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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2018 Shifting Distributions of Marine Sponges and the Ecology of an Endemic Species Kathleen Kaiser Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES SHIFTING DISTRIBUTIONS OF MARINE SPONGES AND THE ECOLOGY OF AN ENDEMIC SPECIES By KATHLEEN KAISER A Thesis submitted to the Department of Biological Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science 2018 Kathleen Kaiser defended this thesis on June 19, 2018. The members of the supervisory committee were: Janie L. Wulff Professor Directing Thesis Don R. Levitan Committee Member Sophie J. McCoy Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii This thesis is dedicated to my amazing mother, Mary Kaiser, who, despite a world of obstacles and setbacks, always cheers me on and inspires me to keep striving. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Janie Wulff for her amazing guidance and collaboration throughout this project and many others, as well as her continued encouragement. I thank Don Levitan, and Sophie McCoy for discussion on project development, data analysis, and writing. Special thanks to Gregg Hoffman for facilitating and encouraging in-situ experimentation on Halichondria corrugata, as well as Diver Mike for his guidance and aid in finding and collecting sponges in the Cedar Key and Tarpon Springs regions. Special thanks, also, to Patrick Erwin for his assistance in cholorphyl analysis. I especially want to thank the Florida State Coastal and Marine Lab for the use of their facilities, as well as Chris Peters and the Academic Dive Program for use of reseach gear and assistants. I thank the TH Stone Memoral St. Joseph Peninsula State Park and the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve Center. I also want to thank all of my amazing field and laboratory assistants for their help in project development and implementation including Sandra Brook, Kevin Olson, Jackson Powell, Abbey Engleman, Jose Moscoso, Kate Hill, Alex Strawhand, Kelly Vasbinder, and Jonathan Eskeldson. I would also like to thank the Undergraduate Reseach Opportunity Program at FSU for providing materials grants and for facilitating undergraduate research, without which I would not have many amazing students that aided in field experiments, data analysis, and spicule measurements and preparations including Shannon Conley, Anna Wuest, Alivia Schnoering, Kristie Dick, Kelsey Alter, Michael Swain, and Matthew Norton. I also want to thank the other undergraduates who aided in data collection and analysis including Connor O’Halloran and Dakota Owings. This research was funded by the PADI Foundation (2016 Award, Application number 21857) and the Florida State Coastal and Marine Laboratory Graduate Scholarship Fund, as well as the UROP materials grant. Special thanks to Kate Hill for her never-ending support, advice, and encouragement as a fellow lab mate and friend. A big thank you also to the enthusiastic academic and social support from the biology graduate student community past and present, particularly EERDG, Natalie Ramirez-Bullon, Katie Pearson, Jose Moscoso, Alex Hooks, Jackson Powell, Alex Strawhand, and many others. Finally, thank you to my family and friends for their unconditional encouragement, and for their sincere interest in my research. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 SHIFTING DISTRIBUTIONS OF NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO SPONGES AND COMPARISONS WITH CARIBBEAN FAUNA ............................................. 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 4 Methods....................................................................................................................................... 7 Sampling locations, collection, and species identification ..................................................... 7 Comparisons and confirmation of museum specimens .......................................................... 8 Northeastern Gulf of Mexico shifting distributions of common species ................................ 8 Wider-scale faunal comparisons between the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, Gray’s Reef (GA, U.S.A), and the Caribbean Sea ...................................................................................... 9 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Common species reported in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico from the present study ...... 10 Northeastern Gulf of Mexico shifting distributions of common species .............................. 20 Wider-scale faunal comparisons between the Northern Gulf of Mexico, Gray’s Reef (GA, U.S.A), and the Caribbean Sea ............................................................................................. 27 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 36 Northeastern Gulf of Mexico shifting distributions of common species .............................. 36 Wider-scale faunal comparisons between the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, Gray’s Reef (GA, U.S.A), and the Caribbean Sea .................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 3 ASPECTS OF ECOLOGY THAT ALLOW A SESSILE SPONGE WITH A LIMITED DISTRIBUTION TO THRIVE IN TWO DISSIMILAR HABITATS ....................... 42 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 42 v Methods..................................................................................................................................... 45 Study area.............................................................................................................................. 45 Clonal diversity and recruitment ........................................................................................... 46 Susceptibility to predation .................................................................................................... 48 Predator avoidance strategies ................................................................................................ 48 Seasonal abundance .............................................................................................................. 49 The effect of shading on specific growth and symbiont abundance ..................................... 49 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 51 Clonal diversity and recruitment ........................................................................................... 51 Susceptibility to predation .................................................................................................... 51 Predator avoidance strategies ................................................................................................ 52 Seasonal abundance .............................................................................................................. 52 The effect of shading on specific growth and symbiont abundance ..................................... 54 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 55 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 59 Appendix A Supplementary Information ...................................................................................... 62 References ..................................................................................................................................... 71 Biographical Sketch ...................................................................................................................... 77 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Common species in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico (present study) and past studies. Previously common species reported by Little, de Laubenfels, and Storr from 1950-1963 and currently common species from this study’s collections. Red boxes denote species missing or less common in a study. ¹ Newly reported species. ² Cryptic species Lissodendoryx spinulosa revealed through voucher specimens of L. isodictyalis. ³Missapplication of species name ......... 20 Table 2: Comparison of common Caribbean fauna. Caribbean species reported in Freeman et. al (2007) and Hopkinson et al (1991) at Gray’s Reef (GA, U.S.A) and the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico (present study) and those reported