Charles F. Cotton

Critical assessment and ramifications of a purported marine trophic cascade

When identifying potential trophic cascades, it is important to clearly establish the trophic linkages between predators and prey with respect to temporal abundance, demographics, distribution, and diet. In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the depletion of large coastal sharks was thought to trigger a trophic cascade whereby predation release resulted in increased cownose ray abundance, which then caused increased predation on and subsequent collapse of commercial bivalve stocks. These claims were used to justify the development of a predator-control fishery for cownose rays, the “Save the Bay, Eat a Ray” fishery, to reduce predation on commercial bivalves. A reexamination of data suggests declines in large coastal sharks did not coincide with purported rapid increases in cownose ray abundance. Likewise, the increase in cownose ray abundance did not coincide with declines in commercial bivalves. The lack of temporal correlations coupled with published diet data suggest the purported trophic cascade is lacking the empirical linkages required of a trophic cascade. Furthermore, the life history parameters of cownose rays suggest they have low reproductive potential and their populations are incapable of rapid increases. Hypothesized trophic cascades should be closely scrutinized as spurious conclusions may negatively influence conservation and management decisions.

Effects of Temperature and Salinity on Growth of Juvenile Black Sea Bass, with Implications for Aquaculture

Abstract The black sea bass Centropristis striata has recently gained popularity in the live seafood markets of the northeastern United States. Fish farmers need instruction on optimizing environmental parameters for the growth of black sea bass. In this study, optimal temperature and salinity were determined experimentally for the growth of juvenile black sea bass (initial mean weight, ∼9.2 g). The temperature experiment compared growth at temperatures of 15, 20, 25, and 30°C; the salinity experiment compared growth at 10, 20, and 30‰ salinities. Both of these experiments were performed in closed aquaria. At the end of the temperature experiment (6 weeks), Tukeys Studentized range test (α = 0.05) showed that fish reared at 25°C were significantly larger than those reared at 20°C and 30°C. All of these temperatures produced significantly larger fish than did the 15°C treatment. At the end of the salinity experiment (12 weeks), Tukeys Studentized range test (α = 0.05) showed that salinities of 20‰ and 30...

Age, growth and reproduction of a common deep-water shark, shortspine spurdog (Squalus cf. mitsukurii), from Hawaiian waters

Abouthalfoftheextantsharkspeciesoccuronlyindeepwaters(definedas.200mdepth),yetfewpublished studies on sharks include these taxa. As fisheries worldwide enter deeper waters, the provision of biological data for these little-known taxa is critical to management and conservation. The shortspine spurdog, Squalus cf. mitsukurii ,i s an abundant shark on the insular slopes of the Hawaiian Islands. We assigned ages by counting growth bands on the enamel capsofbothdorsalfinspines.Ageestimatesrangedfrom3to26yearsforfemalesandfrom6to23yearsformales.Growth wasmodelledwithmultiplelength-at-agemodels,fittedusingmaximumlikelihoodestimationandnonlinearleast-squares methods.Forfemaledata,thelogisticmodelyieldedthemostbiologicallycogentparameterestimates(LN ¼126cm(total length, TL) and k ¼0.080 year � 1 ). The two-parameter von Bertalanffy Growth Model yielded optimal model fit and realistic parameter estimates for males (LN ¼72cm (TL) and k ¼0.080 year � 1 ). Maturity ogives suggested that females and males matureat 64-cmTL (15years) and47-cm TL (8.5years), respectively. Fecundity ranged from 3to 10embryos; mating appeared to be aseasonal. We reveal a conservative life history, common among deep-water elasmobranchs, and provide further evidence of geographic variation in reproductive and growth parameters in this nominal species.

Sexually Dimorphic Morphological Characters in Five North Atlantic Deepwater Skates (Chondrichthyes: Rajiformes)

Skates exhibit a variety of manifestations of sexual dimorphism. However, this phenomenon has been poorly documented in deepwater species. New data on the sexual dimorphism of five species of deepwater skates from the North Atlantic Ocean are presented: Amblyraja jenseni, Bathyraja pallida, Bathyraja richardsoni, Rajella bigelowi, and R. kukujevi. These skates exhibit sexual dimorphism most frequently in interorbital width, disc length and width, length of the third gill slit, horizontal diameter of the orbit, length of the fifth gill slit, space between the first and fifth gill slits, length of the second dorsal fin base, mouth width, length and width of each lobe of the nasal curtain, distance from the snout to the center of anus, distance from the snout tip to the point of maximum disc width, length of the lateral fold, length of the orbit

Comparison of Four Commercial Diets and Three Feeding Rates for Black Sea Bass, Centropristis striata, Fingerlings

Abstract A new demand for live black sea bass, Centropristis striata L., is emerging in the fish markets of the northeast United States and Canada. Aquaculturists need to know suitable commercial diets and feeding rates for growing black sea bass to increase profitability. In these experiments, four commercial diets and three feeding rates were compared for juvenile black sea bass (0.8-1.3 g). The diet experiment compared growth rates for fish fed four commercial diets, Rangen Trout and Salmon Starter (R), Nelson and Sons Silver Cup Trout Crumbles (SCT), Nelson and Sons Silver Cup Salmon Crumbles (SCS), and Zeigler Salmon Starter (Z). The feeding rate experiment compared growth rates for fish fed Zeigler Salmon Starter, at 2.5%, 5.0%, and 7.5% levels (dry weight of food/wet weight of fish). At the end of the diet experiment (18 weeks), Tukeys studentized range test (? = 0.05) showed that fish fed diet Z (14.5±0.92 g) were significantly larger than fish fed diet R (11.4±0.93 g). Diets Z and R both produced significantly larger fish than diets SCS (7.3±0.85 g) and SCT (4.5±0.29 g). At the end of the feeding rate experiment (10 weeks), Duncans multiple range test (? = 0.05) showed that fish fed a 7.5% (4.61±0.24 g) rate and a 5.0% (4.49±0.24 g) rate were not significantly different in weight. Both of these treatments produced significantly larger fish than a feeding rate of 2.5% (3.59+0.21 g).

Estimating the Sex Composition of the Summer Flounder Catch using Fishery-Independent Data

Abstract Models that account for sex-specific behavior and population dynamics are becoming more common in the stock assessment of sexually dimorphic fishes. However, such models can be data intensive and require some knowledge or assumptions about the sex ratio of fishery landings. A recent stock assessment review of Summer Flounder Paralichthys dentatus identified the need to account for sex-specific fishing mortality in the assessment model; however, no data on the sex composition of the catch were available. Fishery-independent, sex-specific information for this species is collected annually by the National Marine Fisheries Services Northeast Fisheries Science Center during their bottom trawl survey. Sex at age from the survey could be applied to the fishery landings if the probability of landing a given sex at a given age is equivalent for fish collected by the survey and those in the landings. To generate the first regionally comprehensive database on the sex ratio of Summer Flounder landings and to determine the efficacy of using survey sex-at-age keys to estimate the sex of landed fish, we recorded the sex composition of the commercial and recreational catches of Summer Flounder (n = 31,912) in 2010 and 2011. When (1) trawl survey length data were left-truncated to simulate the minimum retention sizes in the fisheries and (2) age—length keys generated from fishery-dependent data were applied to length frequency distributions from the survey to simulate the growth rates of landed fish, the sex-at-age pattern in the survey-derived data closely resembled the patterns in the catch. However, statistically significant differences in sex at age remained between the catch and the survey-derived data. We hypothesize that these differences are attributable to differences in the spatiotemporal distributions of the sexes and of the survey and fishing effort.

Ultrasound and physical models shed light on the respiratory system of embryonic dogfishes.

Embryos of live-bearing elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) must acquire oxygen in the uterus for several months to more than a year, but the mechanisms of delivery and uptake are still largely unknown. Diagnostic sonography performed on a captive Japanese dogfish (Squalus japonicus) showed that a late-stage embryo used buccal movement to pump uterine fluid, suggesting that the embryo acquires oxygen from uterine fluid via gill ventilation. It has been assumed that embryonic respiration in aplacental sharks depends on oxygen supplied by the uterine wall. To test this hypothesis, the rate of oxygen diffusion was estimated by applying a physical model to the uterine wall of two dogfish species (Squalus cf. mitsukurii and Squalus cubensis). The model calculations indicate that the supply of oxygen via diffusion through the uterine villi contributes less than 15-30% of the total oxygen demand of late-stage embryos. Some previous authors have suggested that pregnant dogfish intermittently exchange uterine fluid with external seawater during late gestation. Thus, late-stage embryos may acquire oxygen primarily from uterine seawater introduced from the external environment.

Squalus clarkae sp. nov., a new dogfish shark from the Northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, with comments on the Squalus mitsukurii species complex

Sharks of the genus Squalus have slow reproductive rates coupled with low genetic diversity, as is typical of deep-water sharks, making this group slow to rebound from depletion due to overfishing. The number of species within Squalus has been expanding recently due to increased attention on taxonomic revision, and a growing research focus on little-known deep-water sharks in general. Here we use genetics and morphology to describe a new species of dogfish shark, Squalus clarkae sp. nov. from the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) which replaces Squalus mitsukurii in this region, and place it in the context of congeners from the Atlantic and elsewhere. Previously, S. clarkae sp. nov. was considered a part of the Squalus mitsukurii species complex, a group of closely related but distinct species. We sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and the NADH Dehydrogenase II gene of S. mitsukurii from the type location in Japan, S. clarkae sp. nov. from the GoM, as well as three closely related species (S. cubensis, S. blainville, and S. megalops) and S. cf. mitsukurii from Brazil. Squalus clarkae sp. nov. is genetically distinct from other species with significant statistical support (>98.6% bootstrap support/posterior probability), and 2.8% divergent from S. mitsukurii in the type location of Japan. Morphological estimates also revealed differences between S. clarkae sp. nov., S. mitsukurii, and other Atlantic Squalus species, with S. clarkae sp. nov. exhibiting a longer body, smaller interorbital space, shorter caudal fin, and a differently-proportioned first dorsal fin. In general, dogfish sharks in the Atlantic and GoM are characterized by similar but distinct morphology, significant genetic variation, and small species ranges.