Marine Biology Commons^™

Chloeia Rozbaczyloi, A New Species Of Polychaete (Archinominae: Amphinomidae) And First Record Of The Family For The Nazca Ridge, Southeastern Pacific Ocean, Juan I. Cañete, María S. Romero, Erin E. Easton, Ariadna Mecho, Javier Sellanes

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Highlights

• A new species of amphinomid polychaete, Chloeia rozbaczyloi sp. nov. is described.

• The new species inhabits poorly explored seamounts of the remote Nazca Ridge off Chile.

• This finding constitutes the first report of the genus Chloeia for Chilean waters.

• Genetic data for Chloeia rozbaczyloi sp. nov is provided.

• The new species is reported for seamounts lying within the recently created Nazca Desventuradas Marine Park.

Abstract

The amphinomid polychaete Chloeia rozbaczyloi sp. nov., collected from seamounts of the Nazca Ridge (NR), northwest of Desventuradas islands, southeastern Pacific Ocean, is described. The new species was observed on only two of seven …

Saturating Growth Rate Against Phosphorus Concentration Explained By Macromolecular Allocation, Gabrielle Armin, Jongsun Kim, Keisuke Inomura

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The saturating relationship between phytoplankton growth rate and environmental nutrient concentration has been widely observed, yet the mechanisms behind the relationship remain elusive. Here, we use a mechanistic model of phytoplankton and show that the saturating relationship between growth rate and phosphorous concentration can be interpreted by intracellular macromolecular allocation. At low nutrient levels, the diffusive nutrient transport linearly increases with the phosphorous concentration, while the internal phosphorous requirement increases with the growth rate, leading to a non-linear increase in the growth rate with phosphorous. This increased phosphorous requirement is due to the increased allocation to biosynthetic and photosynthetic molecules. …

The Potential Use Of Madtom Catfishes (Ictaluridae: Noturus) As Conservation Tools For Headwater Streams Of The Southeastern United, Brittany Latrice Mccall

Student Theses and Dissertations

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most modified and threatened environments, with increased anthropogenic activities causing habitat degradation, alteration to environmental function and structure, overexploitation of resources, and widespread distribution of non-native species leading to loss of biodiversity. A common conservation management strategy is to create protective areas that encompass the distribution of at-risk species. The objective of protected areas is to address issues that have been cited as the three primary threats to freshwater environments: land-use disturbances, altered hydrology, and introduction of non-native species. There are many methods to delineate protected areas including the use of surrogate species, a management …

Cytokine Data For Cytokine Profile Assessment From Peruvian Pinniped (Arctocephalus Australis And Otaria Byronia) Plasma, Mykenzee Munaco, Milton Levin, Michael Adkesson, Susana Cárdenas-Alayzad, Dimitrios G. Giarikos, Amy C. Hirons

SECLER Data

Large colonies of two vulnerable, sympatric pinniped species, Peruvian fur seals (Arctocephalus australis Peruvian subpopulation; PFS) and South American sea lions (Otaria byronia; SASL), reside and reproduce in Punta San Juan, Peru (PSJ) where they are exposed to stressors such as contaminants and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The use of cytokines as immune biomarkers can be indicative of an animal’s health and function by allowing for the assessment of an individual's cytokine balance as type I helper T cells (Th1) or type II helper T cells (Th2) dominant. Utilizing archived pinniped plasma samples from 2009-2019 …

Bsc 345 Southern Miss Gulf Scholars Program Module, Southern Miss Gulf Scholars Program

Southern Miss Gulf Scholars

BSC 345 Southern Miss Gulf Scholars Program Curriculum

Throughout this course students will learn about important marine resources that drive the local seafood economy. On a field trip to the Maritime and Seafood Museum, students will learn about this historical seafood industry and industry practices. Student will also tour the USM Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center to learn about modern aquaculture technologies and take an excursion at sea to observe the off-bottom aquaculture site next to Deer Island.

Utility Of Body And Otolith Morphometry To Discriminate Cryptic Juveniles Of Two Sympatric Red Snappers (Perciformes: Lutjanidae), Miwa Takahashi, Corey B. Wakefield, Stephen J. Newman, Kyle B. Hillcoat, Benjamin J. Saunders, Euan S. Harvey

Fisheries Research Articles

The sympatric red snappers, Lutjanus erythropterus and Lutjanus malabaricus, are highly valued by commercial and recreational fishers along the tropical northern coasts of Australia and throughout their distribution. Studies on the life history and ecology of these congeners are confounded by difficulties in distinguishing the cryptic juveniles of each species (i.e., < 200 mm total length). This study aimed to validate a robust and cost-effective method to discriminate these juveniles using body and/or otolith morphometric data in a multivariate analysis. Juvenile samples were collected from the northwest (n = 71) and northeast (n = 19) coasts of Australia, and species identification was confirmed using DNA barcoding. The most parsimonious multivariate models achieved accurate species prediction rates of 98.8%, which consisted of just three body variables (dorsal fin length, the distance from the snout to the anterior edge of the eye, and either jaw length or distance from the snout to the preoperculum). The high level of discrimination for these cryptic juveniles highlights the robustness of this morphometric approach. The slightly lower rate of discrimination using otolith morphology (84.9%) was associated with greater regional variation in L. malabaricus between the northwest and northeast coasts. Slight variations in otolith shape are typically used to determine stock structure, which highlights the potential need to collect samples over a broader area of a species geographic range when using an otolith morphometric discrimination model. The method outlined in this study could be applied to distinguish other cryptic congeneric fish species, including from archived otolith collections. Moreover, this method has the potential to be utilized in assessing species compositions using body measurements from in situ stereo-video.

Research On China’S Marine Protected Areas Policy Based On Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 2030 Targets, Ke Duan, Xiulin Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the Conference of Parties (COP15) has set a series of targets, including protecting at least 30% of the oceans by 2030 worldwide. In China, how to build a marine ecological civilization in synergy with the targets has become an important issue. This study analyzes the necessity of accelerating the construction of marine protected areas in China from the perspectives of adapting to international trends, fulfilling the responsibilities of international conventions, safeguarding maritime rights and interests, and implementing the maritime power and strategy. The feasibility …

Spatiotemporal Dynamics Of The Marine Invertebrate Community Associated With Amathia Verticillata, Emily Masini Zavacki, Nathalie Reyns Phd, Michel Boudrias Phd, Jeff Crooks Phd

Theses

Non-indigenous species (NIS) are often thought to have negative consequences on ecosystems. However, some NIS are ecosystem engineers, organisms that modify and/or create habitats by changing physical structure (either biogenic or abiotic), such as Amathia verticillata (previously Zoobotryon verticillatum [delle Chiaje, 1822]), a non-indigenous bryozoan with a global distribution. The role of NIS as ecosystem engineers can be complicated due to the mix of impacts that they may have on the ecosystem. Thus, the role of A. verticillata as an ecosystem engineer may shift our understanding about its ecological role on anthropogenic structures, such as docks through an urbanized area, …

Measures And Models Of Visual Acuity In Epipelagic And Mesopelagic Teleosts And Elasmobranchs, Eleanor M. Caves, Tracey Sutton, Eric J. Warrant, Sönke Johnsen

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Eyes in low-light environments typically must balance sensitivity and spatial resolution. Vertebrate eyes with large "pixels" (e.g., retinal ganglion cells with inputs from many photoreceptors) will be sensitive but provide coarse vision. Small pixels can render finer detail, but each pixel will gather less light, and thus have poor signal relative-to-noise, leading to lower contrast sensitivity. This balance is particularly critical in oceanic species at mesopelagic depths (200–1000 m) because they experience low light and live in a medium that significantly attenuates contrast. Depending on the spatial frequency and inherent contrast of a pattern being viewed, the viewer’s pupil size …

Parasites Versus Predation: The Role Of Chronic And Acute Parasite Exposure In Infection Risk And Anti-Predator Behavior, Delaney Farrell

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Parasites with complex, multi-host lifecycles often engage in host behavior manipulation to increase transmission between successive hosts. In intermediate fish hosts, previous research has measured increased frequency of conspicuous behaviors, decreased swimming performance, and reduced antipredator behavior, which would collectively increase the fish’s risk of predation. In ecosystems where this type of parasite increased trophic transmission (PITT) occurs, parasites can play a substantial role in food webs. In this study, I investigate how chronic versus acute exposure to the trematode Euhaplorchis sp. A. affects the antipredator behavior of the Gulf killifish Fundulus grandis. Using a fully crossed design, I …

Desperate Larva Or Death Before Dishonor: Can Old Coral Larvae Replenish Degraded Reefs?, Nepsis García Lara

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The recovery of coral populations depends largely on larval recruitment. Coral larvae settle in response to environmental cues that indicate habitat quality. Newly competent larvae typically avoid settling on substrates with high macroalgal cover and sedimentation, and thus might never recruit to degraded reefs, hindering their recovery. What is unknown is if settlement preferences change as larvae age. In the absence of suitable settlement cues, lecithotrophic larvae delay settlement and might do this until either dying (Death Before Dishonor Hypothesis) or becoming less discriminatory and settling regardless of their specific habitat requirements (Desperate Larva Hypothesis). To test these hypotheses in …

Evaluating Post-Release Survival And Distribution Of Juvenile Swordfish (Xiphias Gladius) Caught On Buoy Gear Within The Gulf Of Mexico And The Florida Straits, Cody Rewis

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Buoy gear used to target swordfish (Xiphias gladius) has become an increasingly popular commercial gear type throughout the United States fisheries in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Buoy gear can be defined as a series of independent free-floating gear where each rig consists of at least one floatation device, a vertical mainline, and no more than two hooks. Because of the potential modifications to the component parts and deployment strategies, buoy gear has been hypothesized to decrease bycatch interaction and dead discard numbers by targeting specific depths of swordfish habitat throughout various times of the day. Under the Deepwater …

A Review Of Endoparasites Found In Order Pelecaniformes And Order Ciconiiformes Birds Of Southeast Florida, Kaya C. Wells

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The focus of this research was to investigate the parasite diversity for common wading birds from four families, Pelecanidae, Ardeidae, Threskiornithidae and Ciconiidae found in southeast Florida which includes Broward, Monroe, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. This study also determined gaps in the literature for the selected species. A total of 116 papers were used to create host-parasite and parasite-host checklists for the nineteen wading bird species selected from the four families, twenty-eight of these studies occurred within the state of Florida. Statistical analyses demonstrated strong correlations between the number of papers found for each species and the number of …

The Effect Of Water Flow Rates On The Survival And Growth Rates Of Three Caribbean Bouldering Coral Species Juveniles In An Indoor Versus Outdoor Environment, Ian Michael Johnson

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Coral reefs are vital ecosystems for the world’s oceans and humanity; however, they are threatened by climate change, disease, and local anthropogenic stressors, and need assistance to recover. Traditional reef restoration efforts (fragmentation and outplanting are helping but are limited in effectiveness by not increasing genetic diversity. Ex situ sexual propagation for corals provides new, genetically different coral recruits. However, this process is laborious, expensive and time consuming, especially at the scale required to effectively contribute to the widespread recovery. To lower costs, two key parameters that require optimization to hasten the growth of coral recruits are water flow and …

Heavy Metals Within The Hawaiian Islands Archipelago As Evidenced In The Hawaiian Monk Seal And Their Prey, Yvanna M. Strait

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The Hawaiian monk seal (HMS) is an endangered, endemic seal native to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). During the 21^st century, members of the HMS population have established residency within the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). This habitat shift may increase exposure of the animals to greater anthropogenic (urban industrialization, agricultural practices, and military activity) and natural (volcanic activity) heavy metal contaminants. Induced coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICPMS) analysis compared 16 heavy metal concentrations in HMS bone segregated by region, age, and sex. In additions, metal concentrations from potential prey items from the southern extent of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands …

Improving The Design And Conduct Of Aquatic Toxicity Studies With Oils Based On 20 Years Of Croserf Experience, Wa Stubblefield, M Barron, G Bragin, Me Delorenzo, B De Jourdan, B Echols, Dp French-Mccay, P Jackman, Jr Loughery, Tf Parkerton, D. Abigail Renegar, Jl Rodriguez-Gil

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Laboratory toxicity testing is a key tool used in oil spill science, spill effects assessment, and mitigation strategy decisions to minimize environmental impacts. A major consideration in oil toxicity testing is how to replicate real-world spill conditions, oil types, weathering states, receptor organisms, and modifying environmental factors under laboratory conditions. Oils and petroleum-derived products are comprised of thousands of compounds with different physicochemical and toxicological properties, and this leads to challenges in conducting and interpreting oil toxicity studies. Experimental methods used to mix oils with aqueous test media have been shown to influence the aqueous-phase hydrocarbon composition and concentrations, hydrocarbon …

Dietary Effects On Cardiac Lipid Composition And Subsequent Phenotype In The American Lobster (Homarus Americanus), Melissa Colette Butler

All Theses And Dissertations

Lipids are fundamental components of many biological structures and compositions of these molecular species can alter with diet. Differences in lipid membrane composition can impact the functioning of membranes and proteins subsequently altering the organism’s ability to respond to stressful conditions. American lobsters (Homarus americanus) are an economically important shellfish in New England and are sometimes kept intermittently in lobster impoundments (pounds) for months where they are often fed herring, which differs from the assumed natural diet of wild-caught lobsters. In this study, we compared the lipid composition of lobsters obtained from the wild and pounds that were …

Sulfur Cycling Connects Microbiomes And Biogeochemistry In Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Plumes, Zhichao Zhou, Patricia Q. Tran, Alyssa M. Adams, Kristopher Kieft, John A. Breier, Caroline S. Fortunato, Cody S. Sheik, Julie A. Huber, Meng Li, Gregory J. Dick, Karthik Anantharaman

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

In globally distributed deep-sea hydrothermal vent plumes, microbiomes are shaped by the redox energy landscapes created by reduced hydrothermal vent fluids mixing with oxidized seawater. Plumes can disperse over thousands of kilometers and their characteristics are determined by geochemical sources from vents, e.g., hydrothermal inputs, nutrients, and trace metals. However, the impacts of plume biogeochemistry on the oceans are poorly constrained due to a lack of integrated understanding of microbiomes, population genetics, and geochemistry. Here, we use microbial genomes to understand links between biogeography, evolution, and metabolic connectivity, and elucidate their impacts on biogeochemical cycling in the deep sea. Using …

Effects Of Short-Term Exposure To A Pesticide Mixture On Free-Swimming Behavior In Goldfish, Carassius Auratus, Esmirna Cantu, Michelle Rivera, Brittney Lacy, Md. Saydur Rahman

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Highlights

• We observed effects of pesticides exposure on free-swimming behaviors in goldfish.

• Pesticides profoundly impacting natural swimming patterns.

• Behavioral analysis showed a dose- and time-dependent, decrease in distance swam.

• Vertical/horizontal spatial behavioral use both affected under exposure conditions.

Abstract

The prevalence of pesticides in the aquatic environment continues to increase due to anthropogenic activities and poses a threat to aquatic organisms. Notably, the intensive use of pesticides can cause detrimental effects (i.e., chemical stressors) on animal behavior. The aim of this study was to determine the short-term exposure effects (5-day) of an environmentally relevant pesticide mixture (low- and high-dose: metolachlor …

Commercial Fishing Identification Guide 2023, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

Throughout this guide you will see all or some of the marine bioregion symbols with each fish illustration, indicating where the species is most likely to occur.

This guide has been developed to help you identify the more common species in Western Australia you may encounter. The purpose of this guide is to enhance consistent and accurate species identification.

If you are unsure about a particular species (or if it is not in this guide), please discuss it with a representative of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia.