Octocorals are the main component of rocky walls in the Panamanian tropical eastern Pacific (TEP), providing shelter and substrate for diverse marine invertebrates and demersal fishes. Despite their ecological importance, many essential biological traits of these corals remain undescribed. Like some cnidarians, octocorals may be related to bioinvasion. One emerging risk is the rise of the Indo-Pacific invasive octocoral Carijoa riisei, which overgrows other soft corals, competing for food and space and promoting the emergence of diseases. Considering the potential risk to native octocorals, we investigated the reproductive seasonality of C. riisei at 15 m depth every month for one year in the Gulf of Panama (Las Perlas Archipelago), an octocoral diversity hotspot with seasonal upwelling. Carijoa riisei showed an average fecundity (percentage of polyps with eggs sampled throughout the year from only female colonies) of 53% (SE 0.03%) with no seasonality. Carijoa riisei produced eggs continuously with overlapping generations, with an average of 23 (1–107; SE 0.75) eggs per fertile polyp and an average egg diameter of 0.12 (0.10–0.64; SE 0.0008) mm. The number of eggs inside the gastrovascular cavity was higher during the upwelling. However, the size and proportion of large eggs were greater towards the end of the upwelling season, with a drastic decrease from 30% to 2% at its end. Our results over a one-year sampling period show that in the Panamanian TEP, C. riisei reproduces continuously, seemingly energized by higher nutrient levels present during upwelling. This, along with its rapid growth rate, makes this species a formidable competitor for native species. Thus, we encourage future monitoring of these populations.
{"title":"Reproduction of Carijoa riisei (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) in the Panamanian tropical eastern Pacific","authors":"Helio Quintero-Arrieta, Catalina G. Gomez","doi":"10.5343/bms.2022.0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2022.0011","url":null,"abstract":"Octocorals are the main component of rocky walls in the Panamanian tropical eastern Pacific (TEP), providing shelter and substrate for diverse marine invertebrates and demersal fishes. Despite their ecological importance, many essential biological traits of these corals remain undescribed. Like some cnidarians, octocorals may be related to bioinvasion. One emerging risk is the rise of the Indo-Pacific invasive octocoral Carijoa riisei, which overgrows other soft corals, competing for food and space and promoting the emergence of diseases. Considering the potential risk to native octocorals, we investigated the reproductive seasonality of C. riisei at 15 m depth every month for one year in the Gulf of Panama (Las Perlas Archipelago), an octocoral diversity hotspot with seasonal upwelling. Carijoa riisei showed an average fecundity (percentage of polyps with eggs sampled throughout the year from only female colonies) of 53% (SE 0.03%) with no seasonality. Carijoa riisei produced eggs continuously with overlapping generations, with an average of 23 (1–107; SE 0.75) eggs per fertile polyp and an average egg diameter of 0.12 (0.10–0.64; SE 0.0008) mm. The number of eggs inside the gastrovascular cavity was higher during the upwelling. However, the size and proportion of large eggs were greater towards the end of the upwelling season, with a drastic decrease from 30% to 2% at its end. Our results over a one-year sampling period show that in the Panamanian TEP, C. riisei reproduces continuously, seemingly energized by higher nutrient levels present during upwelling. This, along with its rapid growth rate, makes this species a formidable competitor for native species. Thus, we encourage future monitoring of these populations.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70884174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The cyanobacteria sponge Terpios hoshinota has been present in Maldives since at least 1990. It has been observed on 44 reefs, from Baa Atoll in the North to Huvadhu Atoll in the south. Patches of the sponge were ephemeral on a timescale of several years and were generally small.
{"title":"A short history of Terpios hoshinota in Maldives","authors":"W. Allison","doi":"10.5343/bms.2023.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2023.0012","url":null,"abstract":"The cyanobacteria sponge Terpios hoshinota has been present in Maldives since at least 1990. It has been observed on 44 reefs, from Baa Atoll in the North to Huvadhu Atoll in the south. Patches of the sponge were ephemeral on a timescale of several years and were generally small.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70885776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tiffany A. Weidner, C. Cotton, Jessica J Schieber, Caroline Collatos, D. Kerstetter
The pelagic stingray, Pteroplatytrygon violacea, is commonly encountered as bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries targeting Swordfish, Xiphias gladius, and tunas; however, very little is known about its habitat use. To better assess the utility of the technology and attachment method, four pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) with short, 13-day durations were deployed on pelagic stingrays in 2010 and 2011 in the South Atlantic Bight (n = 2) and the northern Gulf of Mexico (n = 2). Analysis of the minimum straight-line distances from the first transmission locations compared to release locations showed that pelagic stingrays moved from 151.0 to 258.0 km [mean (SD) = 190.8 (46.6) km] or between 11.6 to 19.8 km day−1. Data also indicates pelagic stingrays undergo small diel vertical migrations with stingrays inhabiting slightly warmer [20.95 (3.4) °C], shallower [128.6 (99.8) m] waters at night, compared to cooler [19.7 (3.0) °C], deeper [167.0 (112.4) m] waters during the day. Understanding habitat use and behavior of less economically important species, particularly those that compose a substantial portion of bycatch like pelagic stingrays, will help fisheries managers account for these interactions with more economically valuable target species, as well as advance the overall understanding of pelagic ecosystems and aid in conservation efforts.
{"title":"Short-term habitat use and vertical movements of the pelagic stingray Pteroplatytrygon violacea in the western North Atlantic Ocean determined by pop-up archival satellite tags","authors":"Tiffany A. Weidner, C. Cotton, Jessica J Schieber, Caroline Collatos, D. Kerstetter","doi":"10.5343/bms.2023.0026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2023.0026","url":null,"abstract":"The pelagic stingray, Pteroplatytrygon violacea, is commonly encountered as bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries targeting Swordfish, Xiphias gladius, and tunas; however, very little is known about its habitat use. To better assess the utility of the technology and attachment method, four pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) with short, 13-day durations were deployed on pelagic stingrays in 2010 and 2011 in the South Atlantic Bight (n = 2) and the northern Gulf of Mexico (n = 2). Analysis of the minimum straight-line distances from the first transmission locations compared to release locations showed that pelagic stingrays moved from 151.0 to 258.0 km [mean (SD) = 190.8 (46.6) km] or between 11.6 to 19.8 km day−1. Data also indicates pelagic stingrays undergo small diel vertical migrations with stingrays inhabiting slightly warmer [20.95 (3.4) °C], shallower [128.6 (99.8) m] waters at night, compared to cooler [19.7 (3.0) °C], deeper [167.0 (112.4) m] waters during the day. Understanding habitat use and behavior of less economically important species, particularly those that compose a substantial portion of bycatch like pelagic stingrays, will help fisheries managers account for these interactions with more economically valuable target species, as well as advance the overall understanding of pelagic ecosystems and aid in conservation efforts.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70885831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Viehman, S. Groves, L. Grove, Steven G. Smith, Laura Mudge, C. Donovan, K. Edwards, Erica K. Towle
As coral reefs decline globally, the need for an objective approach to quantify the status and trends of corals has become increasingly important. Empirical data on predisturbance conditions are rare, and integrating data from multiple and disparate survey designs and methods can be analytically challenging. Our goal was to conduct a holistic, data-driven evaluation of the status of corals and benthic communities in US Atlantic coral reef jurisdictions: Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. A quantitative approach based upon standardized data was used to compare the change in multiple indicators of coral condition (hard coral, macroalgae, and crustose coralline algae cover, coral density, and old mortality) from historic to current conditions in each geographic region. For each indicator, historic, reference baseline conditions from long-term monitoring data or literature data were first identified, reviewed, and classified on a categorical scale from Very Good to Critical by regional experts to account for condition changes that pre-dated current monitoring data. A reference-centering approach then allowed for categorization of statistical changes from historic to current conditions on the same scale to produce results that could be communicated to a broad audience. Our findings show continued declines for multiple indicators in all regions except Flower Garden Banks, illustrate particularly dire declines from regions that had been impacted by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease at the most recent monitoring included in this study, and demonstrate the increasingly critical need for effective coral reef conservation.
{"title":"A quantitative assessment of the status of benthic communities on US Atlantic coral reefs using a novel standardized approach","authors":"T. Viehman, S. Groves, L. Grove, Steven G. Smith, Laura Mudge, C. Donovan, K. Edwards, Erica K. Towle","doi":"10.5343/bms.2022.0025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2022.0025","url":null,"abstract":"As coral reefs decline globally, the need for an objective approach to quantify the status and trends of corals has become increasingly important. Empirical data on predisturbance conditions are rare, and integrating data from multiple and disparate survey designs and methods can be analytically challenging. Our goal was to conduct a holistic, data-driven evaluation of the status of corals and benthic communities in US Atlantic coral reef jurisdictions: Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. A quantitative approach based upon standardized data was used to compare the change in multiple indicators of coral condition (hard coral, macroalgae, and crustose coralline algae cover, coral density, and old mortality) from historic to current conditions in each geographic region. For each indicator, historic, reference baseline conditions from long-term monitoring data or literature data were first identified, reviewed, and classified on a categorical scale from Very Good to Critical by regional experts to account for condition changes that pre-dated current monitoring data. A reference-centering approach then allowed for categorization of statistical changes from historic to current conditions on the same scale to produce results that could be communicated to a broad audience. Our findings show continued declines for multiple indicators in all regions except Flower Garden Banks, illustrate particularly dire declines from regions that had been impacted by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease at the most recent monitoring included in this study, and demonstrate the increasingly critical need for effective coral reef conservation.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70884679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sipuncula is one of the most taxonomically neglected groups of marine invertebrates in Indian waters. Research on these worms has been stagnant for the last three decades as there are no sipunculan taxonomists in India. The current work is an attempt to resurrect taxonomic research on Indian Sipuncula fauna by describing the first new Sipuncula species from Indian seas. A new molluscan shell dwelling species, Aspidosiphon (Akrikos) carnicobarensis sp. nov., is described from Car Nicobar Island, India collected from 205 m depth. The new species is characterized by the presence of scattered unidentate hooks, a thick and well-developed anal shield with deep grooves, flattened papillae on the trunk, and warts on the posterior trunk. Aspidosiphon (Paraspidosiphon) laevis de Quatrefages, 1866 is reported along with the first colored photographs from India and notes about its taxonomic status. The paper additionally reviews the present status of all the species in the genus Aspidosiphon from India, revising them in accordance with the current classification.
{"title":"The genus Aspidosiphon Diesing, 1851 (Sipuncula: Aspidosiphonidae): description of a new shell dwelling species, notes on Aspidosiphon (Paraspidosiphon) laevis de Quatrefages, 1866 and current status from India","authors":"S. Dixit, Itzahí Silva-Morales, N. Saravanane","doi":"10.5343/bms.2022.0055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2022.0055","url":null,"abstract":"Sipuncula is one of the most taxonomically neglected groups of marine invertebrates in Indian waters. Research on these worms has been stagnant for the last three decades as there are no sipunculan taxonomists in India. The current work is an attempt to resurrect taxonomic research on Indian Sipuncula fauna by describing the first new Sipuncula species from Indian seas. A new molluscan shell dwelling species, Aspidosiphon (Akrikos) carnicobarensis sp. nov., is described from Car Nicobar Island, India collected from 205 m depth. The new species is characterized by the presence of scattered unidentate hooks, a thick and well-developed anal shield with deep grooves, flattened papillae on the trunk, and warts on the posterior trunk. Aspidosiphon (Paraspidosiphon) laevis de Quatrefages, 1866 is reported along with the first colored photographs from India and notes about its taxonomic status. The paper additionally reviews the present status of all the species in the genus Aspidosiphon from India, revising them in accordance with the current classification.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70885207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Coralline lethal orange disease (CLOD) is a bacterial disease of reef-building crustose coralline algae that has been found in the Indo-Pacific, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean. It has been reported from a few areas within the Caribbean, but little is known about CCA diseases in this region. Here, we report the first observations of what looks like typical CLOD signs at four out of nine sites surveyed at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize.
{"title":"First record of coralline lethal orange disease on the reefs of Belize","authors":"G. Aeby, Scott Jones, J. Houk, V. Paul","doi":"10.5343/bms.2022.0065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2022.0065","url":null,"abstract":"Coralline lethal orange disease (CLOD) is a bacterial disease of reef-building crustose coralline algae that has been found in the Indo-Pacific, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean. It has been reported from a few areas within the Caribbean, but little is known about CCA diseases in this region. Here, we report the first observations of what looks like typical CLOD signs at four out of nine sites surveyed at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70885800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nearshore hardbottom communities are characterized by their invertebrate benthos, which provide food, habitat, and refuge for fish. Structural complexity supports greater species richness and abundance; thus, habitat degradation can reduce fish diversity and lead to a shift in community composition. Nearshore hardbottom communities in the Florida Keys, United States, have lost sessile benthic invertebrate diversity since the 1970s and the communities examined here have shifted from coral- and sponge-dominated to sponge- and algae-dominated. Two nearshore hardbottom communities (one oceanside site and one bayside) were surveyed from 1991 through 1996, and then were resurveyed in 2021 and 2022. Both communities experienced declines in fish richness, biodiversity, and trophic structure. Present-day fish species richness is approximately 30%–40% of what it was when surveying began in 1991. Sessile benthic invertebrate richness and density were correlated with fish richness and composition; the degradation of benthic communities appears to have negatively influenced fish assemblages. Diverse and abundant fish assemblages are key to healthy and productive coastal ecosystems; this loss of biodiversity will reduce the ecological functionality of nearshore hardbottom communities.
{"title":"Fish diversity declines with loss of sessile benthic invertebrate density on nearshore hardbottom communities in the Florida Keys, United States","authors":"Ellery Lennon, Kathleen Sullivan Sealey","doi":"10.5343/bms.2022.0071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2022.0071","url":null,"abstract":"Nearshore hardbottom communities are characterized by their invertebrate benthos, which provide food, habitat, and refuge for fish. Structural complexity supports greater species richness and abundance; thus, habitat degradation can reduce fish diversity and lead to a shift in community composition. Nearshore hardbottom communities in the Florida Keys, United States, have lost sessile benthic invertebrate diversity since the 1970s and the communities examined here have shifted from coral- and sponge-dominated to sponge- and algae-dominated. Two nearshore hardbottom communities (one oceanside site and one bayside) were surveyed from 1991 through 1996, and then were resurveyed in 2021 and 2022. Both communities experienced declines in fish richness, biodiversity, and trophic structure. Present-day fish species richness is approximately 30%–40% of what it was when surveying began in 1991. Sessile benthic invertebrate richness and density were correlated with fish richness and composition; the degradation of benthic communities appears to have negatively influenced fish assemblages. Diverse and abundant fish assemblages are key to healthy and productive coastal ecosystems; this loss of biodiversity will reduce the ecological functionality of nearshore hardbottom communities.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70885909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The availability of many topotypic specimens of the deepsea shrimp Glyphocrangon stenolepis Chace, 1984 (Caridea: Glyphocrangonidae) recently collected off of Pratas Island (Dongsha), northern South China Sea, enabled us to establish the true identity of this species. Material previously identified as Glyphocrangon stenolepis from Taiwan and Japan is found to actually represent a species new to science. The new species, Glyphocrangon latens sp. nov., differs from G. stenolepis by the more clearly divided first (submedian) carinae on the carapace in females, better developed carinae on the pleon tergites, and high degree of genetic divergence inferred from the barcode segment of the mitochondrial COI gene.
{"title":"The identity of the deep-sea caridean shrimp Glyphocrangon stenolepis and description of Glyphocrangon latens sp. nov. from Taiwan and Japan","authors":"T. Komai, Su-Ching Chang, T. Chan","doi":"10.5343/bms.2023.0029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2023.0029","url":null,"abstract":"The availability of many topotypic specimens of the deepsea shrimp Glyphocrangon stenolepis Chace, 1984 (Caridea: Glyphocrangonidae) recently collected off of Pratas Island (Dongsha), northern South China Sea, enabled us to establish the true identity of this species. Material previously identified as Glyphocrangon stenolepis from Taiwan and Japan is found to actually represent a species new to science. The new species, Glyphocrangon latens sp. nov., differs from G. stenolepis by the more clearly divided first (submedian) carinae on the carapace in females, better developed carinae on the pleon tergites, and high degree of genetic divergence inferred from the barcode segment of the mitochondrial COI gene.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70885965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jerald S Ault, Jeremiah Blondeau, Laura Jay W Grove, Shannon L Cass-Calay, Kevin J McCarthy
The United States Caribbean reef fish visual census (RVC) is a fishery-independent survey of the coral reef fish community, comprised of hundreds of species, designed to provide quantitative information for data-poor fisheries to support regional stock assessments. The Caribbean RVC, implemented in 2014 as part of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP), uses a probabilistic stratified random sampling design capitalizing on the strong mean-variance relationship of population abundance dependent on hardbottom habitats and depths. Here we highlight RVC data for queen triggerfish in Puerto Rico, where survey precision improved from CVs of 20.6% in 2014 to 12.6% in 2021, which produced accurate and cost-effective estimates of key assessment metrics like size-structured relative population abundance and biomass. We estimated a relatively stable exploited-phase average population abundance for 2014–2021 at 2.3 million queen triggerfish with a biomass of 1246 metric tons. To support stock assessments using “statistical catch at age” models, we generated a 2001–2021 time series of several population metrics by a statistical conversion of spatially-restricted pre-NCRMP data to the RVC frame. To cross-check assessment modeling, we combined 2014–2021 RVC results with life history demographics in an alternative length-based risk analysis (LBRA) model to evaluate stock sustainability consequences using two lifetime growth scenarios. LBRA models indicated low overfishing risks. We concluded that only a few quality fishery independent surveys are needed to obtain understanding of stock sustainability status, and that RVC not only provides reliable data for single-species stock assessments, but also for design evaluation of marine protected areas and ecosystem-based fishery management.
{"title":"Integrating the US Caribbean reef fish visual census into fishery stock assessments","authors":"Jerald S Ault, Jeremiah Blondeau, Laura Jay W Grove, Shannon L Cass-Calay, Kevin J McCarthy","doi":"10.5343/bms.2023.0025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2023.0025","url":null,"abstract":"The United States Caribbean reef fish visual census (RVC) is a fishery-independent survey of the coral reef fish community, comprised of hundreds of species, designed to provide quantitative information for data-poor fisheries to support regional stock assessments. The Caribbean RVC, implemented in 2014 as part of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP), uses a probabilistic stratified random sampling design capitalizing on the strong mean-variance relationship of population abundance dependent on hardbottom habitats and depths. Here we highlight RVC data for queen triggerfish in Puerto Rico, where survey precision improved from CVs of 20.6% in 2014 to 12.6% in 2021, which produced accurate and cost-effective estimates of key assessment metrics like size-structured relative population abundance and biomass. We estimated a relatively stable exploited-phase average population abundance for 2014–2021 at 2.3 million queen triggerfish with a biomass of 1246 metric tons. To support stock assessments using “statistical catch at age” models, we generated a 2001–2021 time series of several population metrics by a statistical conversion of spatially-restricted pre-NCRMP data to the RVC frame. To cross-check assessment modeling, we combined 2014–2021 RVC results with life history demographics in an alternative length-based risk analysis (LBRA) model to evaluate stock sustainability consequences using two lifetime growth scenarios. LBRA models indicated low overfishing risks. We concluded that only a few quality fishery independent surveys are needed to obtain understanding of stock sustainability status, and that RVC not only provides reliable data for single-species stock assessments, but also for design evaluation of marine protected areas and ecosystem-based fishery management.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135559725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura Jay W Grove, Jeremiah Blondeau, Dione W Swanson, Sarah L Heidmann, Steven G Smith, Matthew W Johnson, Viktor W Brandtneris, Skyler R Sagarese, Tyler B Smith
A three-year pilot study, the Deep Coral Reef Monitoring Program (DCRMP), expanded the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program’s (NCRMP) established fishery-independent, diver-based reef fish visual survey to upper mesophotic reefs (>30 to 50 m) in the United States (US) Caribbean for the first time. The new DCRMP sample domain (>30 to 50 m) encompassed 2.4 times more survey area than NCRMP (0 to 30 m) and collected high quality data (CV <20%) on coral reef fishes [three survey years, 29 (5) species; mean (standard deviation)]. For the four representative, fishery-targeted, analysis species selected (i.e., a grouper, snapper, triggerfish, and parrotfish), domain-wide density and length comparisons between surveys showed similar or statistically higher abundances and larger lengths for fishes at deeper depths (>30 to 50 m). These results highlight the importance of surveying the entire insular shelf in St. Thomas and St. John, US Virgin Islands for fisheries management applications. Furthermore, the DCRMP survey leveraged NCRMP’s methods and resources resulting in a seamless extension to deeper waters. However, if these programs were fully integrated and optimized within a single survey design, approximately half the sites would be needed to achieve the same level of precision, offering substantial time and cost savings. The principles of probabilistic sampling successfully used in the present fishery-independent survey design (0 to 50 m) can be applied more broadly to develop an “ideal” large-scale, multi-gear survey from 0 to about 500 m to encompass the entire depth ranges of managed species in the US Caribbean.
{"title":"Expansion of an established fishery-independent survey into the US Virgin Islandsʼ upper mesophotic zone: feasibility and management implications","authors":"Laura Jay W Grove, Jeremiah Blondeau, Dione W Swanson, Sarah L Heidmann, Steven G Smith, Matthew W Johnson, Viktor W Brandtneris, Skyler R Sagarese, Tyler B Smith","doi":"10.5343/bms.2023.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2023.0013","url":null,"abstract":"A three-year pilot study, the Deep Coral Reef Monitoring Program (DCRMP), expanded the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program’s (NCRMP) established fishery-independent, diver-based reef fish visual survey to upper mesophotic reefs (>30 to 50 m) in the United States (US) Caribbean for the first time. The new DCRMP sample domain (>30 to 50 m) encompassed 2.4 times more survey area than NCRMP (0 to 30 m) and collected high quality data (CV <20%) on coral reef fishes [three survey years, 29 (5) species; mean (standard deviation)]. For the four representative, fishery-targeted, analysis species selected (i.e., a grouper, snapper, triggerfish, and parrotfish), domain-wide density and length comparisons between surveys showed similar or statistically higher abundances and larger lengths for fishes at deeper depths (>30 to 50 m). These results highlight the importance of surveying the entire insular shelf in St. Thomas and St. John, US Virgin Islands for fisheries management applications. Furthermore, the DCRMP survey leveraged NCRMP’s methods and resources resulting in a seamless extension to deeper waters. However, if these programs were fully integrated and optimized within a single survey design, approximately half the sites would be needed to achieve the same level of precision, offering substantial time and cost savings. The principles of probabilistic sampling successfully used in the present fishery-independent survey design (0 to 50 m) can be applied more broadly to develop an “ideal” large-scale, multi-gear survey from 0 to about 500 m to encompass the entire depth ranges of managed species in the US Caribbean.","PeriodicalId":55312,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of Marine Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136053975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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