organisms, such as bacteria, phytoplankton, seaweed, and zooplankton. By using DNA analysis, we are able to determine the relative abundance of surfactant-associated bacteria in the sea surface microlayer and the subsurface water column. A method to reduce contamination of samples during collection, storage, and analysis (Kurata et al., 2016; Hamilton et al., 2015) has …

A Principal Component Analysis Of Vertical Temperature Profiles For Tracking Movements Of Large Pelagic Fishes, Kathryn G. Carmody, Arthur Mariano, David Kerstetter

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT) technology that records depth, temperature, and light-level data has expanded the understanding of free-swimming behavior for numerous pelagic animals. Astronomical algorithms using these light-level data have allowed geolocation estimates of daily longitude and latitude. However, many pelagic animals have a crepuscular behavior pattern in which individuals are at depths below the photic layer during the day, thus precluding the use of traditional light-based movement algorithms for geolocation in such species as swordfish. A principal component analysis (PCA) of temperature profiles is described herein that utilizes depth and temperature data rather than light to estimate the …

Mechanical Properties Of Sediment Determine Burrowing Success And Influence Distribution Of Two Lugworm Species, R. L. Crane, Rachel Merz

Biology Faculty Works

We apply new perspectives on how organisms burrow by examining the association of in situ variation in sediment mechanical properties with burrowing ability and species distribution of two sympatric lugworms, Abarenicola pacifica and Abarenicola claparedi. We quantified the sediment's resistance to penetration and its grain size distribution at sites inhabited by each species. Abarenicola pacifica individuals were found in significantly harder to penetrate, more heterogeneous sediments. We compared worm burrowing ability using reciprocal transplant experiments. Worms from firmer sediments, A. pacifica, were able to make successful steep burrows in sediments characteristic of either species. In contrast, A. claparedi individuals often …

Fishes Of The Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge Collected During The Mar-Eco Cruise In June-July 2004: An Annotated Checklist, Filipe M. Porteiro, Tracey Sutton, Ingvar Byrkjedal, Alexy M. Orlov, Mikko Heino, Gui Menezes, Odd Aksel Bergstad

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

Records of the fishes from the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) (41⁰N - 60⁰N) sampled during two research cruises conducted in summer 2004 on the R/V G.O. Sars and M/S Loran are presented. The cruises were major sampling efforts carried out for the MAR-ECO project, i.e. the Census of Marine Life field project entitled “Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystems of the Northern Mid-Atlantic”. The investigation included sampling with several midwater nets, bottom trawl and longlines from surface waters to about 4000 m. The list comprises around 300 species of fishes from 82 families. Many records were new to the northern …

Shining A Light On Fish At Night: An Overview Of Fish And Fisheries In The Dark Of Night, And In Deep And Polar Seas, Neil Hammerschlag, Carl G. Meyer, Michael S. Grace, Steven T. Kessel, Tracey Sutton, Euan S. Harvey, Claire B. Paris-Limouzy, David W. Kerstetter, Steven J. Cooke

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

In aquatic environments, what one observes during the day can differ substantially by night. The species composition and associated ecological processes that occur during the day are often different than night. In polar seas and at great depths, “night” can span, months, years, and beyond. Teleosts and elasmobranchs have evolved unique sensory and behavioral modalities for living in darkness. As a consequence, fishers have adopted unique strategies for exploiting fish at night or in dark systems. We propose that neglecting the night has led to an incomplete understanding of aquatic organismal ecology, population/community dynamics, and ecosystem function with consequences for …