This is a study of the food of pond fish in northern Utah. The species examined in the family Centrarchidae were largemouth black bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede), green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus Rafinesque, and common bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, together with black bullhead, Ameiurus melas (Rafinesque) of the family Ameriuridae. Specifically it is a report of the macroscopic food found in the stomachs of sub-adult and mature fish. Although such a study is of predominant interest to the biologist, who is interested in life history and ecological relationships of fish, the farmer or small businessman can find the data applicable. This is because onds serve in one way or another in soil and water conservation programs, as recreational areas, or as commercial enterprises for bait, sport, and food.

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Dissolved and suspended particulate organic carbon (DOC, POC), nitrogen (DON, PON), phosphorus (DOP, POP) and inorganic nutrient distributions and elemental ratios were measured and evaluated for the Atlantic, Southern, and Pacific Oceans. Results indicate that DOC is remineralized during mean deep-water transport from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific. Elemental ratios for both dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM) indicate that organic N is preferentially remineralized compared with organic C, while organic P is preferentialy remineralized relative to both organic C and N. Comparison between the DOM and POM pools further suggests that surface POM may be less refractory than concurrently sampled DOM. Major compound class compositions of ultrafiltered DOM (UDOM) in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Chesapeake Bay indicate that the majority of UDOM was comprised mainly of a molecularly-uncharacterized fraction, followed by carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. Delta14C and delta 13C results of UDOM compound classes suggest that UDOM in Bay mouth and surface open ocean waters were similarly dominated by old, marine sources, while UDOM from the freshwater endmember was influenced by much younger terrestrial sources. Results indicate that DOM is comprised of different aged organic fractions and provide evidence for a potential organic "size"-age continuum; from low-molecular weight DOM (oldest) to UDOM (intermediate age) to POM (youngest). Lipid biomarker results indicate that North Atlantic and Pacific UDOM and POM were relatively more reactive at the surface compared with greater depths, coinciding with elemental C:P and N:P ratios greater than Redfield. Factor analyses suggest that there exists a "lability continuum" spanning from surface ocean POM to riverine and deep ocean UDOM. Terrigenous organic material was found at all Bay sites although autochthonous sources of organic matter were also important. Dark microbial incubations of DOM from the Pacific Subtropical Front and South Atlantic Bight indicate that open ocean DOM is relatively refractory over short time scales (less than 2 months). Experiments with plankton leachate DOM show that this sub-pool of DOM is relatively labile and is converted to refractory DOM within days. DOP is preferentially remineralized in all experiments compared with DOC or DON.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1984. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-41). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, are the most economically important reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico. Population assessments that began in the mid-1980’s found red snapper to be severely overfished and lead to extensive regulations and harvest restrictions. As a result of these regulations many fish that are captured must be released and are known as regulatory discards. Red snapper live deep in the water column and when captured and rapidly brought to the surface they often suffer pressure-related injuries collectively known as barotrauma. These injuries include a distended abdomen and stomach eversion from the buccal cavity. High mortality of discards due to barotrauma injuries impedes recovery of the fishery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two techniques designed to minimize barotrauma-related mortality: venting and rapid recompression. In laboratory experiments using hyperbaric chambers, I assessed sublethal effects of barotrauma and subsequent survival rates of red snapper after single and multiple simulated capture events from pressures corresponding to 30 and 60 m. I evaluated the use of rapid recompression and venting to increase survival and improve recovery indices, including the ability to evade a simulated predator. A condition index of impairment, the barotrauma reflex (BtR) score, was used to assess sublethal external barotrauma injuries, reflex responses, and behavioral responses. Greater capture depths resulted in higher BtR scores (more impairment). Non-vented fish had higher BtR scores than vented fish after both single and multiple decompression events. All fish in vented treatments from 30 and 60 m depths had 100% survival after a single capture event. Non-vented fish had 67% survival after decompression from 30 m and 17% survival from 60 m. Behaviorally, non-vented fish showed greater difficulty achieving an upright orientation upon release and less ability to evade a simulated predator than vented fish. Rapid recompression also greatly improved survival compared to surface-released fish with 96% of all rapidly recompressed fish surviving. These results clearly show that venting or rapid recompression can be effective tools for alleviating barotrauma symptoms, improving predator evasion after a catch-and-release event, and increasing survival. Fisheries managers should encourage the use of either of these two techniques to aid in the recovery of this important fishery.

Deep-water corals provide complex habitat structure for diverse assemblages of invertebrates and fishes. Similar to shallow coral reefs, oyster reefs, and seagrass beds, these complex biogenic structures serve many ecosystem functions: (a) as prey items; (b) sites for reproduction; (c) feeding stations, elevating suspension feeders above the benthos; and (d) refuges from predation. Because deep-sea corals provide some of the only three-dimensional habitats in the deep-sea, they may host distinct assemblages of epifauna. Non-destructive video surveys of deep-water coral assemblages were made to depths of 700 m at eight sites off Roatan, Honduras in May and December, 2011. Abundance, species richness, and distribution of epifauna were measured for 305 corals. We observed sixteen morphospecies of coral and twenty-six morphospecies of epifauna. Coral and epifaunal abundances were highest in the 335-449 m depth zone. Some epifauna had high fidelity for a single coral species or for a few species of similar morphological complexity. Other coral species had overlapping assemblages of habitat generalists. This is the first research on the biodiversity of deep-sea coral communities in Roatan, Honduras, and provides information on the assemblages, their depth distributions and ecological interactions.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Johns Hopkins University. / Plates accompanied by guard sheets with descriptive letterpress. Reprinted from the Journal of morphology, vol. xx, no. 3, October, 1909. Biographical note. References to literature: p. 529-530.

The transport of organic solutes from sea water by the molluscan integument occurs via a Na⁺-dependent cotransport process. Although much is known about the mechanism of this transport, little attention has been given to the influence of environmental parameters on this process. One highly variable parameter to intertidal animals is salinity. Intertidal habitats are routinely exposed to periodic changes in external salinity from ∼0 to ∼425 mM Na⁺, representing a range of ∼0 to ∼1000 mOsM osmotic concentration. This study examined the effect of salinity on organic solute transport and cell volume regulation in the gill of two representative intertidal animals, Mytilus edulis and Mytilus californianus. Integumental organic solute transport was found to adapt to reduced salinity in a 2-stage response. There was an initial, steep inhibition of transport that was far greater than predicted from the reduction of external Na⁺ alone. However, within 10 min. of acclimation to the dilute medium, transport recovered to the level predicted by the external Na⁺ concentration. Long-term acclimation to reduced salinity resulted in no upregulation of integumental transport. Thus, the degree of adaptation of integumental organic solute to reduced external salinity was always defined by the availability of external Na⁺ for the transport process. The exposure to reduced salinity also resulted in a change of cell volume. The gill preferentially lost organic solutes but spared inorganic ions following long-term acclimation to reduced salinity. Short-term acclimation of gill tissue to reduced salinity resulted in a rapid Volume Regulatory Decrease (VRD) which served to restore cell volume toward the control value. This short-term VRD did not involve the substantial loss of organic solutes, but was probably mediated by the efflux of K⁺ (and a counter anion) across the basolateral membrane. The loss of inorganic ions during brief exposures to reduced salinity conserves metabolically expensive organic compounds. The loss of organic solutes during long-term acclimation to reduced salinity may be due to the decreased Na⁺ gradient which reduces the ability of integumental transport to maintain the high solute concentrations in gill tissue of control animals.

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