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ECOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE FLORIDA SEA CUCUMBER, HOLOTHURIA FLORIDANA, IN SEAGRASS AND HARD-BOTTOM COMMUNITIES OF THE FLORIDA KEYS By NATHAN PATRICK BERKEBILE A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 © 2017 Nathan Patrick Berkebile To everyone in my family, especially my mother and father ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my mother and father for creating a hospitable and productive environment during my childhood, which directly resulted in the person I am today. They have supported me throughout my life and have continued doing so throughout my duration, here at University of Florida. I want to acknowledge Dr. Donald Behringer for being my advisor and all his help guiding me through my project. He has provided me with a wealth of knowledge on experimental design and experimentation. I would also like to acknowledge my committee members; Dr. Shirley Baker and Dr. J. Antonio Baeza, for helping me strengthen and centralize my project and providing me with intellectual input. I am also grateful for Karen Bray and Cynthia Hight, who provided me with important deadlines throughout my time here. Without their help, in addition to Dr. Behringer’s, my plan of study would not have been kept up to date and I would not have taken the most influential classes that I did. I would also like to thank Dr. Ed Phlips, Leslie Landauer, and Dr. Patrick Baker for their involvement in processing my chlorophyll a and grain size sediment samples. I could not have asked for better mentors for understanding the methodology. Furthermore, in analyzing and interpreting my data, I want to give an incredible thanks to James Colee, as he explained statistical tests to me in the most basic of terms, allowing me to easily manipulate my data. Finally, I would like to acknowledge every friend and family member that has helped me conduct field survey in the Florida Keys, as they were the backbone to my project. Without all of you, conducting each study would have been nightmarish. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................10 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................13 Sea Cucumbers and their Ecological and Distributional Patterns ..........................................13 Species Assessment .........................................................................................................13 Effects of Holothurian Foraging on Sediment Characteristics ........................................14 Environmental Variables that Correlate with Holothurian Abundance and Distribution ..................................................................................................................15 Marine Ornamental Fisheries .................................................................................................17 2 TROPHIC IMPORTANCE OF HOLOTHURIA FLORIDANA IN HARD-BOTTOM AND SEAGRASS HABITATS .............................................................................................20 Trophic Importance of Holothuria floridana .........................................................................20 Methods ..................................................................................................................................21 Objective 1: Ossicle and Reproductive Comparison between Hard-bottom and Seagrass Morphologies of Holothuria floridana .........................................................21 Objective 2: Relative Predation on H. floridana .............................................................22 Objective 3: Effect of H. floridana Foraging on Sediment Characteristics ....................23 Total organic content ................................................................................................25 Chlorophyll a and pheopigments ..............................................................................26 Grain size distribution ..............................................................................................27 Results.....................................................................................................................................28 Objective 1: Ossicle and Reproductive Comparison between Hard-bottom and Seagrass Morphologies of Holothuria floridana .........................................................28 Objective 2: Relative Predation on H. floridana .............................................................28 Objective 3: Effect of H. floridana Foraging on Sediment Characteristics ....................29 Discussion ...............................................................................................................................41 Relative Predation on H. floridana ..................................................................................41 Effect of H. floridana Foraging on Sediment Characteristics .........................................42 Trophic Importance .........................................................................................................43 5 3 ENVIRONMENTAL CORRELATES WITH THE DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF HOLOTHURIA FLORIDANA ................................................................45 Distribution of Holothuria floridana ......................................................................................45 Methods ..................................................................................................................................47 Analysis ..................................................................................................................................48 Results.....................................................................................................................................48 Discussion ...............................................................................................................................57 4 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................60 APPENDIX: SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS........................................................................62 LIST OF REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................66 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................74 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 2-1 Results of a repeated measures MANCOVA analysis summarize the effect of H. floridana on the chlorophyll a and total organic content within the sediment. Grain size distribution was used as a covariate. Significant values (α < 0.05) are in bold. .........30 3-1 Results of the full multiple linear regression model of environmental variables that correlate with H. floridana distribution. Contribution strength of each variable is denoted in standardized coefficients beta column, which determines if the respective ....49 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 1-1 The study area in the Florida Keys is interspersed with seagrass and hard-bottom habitats throughout the Florida Bay and westerly towards the GOM. Black ovals denote all study sites per each objective. An imaginary line of demarcation is seen s. ....19 2-1 Hard-bottom and seagrass sites where holothurians were tethered in. ..............................32 2-2 The percent mortality of larger and smaller H. floridana was captured within and between seagrass and hard-bottom habitats, in the lower and middle Keys. .....................33 2-3 The mean total organic content (%) at Sawyer Key and Channel Key, before and after the 1-month trial.. ......................................................................................................34 2-4 The mean total organic content (%) sampled at Sawyer Key, before and after the 1- month trial. .........................................................................................................................35 2-5 The mean total organic content (%) sampled at Channel Key, before and after the 1- month trial.. ........................................................................................................................35 2-6 The mean change in chlorophyll a (ug/mL) at Sawyer Key and Channel Key, before and after the 1-month trial. Error bars represent ± 1 SE. ...................................................36 2-7 The mean chlorophyll a (ug/mL) at Sawyer Key, before and after the 1-month trial.. .....37 2-8 The mean chlorophyll a (ug/mL) at Channel Key, before and after the 1-month trial. .....37 2-9 Grain size of the sediment at Sawyer Key.. .......................................................................38 2-10 Grain size of the sediment at Channel Key. .......................................................................39 2-11 Percent