Marine Biology Commons^™

A Quantitative Assessment Of The January 2010 Cold Spell Effect On Mangrove Utilizing Coral Reef Fishes From Biscayne National Park, Florida, Jeffrey M. Ellis

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of the January 2010 cold spell on mangrove utilizing coral reef fishes off the southeast coast of Florida, USA, in the vicinity of Biscayne National Park (BNP). An ongoing, fishery-independent mangrove visual survey documenting fish assemblages in BNP provided data from the years 1998 to 2014 for examination. Of particular interest were the presence, abundance, and size structure for five mangrove utilizing coral reef fishes: sergeant major (Abudefduf saxatilis), yellowfin mojarra (Gerres cinereus), schoolmaster snapper (Lutjanus apodus), gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), and great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda …

Assessment Of Nursery-Raised Acropora Cervicornis Transplants In The Upper Florida Keys, Matthew Ware

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Over the last 40 years, the Caribbean has lost half of its live coral cover, mostly in the form of Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata, due to disease, bleaching from rising water temperatures, and other stressors. To help restore these corals to reefs in Florida, the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) created nearshore nurseries and transplanted over 30,000 acroporid colonies across the Florida Keys. The objective of this thesis was to evaluate the growth, survivorship, and condition of nursery-raised A. cervicornis colonies that were part of two transplant projects: 1) photographic analyses of 17 past CRF transplant projects over the …

Connectivity Of Reef Fishes Between Mangroves And Coral Reefs In Broward County, Florida, Jennifer Savaro

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Many marine fishes use the mangrove ecosystem for foraging, protection, spawning, and as a nursery habitat. To develop a better understanding of energy flow between the coastal mangrove and coral reef ecosystems, the ontogentic migration and trophic connectivity of reef fishes were examined through the use of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O) stable isotope ratios. Juvenile and adult gray snapper Lutjanus griseus, lane snapper L. synagris, bluestriped grunt Haemulon sciurus, French grunt H. flavolineatum, sailor’s choice H. parra, yellowfin mojarra Gerres cinereus, and great barracuda Sphyraena barracuda were collected from both mangrove …

Staghorn Coral, Acropora Cervicornis, Restoration In South Florida: Growth And Survivorship Of Outplanted Nursery Corals, Meaghan Johnson

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a detailed analysis of the growth and survivorship of outplanted Acropora cervicornis corals from underwater nurseries within three regions of the Florida Reef Tract. Substantial loss of stony coral cover on Florida’s coral reefs, including the branching staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, has occurred for decades due to disturbances such as disease, temperature induced bleaching, hurricanes, sedimentation, and pollution. This rapid population decline contributed to A. cervicornis being listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in May 2006. To aid in the recovery of the species, coral fragments were grown in underwater nurseries …

Cross-Shelf And Latitudinal Benthic Community Investigation In The Nearshore Habitats Of The Northern Florida Reef Tract, Katelyn Klug

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The Florida Reef Tract (FRT) extends from the tropical Caribbean northward along the Florida coast into a warm temperate environment where tropical reef communities diminish with increasing latitude. This study was designed to map the nearshore benthic habitats including coral reefs and evaluate how the benthic communities differ between habitats and along the coast.

Benthic communities across the northern FRT from Key Biscayne to Hillsboro Inlet (25.5°-26.3° N) were digitized from aerial photography taken in 2013 at a 1:1,000 scale. Three main hard-bottom habitat types were identified that ran parallel to shore and consecutively further away from shore: Colonized Pavement, …

A Revision Of The Genera Of Charitometridae With Abruptly Expanded Genital Pinnules, Alois Romanowski

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Feather star (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comatulida) family Charitometridae has not been revised since 1950. Molecular analysis, new specimens of existing species, and the discovery of a new species has revealed the need for a generic-level revision of those genera that exhibit abruptly expanded genital pinnules. A morphological study was conducted using 57 specimens representing 10 species of the Charitometridae. The genus Poecilometra is redescribed, and two species formerly placed in Strotometra have been moved to the genus based primarily on possession of pedunculate genital pinnules and a wide flange on the first pinnular of the proximal pinnules. A new species was …

Thermal Preferences And Critical Temperature Regimes Of The Western North Atlantic Invasive Lionfish Complex (Pterois Spp.), Benjamin Barker

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Temperature preference, behavioral tolerance, and physiological tolerances were determined for locally captured, invasive juvenile lionfish at four different acclimation temperatures (13°C, 20°C, 25 °C and 32°C). Temperature preferences and avoidance temperatures were evaluated using an automated shuttlebox system that presents subject-driven temperature stimuli to subjects, who control the temperature with their movement throughout the tank for 12 hours. Subjects are tracked by a computer system, with data output approximately every second. Acute preference was calculated from the archived data as the mean temperature that the fish occupied during the first two hours of dynamic experimentation. Acute preference measurements were used …

Haverstraw Bay Benthic Habitat Characterization, Robert M. Cerrato, Alison M. Flanagan, Roger D. Flood

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

High-resolution backscatter and bathymetric maps created by multibeam and sidescan sonar surveys were used to identify five different seafloor bottom types within Haverstraw Bay. Grab samples were collected within these areas to characterize sediment properties and macrofauna. Selected sampling locations were revisited and seafloor images were obtained with an HD underwater camera. Multivariate analysis was used to identify the most important factors explaining variations in community structure. Results indicated that categorical variables defining bottom types, grain size, and water depth can explain about 42% of community structure variation. In addition, shell length data collected for Rangia cuneata, an introduced …

Modeling Of Epizootics On Four Genera Of Arabian Gulf Corals, John Alexander Kluge

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral colonies, from a reef near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), were counted and assessed for condition using photo-transects. An epidemic model, used to track how a communicable disease moves through a population, was constructed to help predict the future condition of this coral reef. In situ data from a disease outbreak that occurred in September 2011 provided a baseline for the model. Coral Populations of Porites, Platygyra, Acropora and Dipsastrea were modelled using condition categories that included Healthy, Black Band Disease Infected, Cyanobacteria Infected, Recovered, Recruits or Dead. Results from the modelling indicate that populations of Platygyra and …

Mate Choice In Temperate And Tropical Spiny Lobsters With Contrasting Reproductive Systems, Mark Butler Iv, Rodney Bertelsen, Alison Macdiarmid

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Sperm limitation of reproductive success is common in decapod crustaceans, favouring mating systems in which females compete for large males of high reproductive value. We investigated these phenomena in two species of spiny lobsters—one temperate, one tropical—with contrasting reproductive systems: the Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii) and the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus). We hypothesized that female mate selection should be more pronounced in the temperate J. edwardsii than in the tropical P. argus because J. edwardsii matures later, has a shorter mating season, and produces just one clutch of eggs per year that benefit from …

Comparative Analysis Of The Flexural Stiffness Of Pinniped Vibrissae, Carly C. Ginter Summarell, Sudeep Ingole, Frank E. Fish, Christopher D. Marshall

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Grey (Halichoerus Grypus) And Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) Bycatch And Depredation In New England Sink-Gillnet Fisheries, Laura N. Sirak

All Theses And Dissertations

Marine mammals interact with commercial fisheries via competition for resources, depredation (feeding on fish caught in gear), entanglement, and bycatch in fishing gear. In New England, gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are often taken as bycatch in sink-gillnet fisheries and are believed to depredate fish in gillnets. As seal populations increase, interactions with fisheries are also likely to increase, affecting both seal stocks and the New England fishing industry. This study aims to understand seal bycatch in the New England sink-gillnet fisheries by identifying the spatial and temporal trends in bycatch as …

Assessing Coral Assemblages Inhabiting Relic Coral Banks Off The South Texas Coast, Rebekah E. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Community composition and distribution of coral species in the mesophotic zone off the South Texas Coast were cataloged from five relict mid-shelf coral algal banks referred to as the South Texas Banks including, from north to south, Baker, Aransas, Dream, Blackfish Ridge, and a previously undescribed reef thereto referred as Harte Bank. Hermatypic corals flourished at these sites, approximately 21,000 to 12,000 years BP in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene epochs. Today these reefs are located 97 km offshore and protrude to heights ranging 58 to 83 m below the sea surface with portions extending 20 to 30 m …

The Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, Anna Kopf, Mesude Bicak, Renzo Kottman, Julia Schnetzer, Ivaylo Kostadinov, Katja Lehmann, Antonio Fernandez-Guerra, Christian Jeanthon, Eyal Rahav, Matthias Ulrich, Antje Wichels, Gunnar Gerdts, Paraskevi Polymenakou, Giorgos Kotoulas, Rania Siam, Rehab Z. Abdallah, Eva C. Sonnenschein, Thierry Cariou, Fergal O'Gara, Stephen Jackson, Sandi Orlic, Michael Steinke, Julia Busch, Bernardo Duarte, Isabel Caçador, João Canning-Clode, Oleksandra Bobrova, Viggo Marteinsson, Eyjolfur Reynisson, Clara Magalhães Loureiro, Gian Marco Luna, Grazia Marina Quero, Carolin R. Löscher, Anke Kremp, Marie E. Delorenzo, Lise Øvreås, Jennifer Tolman, Julie Laroche, Antonella Penna, Marc Frischer, Timothy Davis, Barker Katherine, Christopher P. Meyer, Sandra Ramos, Catarina Magalhães, Florence Jude-Lemeilleur, Ma Leopoldina Aguirre-Macedo, Shiao Y. Wang, Nicole Poulton, Scott Jones, Rachel Collin, Jed A. Fuhrman, Pascal Conan, Cecilia Alonso, Noga Stambler, Kelly Goodwin, Michael M. Yakimov, Federico Baltar, Levente Bodrossy, Jodie Van De Kamp, Dion Mf Frampton, Martin Ostrowski, Paul Van Ruth, Paul Malthouse, Simon Claus, Klaas Deneudt, Jonas Mortelmans, Sophie Pitois, David Wallom, Ian Salter, Rodrigo Costa, Declan C. Schroeder, Mahrous M. Kandil, Valentina Amaral, Florencia Biancalana, Rafael Santana, Maria Luiza Pedrotti, Takashi Yoshida, Hiroyuki Ogata, Tim Ingleton, Kate Munnik, Naiara Rodriguez-Ezpeleta, Veronique Berteaux-Lecellier, Patricia Wecker, Ibon Cancio, Daniel Valout, Christina Bienhold, Hassan Ghazal, Bouchra Chaouni, Soumya Essayeh, Sara Ettamimi, El Houcine Zaid, Noureddine Boukhatem, Abderrahim Bouali, Rajaa Chahboune, Said Barrijal, Mohammed Timinouni, Fatima El Otmani, Mohamed Bennani, Marianna Mea, Nadezhda Todorova, Ventzislav Karamfilov, Petra Ten Hoopten, Guy Cochrane, Stephanie L'Haridon, Kemal Can Bizel, Alessandro Vezzi, Federico M. Lauro, Patrick Martin, Rachelle M. Jensen, Jamie Hinks, Susan Gebbels, Riccardo Rosselli, Fabio De Pascale, Riccardo Schiavon, Antonina Dos Santos, Emilie Villar, Stéphane Pesant, Bruno Cataletto, Francesca Malfatti, Ranjith Edirisinghe, Jorge A. Herrera Silveira, Michele Barbier, Valentina Turk, Tinkara Tinta, Wayne J. Fuller, Ilkay Salihoglu, Nedime Serakinci, Mahmut Cerkez Ergoren, Eileen Bresnan, Juan Iriberri, Paul Anders Fronth Nyhus, Edvardsen Bente, Hans Erik Karlsen, Peter N. Golyshin, Josep M. Gasol, Snejana Moncheva, Nina Dzhembekova, Zackary Johnson, Christopher Daivd Sinigalliano, Maribeth Louise Gidley, Adriana Zingone, Roberto Danovaro, George Tsiamis, Melody S. Clark, Ana Cristina Costa, Monia El Bour, Ana M. Martins, R. Eric Collins, Anne-Lise Ducluzeau, Jonathan Martinez, Mark J. Costello, Linda A. Amaral-Zettler, Jack A. Gilbert, Neil Davies, Dawn Field, Frank Oliver Glöckner

Faculty Publications

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits.

The Micronesia Challenge: Assessing The Relative Contribution Of Stressors On Coral Reefs To Facilitate Science-To-Management Feedback, Peter C. Houk, Rodney Camacho, Steven Johnson, Matthew Mclean, Selino Maxin, Jorg Anson, Eugene Joseph, Osamu Nedlic, Marsten Luckymis, Robert Van Woesik

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Fishing and pollution are chronic stressors that can prolong recovery of coral reefs and contribute to ecosystem decline. While this premise is generally accepted, management interventions are complicated because the contributions from individual stressors are difficult to distinguish. The present study examined the extent to which fishing pressure and pollution predicted progress towards the Micronesia Challenge, an international conservation strategy initiated by the political leaders of 6 nations to conserve at least 30% of marine resources by 2020. The analyses were rooted in a defined measure of coral-reef-ecosystem condition, comprised of biological metrics that described functional processes on coral reefs. …

Living On The Edge: Settlement Patterns By The Symbiotic Barnacle Xenobalanus Globicipitis On Small Cetaceans, Juan M. Carillo, Robin M. Overstreet, Juan A. Raga, Francisco J. Aznar

Faculty Publications

The highly specialized coronulid barnacle Xenobalanus globicipitis attaches exclusively on cetaceans worldwide, but little is known about the factors that drive the microhabitat patterns on its hosts. We investigate this issue based on data on occurrence, abundance, distribution, orientation, and size of X. globicipitis collected from 242 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) that were stranded along the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Barnacles exclusively infested the fins, particularly along the trailing edge. Occurrence, abundance, and density of X. globicipitis were significantly higher, and barnacles were significantly larger, on the caudal fin than on the flippers and dorsal fin. …

Lateral Dispersal And Foraging Behavior Of Entomopathogenic Nematodes In The Absence And Presence Of Mobile And Non-Mobile Hosts, Harit K. Bal, Parwinder Grewal

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Entomopathogenic nematodes have been classified into cruisers (active searchers) and ambushers (sit and wait foragers). However, little is known about their dispersal and foraging behavior at population level in soil. We studied lateral dispersal of the ambush foraging Steinernema carpocapsae (ALL strain) and cruise foraging Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (GPS11 strain) from infected host cadavers in microcosms (0.05 m2) containing Wooster silt-loam soil (Oxyaquic fragiudalf) and vegetation in the presence or absence of non-mobile and mobile hosts. Results showed that the presence of a non-mobile host (Galleria mellonella larva in a wire mesh cage) enhanced H. bacteriophora dispersal for up …

Facilitation And Dominance In A Schooling Predator: Foraging Behavior Of Florida Pompano, Trachinotus Carolinus, Meagan N. Schrandt, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Presumably an individual’s risk of predation is reduced by group membership and this ‘safety in numbers’ concept has been readily applied to investigations of schooling prey; however, foraging in groups may also be beneficial. We tested the hypothesis that, when feeding in groups, foraging of a coastal fish (Florida Pompano, Trachinotus carolinus) on a benthic prey source would be facilitated (i.e. fish feeding in groups will consume more prey items). Although this question has been addressed for other fish species, it has not been previously addressed for Florida Pompano, a fish known to exhibit schooling behavior and that is …

Repeated, Long-Distance Migrations By A Philopatric Predator Targeting Highly Contrasting Ecosystems, James S. E. Lea, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Nuno Queiroz, Neil Burnie, Choy Aming, Lara L. Sousa, Gonzalo R. Mucientes, Nicolas E. Humphries, Guy Harvey, David W. Sims, Mahmood S. Shivji

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Long-distance movements of animals are an important driver of population spatial dynamics and determine the extent of overlap with area-focused human activities, such as fishing. Despite global concerns of declining shark populations, a major limitation in assessments of population trends or spatial management options is the lack of information on their long-term migratory behaviour. For a large marine predator, the tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier, we show from individuals satellitetracked for multiple years (up to 1101 days) that adult males undertake annually repeated, roundtrip migrations of over 7,500km in the northwest Atlantic. Notably, these migrations occurred between the highly disparate …

Contrasting Environmental Drivers Of Adult And Juvenile Growth In A Marine Fish: Implications For The Effects Of Climate Change, Joyce Jia Lin Ong, Adam Nicholas Rountrey, Jessica Jane Meeuwig, Stephen J. Newman, Jens Zinke, Mark Gregory Meekan

Fisheries Research Articles

Many marine fishes have life history strategies that involve ontogenetic changes in the use of coastal habitats. Such ontogenetic shifts may place these species at particular risk from climate change, because the successive environments they inhabit can differ in the type, frequency and severity of changes related to global warming. We used a dendrochronology approach to examine the physical and biological drivers of growth of adult and juvenile mangrove jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) from tropical north-western Australia. Juveniles of this species inhabit estuarine environments and adults reside on coastal reefs. The Niño-4 index, a measure of the status of …