ABSTRACTS – 2008 JOINT MEETING OF ICHTHYOLOGISTS & HERPETOLOGISTS COMPLIED BY M.A. DONNELLY (underlined name = presenter) Roberts to Zawadzki 0706 Poster Session III, Sunday July 27, 2008 Mixed Stock Analysis of Adult Male Loggerhead Sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA Mark Roberts1, Adena Leibman1, Christopher Anderson1, Albert Segars2, Michael Arendt2, Joseph Quattro1 1University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, United States, 2South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Charleston, SC, United States Relatively little is known about male sea turtles compared to their female counterparts. While genetic studies have shown that males are not restricted to mating only with females from their natal beach, freeing them from the geographic constraints such a restriction might place on their movements, it is still unclear where males spend the majority of their lives. Unlike females, whose nesting activity makes them easily observable, males are seldom seen. Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the North Atlantic are well studied, with genetically identifiable nesting populations. Using this information, several studies have been conducted to determine the natal origins of mixed aggregates of subadult loggerheads, particularly in the south eastern United States. However, analyses of this type are typically incapable of detecting differences between males and females. Given previously published genetic studies describing different mating strategies for the two sexes, as well as temperature dependent sex determination allowing for different sex ratios on thermally dissimilar beaches, an understanding of the sex-specific composition of mixed aggregates is important information to consider in conservation management decisions. Here, 39 identifiable males and 27 undifferentiated subadults from a mixed feeding assemblage at Cape Canaveral, Florida - a known biogeographic “break” in sea turtles - are analyzed to determine potential natal beach contributions. This unique data set provides further insight into male loggerhead sea turtle life histories. ___________________________________________________________________________ 0761 General Herpetology II, Jarry/Joyce, Monday July 28, 2008 Reptile and Amphibian Responses to Large-Scale Wildfires in Southern California Carlton Rochester, Cheryl Brehme, Denise Clark, Drew Stokes, Stacie Hathaway, Robert Fisher United States Geological Survey - Biological Resources, San Diego, California, United States In 2003, southern California experienced several large fires that burned thousands of hectares of wildlife habitats and conserved lands. In order to investigate the effects of the fires on reptile and amphibian communities, we compared the results from pre- fire sampling to those from the second and third years post-fire among 38 burned and 17 unburned plots. The sampling plots were spread over four vegetation types and four open space areas within San Diego County. Our capture results indicate that burned chaparral and coastal scrub lost herpetofaunal species diversity post-fire and displayed a significant shift in community structure. In these vegetation types, the average shrub and tree cover after the fires decreased by 55% in chaparral and 76% in coastal scrub. Post-burn herpetofauna community structure was more similar to unburned grassland. We found no differences in herpetofaunal species diversity or community composition in grasslands or woodland/riparian vegetation where shrub and tree cover did not change. At the individual species level, Sceloporus occidentalis was the most abundant reptile both before and after the fires. We saw increased net capture rates for Aspidoscelis tigris, Phrynosoma coronatum, and Uta stansburiana in burned chaparral and Aspidoscelis hyperythra and Uta stansburiana in burned coastal scrub. The toad, Bufo boreas, was detected at significantly fewer burned plots in chaparral after the fires. Additionally, we documented decreases in the area occupied by Elgaria multicarinata, Batrachoseps major, Coluber constrictor, Lampropeltis getula, Pituophis catenifer, and Masticophis lateralis in coastal scrub and chaparral. We discuss these individual species results as they relate to specific life history traits, such as susceptibility to initial mortality and post-fire changes in habitat suitability and prey availability. We foresee that a continued unnatural fire regime for southern California will result in a simplification of the southern California reptile and amphibian communities. ___________________________________________________________________________ 0147 General Herpetology I, Salon 4&5, Sunday July 27, 2008 Diet of Burmese Pythons in South Florida Michael Rochford1, Matthew Brien1, Michael Cherkiss1, Skip Snow2, Kenneth Rice3, Michael Dorcas4, Laurie Wilkins5, Frank Mazzotti1 1University of Florida, Fort Lauderdale Reserach and Education Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, 2South Florida Natural Resources Center, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida, United States, 3U.S. Geological Survey, Florida Integrated Science Center, Gainesville, Florida, United States, 4Department of Biology, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina, United States, 5Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida, United States Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) are native to southeast Asia, but are an invasive, non-native species that has become established in the Southern Everglades, and potentially other conservation areas in south Florida on both the mainland and the Florida Keys. They are generalist predators that consume a wide variety of mammal and bird species, as well as reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Our purpose is to understand the diet of Burmese pythons in order to assess their impact on native fauna and to predict what species are at risk. Prey species in the digestive tracts of Burmese pythons were identified by examining hair, bone, and teeth. Fourteen species of mammals, five species of birds, and one species of reptile have been found in the digestive tracts of pythons collected and examined in Florida, including several federally endangered Key Largo woodrats (Neotoma floridana smalli); one threatened species, the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis); and two species of special concern, the limpkin (Aramus guarauna) and the white ibis (Endocemus albus). We have also found the remains of a bobcat (Lynx rufus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Given the diverse dietary habits of the Burmese python, it is possible that other federally endangered or threatened species in Florida may be at risk as prey. In addition to the Key Largo woodrat, protected species believed to be at risk include the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), mangrove fox squirrel (Sciurus niger avicennia), Key Largo cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus allapaticola), wood stork (Mycteria Americana), Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritiumus mirabilis), and American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). ___________________________________________________________________________ 0089 Biodiversity & Agriculture I, Drummond, Friday July 25, 2008 Agrochemicals Increase Trematode Infections in a Declining Amphibian Species Jason Rohr1, Thomas Raffel1, Neal Halstead1, John Romansic1, Anna Schotthoefer2, Hunter Carrick3, Jason Hoverman4, Catherine Johnson5, Lucinda Johnson5, Camilla Lieske2, Marvin Piwoni6, Patrick Schoff5, Val Beasley2 1University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States, 2University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States, 3Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States, 4University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States, 5University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, United States, 6Illinois Waste Management and Research Center, Champaign, IL, United States Global amphibian declines have often been attributed to disease, but ignorance of the relative importance and mode of action of potential drivers of infection has made it difficult to develop effective remediation. In our field study, the widely used herbicide, atrazine, at measured concentrations less than 1 µg/L, was the best of over 240 plausible predictors of the abundance of larval trematodes (parasitic flatworms) in the declining northern leopard frog, Rana pipiens, and the effects of atrazine were consistent across trematode taxa. The combination of atrazine and phosphate, major agrochemicals in global corn and sorghum production, accounted for 74% of the variation in the abundance of these often debilitating larval trematodes. Path analysis of the field data and mesocosm experiments support a causal mechanism whereby these agrochemicals increase exposure and susceptibility to larval trematodes by augmenting intermediate hosts and suppressing amphibian immunity. These results raise concerns about the role of atrazine and phosphate in amphibian declines and illustrate the value of quantifying the relative importance of multiple plausible drivers and mechanisms of disease risk. ___________________________________________________________________________ 0055 General Ichthyology II, Salon 6&7, Saturday July 26, 2008; STOYE GENERAL ICHTHYOLOGY Phylogenetic Systematics of the Flatfish Family Pleuronectidae (Percomorpha: Pleuronectiformes) Dawn Roje University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States The pleuronectiform family Pleuronectidae contains 60 species of primarily dextral flatfishes, in 23 genera. They occupy mostly benthic marine habitats and maintain a broad distribution,