Johnston Atoll: reef fish hybrid zone between Hawaii and the equatorial Pacific

Johnston Atoll is isolated in the Central Pacific Ocean (16°45′ N 169°31′ W) about 1287 km (800 miles) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii and 1440 km (900 miles) north of the equatorial Line Islands, Kiribati. The labrid species, Thalassoma lutescens, has a wide range of distribution in the equatorial Pacific. The related species, Thalassoma duperrey, is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The pelagic larvae of both species dispersed to Johnston Atoll, where we found a mix of adult phenotypes representing a range of hybridization events over generations. A hybrid acanthurid was also documented. In addition, the arrival and colonization of two pomacentrid (damselfish) species to the atoll was observed in 1999. These pomacentrid sister-species, Abudefduf abdominalis and A. vaigiensis, have become established populations with subsequent hybridization. The biogeography of the Johnston Atoll coral reef fish population shows some degree of local population retention. It is also evident that this biogeographic isolation is periodically compromised by large ocean current oscillations in the equatorial and central Pacific Ocean that bring larval fishes from either Hawaii or the Line Islands, and may distribute Johnston Atoll originating larvae elsewhere as well. The reef fauna and oceanography of this atoll provides the circumstances for improving scientific insight into marine fish speciation and island biogeography.Published versio

\u3ci\u3eZiglar v. Abbasi\u3c/i\u3e and the Demise of Accountability

Part I of this Article discusses Ziglar in light of the Court’s other cases challenging aspects of the executive’s conduct in the struggle against terrorism. Part II compares Ziglar with other case law that suggests that the Ziglar Court’s focus on the potential availability of injunctive relief is not of central importance to its dismissal of the Bivens claims. This Article continues in Part III with a historical discussion of official accountability for unconstitutional conduct during times of national crisis or exigency and early leaders’ views regarding such official accountability, and provides instances where unconstitutional official conduct was met with damages liability. Finally, this Article concludes that Ziglar is at odds with the basic precepts of the framers’ view of the judicial role in addressing official claims of necessity during times of national emergency or serious crisis

New York Mills Union Free School District and New York Mills Teachers\u27 Association

In the Matter of the Factfinding between New York Mills Union Free School District and New York Mills Teachers\u27 Association. Case no. M2008-056

A genetic assessment of parentage in the blackspot sergeant damselfish, Abudefduf sordidus (Pisces: Pomacentridae)

Microsatellite markers were used to investigate the reproductive behavior of the damselfish Abudefduf sordidus at Johnston Atoll, Central Pacific Ocean. Genetic results indicated that ten males maintained guardianship over their nest territories for up to nine nest cycles during a 3.5 month period. Genotypes of 1025 offspring sampled from 68 nests (composed of 129 clutches) were consistent with 95% of the offspring being sired by the guardian male. Offspring lacking paternal alleles at two or more loci were found in 19 clutches, indicating that reproductive parasitism and subsequent alloparental care occurred. Reconstructed maternal genotypes allowed the identification of a minimum of 74 different females that spawned with these ten territorial males. Males were polygynous, mating with multiple females within and between cycles. Genetic data from nests, which consisted of up to four clutches during a reproductive cycle, indicated that each clutch usually had only one maternal contributor and that different clutches each had different dams. Females displayed sequential polyandry spawning with one male within a cycle but switched males in subsequent spawning cycles. These results highlight new findings regarding male parasitic spawning, polygyny, and sequential polyandry in a marine fish with exclusive male paternal care.Published versio