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Many exploited reef fish are vulnerable to overfishing because they concentrate over hard-bottom patchy habitats. How mobile reef fish use patchy habitat, and the potential consequences on demographic parameters, must be known for spatially explicit population dynamics modeling, for discriminating essential fish habitat (EFH), and for effectively planning conservation measures (e.g., marine protected areas, stock enhancement, and artificial reefs). Gag, Mycteroperca microlepis, is an ecologically and economically important warm-temperate grouper in the southeastern United States, with behavioral and life history traits conducive to large-scale field experiments. The Suwannee Regional Reef System (SRRS) was built of standard habitat units (SHUs) in 1991-1993 to manipulate and control habitat patchiness and intrinsic habitat quality, and thereby test predictions from habitat selection theory. Colonization of the SRRS by gag over the first six years showed significant interactions of SHU size, spacing, and reef age; with trajectories modeled using a quadratic function for closely spaced SHUs (25 m) and a linear model for widely spaced SHUs (225 m), with larger SHUs (16 standardized cubes) accumulating significantly more gag faster than smaller 4-cube SHUs (mean = 72.5 gag/16-cube SHU at 225-m spacing by year 6, compared to 24.2 gag/4-cube SHU for same spacing and reef age). Residency times (mean = 9.8 mo), indicative of choice and measured by ultrasonic telemetry (1995-1998), showed significant interaction of SHU size and spacing consistent with colonization trajectories. Average relative weight (W(r)) and incremental growth were greater on smaller than larger SHUs (mean W(r) = 104.2 vs. 97.7; incremental growth differed by 15%), contrary to patterns of abundance and residency. Experimental manipulation of shelter on a subset of SRRS sites (2000-2001) confirmed our hypothesis that shelter limits local densities of gag, which, in turn, regulates their growth and condition. Density-dependent habitat selection for shelter and individual growth dynamics were therefore interdependent ecological processes that help to explain how patchy reef habitat sustains gag production. Moreover, gag selected shelter at the expense of maximizing their growth. Thus, mobile reef fishes could experience density-dependent effects on growth, survival, and/or reproduction (i.e., demographic parameters) despite reduced stock sizes as a consequence of fishing.

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Thirteen captive phocid seals (10 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), 2 harp seals (Phoca groenlandica), and 1 ringed seal (P. hispida)) were fed Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus) in experiments designed to examine the use of otoliths recovered in stomach contents to interpret food consumption of wild seals. The percentage of ingested otoliths recovered in the stomach contents decreased with the time elapsed after feeding; 100% of otoliths were recovered between 0 and 3 h after feeding and 0% were recovered by 12.9 h after feeding. Absence of otoliths in the large intestine of seals having fed 3 to 6 h previous indicated that unrecovered otoliths had been digested (i.e., a complete disappearance of whole otoliths) while in the stomach. A significant relationship was also evident between the state of digestion of a seal's stomach contents, as measured by the proportion of otoliths remaining in skull cases (skull-recovered otoliths), and the duration of time since it had fed. These relationships have potential application in the estimation of daily fish consumption of seals feeding in the wild.

The distribution of threatened Gulf of Mexico sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi

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Carvalho, F. C., Murie, D. J., Hazin, F. H. V., Hazin, H. G., Leite-Mourato, B., and Burgess, G. H. 2011. Spatial predictions of blue shark (Prionace glauca) catch rate and catch probability of juveniles in the Southwest Atlantic. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 890–900. Generalized regression analysis and spatial prediction was applied to catch per unit effort (cpue) data for blue shark (Prionace glauca) caught by the Brazilian tuna longline fleet between 1997 and 2008 (43 546 longline sets) to predict the effect of environmental, spatial, and temporal factors on catch distribution. In addition, the size distribution of blue sharks measured by on-board observers during the years 2006–2008 was used to model the proportion of juvenile blue sharks in the catches from a spatial perspective. Latitude was the most important factor influencing blue shark cpue in the Southwest Atlantic, with cpue spatial predictions suggesting two areas of higher catch probabilities. Latitude was also the most important factor influencing the proportion of juveniles in the catches. The spatial prediction map showed that juveniles were more frequently caught south of 35°S (∼38°S). This information can assist in the design of management strategies either to exploit this predictable spatial distribution of the catch or to manage the fisheries in a spatially explicit manner if one component (i.e. juveniles) requires protective measures.

Species delimitation is a major quest in biology and is essential for adequate management of the organismal diversity. A challenging example comprises the fish species of red snappers in the Western Atlantic. Red snappers have been traditionally recognized as two separate species based on morphology: Lutjanus campechanus (northern red snapper) and L. purpureus (southern red snapper). Recent genetic studies using mitochondrial markers, however, failed to delineate these nominal species, leading to the current lumping of the northern and southern populations into a single species ( L. campechanus ). This decision carries broad implications for conservation and management as red snappers have been commercially over-exploited across the Western Atlantic and are currently listed as vulnerable. To address this conflict, we examine genome-wide data collected throughout the range of the two species. Population genomics, phylogenetic and coalescent analyses favour the existence of two independent evolutionary lineages, a result that confirms the morphology-based delimitation scenario in agreement with conventional taxonomy. Despite finding evidence of introgression in geographically neighbouring populations in northern South America, our genomic analyses strongly support isolation and differentiation of these species, suggesting that the northern and southern red snappers should be treated as distinct taxonomic entities.