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HABITAT AND FAUNA OF DEEP-WATER LOPHELIA PERTUSA CORAL REEFS OFF THE SOUTHEASTERN US: BLAKE PLATEAU, STRAITS OF FLORIDA, AND GULF OF MEXICO.
Get PDFExpeditions from 1999 to 2004 for biomedical research explored various deep-sea coral ecosystems (DSCE) off the southeastern U.S. (Blake Plateau, Straits of Florida, and eastern Gulf of Mexico). Habitat and benthos were documented from 57 dives with human occupied submersibles and three with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), and resulted in ~100 hrs of videotapes, 259 in situ digital images, 621 museum specimens, and \u3e 400 microbial isolates. These were the first dives to document the habitat, benthic fauna, and fish diversity of some of these poorly known deepwater reefs. Fifty-eight fish species and 142 benthic invertebrate taxa were identified. High-definition topographic SEABEAM maps and echosounder profiles were also produced. Sites included in this report range from South Carolina on the Blake Plateau to the southwestern Florida slope: 1) Stetson Lophelia reefs along the eastern Blake Plateau off South Carolina; 2) Savannah Lophelia lithoherms along the western Blake Plateau off Georgia; 3) east Florida Lophelia reefs, 4) Miami Terrace escarpment in the Straits of Florida; 5) Pourtalès Terrace off the Florida Keys; and 6) west Florida Lophelia lithoherms off the southwestern Florida shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. These are contrasted with the azooxanthellate deep-water Oculina reefs at the shelf-edge off central eastern Florida. The fisheries and biopharmaceutical resource potential of these deep-water habitats remain relatively unknown. Although these habitats are not currently designated as marine protected areas (MPAs) or coral habitat areas of particular concern (HAPCs), they are ecologically diverse, vulnerable to physical destruction, and irreplaceable resources. Activities involving bottom trawling, pipelines, or oil/gas production could negatively impact these reefs. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council are currently developing priority mapping sites of the DSCEs within this region, and these data may provide potential targets for new MPAs and HAPCs
DEEP-WATER REEFS OFF THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S.: RECENT DISCOVERIES AND RESEARCH.
Get PDFSome of the most spectacular corals found off the southeastern U.S. were discovered as recently as the 1970s in an unexpected place—the deep waters along the edge of the continental shelf. These banks of Oculina corals extend for 167 km along the eastern Florida shelf. Unfortunately, even as they were being discovered by scientists, the Oculina banks had already been damaged by trawl-fishing activity. Parts of the reef have been protected since 1984, and the protected area was expanded in 2000, but the story of the Oculina banks’ discovery and their damage by fishing activity is all too typical of the deep-water coral ecosystems that live and die, almost entirely unknown to the average person, in the deep waters off of some of the most populated and well explored coastlines in the world
DEEP-WATER SINKHOLES AND BIOHERMS OF SOUTH FLORIDA AND THE POURTALÉS TERRACE-HABITAT AND FAUNA.
Get PDFOnly a small percentage of deep-water reefs have had their benthic and fish resources characterized. This study surveyed eight deep-water, high-relief, hard-bottom sites off south Florida using human occupied submersibles to characterize habitat and describe the fish and macrobenthic communities: the Naples deep-water sinkhole on the southwest Florida shelf, Jordan and Marathon deep-water sinkholes on the Pourtalès Terrace, and five high-relief bioherms on the Pourtalès Terrace. These submersible dives were the first to enter and explore any of these features. The upper sinkhole rims ranged from 175 to 461 m in depth and had a maximum relief of 180 m. The Jordan sinkhole may be one of the deepest and largest sinkholes known. The high-relief bioherms occurred at depths of 198–319 m, with a maximum height of 120 m. A total of 26 and 16 fish taxa were identified from the sinkhole and bioherm sites, respectively. Species of potentially commercial importance included tilefish, sharks, speckled hind, yellowedge grouper, warsaw grouper, snowy grouper, blackbelly rosefish, red porgy, drum, scorpionfish, amberjack, and phycid hakes. In total, 66 Porifera taxa were identified and four are possible new species. Twentyone species of Cnidaria included Antipatharia (three spp.), stylasterid hydrocorals (five spp.), octocorals (11 spp.), and one scleractinian. The benthic communities of the Pourtalès Terrace bioherms differed from the bioherms along the northeastern Straits of Florida primarily in that the Pourtalès Terrace communities lacked the scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus, 1758) and stalked crinoids
MAPPING, HABITAT CHARACTERIZATION, AND FISH SURVEYS OF THE DEEP-WATER OCULINA CORAL REEF MARINE PROTECTED AREA: A REVIEW OF HISTORICAL AND CURRENT RESEARCH.
Get PDFDeep-water Oculina coral reefs, which are similar in structure and development to deep-water Lophelia reefs, stretch 167 km (90 nm) at depths of 60-100 m along the eastern Florida shelf of the United States. These consist of numerous pinnacles and ridges, 3-35 m in height, that are capped with thickets of living and dead coral, Oculina varicosa. Extensive areas of dead Oculina rubble are due in part to human impacts (e.g., fish and shrimp trawling, scallop dredging, anchoring, bottom longlines, and depth charges) but also may be due in part to natural processes such as bioerosion, disease, or global warming
TWO NEW CYTOTOXIC LINDERAZULENES FROM A DEEP-SEA GORGONIAN OF THE GENUS PARAMURICEA.
Get PDFThe known compound linderazulene (1) and two new linderazulenes (2, 3) were isolated from a deep-sea gorgonian Paramuricea sp. The structures of 2 and 3 were determined through spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1-3 show moderate in vitro cytotoxicity against the P388 murine leukemia cell line with IC50’s of 18.8, 2.7, and 15.6 íg/mL, respectively. Compound 2 showed moderate activity against the PANC-1 pancreatic cell line with an IC50 of 18.7 íg/mL
Internet Resources for Education Reference
No full textThis article focuses on the current status of the Internet for reference tools in the field of education as of 2005. Several categories of resources are highlighted: commercial databases, government and educational association Web sources, and specialty Web pages. The chapter concludes with a Webliography of the Internet sites highlighted in the article
MOLECULAR EVIDENCE FOR MULTIPLE LINEAGES IN THE GORGONIAN FAMILY PLEXAURIDAE (ANTHOZOA: OCTOCORALLIA).
Get PDFOctocorals are diverse and abundant on many marine hard substrates, and, within this group, members of the family Plexauridae are an important component of tropical reef assemblages, especially in the Caribbean. To understand historical relationships within this large and diverse assemblage, and to test the monophyly of the family and some of its genera, DNA sequences of two mitochondrial loci (msh1 and ND2, _1,185 bp) were analyzed from 46 species in 21 genera from deep and shallow waters in the tropical western Atlantic and in the tropical western and eastern Pacific (plus 9 taxa in the closely related Gorgoniidae and 1 species of the more distantly related Alcyoniidae). Five strongly supported clades were recovered. Three large clades correspond roughly to the Plexauridae, Paramuriceidae, and Gorgoniidae, and two smaller clades were comprised of taxa previously assigned to several families. Astrogorgia sp. did not group with any of the clades. The mutual relationships among the five clades remain unclear. Several genera previously regarded as unrelated appear to be grouped among the three ‘‘families’’; e.g. Hypnogorgia sp. (Paramuriceidae) falls within a clade consisting of both Pacific and Atlantic Muricea spp. (Plexauridae), while Swiftia sp., Scleracis sp., and an Atlantic Thesea sp. (all Paramuriceidae) group with the gorgoniids. In several instances, genera containing Atlantic and Pacific species were recovered as monophyletic (Muricea spp., Bebryce spp.). However, in at least three cases (Echinomuricea spp., Thesea spp., Villogorgia spp.), placement of Atlantic and Pacific species in the same genus may reflect convergence of sclerite morphology. The results indicate a strong need for reexamination of octocoral taxonomy using a combination of molecular, morphological, and chemical evidence
HABITAT AND FISH POPULATIONS IN THE DEEP-SEA OCULINA CORAL ECOSYSTEM OF THE WESTERN ATLANTIC.
Get PDFThe growth form of the scleractinian ivory tree coral Oculina varicosa (also known as fused ivory tree coral) that occurs on the shelf edge off Florida’s eastern coast is unique for this species. Here, the branching coral colonies coalesce into thickets supporting high vertebrate and invertebrate biodiversity and high densities of economically important reef fish. In 1984, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council took the first step to protect the area from trawling and other disruptive bottom activities. Despite these protective measures, however, there is evidence that trawling has damaged previously intact coral habitat. In this paper, we describe results from mapping studies conducted in 2001 and improvements to reef fish populations that have occurred in the last few years. We find that less than 10% of the area contains intact Oculina coral thickets, which we continue to attribute primarily to trawling. In addition, we find increased grouper density and male abundance inside the protected area, suggesting population recovery, and the appearance of juvenile speckled hind Epinephelus drummondhayi (family Serranidae), suggesting nursery function for this and possibly other commercially important species
PLAKOLIDE A, A NEW γ‐LACTONE FROM THE MARINE SPONGE PLAKORTIS SP.
Get PDFPlakolide A (1), a new R-exomethylene-ç-lactone isolated from the marine sponge Plakortis sp., was found to inhibit inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity. The isolation, structure elucidation, and biological activity of plakolide A is described