An oceanographic characterizations of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and Pacific Northwest: interpretive summary of ocean climate and regional processes through satellite remote sensing

This report presents the results of a two-year investigation and summary of oceanographic satellite data obtained from multiple operational data providers and sources, spanning years of operational data collection. Long-term summaries of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and SST fronts, Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA), surface currents, ocean color chlorophyll and turbidity, and winds are provided. Merged satellite oceanographic data revealed information on: (1) seasonal cycles and timing of transition periods; (2) linkages between seasonal effects (warming and cooling), upwelling processes and transport; and (3) nutrient/sediment sources, sinks, and physical limiting factors controlling surface response for Olympic Coast marine environments. These data and information can be used for building relevant hind cast models, ecological forecasts, and regional environmental indices (e.g. upwelling, climate, “hot spot”) on biological distribution and/or response in the PNW.

Characterization of the sediments overlying the Floridan aquifer system in Alachua County, Florida

The primary purpose of this project is to attempt to improve the existing hydrogeologic information through lithologic and hydrogeologic characterizations of the sediments overlying the Floridan aquifer system in Alachua County. These sediments locally comprise both the intermediate aquifer system and associated confining beds and the surficial aquifer system. (PDF has 119 pages.)

Relative pleopod length as an indicator of size at sexual maturity in slipper (Scyllarides squammosus) and spiny Hawaiian (Panulirus marginatus) lobsters

Body size at gonadal maturity is described for females of the slipper lobster (Scyllarides squammosus) (Scyllaridae) and the endemic Hawaiian spiny lobster (Panulirus marginatus) (Palinuridae) based on microscopic examination of histological preparations of ovaries. These data are used to validate several morphological metrics (relative exopodite length, ovigerous condition) of functional sexual maturity. Relative exopodite length (“pleopod length”) produced consistent estimates of size at maturity when evaluated with a newly derived statistical application for estimating size at the morphometric maturation point (MMP) for the population, identified as the midpoint of a sigmoid function spanning the estimated boundaries of overlap between the largest immature and smallest adult animals. Estimates of the MMP were related to matched (same-year) characterizations of sexual maturity based on ovigerous condition — a more conventional measure of functional maturity previously used to characterize maturity for the two lobster species. Both measures of functional maturity were similar for the respective species and were within 5% and 2% of one another for slipper and spiny lobster, respectively. The precision observed for two shipboard collection series of pleopod-length data indicated that the method is reliable and not dependent on specialized expertise. Precision of maturity estimates for S. squammosus with the pleopod-length metric was similar to that for P. marginatus with any of the other measures (including conventional evidence of ovigerous condition) and greatly exceeded the precision of estimates for S. squammosus based on ovigerous condition alone. The two measures of functional maturity averaged within 8% of the estimated size at gonadal maturity for the respective species. Appendage-to-body size proportions, such as the pleopod length metric, hold great promise, particularly for species of slipper lobsters like S. squammosus for which there exist no other reliable conventional morphological measures of sexual maturity. Morphometric proportions also should be included among the factors evaluated when assessing size at sexual maturity in spiny lobster stocks; previously, these proportions have been obtained routinely only for brachyuran crabs within the Crustacea.

A History of Benthic Research in the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service has a long history of research on benthic invertebrates and habitats in support of the management of living marine resources. These studies began in the 1870's under Spencer F. Baird's guidance as part of an effort to characterize the Nation's fisheries and living marine resources and their ecological interactions. This century and a quarter of research has included many benthic invertebrate studies, including community characterizations, shellfish biology and culture, pathology, ecosystem energy budget modeling, habitat evaluations, assessments of human impacts, toxic chemical bioaccumulation in demersal food webs, habitat or endangered species management, benthic autecology, systematics (to define new species and species population boundaries), and other benthic studies. Here we review the scope of past and current studies as a background for strategic research planning and suggest areas for further research to support NOAA's goals of sustainable fisheries management, healthy coastal ecosystems, and protected species populations.

Biogeographic characterization of fish communities and associated benthic habitats within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary: sampling design and implementation of scuba surveys on the coral caps

The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) is located in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico approximately 180 km south of Galveston, Texas. The sanctuary’s distance from shore combined with its depth (the coral caps reach to within approximately 17 m of the surface) result in limited exposure of this coral reef ecosystem to natural and human-induced impacts compared to other coral reefs of the western Atlantic. In spite of this, the sanctuary still confronts serious impacts including hurricanes events, recent outbreaks of coral disease, an increase in the frequency of coral bleaching and the massive Diadema antillarum die-off during the mid-1980s. Anthropogenic impacts include large vessel anchoring, commercial and recreational fishing, recreational scuba diving, and oil and gas related activities. The FGBNMS was designated in 1992 to help protect against some of these impacts. Basic monitoring and research efforts have been conducted on the banks since the 1970s. Early on, these efforts focused primarily on describing the benthic communities (corals, sponges) and providing qualitative characterizations of the fish community. Subsequently, more quantitative work has been conducted; however, it has been limited in spatial scope. To complement these efforts, the current study addresses the following two goals put forth by sanctuary management: 1) to develop a sampling design for monitoring benthic fish communities across the coral caps; and 2) to obtain a spatial and quantitative characterization of those communities and their associated habitats.

Species identification of family Lutjanidae and separation of populations of John’s snapper (Lutjanus johnii) in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea based on otolith shape analysis

The anatomical and morphometric (shape indices, contour descriptors and otolith weight) characterizations of sagittal otoliths were investigated in 13 species of Lutjanus spp. inhabiting the Persian Gulf. This is the first study that compares the efficiency of three different image analysis techniques for discriminating species based on the shape of the outer otolith contour, including elliptical Fourier descriptors (EFD), fast Fourier transform (FFT) and wavelet transform (WT). Sagittal otoliths of snappers are morphologically similar with some small specific variations. The use of otolith contour based on wavelets (WT) provided the best results in comparison with the two other methods based on Fourier descriptors, but only the combination of the all three methods (EFD, FFT and WT) was useful to obtain a robust classification of species. The species prediction improved when otolith weight was included. In relation to the shape indices, only the aspect ratio provided a clear grouping of species. Also, another study was carried on to test the possibility of application of shape analysis and comparing otolith contour of otoliths of Lutjanus johnii from Persian Gulf and Oman Sea to identify potential stocks. The results showed the otoliths have differences in contour shape and can be contribute to two different stocks.