Les larves de Diptères nécrophages se développant sur un cadavre font face à de fortes pressions de sélection. Nous démontrons comment cet environnement extrême aurait favorisé l’apparition de stratégies comportementales efficaces et originales, basées sur des mécanismes comme la régulation thermique mais également la socialité.Ce travail pose en premier lieu les bases du comportement de régulation thermique des larves de Diptères Calliphoridae. En effet, celles-ci sont confrontées à un environnement thermique très hétérogène, dans lequel elles vont sélectionner la zone la plus appropriée à leur activité métabolique. Bien que différentes espèces exploitent la même ressource au même moment, nous avons observé que les larves de Lucilia sericata, Calliphora vomitoria et Calliphora vicina ont chacune une température préférentielle de développement. De plus, nous démontrons que ces larves sont en recherche constante de leur température préférentielle (thermorégulation), et qu’elles adaptent leur alimentation à la température du milieu. Ce premier volet d’expérimentations illustre ainsi le rôle prépondérant de la température dans le comportement des larves. En second lieu, ce travail s'intéresse à la dimension sociale des larves nécrophages, et plus particulièrement au comportement d'agrégation. Nous avons démontré chez Lucilia sericata un fort effet attractif et rétentif des congénères, rendant manifeste une prévalence de la socialité sur la régulation thermique. Les résultats sont cependant drastiquement différents dans des conditions hétérospécifiques, où la formation du groupe varie selon les températures préférentielles et les cinétiques d’agrégation de chaque espèce. Ainsi, la température sélectionnée par un groupe hétérospécifique émerge d'un compromis entre les comportements de thermorégulation et d'agrégation. Enfin, ce travail analyse l’effet de ces stratégies comportementales sur le développement des individus.Nous montrons que le comportement de thermorégulation et l’action des congénères affectent la température sélectionnée par les larves, et donc, leur développement. De tels résultats démontrent l’existence de véritables stratégies comportementales individuelles et collectives de développement, reposant sur l’optimisation de paramètres multiples permettant aux larves de se développer au mieux dans cet écosystème extrême qu’est le cadavre en décomposition. / On a cadaver, necrophagous dipteran larvae suffer from strong selection pressures during their development. The premise of this thesis is that such an extreme, competitive and constraining environment would have favored the emergence of efficient developmental strategies, based on mechanisms such as thermal regulation but also sociality. This PhD work is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on the thermal behavior of Calliphorids larvae, which are confronted with a heterogeneous thermic environment on the corps, in which they select the most appropriate area for their metabolic activity. Firstly, this part shows that larvae have a preferential developmental temperature, which is different according to the species (Lucilia sericata, Calliphora vomitoria and Calliphora vicina), although they exploit the same resource at the same time. Secondly, this part demonstrates that the larvae are always in search of this preferential temperature and thirdly, that they adapt both their displacement and their food intake according to the temperature of the nourishing substrate. This first part of experiments demonstrates that the temperature parameters have a strong effect on larval behavior. The second part of this work focuses on the social dimension of larval behavior by analyzing the influence of congeners, mainly through their active aggregation behavior. We show for Lucilia sericata a strong attractive and retentive effect of the group, making obvious that sociality prevails over thermal regulation. However, these results are radically different under heterospecific conditions where the group formation strongly depends on preferential temperatures as well as aggregation kinetics of each species. Finally, the third part of this work analyzes the effects of temperature and congeners on the development of individuals and shows that both the behavior of thermoregulation and the action of congeners impact the temperature selected by larvae, and therefore, their development. These results indicate the existence of individual and collective behavioral development strategies based on the optimization of multiple parameters that allow larvae to develop ideally in this extreme ecosystem of a decaying corpse.

There is much evidence supporting the idea that pelagic larvae of coral reef fishes are active participants in their dispersal and return to a reef, however, the mechanisms used to navigate are still uncertain. It has been proposed that sensory cues, such as hearing, play a role. Sound is a potentially important cue for organisms in marine environments, especially in noisy environments like coral reefs. Sensory organs, including otolithic organs, of most coral reef fish form within the first few days of life. The auditory brainstem response (ABR) technique was used to measure hearing on a wide size range of sergeant majors (Abudefduf saxatilis). Complete audiograms were measured for 32 fish ranging in size from 11-121 mm. Significant effects of standard length on hearing thresholds at 100 and 200 Hz were detected. At these lower frequencies, thresholds increased with an increase in size. All fish were most sensitive to the lower frequencies (100-400 Hz). The frequency range that fish could detect sounds was dependent upon the size of the fish; the larger fish (>50mm) were more likely to respond to higher frequencies (1000-1600 Hz). A. saxatilis have poor hearing sensitivity in comparison to audiograms of other hearing generalists including other species of Pomacentrids. Due to the high hearing thresholds found in this study in comparison to recorded ambient reef noise, it is unlikely that sound plays a significant role in the navigation of the pelagic larvae of sergeant majors to the return of the reef from large distances.

Connectivity is a major contributor to the overall dynamics of marine populations. However, it still remains challenging to describe connectivity on ecologically meaningful scales of time and space. This is a major impediment to evaluating the impacts of marine protected area with respect to fisheries management objectives. This dissertation brings together a wide array of spatial and connectivity information in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) with the goal of 1) understanding the spatial distribution of fish populations and source-sink dynamics and 2) evaluating whether this information can be integrated, through a modeling framework, to identify closed areas that could be beneficial to fisheries management in the Gulf of Mexico. First, a generalized additive modelling (GAM) approach is used to describe the distribution of a large number of species groups (i.e. functional groups) across the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) using a large fisheries independent data set (SEAMAP) and climate scale (decades) oceanographic conditions. Next a numerical Lagrangian particle transport model was developed that incorporates two major connectivity processes; site specific larval production and oceanographic transport for an entire large marine ecosystem and over multiple years. The two components are then combined to develop larval dispersal patterns for the entire GOM and identify areas operating as larval sources and sinks. Last, this information is integrated into an end-to-end ecosystem model to evaluate effectiveness of closing source and sink areas for the management of reef fish fisheries. Closed area managemeny simlautions for reef fish indicated closing reef fish source areas, as opposed to sinks, in the GOM is most efficient method of increasing total biomass and yield. However, the impacts across individual functional groups were site specific. Ultimately, these simulations demonstrate the inclusion of connectivity information could improve fishery management objectives in an ecosystem context.

Oil spills in the marine environment can threaten vulnerable ecosystems that support ecologically and economically significant organisms, such as the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), in coastal habitats. The use of chemical dispersant (Corexit 9500) was applied as a cleanup effort in response to the Deepwater Horizon blowout to minimize crude oil slicks, but also resulted in increased concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the water column. The effects of increased soluble fractions of crude oil and dispersant components may be harmful to marine organisms. This study aimed to investigate possible sublethal impacts to the eastern oyster at multiple life history stages in order to understand potential implications on performance at an organismal, population, and ecosystem levels. Specifically, this study addressed 1) veliger swimming, 2) pediveliger settlement rates, 3) pollutant induced larval inactivity and 4) adult clearance rates after acute exposures to relevant concentrations (10 – 100 µL L-1) of water accommodated fractions of crude oil (WAF) and with a combination of chemical dispersant (CEWAF). No significant differences were observed in any tested swimming kinematics between controls and WAF or CEWAF treatments after 24 hour exposures for early staged veligers at concentrations up to 100 µL L-1 WAF and CEWAF. However, settlements rates of competent pediveligers were significant decreased compared to control (52.1 % s.d. 1.66) rates at concentrations of 50 µL L-1 WAF (30.9% s.d. 6.16) and 10 (41.2 % s.d. 0.857) and 50 (22.0% s.d. 1.23) µL L-1 CEWAF. Later staged larvae also showed increased vulnerability to oil pollution given that a higher percentage of organisms were inactive (48.3% s.d. 4.80) compared to early staged larvae (12.7% s.d. 7.68 ) after initial exposure at 50 µL L-1 CEWAF. Based on this result, we assumed effects of oil pollution were not manifested until the later larval life history stage evident by metamorphosis failure during the complex settlement transformation that results in reduced spat and eventually reduced adult oysters. Adult oysters were also exposed to increasing concentrations of WAF and CEWAF for 24 hours and feeding experiments were conducted in both clean seawater and the same oiled seawater conditions as their initial exposure. Oysters fed in oiled seawater had decreased clearance rates, but oysters fed in clean water had increased clearance rates, suggesting feeding efficiency can be returned to control rates when moved to the presence of clean water. However, our long term study conducted in clean seawater suggested of the oysters exposed to crude oil only (9.31 L h-1 g-1 s.d. 2.04) are able to return to clearance rates comparable to controls (7.69 L h-1 g-1 s.d. 1.89) after the 33 day time period but oysters exposed to crude oil with a combination of chemical dispersant (2.12 L h-1 g-1 s.d. 1.08) were not. Decreased feeding efficiency can have negative impacts on water quality in estuarine ecosystems that support productive habitats. Understanding the impacts of crude oil, and crude oil with a combination of chemical dispersant on ecologically significant organisms can aid in future oil spill response decisions in order to minimize environmental impacts.

This study targets the poorly described egg and larval stages of wrasses and parrotfishes that as adults inhabit coral reefs and seagrasses in the western central Atlantic. Descriptions are provided to allow laboratory identification of the egg and larval stages of these fishes. Accounts are given for 16 of the 20 species of labrid and six of the 14 species of scarids that occur here. The biological, hydrographic, and meteorological data from four oceanographic surveys of the southern Straits of Florida were analyzed to provide a synthesis of the effects of the environment on the distribution of larval fishes occupying a region that is influenced by geostrophic currents and mesoscale recirculation features. Results indicate these oceanographic phenomena play an important role in influencing the distribution of these fishes in their pelagic nursery habitat. The most striking evidence for this comes from the close association of high abundances of fish larvae with the Tortugas Gyre, a semi-permanent mesoscale eddy frequently present off the western Florida Keys. Most species were found in greatest abundance near the center of the eddy, while others were limited to offshore waters along its periphery in deeper depth strata. Older larvae occurred more frequently than younger stages. Those taxa most abundant near the center of the eddy were also more often taken as older larvae. Two hypotheses are proposed to account for larval accumulation in the center of the eddy, which are not mutually exclusive. The first is based on advection of passive larvae that are cyclonically entrained into the center of the eddy along the horizontal plane, while the second provides for a cascade of ecological effects that originate from eddy-induced upwelling in the vertical plane. Diel and ontogenetic effects were shown to be important components of the vertical distribution patterns displayed by these fishes. The vertical distribution of most species within the top 115 m of the water column was non-uniform. Mean depths of most larvae were deeper during the day than at night, with older stage larvae occurring deeper than younger stages.

The processes influencing larval fish survival in the low-latitude open ocean are poorly understood, especially with regard to feeding. As part of a large-scale study that included two years of monthly sampling in the Straits of Florida (SOF), the objectives of this dissertation were to elucidate the larval fish feeding behaviors and strategies of 1) istiophorid billfishes, 2) tunas, and 3) coral reef fishes, while also 4) characterizing the feeding environment, synthesizing the dominant trophic pathways to fish larvae, and reviewing the literature for evidence of latitudinal distinctions in larval fish trophodynamics. Larval billfishes exhibited highly selective feeding, and their diets were numerically dominated (90%) by two genera of crustaceans, Farranula copepods and Evadne cladocerans. These prey were consumed throughout early larval ontogeny, from first-feeding through piscivorous lengths (> 5 mm), until piscivory became exclusive near 12 mm. High feeding incidence (0.94) and rapid digestion (~3.5 hrs) suggests frequent and successful feeding by billfish larvae. For tunas, nearly all larvae examined (>98%) contained prey. Thunnus spp. exhibited a mixed diet, while skipjack, little tunny, and Auxis spp. nearly exclusively consumed appendicularians. All four tuna taxa co-occurred in the western SOF where prey was more abundant, while in the central and eastern SOF (where prey availability was lower), only Thunnus spp. and skipjack were present. Additionally, these two taxa exhibited significantly different vertical distributions. Estimates of predatory impact indicated the potential for depletion of resources in the absence of the spatial and dietary niches of larval tunas. Coral reef fish families examined included Serranidae, Lutjanidae, Mullidae, Pomacentridae, Labridae, Scaridae, and Acanthuridae. Feeding incidences were high (0.94 to 1.0) for all taxa except scarids (0.04), and diets were narrow and predator-specific. Cluster analysis yielded clear groupings based on the selective feeding exhibited by the taxa, while within taxa, canonical correspondence analysis illustrated the change in diet with a variety of variables. The physical and biological environment varied markedly across the SOF, largely influenced by the Florida Current. Characteristics examined included thermocline depth, fluorescence, and abundances of total plankton and copepod nauplii. The feeding ecologies of the 21 taxa of fish larvae in this work were synthesized into qualitative and quantitative webs that illustrate the variable trophodynamic strategies of larvae in the SOF and the levels of community reliance upon zooplankton prey types. A review of 170 investigations on larval fish feeding revealed notable distinctions between high- and low-latitude regions, highlighting the substantial variability across environments in the role of larval fishes within the planktonic food web.

The supply of coral reef fish larvae from the open ocean to reefs is vital for the persistence of local fish populations. Whether larvae are dispersed over hundreds of km or only few km depends on biophysical interactions between larvae and their environment. Relationships between environmental variables, larval swimming behavior, and larval transport were examined for reef fish larvae in the Florida Straits. In a series of research cruises, the upper 100 m of the water column was sampled with plankton nets fishing at four different depths. Variability in the vertical distributions of most larvae was not consistently related to measured environmental variables. Relative densities of larvae were predictably related to sampling depth in five taxa. In seven taxa, more developed larvae were distributed significantly deeper than less developed larvae, revealing ontogenic vertical migrations. In three taxa, vertical distributions varied significantly between day and night, revealing diel migrations. Since the Florida Current was strongest near the surface, observed vertical distributions and migrations resulted in reduced larval transport relative to surface currents. To identify cues involved in regulating vertical distributions, behavioral experiments were conducted with larvae from four reef fish families. All four groups showed significant responses to pressure cues, swimming up in response to high pressure and down in response to low pressure. In two families there was a significant correlation between capture depth and experimental pressure preference, suggesting that larvae use similar behavior to regulate depth in situ. To study horizontal swimming behavior, late-stage larvae of one species were caught in light-traps and observed by SCUBA divers ~1 km offshore of the Florida Keys barrier reef. All larvae swam remarkably straight, but their swimming directions were distributed randomly. A simulation model was used to generate swimming trajectories of longer duration than could be observed directly. Observed and simulated trajectories indicated that horizontal swimming by larvae with or without an external reference frame was important at spatial scales of several km. Overall, some larvae exercised a strong influence on transport, either by vertical or horizontal swimming. Behaviors varied between species and families, highlighting the need for more species-specific data.

This dissertation investigated larval release and larval behavior of the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus and the spotted spiny lobster P. guttatus. These species were examined under laboratory conditions to determine the phase relationship between larval release and natural environmental cycles. P. argus displayed a nocturnal tidal rhythm, while P. guttatus displayed a circadian rhythm in larval release. P. argus releases larvae near the time of nocturnal high slack water, while P. guttatus released larvae near the time of sunrise. The role of 'pumping pheromones' in controlling larval release behaviors was tested by measuring the pumping response of ovigerous P. argus to (1) hatch water, (2) homogenized-embryo water, (3) embryo-conditioned water, and (4) water containing homogenized-egg cases. Lobsters with late-stage embryos displayed increased pleopod pumping with increased concentration of hatch water. Water individually conditioned with homogenized late-stage embryos, intact late-stage embryos, and homogenized egg-cases induced pumping activity in females with late-stage embryos, indicating the presence of a chemical cue. I quantified pumping responses upon exposure to synthetic peptides to determine if they mimicked pheromones that induce larval release behaviors. Pumping behavior was evoked by oligopeptides with a basic amino acid at the carboxy-terminus, preceded by several neutral amino acids. Carboxyl-terminal arginine peptides serve as pheromone mimics. I investigated whether these peptides originate from the action of trypsin-like enzymes by conducting a bioassay measuring pumping activity of ovigerous P. argus subjected to increasing concentrations of trypsin, trypsin inhibitor, and a combination of the two. Pumping activity increased with increasing concentrations of trypsin and trypsin inhibitor, while behaviors ceased when ovigerous females were subjected to a complex of the two. Pheromones are generated by trypsin-like enzymes assisting in the degradation of the egg membranes at the time of hatching. Vertical swimming behaviors of stage-I phyllosoma larvae of P. argus and P. guttatus were observed under laboratory conditions. P. argus larvae displayed a pattern of twilight vertical migration, while P. guttatus larvae displayed nocturnal diel vertical migration (DVM). Rhythms persisted for 5-6 cycles under constant conditions, indicating that an endogenous rhythm in activity plays a proximate role in DVM for both species. / Dissertation

The aim of this study was to investigate the reproductive ecology including fecundity, reproductive season, timing of larval release, evaporative water loss during reproductive migration, and the salinity tolerance of first zoeal stage of Cardisoma carnifex in Houwan, Hengchun Peninsula. The average carapace width of ovigerous females was 70.5 ¡Ó 6.57 mm, with a size range of 56.0-93.7 mm. Fecundity intimates increased with size and the number of hatched larvae from individual female varied from 90,000 to 490,000. The reproductive season of C. carnifex began at the onset of the rainy season and ends approximately at the end of that season. The reproductive season was from June to Oct. in 2009 and May to Sept. in 2010. The peaks of larval release occurred in July in 2009, 2010. Some females had the capacity in spawning twice during a reproductive season. Ovigerous females releasing larvae synchronously. The relationship between larval release timing and environmental cycle is listed in decreasing order of importance: diel rhythm, semilunar rhythm, tidal amplitude rhythm, and a low correlation was found with the tidal rhythm. Ovigerous females of C. carnifex started to release larvae after the new and full moon, lasting for 6-8 days with peaks occurring 4-6 days after the new and full moon. The peaks of larval release occurred within 2-3 hours after the sunset time (i.e., between 1930H and 2130H). This species exhibits different larval release timing and behavior compare to other species of Gecarcinidae; ovigerous females of gecarcinid crabs follow a lunar rhythm but C. carnifex follow a semilunar rhythm. More than half of the ovigerous females stayed in the water for up to 10 min (average 5.5 ¡Ó 2.87 min) and could move to deep water (i.e., 120 cm) to release their larvae. A few females even released their larvae in the freshwater environment. For C. carnifex, a mean of 15¢H of its original weight was lost by the time they died and the osmolality of the hemolymph is 856 mOsm kg-1. Compare with the hemolymph osmolality of ovigerous females (694 ¡Ó 6.3 mOsm kg-1), the results indicated that the ovigerous females at Houwan may not experience severe water loss during larval release migration. The first zoeal stage of C. carnifex could not survive in the freshwater, all larvae died within 2 hours. However, at salinities large than 5‰, most larvae could survive for more than 3 days. The results show first zoeal stage of C. carnifex had adapted to the low salinity in the estuary.

The effects of unilateral eyestalk ablation, diets and sex ratios were evaluated on two wild populations of Farfantepenaeus aztecus in a closed recirculating maturation system. Ovarian development and spawning frequencies of ablated females in both studies were higher than the non-ablated females. Replacement of bloodworms in maturation diet with enriched adult Artemia sp. had no negative effect on the number of eggs spawned and resulted in increased hatch and survival rates from Nauplius I to Zoea I. Life span of ablated females fed enriched Artemia sp. was longer than ablated females fed bloodworms. Replacement of the expensive bloodworm diet component with adult enriched Artemia sp. is possible without negative impact on female reproductive performance. Reducing male to female ratio from 2:1 to 1:1 resulted in a 1.25% decrease in spawning activities of ablated females. The life cycle of pond-raised F1 generation F. aztecus also was completed in the closed recirculating system using unilateral eyestalk ablation as previously described. This study found diets that contained an enriched adult Artemia sp. component performed superior (i.e. hatch rate, nauplii and zoea production) to a diet containing bloodworms. Six consecutive larval rearing trials evaluated changes in select water quality indicators and their effect on growth, survival, and stress tolerance of F. aztecus postlarvae cultured in artificial seawater under closed recirculating and flow-through conditions. The closed recirculating larval rearing system successfully produced five-day-old postlarvae (PL) from Zoea I (Z1) with similar dry weights, lengths and stress resistance to PL produced under standard water exchange practices. The trickling biofilters were found to be a limiting component of this system. A submerged coral biofilter was added to the system and effectively processed culture water for re-use. Addition of the submerged biofilter resulted in improved survival rates in Trials 4, 5 and 6. These studies demonstrate maturation and larval rearing of F. aztecus is feasible in closed recirculating systems. Implementation of these systems in hatcheries bolsters biosecurity while reducing the environmental impact of hatchery effluent. Recirculating and re-use systems are therefore essential in the further development of sustainable hatchery programs for endemic species.