Arbeitsgebiete Ichthyologie und Fischsammlung am Institut für Seefischerei werden Ende 1992 aufgegeben

On 31 Oecember 1992, the Institut für Seefischerei Hamburg (ISH) will dissolve its branch of systematic ichthyology at the Zoologieal Museum Hamburg University. Remaining ISH ichthyology staff and facilities will move back in January 1993 to Institut für Seefischerei headquarters in Palmaille 9, D-·2000 Hamburg 50 (Tel. 040·389050, Fax 040·38905 129). The research field systematic ichthyology will not be continued at ISH. The ISH fish collection will be handed over to the Zoological Museum of Hamburg University (ZMH) as future responsible holder from 1 January 1993 onward. Loan requests for former ISH material should be addressed from January 1993 on only to: Prof. Dr. H. Wilkens, Kustos Ichthyologie, Zoological Museum der Universität, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, D·2000 Hamburg 13 (Tel. 040·4123 3870, Fax 040·4123 3937). A couple of months will be needed before requests for loan of former ISH holdings can be handled again. It should, however, be noted that even for a longer period there may be problems in serving loan requests promptly due to logistic difficulties and shortage of staff at the ZMH ichthyology department.

Charles M. Breder, Jr.: Dry Tortugas, 1929

During the summer of 1929, Dr. Charles M. Breder, Jr., employed at that time by the New York Aquarium and American Museum of Natural History, visited the Carnegie Laboratory in the Dry Tortugas to study the development and habits of flying fishes and their allies. The diary of the trip was donated to the Mote Marine Laboratory Library by his family. Dr. Breder's meticulous handwritten account gives us the opportunity to see the simple yet great details of his observations and field experiments. His notes reveal the findings and thoughts of one of the world's greatest ichthyologists. The diary was transcribed as part of the Coastal Estuarine Data/Document Rescue and Archeology effort for South Florida. (PDF contains 75 pages)

King Mackerel, Scomberomorus cavalla, Mark-Recapture Studies Off Florida's East Coast

King mackerel, Scomberomorus cavalla, were tagged and released from eastern Florida between 1985 and 1993. Recapture trends from these studies indicate an increase in tag returns from areas north of the release sites, along with a decrease in recaptures from coastal waters in the Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico, since earlier king mackerel tagging studies completed in the late 1970's. The data indicate that eastern Florida waters may maintain resident king mackerel. Cyclical tag return patterns were noted along eastern Florida and in North Carolina. The proportion of mixing of presently defined king mackerel stocks along eastern Florida may vary yearly. Comparison of king mackerel tags show internal anchor tags to have a higher percentage of return and lower percentage of tag loss than dorsal dart tags.

Charles M. Breder, Jr.: drawings

Among the papers of Dr. Charles M. Breder bequeathed to the Mote Marine Laboratory by the Breder family are a series of drawings of larval fish and eggs done from 1917 through 1929. The drawings were made with pencil on half and full sheets of buff colored paper. The half sheet drawings are of larval fish, most of which are not identified. The full sheet drawings often contain comments and notes related to laboratory work on fish egg development, and made during the summer of 1929 when Breder was working in the Dry Tortugas.

Ground-water resources of the Stuart area, Martin County, Florida

Because the Stuart area is, at times, surrounded on three sides by saline water, the underlying fresh-water aquifer is vulnerable to salt-water encroachment. With progressively larger withdrawals of ground water for public and private supplies, the possibility of salt-water contamination of freshwater supplies is increased. (PDF contains 51 pages.)

Biodiversity study of Southern Biscayne Bay and Card Sound 1968-1973

A multi-disciplinary investigation was conducted in southern Biscayne Bay and Card Sound from 1968 to 1973. The purpose of the investigation was to conduct an integrated study of the ecology of southern Biscayne Bay with special emphasis on the effects of the heated effluent from the Turkey Point fossil fuel power plant, and to predict the impact of additional effluent from the planned conversion of the plant to nuclear fuel. The results of this investigation have been discussed in numerous publications. This report contains the unpublished biology data that resulted from the investigation. (PDF contains 44 pages)

Charles M. Breder, Jr.: Palmetto Key, 1942

Charles M. Breder and his wife Ethel spent part of the summer of 1942 at the Palmetto Key field station, known today as Cabbage Key, on the west coast of Florida south of Charlotte Harbor. The Palmetto Key field station began in 1938 and ended in 1942 because of World War II. His Palmetto Key diary ran for 95 pages of notes, tables, diagrams, drawings, lists, and business records and this report presents a variety of fascinating entries. Diaries from other years all bear Breder's style of discipline, curiosity, humor, and speculations on nature. The diary was transcribed as part of the Coastal Estuarine Data/Document Rescue and Archeology effort for South Florida. (PDF contaons 24 pages)

Charles M. Breder, Jr.: Hypothetical considerations, 1931-1937

Charles M. Breder Jr. “hypothesis” diary is a deviation from the field diaries that form part of the Breder collection housed at the Arthur Vining Davis Library, Mote Marine Laboratory. There are no notes or observations from specific scientific expeditions in the document. Instead, the contents provide an insight into the early meticulous scientific thoughts of this biologist, and how he examines and develops these ideas. It is apparent that among Dr. Breder’s passions was his continual search for knowledge about questions that still besieged many scientists. Topics discussed include symmetry, origin of the atmosphere, origin of life, mechanical analogies of organisms, aquaria as an organism, astrobiology, entropy, evolution of species, and other topics. The diary was transcribed as part of the Coastal Estuarine Data/Document Rescue and Archeology effort for South Florida. (PDF contains 33 pages)

Charles M. Breder, Jr.: Bahamas and Florida

Dr. Charles M. Breder, a well known ichthyologist, kept meticulous field diaries throughout his career. This publication is a transcription of field notes recorded during the Bacon Andros Expeditions, and trips to Florida, Ohio and Illinois during the 1930s. Breder's work in Andros included exploration of a "blue hole", inland ecosystems, and collection of marine and terrestrial specimens. Anecdotes include descriptions of camping on the beach, the "filly-mingoes" (flamingos) of Andros Island, the Marine Studios of Jacksonville, FL, a trip to Havana, and the birth of seahorses. This publication is part of a series of transcriptions of Dr. Breder's diaries. (PDF contains 55 pages)

Charles M. Breder, Jr.: Atlantis Expedition, 1934

Dr. Charles M. Breder participated on the 1934 expedition of the Atlantis from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to Panama and back and kept a field diary of daily activities. The Atlantis expedition of 1934, led by Prof. A. E. Parr, was a milestone in the history of scientific discovery in the Sargasso Sea and the West Indies. Although naturalists had visited the Sargasso Sea for many years, the Atlantis voyage was the first attempt to investigate in detailed quantitative manner biological problems about this varying, intermittent ‘false’ bottom of living, floating plants and associated fauna. In addition to Dr. Breder, the party also consisted of Dr. Alexander Forbes, Harvard University and Trustee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI); T. S. Greenwood, WHOI hydrographer; M. D. Burkenroad, Yale University’s Bingham Laboratory, carcinology and Sargasso epizoa; M. Bishop, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Zoology Dept., collections and preparations and H. Sears, WHOI ichthyologist. The itinerary included the following waypoints: Woods Hole, the Bermudas, Turks Islands, Kingston, Colon, along the Mosquito Bank off of Nicaragua, off the north coast of Jamaica, along the south coast of Cuba, Bartlett Deep, to off the Isle of Pines, through the Yucatan Channel, off Havana, off Key West, to Miami, to New York City, and then the return to Woods Hole. During the expedition, Breder collected rare and little-known flying fish species and developed a method for hatching and growing flying fish larvae. (PDF contains 48 pages)

Effects of temperature on the biology of the northern shrimp, Pandalus borealis, in the Gulf of Maine

Length-frequency data collected from inshore and offshore locations in the Gulf of Maine in 1966-1968 indicated that ovigerous female northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) first appeared offshore in August and September and migrated inshore in the fall and winter. Once eggs hatched, surviving females returned offshore. Juveniles and males migrated offshore during their first two years of life. Sex transition occurred in both inshore and oll'shore waters, but most males changed sex offshore during their third and fourth years. Most shrimp changed sex and matured as females for the first time in their fourth year. Smaller females and females exposed to colder bottom temperatures spawned first. The incidence of egg parasitism peaked in January and was higher for shrimp exposed to warmer bottom temperatures. Accelerated growth at higher temperatures appeared to result in earlier or more rapid sex transition. Males and non-ovigerous females were observed to make diurnal vertical migrations, but were not found in near- surface waters where the temperature exceeded 6°C. Ovigerous females fed more heavily on benthic molluscs in inshore waters in the winter, presumably because the egg masses they were carrying prevented them from migrating vertically at night. Northern shrimp were more abundant in the southwestern region of the Gulf of Maine where bottom temperatures remain low throughout the year. Bottom trawl catch rates were highest in Jeffreys Basin where bottom temperatures were lower than at any other sampling location. Catch rates throughout the study area were inversely related to bottom temperature and reached a maximum at 3°C. An increase of 40% in fecundity between 1973 and 1979 was associated with a decline of 2-3°C in April-July offshore bottom temperatures. Furthermore, a decrease in mean fecundity per 25 mm female between 1965 and 1970 was linearly related to reduced landings between 1969 and 1974. It is hypothesized that temperature-induced changes in fecundity and, possibly, in the extent of egg mortality due to parasitism, may provide a mechanism which could partially account for changes in the size of the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp population during the last thirty years. (PDF file contains 28 pages.)