Demersal fish assemblages on seamounts and other rugged features in the northeastern Caribbean

© The Author(s), 2017. This is the author's version of the work and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 123 (2017): 90–104, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2017.03.009.Recent investigations of demersal fish communities in deepwater (>50 m) habitats have considerably increased our knowledge of the factors that influence the assemblage structure of fishes across mesophotic to deep-sea depths. While different habitat types influence deepwater fish distribution, whether different types of rugged seafloor features provide functionally equivalent habitat for fishes is poorly understood. In the northeastern Caribbean, different types of rugged features (e.g., seamounts, banks, canyons) punctuate insular margins, and thus create a remarkable setting in which to compare demersal fish communities across various features. Concurrently, several water masses are vertically layered in the water column, creating strong stratification layers corresponding to specific abiotic conditions. In this study, we examined differences among fish assemblages across different features (e.g., seamount, canyon, bank/ridge) and water masses at depths ranging from 98 to 4060 m in the northeastern Caribbean. We conducted 26 remotely operated vehicle dives across 18 sites, identifying 156 species of which 42% of had not been previously recorded from particular depths or localities in the region. While rarefaction curves indicated fewer species at seamounts than at other features in the NE Caribbean, assemblage structure was similar among the different types of features. Thus, similar to seamount studies in other regions, seamounts in the Anegada Passage do not harbor distinct communities from other types of rugged features. Species assemblages, however, differed among depths, with zonation generally corresponding to water mass boundaries in the region. High species turnover occurred at depths <1200 m, and may be driven by changes in water mass characteristics including temperature (4.8–24.4 °C) and dissolved oxygen (2.2–9.5 mg per l). Our study suggests the importance of water masses in influencing community structure of benthic fauna, while considerably adding to the knowledge of mesophotic and deep-sea fish biogeography.Funding was provided by NOAA-OER for the 2014 E/V Nautilus cruise and by the USGS Environments and Hazards Program and Ocean Exploration Trust for the 2013 E/V Nautilus 807 cruise.2019-03-1

PRELIMINARY CHECKLIST OF THE UNDERSEA FAUNA OF THE ROSS SEA ANTARCTIC CONTINENTAL SHELF BASED ON YO-YO CAMERA SURVEYS

As part of an expedition aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer RVIB, hundreds of still images were captured of the Ross Sea continental shelf seafloor. Using a crowd-sourced group of experts, we identified the fauna captured in these images, identifying over 1000 organisms to 15 major taxonomic groups (viz., anemones, bivalves, brittle stars, cephalopods, corals, crinoids, crustaceans, fishes, holothurians, isopods, pycnogonids, sea urchins, sea stars, sponges, tunicates). On the basis of the organisms we could identify to genus or species, we compiled a checklist of the fauna from this poorly-known area. The images from this yo-yo camera survey show a diverse community of life that was largely unknown for this sector and may reveal expanded ranges for some species and potentially new ecological information.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/168230/1/UMMP_MP_209-2.pdfMain ArticleSEL

FishfindR.net: A New Tool for Fish Biodiversity Collections Communication

Promotion of collection importance is paramount in securing a future in research and outreach through the exposure of diverse stakeholders to the incredible resource of biological collections. One outlet to increase exposure to collections’ data is through data aggregation. Data aggregation allows for a wide array of research, education and outreach activities that would otherwise be impossible. As the National Resource for Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) funded by the National Science Foundation - iDigBio has made large contributions to collections with regards to communication, outreach and community training. Two facets of iDigBio’s mission statement are: to facilitate the aggregation of collections data and to promote its use. Recently, a new resource for fish collections (fishfindR.net) has contributed to both the aforementioned missions. FishFindR utilizes data aggregated by iDigBio to explore, share and compare fish collection data as it is presented in the iDigBio portal via a web resource. The data is shown in accessible, easy to use and easy to read interfaces. This resource also provides the fish research community with a way to reconcile collection data to institutions from the iDigBio recordsets. This gives fish collections stakeholders data and tools that will be useful in communicating their value, advocating for support, applying best practices to their data publishing and improving collections’ sustainability as a community. Going forward, it is the hope that this resource will provide other taxonomic disciplines with a framework to provide similar services for their stakeholders and that through a network of taxonomic specific collection resources that collections’ staff will become similarly empowered to use their own data as a communication tool

Data from: A survey of digitized data from U.S. fish collections in the iDigBio data aggregator

Recent changes in institutional cyberinfrastructure and collections data storage methods have dramatically improved accessibility of specimen-based data through the use of digital databases and data aggregators. This analysis of digitized fish collections in the U.S. demonstrates how information from data aggregators, in this case iDigBio, can be extracted and analyzed. Data from U.S. institutional fish collections in iDigBio were explored through a strictly programmatic approach using the ridigbio package and fishfindR web application. iDigBio facilitates the aggregation of collections data on a purely voluntary fashion that requires collection staff to consent to sharing of their data. Not all collections are sharing their data with iDigBio, but the data harvested from 38 of the 143 known fish collections in the U.S. that are in iDigBio account for the majority of fish specimens housed in U.S. collections. In the 22 years since publication of the last survey providing information on these 38 collections, 1,219,168 specimen records (lots), 15,225,744 specimens, 3,192 primary types, and 32,868 records of secondary types have been added. This is an increase of 65.1% in the number of cataloged records and an increase of 56.1% in the number of specimens. In addition to providing specimen-based data for research, education, and various outreach activities, data that are accessible via data aggregators can be used to develop accurate, up-to-date reports of information on institutional collections. Such reports present collections data in an organized and accessible fashion and can guide targeted efforts by collections personnel to meet discipline-specific needs and make data more transparent to downstream users. Data from this survey will be updated and published regularly in a dynamic web application that will aid collections staff in communicating collections value while simultaneously giving stakeholders a way to explore collections holdings as they relate to the institutions in which they are housed. It is through this resource that collections will be able to leverage their data against those of similar collections to aid in the procurement of financial and institutional support

Fish Diversity of the Upper Tapanahony River, Suriname

We provide an annotated list of fishes collected from the Tapanahony River, the largest tributary of the Marowijne River, in Suriname. A total of 19 sites were sampled in the Upper Tapanahony River during the minor dry season. The expedition yielded 127 species from 83 genera representing 29 families and four orders. Characiformes dominated collections in terms of species. In addition to collecting several taxa endemic to the Upper Tapanahony River, we report the first record of Acestrorhynchus heterolepis for Suriname as well as several likely undescribed taxa.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/172868/1/UMMZ MP 211.pdf-1Description of UMMZ MP 211.pdf : Main ArticleSEL