To determine habitat-use patterns of sub-adult hawksbills Eretmochelys imbricata, we conducted satellite-and acoustic-tracking of 3 turtles captured in August 2008 within Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO), south Florida, USA, in the Gulf of Mexico; turtles ranged in size from 51.9 to 69.8 cm straight carapace length. After 263, 699, and 655 d of residence in the park, turtles migrated out of the DRTO. Within the park, core-use areas (i.e. 50% kernel density estimates) were 9.2 to 21.5 km 2
Abstract.— The aquaculture performance of mutton snapper Lutjanus analis raised in floating net cages was assessed by measuring their growth, survival, and feed conversion rates during a growout trial conducted in a 3.2‐ha saltwater lake in the Florida Keys, Florida, USA. Approximately 10,500 hatchery‐reared finger‐lings were stocked in two circular, high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) net cages of 7‐m diameter × 7‐m deep (300 m2) and 10‐m diameter × 7‐m deep (600 m3) dimensions. Cages were stocked at 25 fish/m3 (3.2 kg/m3) and 5 fish/m3 (0.72 kg/m3), respectively. Fish grew from a mean of 16.5 g to 302.8 g (25.6 cm TL) in 246 days in the former cage and from a mean of 42.3 g to 245.6 g (23.8 cm TL) in 178 d in the latter cage. Growth rates in weight were best expressed by the following exponential equations: cage 1 (high stocking density): W = 20.716 e0.0112x (r2= 0.83); cage 2 (low stocking density): W = 38.848 e0.0118x (r2= 0.81). Length‐weight data indicate that hatcheryraised, cage‐cultured mutton snapper are heavier per unit length than their wild counterparts. There was no significant difference (P < 0.05) between the slopes of the two lines, indicating that fish in the two cages grew at the same rate. The length‐weight relationships for mutton snapper stocked in cages 1 and 2 are expressed, respectively, by the equations W = 0.000009 L 3.11 (r2= 0.99) and W = 0.000005 L 3.22 (r2= 0.97). Overall feed conversion rate for both cages combined was 1.4. Approximately 10% of the fish sampled exhibited some degree of deformity, particularly scoliosis. Overall survival rate was 70%. Results suggest that L. analis has potential for aquaculture development in net cage systems.
The efficacy of no-take marine reserves (NTMRs) to enhance and sustain regional coral reef fisheries was assessed in Dry Tortugas, Florida, through 9 annual fishery-independent research surveys spanning 2 years before and 10 years after NTMR implementation. A probabilistic sampling design produced precise estimates of population metrics of more than 250 exploited and non-target reef fishes. During the survey period more than 8100 research dives utilizing SCUBA Nitrox were optimally allocated using stratified random sampling. The survey domain covered 326 km 2 , comprised of eight reef habitats in four management areas that offered different levels of resource protection: the Tortugas North Ecological Reserve (a NTMR), Dry Tortugas National Park (recreational angling only), Dry Tortugas National Park Research Natural Area (a NTMR), and southern Tortugas Bank (open to all types of fishing). Surveys detected significant changes in population occupancy, density, and abundance within management zones for a suite of exploited and non-target species. Increases in size, adult abundance, and occupancy rates were detected for many principal exploited species in protected areas, which harbored a disproportionately greater number of adult spawning fishes. In contrast, density and occupancy rates for aquaria and non-target reef fishes fluctuated above and below baseline levels in each management zone. Observed decreases in density of exploited species below baseline levels only occurred at the Tortugas Bank area open to all fishing. Our findings indicate that these NTMRs, in conjunction with traditional fishery management control strategies, are helping to build sustainable fisheries while protecting the fundamental ecological dynamics of the Florida Keys coral-reef ecosystem.
over the past decade, indo-pacific lionfishes, Pterois volitans (linnaeus, 1758) and Pterois miles (bennett, 1828), venomous members of the scorpionfish family (scorpaenidae), have invaded and spread throughout much of the tropical and subtropical northwestern atlantic ocean and caribbean sea. These species are generalist predators of fishes and invertebrates with the potential to disrupt the ecology of the invaded range. lionfishes have been present in low numbers along the east coast of florida since the 1980s, but were not reported in the florida Keys until 2009. We document the appearance and rapid spread of lionfishes in the florida Keys using multiple long-term data sets that include both pre-and post-invasion sampling. our results are the first to quantify the invasion of lionfishes in a new area using multiple independent, ongoing monitoring data sets, two of which have explicit estimates of sampling effort. between 2009 and 2011, lionfish frequency of occurrence, abundance, and biomass increased rapidly, increasing three-to six-fold between 2010 and 2011 alone. in addition, individuals were detected on a variety of reef and non-reef habitats throughout the florida Keys. because lionfish occurrence, abundance, and impacts are expected to continue to increase throughout the region, monitoring programs like those used in this study will be essential to document ecosystem changes that may result from this invasion.
Abstract— Wild‐caught, adult summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus (avg. wt. = 740 g; range = 264–1,540 g; N= 60), collected in northeastern US coastal waters during October 1994, were transported to Vero Beach, Florida in March 1995 and held in 2.6‐m3 indoor tanks through November 1995 under two artificial photothermal regimes: (1) natural regime, simulating natural habitat conditions; and (2) accelerated thermal regime, with seasonal temperature changes advanced by one month. A third group of fish was held in outdoor tanks under ambient photothermal conditions. Under all photothermal conditions, onset of vitellogenesis was associated with declining daylength and temperature, beginning in the accelerated group, then progressing to the natural and the ambient groups. From 20 September to 28 November 1995, 23 vitellogenic stage females from the accelerated and natural regimes were implanted with a cholesterol‐cellulose pellet containing LHRH‐a (100 μg/kg body wt). Females with initial mean oocyte diameters ranging from 258–456 μm spawned voluntarily 2.5–5.5 d postimplantation, while no maturational response was obtained from females with mean diameters ranging from 165–231 μm. Two females were spawned twice during the study period by LHRH‐a pellet implantation. Infrequent, natural spawning without hormone intervention was also obtained. Females released from 22.7–396.9 × 103 eggs on the first day of spawning, with fertilization and hatching rates of 0–93.470 and 0–81.1%, respectively.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.