James M. Grady

Estimated contribution of Atlantic Coastal loggerhead turtle nesting populations to offshore feeding aggregations

AbstractSeasonal feeding grounds for loggerhead sea turtles present relatively unchecked anthropogenic hazards. Commercial fisheries, recreational boating and environmental contamination indirectly threaten subadult feeding areas. The potential effects of these types of threats are difficult to establish without an understanding of the relationship between the feeding areas and individual nesting areas. We perform a mixed stock analysis on seasonal subadult feeding grounds from North Carolina to northern Florida. A total of 216 individuals were captured using either commercial shrimping vessels or vessels with standardized sea turtle trawls. A fragment of the mitochondrial control region was sequenced from each of the individuals and compared with haplotypes at nesting beaches identified previously. Twelve haplotypes were resolved among individuals captured. Mixed stock analysis indicates that the nearby NEFL-NC nesting populations disproportionately contribute to the feeding aggregate and thus perturbations to this feeding ground would weigh most heavily on this nesting area.

Notropis albizonatus, a New Cyprinid Fish Endemic to the Tennessee and Cumberland River Drainages, with a Phylogeny of the Notropis procne Species Group

Notropis albizonatus, n. sp., an endemic to the Tennessee and Cumberland river drainages, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, differs from other members of the Notropis procne species group in having a broad, depigmented supralateral stripe bordered ventrally by a dark midlateral stripe of equal intensity; predorsal stripe obsolescent or wanting; no postdorsal stripe; snout tubercles absent; lateral-line scales 36-38; predorsal scale rows 16-17; and unique genotypes for the Pgm-A locus. Only two disjunct populations of N. albizonatus persist, placing it among the most endangered fishes in North America. The species occurs in the Little South Fork (Cumberland River drainage, Kentucky) and Paint Rock River (Tennessee River drainage, Alabama) where it is an inhabitant of clear, clean pools and runs over rock bottoms. These two systems are being altered by toxic runoff, channelization, and siltation. The species was recently listed as federally endangered. Using the principle of parsimony, we optimized allelic frequencies for 37 presumptive loci on 945 possible unrooted trees for seven species: Notropis alborus, N. albizonatus, N. chihuahua, N. greenei, N. ludibundus, N. procne, and N. uranoscopus. We tested hypothesized sister relationships of N. albizonatus and estimated relationships in the N. procne species group. Notropis albizonatus and N. procne, formerly hypothesized as sister species, exhibit complete genotypic differentiation at three loci, Pep-S, Pgm-A, and Pgdh-A, and are not supported as sister species. Rooting the shortest network (L = 76.38) to either N. alborus or N. greenei, N. albizonatus, N. chihuahua, N. ludibundus, N. procne, and N. uranoscopus comprise a monophyletic assemblage. Notropis albizonatus is the sister species to a N. chihuahua-N. uranoscopus clade, and N. ludibundus-N. procne are sister species, comprising the sister group to the N. albizonatus clade.

Fundulus bifax, a New Species of the Subgenus Xenisma from the Tallapoosa and Coosa River Systems of Alabama and Georgia

fishes from the eastern tropical Atlantic. Jap. J. Ichthy. 33(3):213-222. LEVITON, A. E., R. H. GIBBS, JR., E. HEAL AND C. E. DAWSON. 1985. Standards in herpetology and ichthyology: part I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology. Copeia 1985:802-832. OGILBY,J. D. 1888. Notes and exhibits [remarks on Anthias (Pseudanthias) cichlops.] Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Ser. 2, 3(2):741. RANDALL,J. E., AND G. R. ALLEN. 1978. Anthias pictilis, a new serranid fish from the subtropical southwestern Pacific. Rev. Fr. Aquariol. 5(2):33-36. SMITH, J. L. B. 1955. The fishes of the family Ano and T. Yoshino (eds.). Tokai University ss, Tokyo, Japan. thiidae of the western Indian Ocean. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 12, 8:337-350. . 1961. Fishes of the family Anthiidae from the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Ichthy. Bull., Dept. Ichthy., Rhodes Univ. 21:359-369. SNYDER, J. 0. 1911. Descriptions of new genera and species of fishes fromJapan and the Riu Kiu Islands. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 40:525-549.

Evolutionary and Biogeographic Relationships of Fundulus catenatus (Fundulidae)

Evolutionary relationships among 21 geographic samples of the northern studfish, Fundulus catenatus, were inferred from genotype distributions at 24 presumptive gene loci. Phylogenetic treatment of allozymic data support a widespread ancestral distribution for the species in the region of the Central Highlands. Allozymic data further support a primary divergence between a Cumberland, Green, and Tennessee River segment of this ancestral distribution and an Indiana, lower Mississippi River, Ouachita, and Ozark population. Disjunct populations extant in the Ouachita Uplands represent an early divergence from an Indiana-Ozark-lower Mississippi River lineage. The White River, Indiana, and Ozark populations remain close relatives, with the lower Mississippi River populations diverging from this lineage. The inferred pattern of relationships is generally consistent with predictions based on recent hypotheses concerning the historical biogeography of the Central Highlands. One noteworthy point of divergence concerns the apparent close relationship between Ozark and Indiana populations. Such a pattern of relationship supports the persistence of gene flow across the region that is now the Central Lowlands after isolation of the Ouachita Highlands.

Life history ofEtheostoma caeruleum (Pisces: Percidae) in Bayou Sara, Louisiana and Mississippi

The life history of Etheostoma caeruleum was studied from collections made between September 1976 and July 1981 in Bayou Sara, a lower Mississippi River tributary. The principal habitat of rainbow darters was shallow gravel riffles or runs over firm substrates. In Bayou Sara, the reproductive season extended from late March through April and possibly into June. Males and females were sexually mature in their first year. Counts of unovulated mature ova ranged from 17–125 (\( {\bar {\text {X}}} \) = 66). Rainbow darters reached a maximum age of 37 months and a maximum size of 50 mm. Individuals reached an average of 34 mm in the first year and 41 mm after two years. A significantly higher number of males than females was present in the 1+ and 2+ year classes. Chironomids, siphlonurids, and simuliids comprised the bulk of the diet. Simuliid and hydropsychid consumption increased with increased size.

Cytonuclear Patterns of Genetic Diversity and the Intricate Evolutionary History of the Inland Silverside (Menidia beryllina)

DNA sequence variation at a mitochondrial and a nuclear intron locus was surveyed within and among multiple populations of the inland silverside (Menidia beryllina) from the southeastern United States and revealed discordant phylogenetic patterns but similar patterns of population genetic variation across nuclear and mitochondrial loci. Mitochondrial variation was geographically structured, with strongly supported monophyletic assemblages among Gulf of Mexico population samples and a close association of the St Johns River (SJ) population with these same samples. Nuclear alleles were not strongly structured geographically, with little support for monophyly within or across basins. Conversely, population genetic parameters indicate that the bulk of genetic diversity for both genomes resides within and among Gulf of Mexico populations and that diversity within the Atlantic is largely restricted to the SJ population. The contrast in genetic variation and population phylogenies appears to be a function of historical demographic processes, most likely directed by fluctuating geomorphology of the Florida peninsula in response to North American glaciation cycles.

Evidence for tandem duplication of a glucosephosphate isomerase locus in Sciaenops ocellatus

Abstract Starch gel electrophoresis of the enzyme glucosephosphate isomerase from samples of tissue of the red drum ( Sciaenops ocellatus ) revealed more isozyme bands than would be expected for a dimeric protein that is coded by two loci, the common condition among teleostean fishes. We conclude that this is the result of a recent tandem duplication of the Gpi-B locus.