Corals of the genus Porites are a locally abundant component of the epibiont community on mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye, Turneffe Atoll, Belize

Mangroves are generally regarded as inhospitable for corals, but recent reports suggest they provide ecological refuge for some species. We surveyed diverse mangrove habitats on Turneffe Atoll, Belize, documenting 127 colonies of Porites divaricata (Thin Finger Coral) along 1858 m of mangrove prop roots at Calabash Caye and a much more diverse coral assemblage at Crooked Creek. At Calabash, corals were highly clumped, and varied widely in size and morphology, including large well-arborized colonies, encrusting forms with few branches, and new recruits with no branches, suggesting an age-structuredpopulation exhibiting extensive morphological plasticity. The data described here contributeto an emerging picture of mangroves as potentially critical habitat for many Caribbeancoral species.Accepted manuscrip

An exploration of speciation and genome-wide uncertainty in flatfishes based on exon-capture data

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020The flatfishes (Pleuronectiformes) have undergone numerous taxonomic revisions but many of their interrelationships still lack consensus among the scientific community at both the species-level and deep evolutionary timescales. Phylogenetic uncertainty stems from apparent bursts of evolution in short time periods early in the Pleuronectiformes tree, and this uncertainly is exacerbated by an abundance of studies that incompletely and inconsistently sample taxa and genetic markers. In order to partly address the issue of insufficient phylogenetic information, we inferred phylogenies based on the largest molecular dataset (4434 markers via exon-capture) and densest taxon sampling (86 species spanning 11 of the 15 families) of any flatfish study using next-generation sequencing to date. We compared our results to phylogenetic hypotheses across recent works, report several new hypotheses, and identify regions of the flatfish tree that are unlikely to be further resolved with additional sampling. We also conducted species delimitation analyses on four economically valuable species pairs in the family Pleuronectidae to evaluate their utility in being effectively managed. Species pairs in the genera Lepidopsetta and Limanda were found to be good species for management, while species pairs in Hippoglossoides and Atheresthes require further taxonomic analysis

Conspicuous and cryptic reef fishes from a unique and economically important region in the northern Red Sea.

Al Wajh Bank in the northern Red Sea contains an extensive coral reef system that potentially supports a novel fish community. The large (1500km2) and shallow (< 40m depth) lagoon experiences greater temperature and salinity fluctuations, as well as higher turbidity, than most other Red Sea reefs. Since these conditions often influence coral community structure and introduce physiological challenges to its resident organisms, changes in reef-associated fishes are expected. We present critical baseline data on fish biodiversity and benthic composition for the Al Wajh Bank. Underwater visual census of conspicuous fishes and standardized collections of cryptobenthic fishes were combined to provide a comprehensive assessment of these fish communities. We documented 153 fish species and operational taxonomic units, including undescribed species, within 24 families on reefs largely dominated by hard coral and soft sediment (39% and 32% respectively). The families Pomacentridae and Gobiidae contributed the most towards fish diversity and abundance. Bray-Curtis dissimilarity distances among sampled sites suggest a distinctive fish community within the lagoon, and coefficients of variation for each species show high variation in their distribution across the lagoon. Species accumulation curves predict that additional sampling would document many more species throughout Al Wajh. Our findings provide the most extensive biodiversity survey of fishes from this region to date and record the condition of the reef prior to major coastal development planned to occur in the near future

A massive update of non-indigenous species records in Mediterranean marinas

none18siThe Mediterranean Sea is home to over 2/3 of the world’s charter boat traffic and hosts an estimated 1.5 million recreational boats. Studies elsewhere have demonstrated marinas as important hubs for the stepping-stone transfer of non-indigenous species (NIS), but these unique anthropogenic, and typically artificial habitats have largely gone overlooked in the Mediterranean as sources of NIS hot-spots. From April 2015 to November 2016, 34 marinas were sampled across the following Mediterranean countries: Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus to investigate the NIS presence and richness in the specialized hard substrate material of these marina habitats. All macroinvertebrate taxa were collected and identified. Additionally, fouling samples were collected from approximately 600 boat-hulls from 25 of these marinas to determine if boats host diverse NIS not present in the marina. Here, we present data revealing that Mediterranean marinas indeed act as major hubs for the transfer of marine NIS, and we also provide evidence that recreational boats act as effective vectors of spread. From this wide-ranging geographical study, we report here numerous new NIS records at the basin, subregional, country and locality level. At the basin level, we report three NIS new to the Mediterranean Sea (Achelia sawayai sensu lato, Aorides longimerus, Cymodoce aff. fuscina), and the re-appearance of two NIS previously known but currently considered extinct in the Mediterranean (Bemlos leptocheirus, Saccostrea glomerata). We also compellingly update the distributions of many NIS in the Mediterranean Sea showing some recent spreading; we provide details for 11 new subregional records for NIS (Watersipora arcuata, Hydroides brachyacantha sensu lato and Saccostrea glomerata now present in the Western Mediterranean; Symplegma brakenhielmi, Stenothoe georgiana, Spirobranchus tertaceros sensu lato, Dendostrea folium sensu lato and Parasmittina egyptiaca now present in the Central Mediterranean, and W. arcuata, Bemlos leptocheirus and Dyspanopeus sayi in the Eastern Mediterranean). We also report 51 new NIS country records from recreational marinas: 12 for Malta, 10 for Cyprus, nine for Greece, six for Spain and France, five for Turkey and three for Italy, representing 32 species. Finally, we report 20 new NIS records (representing 17 species) found on recreational boat-hulls (mobile habitats), not yet found in the same marina, or in most cases, even the country. For each new NIS record, their native origin and global and Mediterranean distributions are provided, along with details of the new record. Additionally, taxonomic characters used for identification and photos of the specimens are also provided. These new NIS records should now be added to the relevant NIS databases compiled by several entities. Records of uncertain identity are also discussed, to assess the probability of valid non-indigenous status.The article was downloaded 500 times in the first day of its online publication.openUlman, AYLIN H; Ferrario, Jasmine; Occhipinti, ANNA CARMEN; Arvanitidis, Christos; Bandi, Ada; Bertolino, Marco; Bogi, Cesare; Chatzigeorgiou, Giorgos; Çiã§ek, Burak Ali; Deidun, Alan; Ramos-esplã¡, Alfonso; Koã§ak, Cengiz; Lorenti, Maurizio; MARTINEZ LAIZ, Gemma; Merlo, Guenda; Princisgh, Elisa; Scribano, Giovanni; Marchini, AgneseUlman, Aylin; Ferrario, Jasmine; Occhipinti-ambrogi, Anna; Arvanitidis, Christos; Bandi, Ada; Bertolino, Marco; Bogi, Cesare; Chatzigeorgiou, Giorgos; Çiã§ek, Burak Ali; Deidun, Alan; Ramos-esplã¡, Alfonso; Koã§ak, Cengiz; Lorenti, Maurizio; Martinez-laiz, Gemma; Merlo, Guenda; Princisgh, Elisa; Scribano, Giovanni; Marchini, Agnes