Southeast Fisheries Science Center

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Southeast Fisheries Science Center

• Potential Contributions

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SEFSC with local collaborators have potential to
fill gaps (relatively short term)

• Organismal-level responses (laboratory)
• Atlantic/Caribbean tropical/subtropical species
• Under-represented in the literature so far
• Early life stages
• Fishes
• Corals
• including broadcasting species
• ESA-listed A.palmata

UM/RSMAS (Langdon, Grosell), UM Experimental
Hatchery (Capo), AOML
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Initial collaboration P. astreoides
settlersLangdon Albright (RSMAS)June 2007

• Brooding species
• Newly settled spat on tiles mounted to PVC
  palates
• 5 gallon, flow-through aquaria
• Duplicate aquaria for each treatment
• Saturation states manipulated in 3 header tanks
  through acid additions (1M HCl)
• Control 3.1
• Mid 2.6
• Low 2.1
• System maintained at 25ºC, ambient light
• Routinely monitored for growth rate -
  photographs

Photo R. Albright
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P. astreoides Average Growth Rate (Days 1-56)
June
F0.05,2,38 16.9229, plt 0.0001
Low Oa 2.1
Control Oa 3.1
Middle Oa 2.6
Albright et al. unpubl data
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• P. astreoides larvae (brooded) showed no effect
  of saturation state on settlement
• Broadcasting species likely to have more
  susceptibility
• Limited energy reserves
• Longer exposure in the water column
• Similar experiments possible with broadcasting
  spp. in 2008
• Hope to culture larval phase in saturation state
  treatments
• Acropora palmata
• Montastraea faveolata
• Diploria strigosa

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Likely to proceed in Aug 2008
Coral settlement assays on acid-conditioned
substrates (CCA regimes Kuffner et al. 08)
Langdons flow-through mesocosms 3 sat
states - UM Experimental Hatchery
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Fishes

• Though fishes relatively less susceptible, early
  life stages may be
• With collaborators, SEFSC has capacity for
  exposure experiments with larval grouper,
  snapper, yellowfin tuna
• Though otolith deposition may not be expected to
  be influenced by pH, tractable larval exposure
  experiments would allow for validation

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Fishes

• Primary uncertainty regarding indirect effects
  via habitat and prey
• Targeted exposure experiments for model prey to
  assess the appropriate degree of concern
• Molluscs and urchins primary prey of hogfish

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Misc. organisms

• Halimeda tuna
• Promising lab (and possibly field) rat
• Common local reef species
• Extensive baseline physiological characterization
  in the literature (Conch reef)
• Possible targeted field monitoring parameter at
  instrumented sites (e.g., Molasses reef)
• Benthic Forams (symbiotic vs. aposymbiotic spp)
• Small crustaceans and/or urchins (amphipods,
  other important fish prey)

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Local deep corals

• Lab exposure treatments theoretically feasible if
  material available
• Oculina varicosa (Oculina Banks)
• Lophelia pertusa

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Concerns

• Coral Health/Disease
• Pink Line Syndrome of Porites lutea (Ravindran
  Raghukumar 2006)
• Toxicity changes of metals (Cu, Hg) or other
  xenobiotic substances?
• Amplification in apex fish and mammals?
• Further detriment to coral health?
• Good physiology needs to be incorporated
• Different groups of organisms (e.g., corals vs.
  gastropods) may show inhibition of calcification,
  but by totally different mechanisms . . . .
  .implications for extrapolation to
  ecosystem-level effects

difficulty absorbing carbonate versus
difficulty excreting protons
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SEFSC overview

• Likely to proceed
• Coral settlement assays on acid-conditioned tiles
  (Kuffner et al. 08)
• Aug-Sept 2008

• Straightforward but requiring basic resources
• Broadcasting coral larval exposure treatments
• Pre-settlement
• Post-settlement growth
• Fish larval exposure
• Growth
• Otolith validation
• Halimeda tuna
• Lab exposure
• Field monitoring

• Requiring more extensive development/ resources
• Prey species exposures
• Deep coral exposures
• More extensive targeted field monitoring