THE 10th INDO-PACIFIC FISH CONFERENCE
Book of Abstracts
TAHITI - 2-6 October 2017
1 Table of contents
A1/ Evolution and biology of ‘primitive’ and fossil fishes 33
Adaptive radiation of Pelagia (Teleostei: Acanthomorpha) indicated by 3D mor- phometry, Hermione Beckett [et al.]...... 34
Awesome variation in genomic organization in polyploid Acipenseriformes, Anna Barmintseva [et al.]...... 35
Dead fish CSI: Reconstructing the enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish analogue Protosphyraena (Teleosteomorpha: Pachycormidae), Anthony Maltese...... 36
Early members of a ‘living fossil’ lineage and a later origin for modern ray-finned fishes, Sam Giles [et al.]...... 37
Insight on sturgeon phylogeny and biogeography from mitogenomes and NGS- based nuclear loci sequencing., Nikolai Mugue [et al.]...... 38
Megaplanktivory, Past and Present: A comparison of Jurassic large suspension- feeders of the IndoPacific with contemporary analogues., Jeff Liston...... 39
New Data on the Endoskeletal Morphology and Evolution of Early Jawed Fishes, Mar- tin Brazeau [et al.]...... 40
New marine fish faunas from the middle Eocene (Lutetian) of Pakistan: implica- tions for the origin of the Indo-Pacific fauna, Matt Friedman [et al.]...... 41
Polyploid evolution and functional genome diploidization in sturgeons, Victor Vasil’ev [et al.]...... 42
Saber-toothed fossil anchovies (Teleostei: Engrauloidea) from the early-middle Eocene of Belgium and Pakistan, with comments on clupeiform phylogeny and feeding adaptations, Alessio Capobianco [et al.]...... 43
1 The Emergence of Modern Marine Fish Faunas after the Jurassic-Cretaceous Cri- sis, Lauren Sallan [et al.]...... 45
The evolution of teleost otolith morphology and its applications in paleoichthyol- ogy, Werner Schwarzhans [et al.]...... 46
The features of the Neogene stage of the North Pacific ichthyofauna development as inferred from two fossil fish complexes from Sakhalin, Russia, Mikhail Nazarkin 47
A2/ Genes to Genomes: Forging ahead in the study of marine evolution 48
A high-quality Genome of the Clownfish Amphiprion Percula, Robert Lehmann [et al.]...... 49
Addressing intractable groups in the Fish Tree of Life using genome-wide Gene Genealogy Interrogation, Ricardo Betancur [et al.]...... 50
Comparative genomics of anemonefish and chromosome evolution in reef fish, Damien Lightfoot [et al.]...... 51
Contrasting patterns of population structure and connectivity across northern Australia in a commercially important fish Lutjanus johnii: integrating popula- tion genetics, genomics and ecological markers., Laura Taillebois [et al.]..... 52
Coral Reefs as Stepping Stones in a Range Expansion: The historical Demography of blacktip reef sharks revealed by genomic data, Stefano Mona [et al.]...... 53
Draft assembly and annotation of A. glossodonta and A. vulpes genomes, Keoni Kauwe [et al.]...... 54
Evolutionary history of endemic coral reef fish species of Rapa Nui, Erwan Delrieu- Trottin [et al.]...... 55
Explosive diversification of marine fishes at the Cretaceous-Paleogene bound- ary, Brant Faircloth [et al.]...... 56
Finding Evolutionary Links and Genes in Adaptive Radiations of Reef Gobies (Gobiidae) by Targeted Gene Capture, Kendall Johnson [et al.]...... 58
Genomic Analysis of Disjunct Marine Fish Populations of the Northeastern Pacific and Sea of Cortez, Eric Garcia [et al.]...... 59
Genomic signatures of parallel selection in surfperches (Embiotocidae), Gary Longo [et al.]...... 60
Genomics of adaptation in the ocean, Agostinho Antunes...... 61
2 Genomics of habitat choice and adaptive evolution in the deep sea, Michelle Gaither [et al.]...... 62
How the devil ray got its horns: the genetic basis of body plan remodeling in manta rays and their relatives, Karen Crow...... 63
Hybridisation between sympatric species of coral reef fish, Samuel Payet [et al.]. 64
Investigating the genetic basis of clownfish adaptive radiation using comparative genomics, Anna Marcionetti [et al.]...... 65
Long live the kingfish: patterns and processes of evolution in carangiform fishes, Jes- sica Glass [et al.]...... 66
Marine connectivity in time and space: Insights from an intertidal goby, Joshua Thia [et al.]...... 67
Pathways and perils: Building up genomic resources in a specialized group of reef fish, Joseph Dibattista...... 68
Population genomics of New Zealand snapper and testing for size-selective fishing using ancient DNA, Peter Ritchie...... 69
The Future of Phylogenomics, Prosanta Chakrabarty...... 70
The Genomic Observatories Metadatabase (GeOMe): A new repository for field and sampling event metadata associated with genetic samples, Eric D. Crandall [et al.]...... 71
Through a liquid glass to the eye of the beholder: Visual ecology of coral reef fishes isolated by the Isthmus of Panama, Michele Pierotti [et al.]...... 72
Time-calibrated Phylogenomic Reconstruction of Batfishes (Lophiiformes: Ogco- cephalidae), Cerise Chen...... 73
Toward resolving complex evolutionary history of the Indo-West Pacific sergeant majors (Pomacentridae: Abudefduf), Wei-Jen Chen...... 74
Understanding Anti-Tropical Distributions in Centrarchiformes, William Ludt [et al.]...... 75
A3/ Integrative approaches in understanding fish diversity: Morphology, Sys- tematics, and Taxonomy 76
A review of the genus Sparidentex (Pisces: Perciformes, Sparidae) with a new species from the Indian Ocean, Yukio Iwatsuki [et al.]...... 77
3 Balistoid Habitat Use and Swimming Performance: An Evolutionary Perspec- tive, Andrew George [et al.]...... 78
Convergent evolution in the lateral line system between two subfamilies of Apogo- nidae: a view from the innervation, Mao Sato [et al.]...... 79
Cryptic species and strong genetic sub-structure in a tropical freshwater stream headwater-specialist, the Exquisite Rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae: Melanotaenia exquisita), Michael Hammer [et al.]...... 80
Evolution of the oral dentition in sparisomine parrotfish (Scarinae, Labriformes), J´er´emie Viviani [et al.]...... 81
Innovations and the conquest of the oceans by acanthomorph fishes, Peter Wain- wright [et al.]...... 82
Integrating morphology and genetics to study the larval community of gobies in the central Arabian Red Sea, Stamatina Isari [et al.]...... 83
Macroevolution and speciation in freshwater Glossogobius from Sulawesi, Dou- glass Hoese [et al.]...... 84
Morphological and genetic variation of Gymnothorax undulatus (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) in the Western Indian Ocean, Yonela Sithole [et al.]...... 85
Ontogenetic and phylogenetic simplification during white stripe evolution in anemone- fish, Pauline Salis [et al.]...... 86
Ontogeny of tooth replacement of Molidae (Ocean Sunfishes) and Diodontidae (Porcupinefishes), Katherine Bemis [et al.]...... 87
Overview of the skeletal anatomy and systematics of Zoarcoidei (Cottiformes), Eric Hilton...... 88
Review of the Indo-West Pacific genus Parapterois (Scorpaenidae: Pteroinae), Mizuki Matsunuma [et al.]...... 89
Review of the triplefin genus Helcogramma (Tripterygiidae) in Japanese waters with two undescribed species, Satokuni Tashiro [et al.]...... 90
Species grouping within the genus Apristurus Garman, 1913 using dermal denti- cles, Justin Cordova [et al.]...... 91
Taxonomic review of the cardinalfish genus Apogon (Apogonidae) in Japan, To- mohiro Yoshida [et al.]...... 92
4 Taxonomic review of the genus Kaiwarinus Suzuki 1962 (Perciformes: Carangi- dae), Seishi Kimura [et al.]...... 93
Taxonomic status of five nominal species in the genus Stolephorus (Clupeiformes: Engraulidae), Harutaka Hata [et al.]...... 94
The Intermuscular Bones and Ligaments of Batrachoidiformes (Percomorphacea: Teleostei), Diego Vaz [et al.]...... 95
The Osumi Line: a newly recognized major biogeographical boundary line for fishes in southern Japan, Hiroyuki Motomura [et al.]...... 96
The influence of sociality and foraging strategy on the evolution of defensive morphology in butterflyfishes, Jennifer Hodge [et al.]...... 97
Two undescribed species of the genus Iniistius (Labridae) from Australia and the Philippines, Yoshino Fukui [et al.]...... 98
A4/ Bio/Phylo-geographical patterns and processes in Indo-Pacific coral reef fishes 99
A subtropical reef fish with a disjunct distribution: one species or two?, Thomas Trnski [et al.]...... 100
Assessing spatial patterns of coral reef fishes : the contribution of a multi- component beta-diversity approach, Ga¨elleLegras [et al.]...... 101
Biodiversity and biogeography of reef fishes of the remote and near-pristine Kim- berley, Western Australia, Glenn Moore [et al.]...... 102
Biogeographic Patterns of the Pomacentridae with insight into the Coral Trian- gle, Chloe Nash [et al.]...... 103
Biogeographic patterns in major marine realms: function not taxonomy unites fish assemblages in reef, seagrass and mangrove systems, Christopher Hemingson [et al.]...... 104
Breakdown in assortative mating leads to hybrid swarm in pygmy angelfishes, Tane Sinclair-Taylor [et al.]...... 105
Comparative phylogeography of fishes in the South China Sea, Nozomu Muto [et al.]...... 106
Drivers of reef fish assemblages in the Indian Ocean, Melita Samoilys [et al.]... 108
5 Ecological and evolutionary drivers of reef fish agonistic interactions, Luisa Fon- toura [et al.]...... 109
Emergent patterns of genetic diversity across the Indo-Pacific Ocean, Libby Lig- gins [et al.]...... 110
Environmental drivers of Pomacentridae distribution and abundance in American Samoa, Motusaga Vaeoso...... 112
Evolutionary processes underlying reef fish latitudinal differences in biodiver- sity, Alexandre Siqueira [et al.]...... 113
Further insight into the iterative ecological radiation of damselfishes (Pomacen- tridae), Laura Gajdzik [et al.]...... 114
New phylogenetic trees, evolutionary history and global biogeographic patterns of coral reef fishes using all-species phylogenetic trees, Mark Westneat...... 115
Origins of Hawaiian reef fauna: evidence from sister pairs of Pacific blennies, Michael Hoban [et al.]...... 116
Phylogenetic diversity of New Zealand ray-finned fishes across depth and lati- tude., David Eme [et al.]...... 117
Phylogenetic perspectives on reef fish functional traits, Sergio Floeter [et al.].. 119
Phylogeography, Biogeography, and the Origins of Indo-Pacific Reef Fishes, Brian Bowen [et al.]...... 120
Population genomics and phenotypic differentiation between pairs of sister species of clownfishes, Joris Bertrand [et al.]...... 121
Quantifying the emergent geography of dispersal barriers and environmental gra- dients: biogeographic implications across the Indo-Pacific., Eric Treml [et al.].. 122
Response of reef fish functional groups to local stressors in American Samoa, Alice Lawrence...... 123
Revisiting the ”Center Hypotheses” of the Indo-West Pacific: Idiosyncratic ge- netic diversity of nine reef species offers weak support for a center of biodiver- sity., Ambrocio Melvin Matias [et al.]...... 124
The biogeography of tropical reef fishes: endemism and provinciality through time, Peter Cowman [et al.]...... 125
The reefish Atlas, Fran¸coisGuilhaumon [et al.]...... 126
6 A5/ Ecology & Evolution of Gobies 127
A Survey of Reproductive Morphology of Gobioid Fishes, Part 1: Rhyacichthys aspro, Kathleen Cole [et al.]...... 128
Characterization of hybridization within a secondary contact region of the inshore fish, Bostrychus sinensis, in the East China Sea, Shaoxiong Ding [et al.]..... 129
Comparative assessment of morphological and pigmentation characters during larval development of species of 10 genera of F. Gobiidae and one genus of F. Eleotridae, Tony Miskiewicz...... 130
Diet and body shape changes of p¯aroko Kelloggella disalvoi (Gobiidae) from in- tertidal pools of Easter Island, Southeast Pacific, J Vera-Duarte [et al.]...... 131
Discoveries of cryptic goby species: history and perspectives in the Indo-Pacific, Eka- terina Vasil’eva [et al.]...... 132
Ecological drivers of speciation and phenotypic evolution in gobiiform fishes, Tyler Mccraney [et al.]...... 133
Goby fossils and what they can tell us, Bettina Reichenbacher [et al.]...... 134
Gonad Structure of Juveniles of the Hermaphroditic Goby Species, Eviota epiphanes, He- lena Barreto [et al.]...... 135
Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of the gobioid fishes, Takeshi Kon [et al.]...... 136
Neglected taxa, morphology and molecules: recent advances in systematics of gobioid fishes (Teleostei, Gobioidei), Lukas R¨uber [et al.]...... 137
New data on the distribution of the fossil gobiiform fishes in the Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys, Alexander Bannikov...... 138
Restructuring the gonad: how does a bidirectional hermaphroditic fish undergo shifts from ova to sperm production, Jessica Maxfield [et al.]...... 139
Using exon capture sequencing to determine the population structure of am- phidromous gobies from the genus Stenogobius in the Central Pacific, Kirill Vin- nikov [et al.]...... 140
Wading into the Mud: Phylogeny and Evolution of the Amblyopine Gobies, Zee- han Jaafar [et al.]...... 141
What is the information of goby otolith morphology?, Christoph Gierl [et al.].. 142
7 B1/ Sustainable pathways in reef fisheries: Maintaining catches and ecosys- tem functioning 143
A vulnerability-based approach to promote synergies in the management of small- scale fisheries, Lauric Thiault [et al.]...... 144
Assessing value of subsea infrastructure for fish and fisheries: informing decom- missioning options, Dianne Mclean [et al.]...... 145
Decadal declines in the small-scale inshore fishery of Pohnpei, Micronesia, Kevin Rhodes [et al.]...... 146
Fish nurseries: how context drives the functional value of habitats for reef and coastal fishes., Michael Bradley [et al.]...... 147
Fundamental drivers of reef fish growth, Renato Morais [et al.]...... 148
Herbivorous fishes respond to changes in fishing gear but not to spatial manage- ment in an Indonesian national park, Sonia Bejarano [et al.]...... 149
Human influence on the regional distribution of bioerosion by parrotfish in New Caledonian reefs: a matter of size, Nina Schiettekatte [et al.]...... 150
Indo-Pacific Groupers: going, going, gone?, Min Liu [et al.]...... 151
Influence of market value and broad scale habitat on reef fish wariness, Ellen D’cruz [et al.]...... 152
Marine protected areas increase resilience among coral reef communities, Camille Mellin [et al.]...... 153
Modeling Population Dynamics for Sustainable Harvest of Orange Clownfish, Emma Schlatter [et al.]...... 154
Monitoring fisheries in the Phoenix Island Protective Area by satellite, Johnny Aase...... 155
Performance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park since the 2004 re-zoning, Mike Emslie...... 156
Regional Differences in Fishing Pressure and Habitat Quality Alter the Organic Matter Supporting Fish in a Temperate Rocky Reef Community, Jacquetta Udy [et al.]...... 157
Subsistence harvesting by a small community does not substantially compromise coral reef fish assemblages, Tyson Martin [et al.]...... 158
8 The functional backstop of reef fisheries conservation, Aaron Macneil...... 159
Towards management for resilience: Combined effects of natural disturbances and fisheries activities on coral reef ecosystem functioning., M´elodie Dubois [et al.].. 160
Where fishing meets function: the intersection of spearfishing selectivity and func- tional roles of herbivorous fishes on Fijian coral reefs, Ryan Mcandrews [et al.]. 161
B2/ Marine Reserves as Tools for Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management in the Indo-Pacific 162
Can collaborative governance arrangements effectively scale up local fisheries management?, Rebecca Weeks [et al.]...... 163
Cost benefit analysis of proposed marine sanctuary in French Polynesia’s Austral archipelago, Guillaume Leport...... 164
High prevalence of homing behaviour in juvenile coral reef fishes may limit spatial responsiveness of fish communities, Robert Streit [et al.]...... 165
Long-term effects of marine reserves and habitat change on coral reef fishes: a 20-year study, Maya Srinivasan [et al.]...... 166
Management and mitigation of drifting FAD fishing in the world largest tuna purse seine fishery, Lauriane Escalle [et al.]...... 167
Marine protected areas are natural responses to fisheries expansion, Daniel Pauly 168
Marine reserve network design for coral reef fisheries, Nils Krueck [et al.]..... 169
No-take marine reserves in Moorea, French Polynesia decrease wariness but do not increase abundance, Brooke Gibbons [et al.]...... 170
Partially protected areas: a conservation middle ground?, April Hall [et al.]... 171
Relationships between Zooplankton Production, Pelagic Fish Production and Commercial Finfish Catch in Tropical Shelves, Bruce Hodgson...... 172
Science inventory of the Austral Islands’ marine environment and project of large marine reserve by the population of the 5 Austral islands, Donatien Tanret [et al.] 174
The role of marine protected areas in the replenishment of local fisheries, Hugo Harrison [et al.]...... 175
Towards a network of large marine reserves in the Pacific ocean, J´erˆomePetit.. 176
9 Tracking Interactions of Large Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries from Space, Kristina Boerder [et al.]...... 177
B3/ Aquaculture of native marine and estuarian South Pacific finfish 178
Aquaculture in French Polyn´esia:from rural to industrial sectors, Lafille Marc- Andr´e...... 179
Environmental analysis method to guide aquaculture sustainable development: case study in Mayotte marine natural park, Killian Chary [et al.]...... 180
Nutritional evaluation of two types of euryhaline rotifers Brachionus plicatilis sp. complex and digestive enzyme response at first feeding in Japanese Flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus, Viliame Waqalevu [et al.]...... 182
Treatment of bacterial disease in fish aquaculture by natural products from French Polynesia, Tepoerau Mai [et al.]...... 183
C1/ The role of fishes on coral reefs 184
A morphological and functional basis for maximum prey size in piscivorous fishes, Michalis Mihalitsis [et al.]...... 185
Assessing the Population Structure and Characterizing Spatio-temporal Distribu- tions of a Red Hind (Epinephelus guttatus) Spawning Aggregation in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Jonathan Brown [et al.]...... 186
Behavioral indicators provide insight into a fish’s perception of coral reefs: impli- cations for management., Margaret Malone [et al.]...... 187
Collective Aggressiveness of Fish Social Groups Contributes to Variation in Coral Replenishment, Sally Holbrook [et al.]...... 188
Coral-damselfish mutualism: effects on photosynthesis and links to predation risk, Sebastian Ferse [et al.]...... 189
Exploring the functional traits which may provide mechanism of assembly rules among reef fishes from contrasting habitat types, Catalina Ruz [et al.]...... 190
Fish as a primary source of reef carbonate sediment: an overlooked ecosystem process?, Michael Salter [et al.]...... 191
Fish-derived nutrients and their roles in Indo-Pacific coral reef systems, Burkepile Deron [et al.]...... 192
10 Lek-like versus Promiscuous Mating Systems on a Resident Spawning Aggregation Site: Examples From the Labridae, Terry Donaldson...... 193
Look out behind! Are additional cameras in baited video worthwhile?, Sasha Whitmarsh [et al.]...... 194
Mucus-secreting lips offer protection to suction-feeding corallivorous fishes, Victor Huertas [et al.]...... 195
Pacific-Wide Analysis of Specialization in Herbivorous Reef Fish Assemblages, Eileen Nalley [et al.]...... 196
Parrotfish movement patterns vary with spatiotemporal scale, Jenn Caselle [et al.] 197
Parrotfishes: Can the hypothesis of obligate microphagy explain their evolution- ary history and ecological success., John Choat [et al.]...... 198
Positive indirect effects of top-predators on the survival and behaviour of juvenile fishes, Maria Del Mar Palacios [et al.]...... 199
Quantifying reef-scale rates of parrotfish bioerosion and sediment production, Robert Yarlett [et al.]...... 200
Responses of coral reef fishes to predation risk, Maria Palacios [et al.]...... 201
Spatial differentiation of tropical clupeid populations, Kynan Hartog-Burnett [et al.]...... 202
The conceptual and empirical basis of trophic resource partitioning in herbivorous coral reef fishes, Kendall Clements [et al.]...... 203
The damselfish domino effect: a competitive release in a highly partitioned guild reveals subordinates versatility, Jacob Eurich [et al.]...... 204
The functional roles of fishes on coral reefs: mediation by sediments, Sterling Tebbett [et al.]...... 205
The role of cryptobenthic fishes on coral reefs, Christopher Goatley [et al.].... 206
The role of fishes on coral reefs: an overview, David Bellwood [et al.]...... 207
The struggle for existence – how competition reigns, especially when predation abounds, Stuart Sandin [et al.]...... 208
C2/ Symbiosis in Fishes 209
11 Cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus presence increases post-settlement success of a coral reef fish, Alexandra Grutter [et al.]...... 210
Embryonic learning of chemical cues via the parents’ host in anemonefish (Am- phiprion ocellaris), Kazuko Miyagawa-Kohshima [et al.]...... 211
Molecular phylogeny of obligate fish parasites of the family Cymothoidae (Isopoda, Crustacea): Evolution of the attachment mode to host fish and the habitat shift from saline water to freshwater, Hiroki Hata [et al.]...... 212
Skin microbiome of coral reef fishes is diversified, species-specific and not phylo- genetically conserved, Marl`eneChiarello [et al.]...... 213
The cleaner’s mimic Aspidontus taeniatus utilizes the effect of aggressive mimicry only when it is small, Misaki Fujisawa [et al.]...... 215
The pair bonding in swimming goby, Ptereleotris hanae and the association be- tween P. hanae and coinhabitant two species, nest-digging shrimp and its sentinel goby, Izumi Akagawa [et al.]...... 216
C3/ Fish trophic chains in the Indo-Pacific 217
A new method for inferring diet of coral reef fish by determining mineralized elements in situ within digestive contents using X-Ray microtomography, J´er´emie Viviani [et al.]...... 218
A reconstruction of coral reef food webs in Moorea: fish gut content metabarcod- ing as a tool to disentangle trophic interactions, Jordan Casey [et al.]...... 219
Comparative visual, molecular and stable isotope diet analysis in fishery-targeted groupers, Jordan Matley [et al.]...... 220
Insights from compound-specific isotope analysis into the functional redundancy of herbivorous reef fishes, Matthew Tietbohl [et al.]...... 222
Patterns of trophic structure in a complex marine food web, Brian Zgliczynski [et al.]...... 223
Seabird nutrients enhance fish productivity across trophic levels on coral reefs, Nick Graham [et al.]...... 224
Spatial Variation of Environmental DNA in Coral Reef Ecosystems, Zachary Gold 225
Stomach Content Analysis of Stocky Hawkfish (Cirrhitus pinnulatus) in Laie Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, Daxton Brooks [et al.]...... 226
12 C4/ Acoustic Ecology of Indo-Pacific Fishes 227
Acoustic space sharing in the hullabaloo of a coral reef in Moorea Island, French Polynesia., Fr´ed´ericBertucci [et al.]...... 228
Assessing ecological implications of boat noise disturbance on coral reef fish com- munities, Emma Weschke [et al.]...... 229
Bad parenting and cheating: Impacts of motorboat noise on coral reef fish, Sophie Nedelec [et al.]...... 230
Degraded Great Barrier Reef no longer sounds like home, Tim Gordon [et al.].. 232
Diversity of fish sound types in the Pearl River Estuary, China, Wang Zhitao [et al.]...... 233
Effects of noise on the communication space of New Zealand bigeye, Pempheris adspersa, Rosalyn Putland [et al.]...... 234
Hearing Nemo: Alarm Calling Behaviour in Coral Reef Fish, Isla Keesje David- son [et al.]...... 235
Parrotfish Soundscapes: Implications for coral reef monitoring and management, Tim- othy Tricas [et al.]...... 236
Singing in the right Cay?: Fish choruse contributions to soundscapes, Miles Par- sons [et al.]...... 237
Sound production mechanism in the boxfish Ostracion meleagris and O. cubi- cus, Eric Parmentier [et al.]...... 238
Soundtrack of the Anthropocene: Impacts of global change on coral reef commu- nities in the 21st Century, Steve Simpson...... 239
The influence of habitat degradation on the susceptibility of coral reef fish to motorboat noise, Harry Harding [et al.]...... 240
The use of baited underwater video to monitor fish behaviour in response to boat motor noise, Craig Radford [et al.]...... 241
C5/ Biotelemetry 242
Do Australian Bass overcome an instream barrier during migration?, Culum Brown [et al.]...... 243
13 Movement, habitat preferences and behaviour of swordfish satellite tagged at the southern extent of their known range in Australia, Sean Tracey [et al.]...... 244
Multispecies presence and connectivity around a designed artificial reef off coastal Sydney, Australia, Krystle Keller [et al.]...... 245
Navigation and homing ability in a benthic shark, Sherrie Chambers [et al.]... 246
Travels with whale sharks: satellite-tracking the world’s biggest fish, Samantha Reynolds [et al.]...... 247
Whale shark demography and spatial ecology in Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua, Indonesia, Megan Meyers [et al.]...... 249
C6/ Connectivity and Dispersal in the Indo-Pacific 250
A ecologist guide to disentangling genetic and non-genetic heritabilities in wild marine fish populations, the case study of the Kimbe island orange clownfish, Benoit Pujol [et al.]...... 251
Connectivity within the Red Sea and around the Arabian Peninsula, Michael Berumen [et al.]...... 252
Creating empirically-validated simulations of reef fish larval dispersal, Michael Bode [et al.]...... 253
From spawning to settlement: Identifying fine-scale connectivity in the Convict Tang, Acanthurus triostegus, across Oahu, Richard Coleman [et al.]...... 254
Larval dispersal and connectivity in a coral reef seascape, Geoffrey Jones [et al.]. 255
Larval quality (morphological, physiological and behavioural traits) and disper- sal, Ricardo Beldade [et al.]...... 257
Low potential for adaptive evolution in a wild reef fish population, Oc´eaneSalles [et al.]...... 258
Ontogeny of swimming abilities of larval coral reef fishes and a hypothesis for their impact on the spatial scale of dispersal, John Majoris [et al.]...... 259
Paradigm Lost: Climate change will demolish the paradigm of biophysical larval- fish dispersal, Jeffrey Leis...... 260
Reef fish larval dispersal underscores major challenges for regional coral reef man- agement in the Philippines, Rene Abesamis [et al.]...... 261
14 Reef health influences self-recruitment in a meta-population of Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion akallopisos) in the Indian Ocean connected through larval disper- sal, Filip Huyghe [et al.]...... 263
Scales of marine dispersal, from ecological to evolutionary, Malin Pinsky [et al.]. 264
The ghost in the machine: a review of the biology behind biophysical models of marine larval dispersal, Stephen Swearer [et al.]...... 265
There and back again: patterns and consequences of larval dispersal, Jeff Shima [et al.]...... 266
Weak and monthly variable self-recruitment in the coral reef damselfish Dascyllus aruanus in New Caledonia, C´ecileFauvelot [et al.]...... 267
C7/ Larval recruitment in marine and freshwater fishes: Current issues and future directions 268
Are mangroves important for reef fish on the Island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean?, Rakamaly Madi Moussa...... 269
Artificial Light At Night in the Underwater World, Jack O’connor [et al.].... 270
Effect of the 2011 Tsunami disaster accompanying the Great East Japan Earth- quake on the population dynamics of Japanese tube snout Aulichthys japoni- cus, Go Katayose [et al.]...... 271
Environmental effects on larval swimming performance in Amphiprion chrysopterus, Daphne Cortese [et al.]...... 272
Fish sampling like nowhere else: remote video methods for studying fish popula- tions in a croc infested, turbid, macrotidal system, Camilla Piggott [et al.].... 273
Gaining the competitive edge: is early life-history linked to post-settlement per- formance in a territorial reef fish?, Emily Fobert [et al.]...... 274
Importance of metamorphosis in coral reef fish larval recruitment facing global change and water pollution, Marc Besson [et al.]...... 275
Otolith strontium isotope ratios identify recruitment sources of facultatively am- phidromous fish in a complex riverine lake system, Matt Jarvis [et al.]...... 276
Recruitment of Anguilla japonica glass eels in the Yangtze Estuary, China in relation to environmental variables, Hongyi Guo [et al.]...... 277
15 Thyroid-hormone regulated metamorphosis: a dynamic and plastic process al- lowing ecological and developmental coupling of life history transitions, Vincent Laudet [et al.]...... 278
D1/ Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of Chondrichthyan fishes 279
A Nursery Ground of Sicklefin Lemon Shark, Negaprion acutidens, at the Water of Dongsha Island in Dongsha Atoll National Park, Taiwan, Chen Yu Yun [et al.] 280
An Interactive Online Database for Extant Chondrichthyan Fishes, Gavin Naylor 281
Are we underestimating elasmobranch abundances on BRUVS by using tradi- tional metrics?, Samantha Sherman [et al.]...... 282
Baited remote underwater video system (BRUVS) survey of elasmobranch abun- dance and distribution in the Arabian Gulf., Rima Jabado [et al.]...... 283
Characterization, valuation and conservation of the first nursery area of black- tip and hammerhead sharks in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Catarina Frazao- Santos [et al.]...... 284
Comparative behavioral and physiological response to longline capture in elasmo- branchs, Brendan Talwar [et al.]...... 285
Conservation Status of Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras in the Arabian Sea and Adjacent Waters, Jabado Rima [et al.]...... 286
Direct evidence of contemporary sex-biased reproductive dispersal in threatened river sharks., Pierre Feutry [et al.]...... 287
Evidence for rapid recovery of shark populations within a coral reef marine pro- tected area, Conrad Speed [et al.]...... 289
Gigantothermy in whale sharks – tracking the behavioural strategies of a homeother- mic ectotherm, Mark Meekan [et al.]...... 290
How effective are front-line community programs in addressing the threats to marine species and habitats? A case study from the world’s largest manta ray hunting community., Sarah Lewis [et al.]...... 291
Incremental analysis of vertebral centra in wild and captive-bred bull sharks (Car- charhinus leucas) through micro-computed tomography, Fabienne Ziadi-Kuenzli [et al.]...... 293
16 Long-term biological monitoring and stable isotope analysis of Aetobatus naru- tobiei in Ariake Bay, Japan: Feeding ecology and foraging impact on bivalve fisheries, Atsuko Yamaguchi [et al.]...... 294
Projects Abroad – Fiji Shark Program: Linking Citizen Science to Fisheries Man- agement, Gauthier Mescam...... 295
Species diversity, utilization status and conservation of sharks and rays in China, Jie Zhang...... 296
Stable isotope analysis of two filter feeding sharks in the waters off Taiwan, Chi-Ju Yu [et al.]...... 297
Taxonomic review of the longnose dogfish genus Deania (Centrophoridae) from Japan, Akihiro Matsumoto [et al.]...... 298
Taxonomic variability in the white-spotted whiprays (gerrardi-complex) of the genus Maculabatis Last, Naylor & Manjaji-Matsumoto 2016, B. Mabel Manjaji- Matsumoto [et al.]...... 299
Uncovering the status of Oceania’s poorly-known endemic chondrichthyans, Peter Kyne [et al.]...... 300
Visual ecology of Indo-Pacific mobula rays, Betty Laglbauer [et al.]...... 301
Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) Habitat Use at an Aggregation in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea, Royale Hardenstine [et al.]...... 302
D2/ Indo-Pacific Predators: Biology, ecology, conservation and management303
First characterization of the Cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius sp.) predation pattern on different cetacean species in Martinique (FWI)., Virginie Scanga [et al.].... 304
From sink to source: effects of declining fin demand on shark fishing livelihoods in Indonesia, Vanessa Jaiteh [et al.]...... 305
Genetic connectivity of a coastal apex predator: The population genetic structure reveals a potential spatial isolation of Fijian bull sharks, Kerstin Glaus [et al.].. 306
Global genetic inventory of the Silky Shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), the shark finning industry, and DNA fingerprinting, Derek Kraft...... 308
Ground truthing dermal denticles to characterize shark assemblages on Palmyra Atoll, Erin Dillon [et al.]...... 309
17 How does a shark’s paradise become a fish’s nightmare? Ecology and behaviour of reef sharks at Fakarava, one of the world’s biggest aggregations., Johann Mourier [et al.]...... 310
Indo-Pacific Predatory Fish Out of Context: Lionfish Invasion of Atlantic Coral Reefs, Mark Hixon...... 311
Insights into genetic chaos among tuna species in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, Giulia Anderson [et al.]...... 312
Life history aspects and taxonomy of deep-sea chondrichthyans in the Southwest- ern Indian Ocean, Paul Clerkin [et al.]...... 313
Long term stability of a protected coral trout population, has it reached the carrying capacity?, Michael Kingsford [et al.]...... 314
Mako shark movements and habitat use in the southwest Pacific Ocean, Malcolm Francis [et al.]...... 315
Population Structure and Connectivity of Swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.) in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, Brad Smith [et al.]...... 316
Project AIRSHIP: Spotting sharks and rays using blimp-mounted cameras for conservation and human safety, Kye Adams [et al.]...... 317
Protected areas preserve natural behaviour of a targeted predatory fish species on coral reefs, Brock Bergseth [et al.]...... 318
Public Safety Implications, Ecological Impacts and Sustainability of Shark Cage- Diving Ecotourism in Hawaii., Carl Meyer...... 319
Safe haven: a mark recapture study reveals fast growth rates and long-term resi- dency patterns in a multi-species shark nursery, Ornella Weideli [et al.]...... 320
Saving Devils: The Global Mobulid Conservation Programme, Isabel Ender... 321
Shark Search Indo-Pacific: documenting the diversity, status and significance of sharks and rays, Andrew Chin [et al.]...... 322
Shark fins: high-value commodities or survival products?, Sara Busilacchi [et al.] 323
Sharks and rays in French Polynesia: A review of species diversity, status, life his- tory, and fishing pressure assembled from diverse data sources, Lisa Stevenson [et al.]...... 324
18 Sharks, Culture and Conservation: Recognizing the value of Indigenous knowledge and cultural dimensions of Sharks and Rays, Karin Gerhardt [et al.]...... 325
Spatial and temporal distributions of coastal shark populations at the Galapagos Marine Reserve, David Acuna [et al.]...... 326
The extinction risk status of New Zealand sharks, rays, and chimaeras, Brit Fin- ucci [et al.]...... 328
The life history of six pelagic sharks from Papua New Guinea, Brooke D’alberto [et al.]...... 329
Understanding and quantifying shark depredation in a recreational fishery in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia, Jonathan Mitchell [et al.]...... 330
What Are They Doing Down There: An Investigation of Multiple Paternity in a Deep-Sea Shark, Melissa Nehmens [et al.]...... 331
E1/ Diadromous fish of the Indo Pacific: Biogeography, ecology and conser- vation 332
Bullied bullies: Competition shifts dietary niches in Gobiomorphus cotidianus, Ma- rine Richarson...... 333
Complex patterns of population connectivity in a New Zealand amphidromous galaxiid, Jason Augspurger [et al.]...... 334
Conservation and management of New Zealand’s diadromous galaxias, Jane Good- man [et al.]...... 335
Diadromous migratory pattern of freshwater fish on Sado Island, northern Japan, Mi- dori Iida [et al.]...... 336
Different population structures among amphidromous gobies result from different life histories, Ken Maeda [et al.]...... 337
Distribution and early life history of anguillid eel leptocephali in the tropical western Pacific and South Pacific Ocean, Mari Kuroki [et al.]...... 338
Evolution of Diadromy: ”Migratory Pendulum Theory”, Katsumi Tsukamoto [et al.]...... 340
Evolution of Freshwater Amphidromy: its Origin and Process, Shun Watanabe [et al.]...... 341
19 Indo-Pacific clinging goby (Sicyopterus) mouth morphology: evolutionary point of view based on mitogenomic phylogeny., Clara Lord [et al.]...... 342
Legacy effects of marine larval development for a diadromous fish species, Mike Hickford [et al.]...... 343
Phylogeography of Eleotris fusca (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Eleotridae) in the Indo- Pacific area reveals a cryptic species in the Indian Ocean, Marion Mennesson.. 344
Spatial distribution, trophic ecology and growth of three tropical eel species (An- guilla marmorata, A. megastoma and A. obscura) living in sympatry in Gaua island (Vanuatu Archipelago), Anthony Acou [et al.]...... 345
Spatio-temporal variability of leptocephali trophic networks in the South Pacific Ocean, Aur´elieDessier [et al.]...... 347
Spawning Areas and Larval Dispersal and Recruitment Strategies of Anguillid eels in the Indo-Pacific, Michael Miller [et al.]...... 349
Temporal dynamics of the recruitment of three eel species in French Polyne- sia, Herehia Helme...... 350
The leptocephalus larvae/marine snow food-web theory: pros, cons and uncer- tainties after 20 years of investigations in the Indo-Pacific., Eric Feunteun [et al.]...... 351
E2/ Cryptobenthic fishes: Ecology and evolution of the smallest marine ver- tebrates 353
A wonderful radiation of cryptobenthic clingfishes along Australia’s Southern Coast, Kevin Conway [et al.]...... 354
Coral-Gobies as a Model System for Understanding the Evolution and Mainte- nance of Sociality, Marian Wong [et al.]...... 355
Cryptobenthic fishes: the final frontier of vertebrate biodiversity on coral reefs, Si- mon Brandl [et al.]...... 356
Hidden in plain sight: high cryptobenthic fish diversity on soft sediment habitats in Southeast Asia, Maarten De Brauwer [et al.]...... 357
Microhabitat association of cryptobenthic gobies (family Gobiidae) in the Central Red Sea, Emily Troyer [et al.]...... 358
Not just a flat face: the underappreciated role of blennies on coral reefs, Zoe Loffler [et al.]...... 359
20 Spatial patterns of cryptobenthic coral reef fishes in the Red Sea, Darren Coker [et al.]...... 360
E3/ Fishes of Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems in the Indo-Pacific 361
Ecological determinants of depth ranges in a coral-obligate reef fish and depth patterns in habitat disturbance: Are deep reefs a refuge?, Chancey Macdonald [et al.]...... 362
Mesophotic coral ecosystems are not a refuge for the shallow reef fauna, Luiz Rocha [et al.]...... 363
Reef fish communities from shallow to lower mesophotic coral ecosystems in the heart of the Coral Triangle, Hudson Pinheiro [et al.]...... 364
Taking a deeper look: Quantifying the differences in fish assemblages between shallow and mesophotic temperate rocky reefs., Joel Williams [et al.]...... 365
E4/ Biology and Evolution of deep-sea fishes 367
A different way of seeing colour using multiple rod visual pigments in deep-sea fishes, Fabio Cortesi [et al.]...... 368
A global biogeographic classification of the mesopelagic zone, Tracey Sutton [et al.]370
Distribution, population relationships and genetic diversity of Antimora spp. (Moridae, Gadiformes) in the world’s oceans, Alexei Orlov [et al.]...... 371
Estimates of divergence times in the two monotypic genera of the family Anoplo- matidae based on mitochondrial DNA sequences, Svetlana Orlova [et al.]..... 373
Functional biodiversity of New Zealand’s marine fishes across depth, Elisabeth Myers [et al.]...... 374
Intensive sampling of the Gulf of Mexico reveals a global hotspot of meso- and bathypelagic fish biodiversity, April Cook [et al.]...... 375
Monophyly and Phylogenetic Relationships of the Family Chiasmodontidae (Teleostei: Scombriformes), Marcelo Melo...... 376
New records of the distribution of four grenadier fishes of the genus Macrourus (Gadiformes: Macrouridae) in the southeast Atlantic and west Indian Ocean sectors of the Southern Ocean based on genetic and morphological analyses of samples from the toothfish longline fishery, Peter Mcmillan [et al.]...... 377
21 Progress on the taxonomy and systematics of three Indo-Pacific fish genera, Ofer Gon [et al.]...... 378
The exceptional visual solution of the pearlsides (Sternoptychidae) to optimize vision in twilight conditions., Fanny De Busserolles [et al.]...... 379
F1/ Causes and consequences of change for macroalgae-associated fishes 381
Algal herbivory dynamics of fish across habitats in a shallow tropical seascape, Maria Eggertsen [et al.]...... 382
Edge effects on seaweed- and seagrass browsing within a tropical seascape, Char- lotte Berkstr¨om[et al.]...... 383
From food web to biotic interactions: positive effects of reef fishes in kelp habi- tats, Alejandro Perez Matus...... 384
Juvenile fish resources and nursery function of macroalgal beds in Hong Kong waters – a habitat-based study, Priscilla To-Yan Leung [et al.]...... 385
Living on the edge - grazing activity along macrophyte patches, Carolina˚akerlund [et al.]...... 387
Macroalgae habitat complexity underpins tropical fish biodiversity, replenishment and productivity, Christopher Fulton [et al.]...... 388
Macroalgal identity drives rates of herbivory and the structure of fish assemblages within a tropical East African seascape, Dinorah Chacin [et al.]...... 389
Spatially varying influence of canopy height on the functional role of seaweed and seagrass beds as nursery habitats, Linda Eggertsen...... 390
Structural connectivity and local habitat quality shape fish community structure across a patchy tropical seascape, Joshua Van Lier [et al.]...... 391
The best of a bad situation: invasive kelp acts as partial functional replacement for native kelp for fishes on degraded urban reefs, Luke Barrett [et al.]...... 392
The importance of tropical seaweed beds as fish habitats in the Western Indian Ocean, Stina Tano [et al.]...... 393
The influence of ENSO and seaweed habitat on patterns of fish recruitment, Shaun Wilson [et al.]...... 394
F2/ Climate change and high CO2 effects on fishes: Moving from individual
22 to community level effects 395
A trade-off between behavioral and physiological performance could limit adapta- tion to the combined effects of warming and ocean acidification in a reef fish, Taryn Laubenstein [et al.]...... 396
An interplay between plasticity, epigenetics, and parental phenotype determines impacts of ocean acidification on a reef fish, Celia Schunter [et al.]...... 397
Anxious about ocean acidification? Elevated carbon dioxide produces varied re- sponses on fish anxiety-like behaviour in different species, Trevor Hamilton [et al.]...... 399
Are all tropical fishes that occur in Japanese temperate reefs tropical vagrants?, Yohei Nakamura [et al.]...... 400
Boosted food web productivity through ocean acidification collapses under warm- ing, Silvan Goldenberg [et al.]...... 401
Boundary current drives synchronous growth of marine fishes across tropical and temperate latitudes, Joyce Ong [et al.]...... 402
CO2-induced freshwater and seawater acidification affects early growth, metabolism, olfaction and behavior in juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)., Colin Brauner [et al.]...... 403
Climate change drives marine food web collapse through altered trophic flows and cyanobacterial proliferation, Hadayet Ullah [et al.]...... 404
Contribution of nuclear applications to better understand the effects of climate change and high CO2 on fishes, Marc Metian [et al.]...... 405
Diel CO2 cycles reduce severity of behavioural abnormalities in coral reef fish under ocean acidification, Michael Jarrold [et al.]...... 406
El Ni˜nodrives habitat filtering and widespread disease in the Galapagos marine fish assemblage, Robert Lamb [et al.]...... 407
Farming converts CO2 emissions into population growth by boosting crop pro- duction, Camilo Ferreira [et al.]...... 408
Geographic distributions and assemblages of Labrids along the south west coast of Western Australian over the past decade, Jack Parker [et al.]...... 409
Impact of ocean acidification on the early development and C-start escape be- haviour of marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma), Xiaojie Wang [et al.]...... 410
23 Integrating molecules and fossils reveal multiple diversification shifts in marine fishes during the Cenozoic, Dahiana Arcila [et al.]...... 411
Irreversible behavioural impairment of fish starts early: embryonic exposure to ocean acidification, Almendra Rodriguez-Dominguez [et al.]...... 412
Is pH compensation the root of all evil?, Martin Grosell [et al.]...... 413
Is there a global signature of biological change in marine hotspots?, John Mor- rongiello [et al.]...... 414
Molecular mechanisms underpinning intraspecific variation in response to short- term and developmental thermal stress, Heather Veilleux [et al.]...... 415
Spawning Aggregations Act as a Bottleneck Influencing Climate Change Impacts on a Critically Endangered Reef Fish, Rebecca Asch [et al.]...... 417
Species Interactions Drive Fish Biodiversity Loss in a High-CO2 World, Ivan Nagelkerken [et al.]...... 418
The Balancing Act in Future Acidic Oceans: Protection of pH During Elevated CO2 Exposure Leads to Tradeoffs and Downstream Consequences in Marine Fish, Rachael Heuer [et al.]...... 419
The Impact of Change Climate on Nearshore Coral Reef Fisheries in American Samoa, Domingo Ochavillo...... 420
Trophic transfer of essential elements in the clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris in the context of ocean acidification, Hugo Jacob [et al.]...... 421
Warming has a greater effect than ocean acidification on the early life history development and swimming performance of a coastal pelagic fish, Seriola la- landi, Philip Munday [et al.]...... 422
F3/ Phenotypic plasticity and adaptation to anthropogenic environmental changes 423
Differential impacts of climate-driven expansion of dead-zones on the vertical ecology of top oceanic predators, Rui Rosa [et al.]...... 424
From desert to sea: mechanisms Arabian killifish use to acclimate to high salinities in the Red Sea, Lucrezia C. Bonzi [et al.]...... 425
Global patterns of intraspecific life-history variation reveal hierarchical impor- tance of environmental drivers in widespread coral-reef fishes, Brett Taylor [et al.]...... 426
24 Impacts of anthropogenic noise on fish: individual effects, population conse- quences and mitigation, Andrew Radford [et al.]...... 427
It takes three to tango: global warming puts clownfish future in hot water, Suzanne Mills [et al.]...... 429
Latitudinal variation in behavioural patterns and social group structure of coral reef fishes, Paloma Matis [et al.]...... 430
Moderate rate of temperature increase leads to transgenerational differences in metabolic pathways in a coral reef fish, Moises Bernal [et al.]...... 431
Molecular basis of sex-dependent heritability of CO2 tolerance in a coral reef fish, Alison Monroe [et al.]...... 432
Neurobiological-induced breakdown of cleaning mutualisms under ocean warming and acidification, Jose Ricardo Paula [et al.]...... 433
Neurogenomic mechanisms of behavioural plasticity in fish: a conceptual frame- work illustrated by the ecological modulation of reproductive behavior in a blenny, Rui Oliveira [et al.]...... 434
The epigenetic landscape of transgenerational acclimation of a reef fish to ocean warming, Taewoo Ryu [et al.]...... 435
Timing is everything: developmental plasticity to ocean warming in a coral reef fish, Rachel Spinks [et al.]...... 436
Warming over three generations in a coral reef fish: how does temperature change across generations affect plasticity?, Jennifer Donelson [et al.]...... 437
You can’t always get what you want: behavioural plasticity as a way for mobile coral reef fishes to buffer the effects of rising ocean temperatures?, Rebecca Fox [et al.]...... 438
F4/ Conservation physiology of Indo-Pacific fishes: Facing problems and find- ing solutions 439
A Protocol for Identifying Suitable Biomarkers to Assess Fish Health: a System- atic Review, Frederieke Kroon [et al.]...... 440
Dead tired: physiological exhaustion in neonatal reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus and Negaprion acutidens) in nursery areas, Ian Bouyoucos [et al.]...... 441
How physiology can support the management and conservation of coral reef fishes, Bj¨ornIlling [et al.]...... 443
25 Marine protected areas provide species with physiological resilience to the impacts of climate change, Murray Duncan [et al.]...... 444
Mechanistic understanding of climate driven range shifts: using thermal toler- ances of rock lobster to predict future range shifts, Samantha Twiname [et al.]. 445
Physiology meets conservation: Challenges, success stories, and future directions in the Indo-Pacific, Jodie Rummer [et al.]...... 446
The responses of fish embryos to boat noise and finding solutions to underwater noise pollution., Sofia Jain-Schlaepfer [et al.]...... 447
G1/ Moving Forward by Looking Back: The Use of Time Series and Moni- toring Data in Fish Ecology 448
Are fish statistically informative indicators for long-term monitoring of coral reef disturbances?, Simon Van Wynsberge [et al.]...... 449
Discovery of abundant fish otoliths in fossil coral reefs greatly extends monitoring of coral reef fishes, Aaron O’dea [et al.]...... 450
Ecological monitoring reveals the threat to coral reef fishes from climate-driven increases in cyclone intensity, Alistair Cheal [et al.]...... 451
Environmental DNA metabarcoding of marine coastal fish reflects long-term mon- itoring data based on underwater visual census, Reiji Masuda [et al.]...... 452
Herbivorous fish as drivers of the resilience of a Polynesian coral reef., Aliz´ee Martin [et al.]...... 453
Long-term changes of the coral reef community in the WAKATOBI marine na- tional park, south-east Sulawesi, Indonesia, Adam Gouraguine [et al.]...... 454
Longterm response of herbivores to a large-scale reduction in live coral cover; implications for reef resiliency, Andrew Brooks [et al.]...... 455
Status and trends of reef fishes of the Pacific, Charlotte Moritz [et al.]...... 456
What can long term monitoring of reef-associated fishes tell us about the drivers of their abundance and dynamics?, Russell Schmitt [et al.]...... 457
H1/ Management of coral reef’ social-ecological systems 458
A Biocultural Approach to Developing Indicators for Natural Resource Manage- ment, Eleanor Sterling [et al.]...... 459
26 A collaborative approach to integrate science into traditional management of coral reefs in Navakavu, Fiji, Leo Dutra [et al.]...... 461
Are coral reefs full of multi-coloured fish? Impact of an awareness campaign on the representations of coral reefs by children, Pascale Chabanet [et al.]...... 463
Citizen Science: using spot pattern technology to identify the threatened common seadragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus in the Sydney region., Selma Klanten [et al.] 465
Comparative approach of hybrid governance in Polynesian’s coral reef social- ecological systems, Pauline Fabre [et al.]...... 466
Coral reef conservation on the largest Brazilian MPA - Linking hybrid governance and social-ecological resilience, Pedro Pereira [et al.]...... 467
Disciplining Hybrid Governance: Assessing Disciplinary Interference in Biocul- tural Indicators for Socio-Ecological Resilience, Alexander Mawyer...... 468
How MMSY promotes sustainability in coral ecosystem facing environmental chocks, Adrien Lagarde...... 469
Linking terrestrial causes of disturbances to coral reef health: socio-ecological modeling of Kenting National Park (Taiwan) in the context of climate change., Lau- riane Ribas-Deulofeu [et al.]...... 470
Operationalizing Ecological Adaptive Capacity to assess Impacts, Resilience, and Action for Coral Reefs in the Face of Global Environmental Change, Adrien Comte [et al.]...... 472
H2/ The status and opportunities of marine wildlife tourism 473
A global review of elasmobranch tourism activities, risks and management ap- proaches, Teleah Healy [et al.]...... 474
Assessing the dietary effects of white shark cage-diving on target and non-target species using fatty acid profiling, Lauren Meyer [et al.]...... 475
Dive tourists’ demand for shark conservation: A travel cost and contingent be- havior study, Johanna Zimmerhackel [et al.]...... 476
Fact or fiction? Influences of fish-feeding activities on fishes and reefs– an appli- cation of eco-tourism in coral reefs, Colin Wen [et al.]...... 477
Site fidelity of tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier in a feeding site for ecotourism pur- pose off Tahiti (French Polynesia - East Pacific), Eric Clua [et al.]...... 478
27 To feed or not to feed? Artificial feeding affects coral reef fish functions (Aitutaki, Cook Islands), Natalie Prinz [et al.]...... 479
H3/ Ciguatera fish poisoning in the Indo-Pacific region 480
Applicability of the fluorescent Receptor Binding Assay (RBAf) to the detection of Ciguatoxins in Pacific reef fish., Taiana Darius [et al.]...... 481
Application of Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) devices for an improved Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) risk assessment, M´elanieRou´e[et al.] 482
Ciguatera fish poisoning in the South Pacific: implementation of a regional surveil- lance network (CIGUA-WATCH PROJECT), Cl´emenceGatti [et al.]...... 483
Ciguatoxic dinoflagellate densities and the effects of algal biomass and species composition in a Pacific coral reef, Amy Briggs [et al.]...... 485
Distribution and diversity of Gambierdiscus spp. and associated levels of cigua- toxins in herbivorous fish from a ciguatera-endemic area in the Cook Islands, Kirsty Smith [et al.]...... 486
Distributions and toxin production of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa spp. in the Kingdom of Tonga, Phoebe Argyle [et al.]...... 488
Effects of ciguatoxins accumulation in fish, Mireille Chinain [et al.]...... 489
Experimental evidence of ciguatoxin continued bioaccumulation in an herbivorous coral reef fish, Rachel Clausing [et al.]...... 490
Identification of Poisonous Fish in Various I Qoliqoli and its Treatment in Fiji, Nanise Tuqiri...... 491
LC-MS analysis of ciguatoxins from Variola louti collected off the Japanese Wa- ters, Naomasa Oshiro [et al.]...... 492
Managing the risk of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning in temperate Australia, Michaela E. Larsson [et al.]...... 493
The risk of ciguatera fish poisoning to New Zealand and its territorial waters and a molecular approach to monitoring, Lesley Rhodes [et al.]...... 494
Towards a transcriptomic signature of long-term CTX exposure in naso brevi- rostris, Gregory Nuel [et al.]...... 495
Understanding the complexities associated with the chemical analysis of cigua- toxins, Sam Murray [et al.]...... 497
28 I1/ Women in Marine Sciences in the Indo-Pacific 498
A Climate for Change, Gretta Pecl...... 499
Bridging science and art: The importance of visually interpreting and communi- cating science, Sofia Jain-Schlaepfer [et al.]...... 500
Encouraging Women Scientists to Support Marine Research in Indonesia, Ni Kadek Dita Cahyani...... 501
Field surveys, research, and outreach activities for public awareness of the con- servation of diadromous fishes, Mari Kuroki...... 502
From cows to marine fishes: discovering anglerfishes, engaging with Indigenous communities, and becoming a leader to female students in STEM, Rachel Arnold 503
From the tropics to the subantarctic islands: using stereo-baited remote under- water video systems to understand fish ecology and functional diversity, Elisabeth Myers...... 504
Gendered differences in authorship patterns in tropical fish biology, Cynthia Riginos505
Home is where the shark is, Ornella Weideli...... 506
Marine science: a life of adventure?, Emily Fobert...... 507
Marine taxonomist: My Dream, My Journey, Yonela Sithole...... 508
Ocean-locked: How a girl from the heartland became a marine biologist in the heart of the Pacific, Lillian Tuttle...... 509
Oc´eane,when the name fits the job, Oc´eaneSalles...... 510
Researching the role of marine parks on the Great Barrier Reef: a career overview, April Hall...... 511
The journey of a latina woman across the Pacific, Maria Del Mar Palacios.... 512
Today’s women in marine science: diverse leaders, passionate and dynamic com- municators, Jodie Rummer...... 513
What would you do if you weren’t afraid?, Isabel Ender...... 514
White privilege and haole guilt: The advantages and pitfalls of fitting the best- worst stereotype in science, Giulia Anderson...... 515
29 Women in Marine Sciences Shirleen Bala Fiji Islands, Shirleen Bala...... 516
I2/ Systematic, Taxonomy, Biology, and Ecology of marine and freshwater fishes 517
A Possible Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem Avatar: the Moorea case (IDEA), Jean- Pierre Barriot [et al.]...... 518
A new family and genus proposed for an undescribed Japanese species of the suborder Zoarcoidei, Gento Shinohara [et al.]...... 519
Addressing common criticisms of studies of sexual selection on females using a natural population of live-bearing fish., Michael Izumiyama [et al.]...... 520
An undescribed species of the genus Pherallodichthys (Gobiesocidae) from south- ern Japan, Kyoji Fujiwara [et al.]...... 521
Assessing functional diversity and food web architecture on central Pacific coral reefs with a compound-specific carbon stable isotope approach, Simon Thor- rold [et al.]...... 522
Cryptical sex change as a mating tactic in a coral dwelling polygynous damselfish Dascyllus reticulatus, Rei Sakanoue [et al.]...... 523
DNA barcoding of the family Sparidae along the coast of China and revelation of cryptic diversity in the Indo-West Pacific oceans based on COI and 16S rRNA genes, Liu Jing [et al.]...... 524
Enhancing FishNet2 through FishBase-OBIS Collaboration, Nelson Rios [et al.]. 525
Fish Barcode of Life in Argentina, Juan Diaz De Astarloa...... 526
Fish assemblage structures and environmental conditions in small tidal creeks and tide pools in a mangrove estuary, Kusuto Nanjo [et al.]...... 527
Food web structure analysis of riverine fish community in middle stream of the Ano River, central Japan, Taiga Yodo [et al.]...... 528
Freshwater Fishes of China: species diversity, distribution and conservation, Yahui Zhao [et al.]...... 529
How many fishes are there in the NZ region and how many can be identified? Recent figures may be 700 species short, Clive Roberts [et al.]...... 530
Integrative research on body nutrition and population density of Chinese marine fishes, Wenhua Xiong...... 531
30 Latitudinal variation in life history traits of Meuschenia scaber (Monacanthi- dae), Valerio Visconti [et al.]...... 532
Metapopulation as ”Ichthyological Conservation Unit” for freshwater fishes, Kazumi Hosoya...... 533
Molecular evidence of several marine fish hybridization cases in the Indo-Pacific region, Song He [et al.]...... 534
Naturally occurring hybrids of coral reef butterflyfishes have similar fitness com- pared to parental species, Stefano Montanari [et al.]...... 535
Paleo-Drainage Basin Connectivity Predicts Evolutionary Relationships Across Three Southeast Asian Biodiversity Hotspots, Mark De Bruyn [et al.]...... 536
Phylogeography of the ‘Barbus’ paludinosus species complex across Indian Ocean drainages and endorheic rivers of East Africa, Henry Bart [et al.]...... 537
Preliminary study on the species, distribution, and abundance of freshwater eels, genus Anguilla inhabiting rivers in Samoa, Shozo Yamamoto [et al.]...... 538
Relationship between otolith Sr/Ca ratio and salinity in western mosquitofish by aquarium experiment, Mariko Takashima [et al.]...... 539
Sex change, mating system, and effect of population density in reef fish, Tetsuo Kuwamura [et al.]...... 540
Species composition and assemblages of ichthyoplankton during summer in the East China Sea, Han-Yang Lin [et al.]...... 541
Strict pair-bond and stable territories of the vagabond butterflyfish, Chaetodon vagabundus performing spawning migration, Azusa Endo [et al.]...... 542
Subsea petrochemical infrastructure is influencing the abundance and diversity of fish in northern Australia, Todd Bond [et al.]...... 543
Taxonomic and ecological studies on Abudefduf caudobimaculatus and Abudefduf vaigiensis (Perciformes: Pomacentridae), Kunto Wibowo [et al.]...... 544
Taxonomic revision of shallow-water tonguefishes (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglos- sidae: Symphurus) from marine waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific, Thomas Munroe [et al.]...... 545
The importance of habitat connectivity and structure on fish biodiversity and assemblages within Samoan mangroves, Joseph Percival [et al.]...... 546
31 Three-dimensional structure, sand particle distribution and building simulation of the ‘mystery circle’ constructed by a pufferfish Torquigener albomaculosus (Tetraodontidae), Hiroshi Kawase [et al.]...... 547
Tidal pool fish diversity of Jeju Island, Korea, Hyuck Joon Kwun [et al.]..... 548
Author Index 548
List of the Participants 563
List of sponsors 568
32 A1/ Evolution and biology of ‘primitive’ and fossil fishes
33 Adaptive radiation of Pelagia (Teleostei: Acanthomorpha) indicated by 3D morphometry
Hermione Beckett ∗ 1, Zerina Johanson 2, Sam Giles 3, Matt Friedman 4
1 University of Oxford – Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, United Kingdom 2 Natural History Museum, London – Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK, United Kingdom 3 University of Oxford – University of Oxford, Department of Earth Sciences, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, United Kingdom 4 University of Michigan – Museum of Paleontology and Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Pelagia or Pelagaria is an anatomically disparate clade of open-ocean fishes identified through molecular studies. It has been postulated that the ecologically distinct lineages of Pelagia di- verged rapidly early in the group’s history, perhaps shortly after the end-Cretaceous extinction. This differs from model ‘adaptive radiations’ like cichlid fishes and Anolis lizards in both age and geographic scale, but corresponds closely to patterns in the group for which the concept was first defined: Cenozoic mammals. We collected computed tomographic data for the crania of 56 extant species of Pelagia, representing all 14 confirmed extant families and a quarter of living species. We use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to generate a shape space for this sample of skulls. Cranial anatomy clearly separates families within Pelagia, paralleling conspicuous differences in body shape. Of particular note are the gempylids (snake mackerels) and trichiurids (scabbardfishes), which have elongate skulls, and the deep-sea chiasmodontids (black swallowers) with their largely reduced opercular series, posteriorly directed suspensoria, and long gapes. We conducted a disparity-through-time analysis based on these shape data and existing molecular phylogenies to test for deviations from a Brownian motion model of pheno- typic evolution. We find substantially lower-than-expected levels of subtree disparity early in the history of the clade. This pattern is often interpreted as consistent with theoretical models of adaptive radiation. These results provide quantitative support for earlier, qualitative arguments for an adaptive radiation in Pelagia early in the Cenozoic. This morphometric framework will allow the inclusion of three-dimensionally preserved fossils of this group, including a diverse se- ries of early scombroids from the Eocene London Clay Formation, which will allow us to further constrain patterns of phenotypic diversification in the group.
∗Speaker
34 Awesome variation in genomic organization in polyploid Acipenseriformes
Anna Barmintseva ∗ 1,2, Nikolay Mugue 1,2
1 Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) – V.Krasnoselskaya st., 17, Moscow, 107140, Russia 2 Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences (IBD) – Vavilova st., 26, Moscow, 119334, Russia
Sturgeons (Acipenseriformes) are ancient and primitive group of fish inhabiting North hemi- sphere and are critically endangered due to its valuable roe, known as caviar. This group of fish have large genomes consisted of about 120 (”low-chromosome”) or 250 chromosomes (”high- chromosome”) group of species. Number of events and phylogenetic time of whole genome duplications (WGD) is matter of discussion. One of very informative tools to study polyploidy species is microsatellite analysis. Due to low evolutionary rate of nuclear genome, sturgeons are unique animals because most of microsatellite primers, designed for one species, gives amplifi- cation on all species of this family, allow to study comparative genomic. WGD leads to formation of tetrasomic loci with up to four alleles in individual, independently segregated during meiosis. Accumulation of mutations with time results in diploidisation (in- heritance as two disomic loci instead of one tetrasomic) and finally microsatellite locus can be lost by mutations in the region of primer annealing.
We study allelic composition and mode of inheritance of 14 microsatellite loci across 9 stur- geon species. Majority of microsatellite loci in ”low-chromosome” species are disomic, but some loci still have tetraploid (double disomic, or even tetrasomic) nature, pointing on WGD at the root of Acipenceriformes family. ”High-chromosome” species arise by two independent relatively recent events of WGD, which took place one in Atlantic (Ponto-Caspian) clade, and another – in the Pacific clade. ”High-chromosome” species from both clades have tetra or octoploid loci with variable degree of diploidisation. However, we have not found any loci with would be true diploid in ”high-chromosome” species.
Low rate of molecular evolution and high genomic ploidy and plasticity can result in huge viability of interspecies hybrids, as well as in production of fertile specimens with altered (3n- 6n) ploidy level, which usually is a result of uncompleted chromosome segregation during female meiosis. This study is supported RFBR 15-29-02766 and RSF 16-14-00221
∗Speaker
35 Dead fish CSI: Reconstructing the enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish analogue Protosphyraena (Teleosteomorpha: Pachycormidae)
Anthony Maltese ∗ 1
1 Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center (RMDRC) – 201 S. Fairview St., Woodland Park, Colorado, United States
Fossil fishes have been collected from marine sediments of Late Cretaceous age (ca. 86-82 Ma) from the Western Interior Seaway of Kansas for over a century and a half. While some of these specimens are spectacular, rightfully earning the Niobrara Formation in general and the Smoky Hill Member in particular the status of Lagerst´’atten, they are more often severely crushed, distorted or incomplete. This hampers our understanding of individual fish taxa and therefore critical components of this ancient ecosystem. Gaps in our knowledge are more severe for some taxa than others. This is particularly the case for Protosphyraena, a member of the stem-teleost clade Pachycormidae. Despite being known from fossils from several continents, the overall anatomy of Protosphyraena remained enigmatic. The most complete described remains of the genus are from the Late Cretaceous of Kansas, and comprise isolated pectoral and pelvic fins, and several articulated crania. Together, these paint a picture of a fast-swimming pelagic predator with a billfish-like snout, barracuda-like dentition that inspired the genus name, a caudal fin of very high aspect ratio, and slender pectoral fins with serrated anterior margins unlike those seen in any living teleost. Based on additional field collecting over more than a decade, we have recovered sufficient new remains to permit the first attempt at a full skeletal reconstruction of the Protosphyraena based on P. perniciosa. By virtue of their anatomy (reduced ossification) and their distance from any modern relatives (a last common ancestor with other teleosts > 200 million years ago), pachycormids present unique challenges for skeletal reconstruction. A recent discovery of a nearly complete articulated specimen, including skin, proved to be a Rosetta Stone for the genus. The reconstruction of the skeleton of Protosphyraena is the synthesis of dozens of tantalizing clues of the anatomy of this predator. Our restoration, the most accurate representation of this animal to date, will provide new information on the behavior of this fish, and fill in yet another piece of the puzzle of the Western Interior Seaway
∗Speaker
36 Early members of a ‘living fossil’ lineage and a later origin for modern ray-finned fishes
Sam Giles ∗ 1, Guang-Hui Xu 2, Thomas Near 3, Matt Friedman 4
1 University of Oxford – University of Oxford, Department of Earth Sciences, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, United Kingdom 2 Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences – Beijing 100044, China 3 Department of Ecology Evolutionary Biology and Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University – 165 Prospect St, New Haven, CT 06520, United States 4 Museum of Paleontology and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan – 1109 Geddes Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
Actinopterygians (ray-finned fishes) represent the largest living vertebrate group, account- ing for half of all extant diversity. The roots of the living radiation are generally accepted to stretch back some 385 million years (Ma) to the Middle Devonian, with almost all Palaeozoic actinopterygians falling within the ray-fin crown. Somewhat incongruously, the fossil record of polypterids (bichirs and ropefish), the earliest diverging extant actinopterygian group, only extends back around 100 Myr to the mid-Cretaceous, necessitating a ghost lineage of over a quarter of a billion years. Here we investigate the internal cranial anatomy of Fukangichthys longidorsalis from the Middle Triassic of China, a member of the widespread Triassic radiation Scanilepiformes. Micro-CT scanning of two three-dimensionally preserved crania reveal a ven- trally positioned optic foramen, a coronoid process formed only of the prearticular, and a total of four ceratobranchials, features seen elsewhere in living polypterids. Bayesian and parsimony phylogenetic analyses unambiguously resolve scanilepiforms on the polypterid stem, filling in a 150 Ma gap for the lineage and exposing many of the supposedly primitive features of modern polypterids as reversals. Furthermore, our analyses shift a host of Palaeozoic actinopterygians, as well as several Mesozoic taxa, out of the actinopterygian crown and onto the stem lineage. This reduces the minimum age of the crown by approximately 45 Ma and calls into question the accuracy of existing molecular clock estimates for divergence times deep within ray-fin phy- logeny. Recalculated divergence estimates, which incorporate a reduced number of Palaeozoic calibrations, posit a latest Devonian/earliest Carboniferous origin for living actinopterygian diversity, some 30 Ma younger than existing estimates and consistent with our revised palaeon- tological timescale. These results underline the importance of both CT scanning and fossil data for understanding deep divergences and the evolution of depauperate living groups. An early Carboniferous age for the actinopterygian crown brings this major event in line with other radi- ations elsewhere in the early vertebrate tree, highlighting this period as critical for the evolution of modern vertebrate assemblages.
∗Speaker
37 Insight on sturgeon phylogeny and biogeography from mitogenomes and NGS-based nuclear loci sequencing.
Nikolai Mugue ∗ 1,2, Anna Barmintseva 1
1 Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) – 17, V. Krasnoselskaya, Moscow, 107140, Russia 2 Institute of Developmantal Biology RAS (IDB RAS) – 26 Vavilov St. 117526 Moscow, Russia
Despite extensive development of sturgeon aquaculture worldwide, sturgeons remain among the least studied group of vertebrates. Here we report on 13 new complete mitochondrial genomes and present sturgeon phylogeny based on complete mitochondrial genomes of 23 species (includ- ing data from genbank) and 10 nuclear protein coding genes. Several rounds of whole genome duplications lead to formation of numerous paralogous copies in nuclear genome, which evolu- tion within the family is very complicated. Comparative molecular clock study indicates low evolutionary rate for nuclear genome when compared with the mitochondrial genome. Low diploidization rate of duplicated loci can be explained by slow mutation rate in nuclear genome. Sturgeons are exceptional group which produce viable hybrids from very phylogenetically dis- tant pair o species, and this genomic compatibility can also be result of retarded evolution of this ancient group of fish.
∗Speaker
38 Megaplanktivory, Past and Present: A comparison of Jurassic large suspension-feeders of the IndoPacific with contemporary analogues.
Jeff Liston ∗† 1
1 Bayerische Staatssammlung f¨urPal¨aontologie und Geologie (BSPG) – Richard-Wagner-Str. 10 80333 Munich, Germany
The current ecological niche of large (> 1 metre Standard Length [SL]) suspension-feeding marine vertebrate is today dominated by mammals and chondrichthyans. However, fossil evi- dence suggests that this functional role was pioneered by actinopterygians during the Mesozoic, as perhaps best-exemplified by the Jurassic pachycormid Leedsichthys. Prior to the Jurassic, can- didates for large marine suspension feeders are limited to the Devonian arthrodire Titanichthys and some Triassic ichthyosaurs, but anatomical evidence for functional interpretations is scant in both cases, the largest unequivocal example of a pre-Jurassic aquatic vertebrate suspension- feeder (as an adult, so excluding juvenile stages of suspension-feeding) being the Carboniferous- Permian acanthodian Acanthodes (SL=40-50cm). Evidence that Leedsichthys was a suspension feeder derive from multiple aspects of its anatomy: fin arrangement, long, closely-spaced gill rakers, absence of marginal dentition on the oral jaws, a broad gape, and exceptional size. Leed- sichthys reached sizes comparable to contemporary IndoPacific suspension-feeding fauna such as whale sharks (Rhincodon, SL = 16.5 m) and appears to have been broadly distributed geograph- ically, with remains reported from England, France, Germany, Argentina and Chile. In addition, contemporaneous Jurassic trace fossils from Switzerland have been interpreted as feeding traces made by this fish, and point to iliophagy (i.e. detritus-feeding or sediment sieving), a not uncom- mon secondary strategy for suspension-feeders. Although knowledge of the mechanics of most contemporary suspension feeders is poor, the analogous extraction structures and meshes can be recognised in these large fossil examples. Measurements from these feeding organs therefore enable some comparisons to be made between extant and extinct large suspension feeders in feeding efficiency, water flow, clearance rates and specialisation in planktonic grade, thus giving valuable information about Mesozoic plankton populations. Thus, several close relatives of Leed- sichthys are known which appear to have occupied similar functional roles. Outstanding amongst these are recent finds from the Jurassic (Tithonian) lithographic limestones of Solnhofen, which indicate that pachycormid suspension feeders may have reached substantially greater sizes than Leedsichthys, creating clearly separate niches of large planktivore and megaplanktivore. Thus it appears that a diverse series of large pachycormids pioneered this trophic role, that came to be dominated after the Mesozoic by chondrichthyans and cetaceans.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
39 New Data on the Endoskeletal Morphology and Evolution of Early Jawed Fishes
Martin Brazeau ∗ 1, Richard Dearden 1, Marco Castiello 1, Thomas Guillerme 1
1 Department of Life Sciences – Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK, United Kingdom
Fossil fishes of the Early and Middle Palaeozoic illuminate the earliest evolutionary history of vertebrates and key episodes in the establishment of modern fish diversity. These fossils are the subject of intensive investigation aimed at resolving their phylogenetic relationships and, in turn, documenting the evolutionary history of jaws, skeletal hard tissues, and paired appendages. Unfortunately, such fossils are almost invariably incomplete or fragmentary—particularly in the case of the oldest representatives of particular groups. One of the most phylogenetically use- ful skeletal systems is the endoskeleton. Unlike dermal skeletons, endoskeletons present a set of widely applicable character suites that can be compared across groups. This allows finding characters applicable across a wide set of taxa whose exoskeletons are almost too disparate to meaningfully compare. Here we present both new morphological data and new phylogenetic methods that allow us to bridge these gaps. We present the culmination of a five-year project studying the morphology of Palaeozoic fish endoskeletal anatomy and the development of new tools for phylogenetic analysis with partially applicable data. The new endoskeletal data derives from placoderm and acanthodian fishes—key Palaeozoic taxa with poorly resolved relationships. In particular, we present new information on the gill arches of a pivotal acanthodian fish taxon, helping to resolve primitive gill arch patterns in the ancestors of modern gnathostomes. Secondly, we present new data on the braincases of early placoderms, and evaluate competing hypotheses on the phylogenetic relationships of these groups. Our phylogenetic analyses are conducted us- ing existing methods, as well as our own recently developed tools for handling inapplicable data in morphological datasets. Initial results confirm the overall structure of jawed vertebrate inter- relationships: acanthodians are members of the chondrichthyan total group, while placoderms are outgroups of the jawed vertebrate crown. Nevertheless, our inital results also show that far more placoderms are assembled as a clade than recovered from earlier analyses under standard parsimony.
∗Speaker
40 New marine fish faunas from the middle Eocene (Lutetian) of Pakistan: implications for the origin of the Indo-Pacific fauna
Matt Friedman ∗ 1, Philip Gingerich 1, Alessio Capobianco 1, Sanaa El-Sayed 2
1 University of Michigan – Museum of Paleontology and Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States 2 Mansoura University – Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center, Department of Geology, Mansoura University, Mansoura, 35516, Egypt
The early Paleogene was an important interval in teleost evolution, marked by the first ap- pearance of many extant families. However, the teleost body fossil record of this time is strongly biased toward European and western Asian sites, with comparatively little information on fau- nas geographically closer to the modern Indo-Pacific. Beginning in the mid-1970s, a series of joint expeditions mounted by the Geological Survey of Pakistan and the University of Michi- gan collected articulated teleost remains from two geological units in Pakistan: the Habib Rahi (early Lutetian, 48-46 Ma) and Domanda (middle-late Lutetian, 46-40 Ma) formations. Both are marine deposits, with the Habib Rahi Formation corresponding to a more offshore facies. Fishes of the Habib Rahi Formation include nearly complete individuals. All specimens are compressed, but larger fossils show considerable relief. The fauna includes osteoglossomorphs, incertae sedis percomorphs, scombroids, and a palaeorhynchid that represents the most abun- dant taxon in the collection. Material from the Domanda Formation shows contrasting preser- vational modes as a function of lithology. The moonfish Mene, along with rarer remains of at least one other, larger fish are represented by compression specimens in a paper shale. Mottled shales yield abundant small clupeomorphs, isolated osteoglossid scales, and a possible carangid. Fishes from clays are less complete, but are preserved in three dimensions and include intact crania of a clupeomorph similar to †Clupeopsis, a catfish of uncertain familial affinity, and as yet unidentified percomorphs. These specimens are particularly amenable to study via microCT scanning. Compared with modern and coeval faunas, the Habib Rahi and Domanda assemblages contain: (1) extant taxa widely distributed both today and in the Paleogene (e.g., scombrids); (2) groups that are today restricted to the Indo-Pacific but were widespread in the past (e.g., Mene); (3) extinct forms known previously only from older European or central Asian deposits; and (4) extinct taxa that were geographically widespread (e.g., marine osteoglossomorphs, palae- orhynchids). Taken together, this suggests considerable faunal overlap between Eocene marine faunas, a conclusion also supported by Eocene occurrences in Europe and the Americas of many groups now restricted to the Indo-Pacific.
∗Speaker
41 Polyploid evolution and functional genome diploidization in sturgeons
Victor Vasil’ev 1, Ekaterina Vasil’eva ∗† 2
1 A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS (A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS) – Moscow 119071, Leninskij prosp., 33, Russia 2 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Biological Department, Zoological Museum (ZMMU) – Moscow 125009, Bol’shaya Nikitskaya Str., 2, Russia
Recent Acipenserid fishes exhibit three ploidy levels: species with a chromosome number ˜120, species with ˜250-270 chromosomes, and one species, Acipenser brevirostrum, with ˜372 chromosomes. Our studies proved that all species from the Pacific phylogenetic lineage have ˜260-270 chromosomes, whereas the species from the Atlantic lineage have less than 260 chro- mosomes. The karyological data presume at least three polyploidization events in the evolution of Acipenseridae. However, generally accepted allopolyploid origin suggests that polyploidiza- tion did not occur in different phylogenetic lineages, but rather resulted from the conjugation of phylogenetic lineages; in such a case, multiple polyploidization events should be presumed (Vasil’ev, 2009). The problem of functional diploidization of genomes in polyploid sturgeons is of great interest foremost in connection with the rate of their general, chromosomal, and molecular evolution. We analyzed these problems by experimental crosses in hybrid sturgeons and subsequent kary- ological and microsatellite analyses of parental specimens and their progenies. A fertile hybrid female was obtained from sturgeons with a different ploidy: sterlet A. ruthenus (2n ˜120) (S) and kaluga A. dauricus (2n ˜260) (K). Microsatellite and cytometric analyses re- vealed that the genome of this SxK female originated from the fertilization of the spontaneously diploidized sterlet egg with haploid sperm from kaluga: its genome includes a diploid genome of sterlet and a haploid (evolutionary diploid) set of kaluga. Back-cross hybrids (SxK)xS had ˜185 chromosomes; that is, SxK female produced eggs with ˜125 chromosomes. In this regard, it can be assumed that the chromosomes from sterlet grouped in 60 bivalents in meiosis, and the chromosomes from kaluga - in 65 bivalents; this pattern was confirmed by microsatellite analysis. The insemination of SxK eggs by inactivated sperm resulted in viable offspring with ˜125 chromosomes. Therefore, we tried to obtain the offspring from unfertilized eggs of kaluga. As a result, a small number of viable larvae were obtained. Thus, a haploid, but evolutionary diploid chromosome set of kaluga exhibits the properties of a normal diploid set and additionally proves very slow cytogenetic and molecular evolution in sturgeons. This can explain, along with polyploid origin, an extremely low morphological differentiation in this group.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: vas [email protected]
42 Saber-toothed fossil anchovies (Teleostei: Engrauloidea) from the early-middle Eocene of Belgium and Pakistan, with comments on clupeiform phylogeny and feeding adaptations
Alessio Capobianco ∗† 1, Matt Friedman 1, Hermione Beckett 2, Philip Gingerich 1, Giorgio Carnevale 3
1 University of Michigan – Museum of Paleontology and Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States 2 University of Oxford – Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, United Kingdom 3 Universit`adegli Studi di Torino – Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universit`adegli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, Torino, Italy
Clupeiforms (herrings, anchovies and relatives) are widely distributed and both ecologically and economically significant. Despite their prominence in modern ecosystems and a wealth of paleontological material, the fossil record of Cenozoic clupeiforms has received comparatively little attention. We undertook a revision of the fossil species Clupeopsis straeleni from the marine Ieper For- mation of Belgium (middle-late Ypresian, 54-50 Ma). Known from a single specimen originally described as a toothless clupeid, Clupeopsis is unusual among Cenozoic clupeiform specimens in being preserved in three dimensions. External examination of the fossil corroborates a clupeiform interpretation, but the geometry of the jaws seems inconsistent with clupeid affinity. MicroCT reveals distinctive-and unanticipated-dentition in Clupeopsis, comprising well-developed canini- form teeth on the lower jaw and a single, giant vomerine fang on the palate. The maxilla is completely devoid of teeth. Strikingly, the suspensorium of Clupeopsis bears some features that are uniquely found in engraulids, such as a posteriorly reclined hyomandibula with an elongated ventral limb that reaches the quadrate. Fangs in Clupeopsis are developed to a greater degree than in any living anchovy with caniniform dentition (Lycengraulis, Lycothrissa), and are com- parable to those found in chirocentrids (wolf herrings).
We have also discovered a Clupeopsis-like specimen from the Domanda Formation of Pakistan (middle-late Lutetian, 46-40 Ma). Similarly, it displays caniniform lower teeth and a single up- per fang, but with even more extreme proportions than the Belgian specimen. The Domanda Formation fossil shows that large-toothed, macrophagous clupeiforms were present both in the Indo-Pacific and in the Northeastern Atlantic during the early-middle Eocene, reinforcing the strong biotic affinities between these two marine regions in the Paleogene.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
43 The combination of engraulid-like suspensorium and chirocentrid-like fanged jaws in these early Eocene clupeiforms raises questions about the evolution of both these traits-as well as macrophagy- within Clupeiformes. Although some have hypothesized a relationship between chirocentrids and engraulids, molecular phylogenies do not clearly support this link. A better understanding of relationships among modern clupeiforms in general, and clupeoids in particular, will help clarify these patterns of ecological evolution.
44 The Emergence of Modern Marine Fish Faunas after the Jurassic-Cretaceous Crisis
Lauren Sallan ∗† 1, Travis Lumpkin 1, Steven Jasinski 1, Alana Rosen 1,2
1 University of Pennsylvania – 240 S. 33rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States 2 University of Delaware – Newark, DE, United States
Modern marine fish faunas, including the Indo-Pacific, are dominated by relatively small (< 1m) teleosts in terms of both diversity ( ˜16000 sp.) and abundance, with relatively larger sharks and rays (> 1m) coming in a distant second ( ˜1200 sp.). The construction of this fauna is typically assumed as the outcome of gradual competition with extinct groups and/or the end-Cretaceous mass extinction (66 Million years ago, Ma). However, many of the living teleost and shark clades first appear in the late Mesozoic, before the asteroid strike. Newly compiled databases for Late Mesozoic fishes show notable shifts in both community and size structure in the early-mid-Cretaceous (145-100 Ma), coincident with the start of increases in crown teleost and shark diversity within specific ecosystems. This follows an extended trough in the marine vertebrate record stretching from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary (145 Ma), during which the number of reported fish localities and per-site species counts fell dramatically. This reduction in diversity and abundance is associated with sea level change, but not with declines in marine fossil sampling. Indeed, benthic invertebrates continued to diversify as part of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution. During this same interval, chondrichthyan body sizes, which had been largely limited to < 2m for the first 100 My of the Mesozoic, increase greatly to take on their Recent size distribution. Interestingly, this interval is also coincident with the estimated early Cretaceous divergence date for crown Acanthomorpha generated from a recent fossil-calibrated phylogeny of all living ray-finned fishes. The Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary has previously been linked to losses in marine reptiles and ammonoids. While it is not clear that this second-order event is associated with elevated extinction in fishes, the crisis and subsequent recovery interval may have opened opportunities for modern marine fishes.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
45 The evolution of teleost otolith morphology and its applications in paleoichthyology
Werner Schwarzhans ∗ 1, Tanja Schulz-Mirbach 2, Antoni Lombarte 3, Victor Tuset 3, Hermione Beckett 4, Matt Friedman 4
1 Zoological Museum of the Natural History Museum of Denmark (ZMUC) – Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark 2 Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Department Biology II – Planegg-Martinsried, Germany 3 Institut de Ci`enciesdel Mar-CSIC – Barcelona, Spain 4 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford – Oxford, United Kingdom
The development of improved hearing as expressed in otolith morphology diversity may have been one important element in the evolutionary success of teleosts. The sagitta in the saccule (commonly referred to as the ”otolith”) is hypothesized to play a principal role in audition. The macula sacculi is characterized by ciliary bundles on the sensory hair cells that are arranged into groups of five different orientations, resulting in five principal patterns, with variations. The macula sacculi attaches to the inner surface of the otolith along a structure termed sulcus acus- ticus. The link, however, between macula patterns and sulcus morphology is still incompletely understood. Fossil teleost otoliths are known since Early Jurassic. Due to their composition of metastable aragonite, otoliths only become common in Cenozoic rocks. Fossil otoliths are much more abundant than articulated skeletons, and are often found in sediments indicating different en- vironments, thus adding unique information for the reconstruction of ancient fish faunas. A geometric morphometric analysis of contour and sulcus shape highlights the diversification of otolith morphology over time. Estimation of disparity in fossil otolith shape reveals a clear pattern: a slow increase in disparity during Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, becoming more pro- nounced during the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, corresponding to observations inferred from body fossils and molecular-clock approaches.
The identification of fossil otoliths relies heavily on comparison with extant material due to the current paucity of described articulated fossil skeletons with otoliths in situ. The reliability of such comparison decreases with increasing geological age of the otoliths. This is a particu- lar problem for the Late Cretaceous where articulated skeletons have revealed a large number of sometimes highly specialized taxa in extinct families and higher rankings for which otolith morphologies are completely unknown. We therefore strongly promote an intense search for otoliths in situ for a proper calibration of isolated fossil otoliths, including microCT imaging. We present two cases exemplifying the power of integrated skeletal and otolith research: 1. early Ponto-Caspian gobies from the Middle Miocene; 2. microCT scans of otoliths in situ in Cretaceous fishes. The presentation will conclude with a critical review of ”first” otolith records.
∗Speaker
46 The features of the Neogene stage of the North Pacific ichthyofauna development as inferred from two fossil fish complexes from Sakhalin, Russia
Mikhail Nazarkin ∗ 1
1 Zoological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences (ZIN RAS) – 199034, Universitetskaya Emb., 1, Sankt-Petersburg, Russia, Russia
The two contemporary complexes of fossil fishes came from the Middle-Late Miocene deposits of the Sakhalin Isl., Russia. The fish community from Agnevo Formation consists from the 27 species of 15 families of shallow-water fishes, with predominance of cottoids, stichaeoids and pleuronectids. The complex from Kurasi Formation contains the fossils of 32 species of 23 fish families and comprises mainly mesopelagic dwellers, such as myctophids, argentiniforms, stomiiforms and aulopiforms. Both complexes comprise mainly the representatives of the recent fish families, whereas the extinct families are rare and, probably, are the remnants of the pre-Miocene ichthyofauna. The structure of these fish complexes brightly differs at the level of the genera. Whereas extinct genera make only 6 % of the deep-sea fishes of Kurasi F., this index for the shallow-water community of Agnevo F. is about 50 %. The higher degree of differences between extinct and recent species of the same genera among the shallow-water, than among the deep-sea fishes can be postulated at the species level. Extinct deep-water fishes usually differ from the recent congeners by the modal values of the counts, some body proportions, and the shape of separate bones. The revealed differences are usually plesiomorphic. Therefore the Miocene forms can be treated as closest to hypothetical ancestors of the recent species. The Miocene shallow-water dwellers are usually characterized by more reliable characters such as the hiatus in counts, configuration of the lateral lines or skin ossicles structure. Since the Middle Miocene, the Sakhalin region underwent considerable changes resulted from the development of the JapanSea rift, shifts in coastline configurations, transgressive cycles and temperature fluctuations. Obviously, evolutionary responses of deep- and shallow-water fish faunas to changing environment were not identical: the coastal communities were affected much more than the deep-water ones, as indicated by the degree of changes in their structure to the present time. Thus, the rates of evolution of coastal fishes since the Middle-Late Miocene were significantly higher, than those of deep-water dwellers.
∗Speaker
47 A2/ Genes to Genomes: Forging ahead in the study of marine evolution
48 A high-quality Genome of the Clownfish Amphiprion Percula
Robert Lehmann ∗ 1, Damien Lightfoot 1, Celia Schunter 1, Rita Bartossek 1, David Miller 2, Michael Berumen 1,3, Philip Munday† 2, Timothy Ravasi‡ 1
1 KAUST Environmental Epigenetic Program (KEEP), Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (KAUST) – Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 3 Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (RSRC) – Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
The iconic clownfish is a model organism for studying ecology and evolution of reef fishes, in- cluding patterns of population connectivity, sex change, social organization, marine mutualisms, habitat selection and the impact of climate change. The clownfish was also the first species for which it was demonstrated that the response to ecologically important olfactory cues is impaired by ocean acidification. Here we present the first ever sequenced genome of a clownfish species. The de novo genome of Amphiprion percula, an endemic species from the Australian’s Great Barrier Reef, was sequenced using the Pacific Biosciences SMRT sequencing technology. We sequenced the genomic DNA from the brain of a wild-caught clownfish to a coverage of 124X. The final and presented genome was selected from several tentative assemblies based on both measures of quality and contiguity. It features a contig’s N50 of 1.86 Mbp spanning 0.9 Gbp to- tal sequence length and contains 30594 predicted genes covering 97% of the expected orthologs. By phasing the genome using the Phase Genomics Hi-C technique we were able to arrange 1,073 contigs into 24 chromosome scale scaffolds spanning 98% (0.89 Gbp) of the initial assembly, resulting in a final genome with an N50 of 38 Mbp across 365 scaffolds. This represents the highest-quality and most complete genome of a tropical reef fish presently available.The avail- ability of a high quality clownfish genome makes this species an emerging model system for evolutionary, ecology and climate change studies. In my talk, I will also present how, by means of comparative genomics, we were able to identify genomic elements responsible for the observed clownfish’s plastic response to ocean acidification.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
49 Addressing intractable groups in the Fish Tree of Life using genome-wide Gene Genealogy Interrogation
Ricardo Betancur ∗ 1, Lily Hughes 2, Dahiana Arcila 2, Guillermo Orti 2
1 University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras – P.O. Box 23360, San Juan, PR 00931-3360, Puerto Rico 2 George Washington University – 2023 G St NW, Washington, DC, 20052, United States
Much progress has been achieved in disentangling evolutionary relationships among species in the Tree of Life, but some taxonomic groups remain difficult to resolve despite increasing availability of genome-scale data sets. Recently, we introduced a new practical approach, named Gene Genealogy Interrogation (GGI), that uses constrained tree searches in combination with topology tests to account for gene tree estimation error and its downstream effects in coales- cent analyses. We initially showed its efficacy in resolving controversial relationships within the largest freshwater fish radiation (Otophysi) based on newly generated DNA sequences for 1,051 exons from 225 species. Here, we address other difficult nodes in the Fish Tree of Life based on a large-scale phylogenomic dataset consisting of 1,105 exons, which was assembled via in silico mining of 305 genome- and transcriptome-enabled fish species. In addition to revisiting Otophysi with the new dataset, other difficult nodes addressed include the base of teleosts, pro- tacanthopterygians, base of acanthomorphs, sister group of percomorphs, and atherinomorphs. Our GGI results show that, while phylogenetic resolution for major protacanthopterygian and acanthomorph lineages remains contentious, the majority genes favor a single tree topology in all other cases. GGI provides a powerful approach to identify incompatible signals in large data sets and to discern between estimation error and actual biological conflict explaining gene tree discordance.
∗Speaker
50 Comparative genomics of anemonefish and chromosome evolution in reef fish
Damien Lightfoot ∗ 1, Robert Lehmann 1, Celia M. Schunter 1, Rita Bartossek 1, Craig Michell 2, David Miller 3, Michael Berumen 2,1, Philip Munday 3, Timothy Ravasi 1
1 KAUST Environmental Epigenetic Program (KEEP), Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (KAUST) – Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) – Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (ARC CEED) – Room 525, Goddard Building,University of QueenslandSt Lucia, Qld 4072Australia, Australia
The orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula) is an iconic fish species that has received in- creasing scientific and public attention. A. percula is one of 30 anemonefish species of the Amphiprioninae subfamily that have evolved to live in symbiosis with specific species of sea anemone. In addition to investigations of this symbiotic relationship, A. percula has also been utilized for studies of sex determination, adaptation to climate change and larval dispersal. However, these studies have been limited by a lack of genomic resources, which would allow more comprehensive and in-depth characterizations of these processes. To address these issues, we sequenced the genomes of several anemonefish, including A. percula and A. melanopus (cin- namon clownfish). Using Pacific Biosciences Single Molecule Real-Time sequencing, we produced a de novo assem- bly of 904 Mb, with a contig N50 of 1.86 Mb. This primary assembly was then scaffolded with Hi-C based chromatin interaction maps (Phase Genomics), whereby 98% of the length of the assembly was scaffolded into 24 chromosomes, representing the haploid chromosome number of the species. This genome assembly is one of the most contiguous and complete for any fish species. Utilizing this genomic resource, we undertook a comparative genomics analysis of several anemone- fish, including A. percula, A. melanopus and A. bicinctus (Red Sea clownfish) to identify ge- nomic characteristics that may underlie habitat, phenotypic or behavioral differences between the species and may be related to the evolutionary history of this subfamily. We assessed genomic variation at both sequence and structural levels by characterizing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and copy number variations (CNVs), respectively. SNPs can result in modifications to gene expression or protein function while CNVs can result in duplication or loss of genomic regions, such as whole genes. More broadly, we also investigated chromosome evolution in reef fish by comparing the chromosome composition and synteny of our A. percula chromosome-scale assembly with high-quality genome assemblies from other fish species.
∗Speaker
51 Contrasting patterns of population structure and connectivity across northern Australia in a commercially important fish Lutjanus johnii: integrating population genetics, genomics and ecological markers.
Laura Taillebois ∗ 1, David Crook 1, Diane Barton 2, Thor Saunders 2, Danielle Davenport 3, Jennifer Ovenden 3
1 Research Insitute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University – Darwin, NT 0810, Australia 2 Department of Primary Industry and Resources, Northern Territory Government – Berrimah, NT 0828, Australia 3 Molecular Fisheries Laboratory, The University of Queensland – St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Defining the spatial extent of stocks is a founding principle of assessing fisheries populations to achieve sustainable exploitation. The concept of stocks as natural management units is based on demographically cohesive groups of individuals of a species and is commonly defined in genetic terms. Contemporary genetic structure and population connectivity is the most practical time frame for management although working at that scale is often compromised by genetic markers that lack adequate sensitivity. We tested the sensitivity of genetic markers and ecological markers in the commercially important golden snapper Lutjanus johnii from northern Australia for defining stocks. We used a panel of microsatellite and genome-wide SNP markers and compared population structure across northern Australia. Ecological markers (parasite abundance and otolith microchemistry) were also used as biological tags to investigate the fine- scale population structure of Lutjanus johnii. Results using microsatellite markers indicate high levels of gene flow and no significant genetic structure between reef habitats (locations). This was counterintuitive as collections were made at a huge spatial scale (across 4,000 km of coastline) and in the presence of at least one major geographic discontinuity (eg. Torres Strait), which constrains geneflow in biologically similar species (eg. grass emperor). However, SNP markers indicated genetic population structure across the same broad scale. Parasite abundance and otolith microchemistry differed significantly within and among regions; and locations could be discriminated from each other. This study reveals that SNP markers align more with ecological markers in the golden snapper, possibly they are more associated with polygenes responsible for local adaptation than microsatellite loci. The study highlights the utility of suitably designed genetic markers for gaining insights into stock discrimination of coastal marine species, assisting in sustainable management of fisheries.
∗Speaker
52 Coral Reefs as Stepping Stones in a Range Expansion: The historical Demography of blacktip reef sharks revealed by genomic data
Stefano Mona ∗ 1, Pierpaolo Maisano Delser 2, Shannon Corrigan 3, Drew Duckettc 3, Arnaud Suwalski 4, Michel Veuille 4, Serge Planes 5, Gavin Naylor 3
1 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) – Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – 4 - 14 Rue Ferrus, 75014, Paris, France 2 University College Dublin – Smurfit Institute of Genetics, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland, Ireland 3 College of Charleston – Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston 29412, SC, USA, United States 4 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – EPHE – 4-14 Rue Ferrus, 75014, Paris, France 5 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – EPHE – CRIOBE-USR 3278, CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Laboratoire d’Excellence ‘CORAIL’, 58 Avenue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan, France, France
Carcharhinus melanopterus is one of the most abundant and widespread reef-associated sharks in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Considered near threatened in some part of its range, recent population genetics investigations have suggested that French Polynesian populations of C. melanopterus may have been adversely impacted by human activity. In an effort to better un- derstand the population genetic patterns induced by human impacts and place them in a broader context, we undertook a comprehensive population genomic study that aimed to characterize the historical demography and the colonization history of C. melanopterus throughout its range. We sampled 144 individuals from 13 populations and deep-sequenced ˜1,000 genomic regions using a recently developed target gene capture approach. We show that the demography of the species is best described by metapopulation models and that models that do not account for population structure can lead to misleading interpretation of the evolutionary trajectories of the sub-populations. The data collected allowed us to reject an equilibrium metapopulation model and suggested, instead, that a range expansion had occurred in this species. Spatial genetic modelling identified two colonization waves originating in the Indo-Australian Archipelago that lead via stepping- stone colonization to the modern range distribution for the species: an east- ward wave moving through the Pacific and a westward one moving through the Indian Ocean. The study highlights insights that can be gained about evolutionary demography by coupling population genetic metapopulation models with spatial modeling, and underscores the need for cautious interpretation of population genetic data when advancing conservation priorities.
∗Speaker
53 Draft assembly and annotation of A. glossodonta and A. vulpes genomes
Keoni Kauwe ∗† 1, Perry Ridge 2, Elizabeth Wallace 3, Brandon Pickett 1
1 Brigham Young University (BYU) – 4102 LSB Provo UT USA 84602, United States 2 Brigham Young University – 4102 LSB Provo UT USA 84602, United States 3 Florida Fish Wildlife Conservation Commission – 100 Eighth Ave. SE Saint Petersburg, FL 33701, United States
We have collected DNA sequence data from A. glossodonta using next generation sequencing technologies and assembled a draft genome. Gene annotations have been added using RNA sequencing data from A. glossodonta. We will present the basic characteristics of these genomes and examine variation between these two species.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
54 Evolutionary history of endemic coral reef fish species of Rapa Nui
Erwan Delrieu-Trottin ∗ 1, Stefano Mona 2,3, Pablo Saenz Agudelo 1
1 Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas (ICAEV) – Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile 2 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) – Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – PSL Research University, Paris, France 3 Institut de Syst´ematique,Evolution, Biodiversit´e(ISYEB) – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Universit´ePierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes : UMR7205, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – 57 rue Cuvier, CP39, France
Explaining the current distribution of species and understanding why certain regions main- tain or promote high levels of endemism remains a central question in ecology and evolution. Rapa Nui, the most isolated inhabited island of the world, constitutes the second hotspot of endemism of the Indo-Pacific with 21,7% of endemic fish species. Several studies have looked for the origin of the first inhabitants and the iconic monumental stones statues known as ”moai”, while little is known regarding the history of the island’s fish fauna despite its uniqueness. This study aims to shed light on the evolutionary history of the endemic reef fish fauna of this periph- eral area. Here we present phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial (1 to 5) and nuclear (1 to 6) marker sequence data to place 9 endemic species in their respective family phylogenies (7 in total). Using these new calibrated phylogenetic trees, species distribution and geological data, we inferred colonization routes and divergence time of these endemic fishes. We found that the divergence time with closest relatives differed greatly among species (by an order of magnitude), but that all these species still harbor the signatures of a founder-event speciation. Finally, we will present RADseq SNP data and population genetic analyses that better estimate the lower bound for the speciation time of these species.
∗Speaker
55 Explosive diversification of marine fishes at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary
Brant Faircloth ∗† 1, Michael Alfaro‡ 2, Richard Harrington 3, Laurie Sorenson 2, Matt Friedman 4, Christine Thacker 5, Thomas Near 6
1 Louisiana State University – Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United States 2 University of California, Los Angeles – Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States 3 University of Oxford – Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom 4 University of Michigan – Museum of Paleontology and Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States 5 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County – Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, United States 6 Yale University – Department of Ecology Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction is linked to explosive diversification across major clades of terrestrial vertebrates, but the impact of the K-Pg event on diversification of marine vertebrates is less clear, with some studies suggesting a very modest effect of the K-Pg on fish diversity and others pointing to major reorganization of fish communities in the wake of this event. Spiny-finned fishes (Acanthomorpha) provide an ideal system for exploring the effects of the K-Pg on fish diversification: they arose during the Late Cretaceous, constitute the dominant group of extant marine fishes (> 18,140 species), and exhibit an astonishing degree of phenotypic diversity. However, the overwhelming evolutionary success of this group has historically posed a severe challenge to morphological and molecular phylogenetics, with uncertainty spanning both the placement of early diverging lineages and the resolution of enormously diverse subclades like the infamous percomorph ”bush at the top of the tree”. Recent multi-locus studies offer phylogenetic hypotheses for acanthomorphs that suggest a number of newly discovered lineages. However, these new relationships and associated timescales have yet to be interrogated by phy- logenomic approaches, limiting both their power and our ability to comprehensively investigate the timing of acanthomorph diversification. Here, we use targeted enrichment of more than 1,000 ultraconserved elements (UCEs) comprising > 300,000 nucleotide positions in conjunc- tion with a divergence time analysis based upon an inclusive set of fossil calibrations to resolve relationships among 120 major acanthomorph lineages and provide a new timescale for their radiation. Maximum likelihood, Bayesian, and species tree analyses result in a well-supported topology that strongly resolves relationships along the acanthomorph backbone and reveals new relationships within six major percomorph subclades. Divergence time analyses reveal a pulse of diversification within each major percomorph lineage that coincides with the K-Pg boundary. Our results align molecular phylogenetic studies with recent paleontological analyses and recast
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
56 the K-Pg event as a transformative episode across all major lineages of terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates.
57 Finding Evolutionary Links and Genes in Adaptive Radiations of Reef Gobies (Gobiidae) by Targeted Gene Capture
Kendall Johnson ∗† 1, Chenhong Li 2, Luke Tornabene 3, Frank Pezold 4
1 Texas AM University-Corpus Christi, Science Engineering, Life Sciences, Marine Biology Program (TAMUCC) – Department of Life Sciences Texas AM University-Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5800 Corpus Christi, TX 78412-5800, United States 2 Shanghai Ocean University – Shanghai Ocean University 999 Hucheng Huan Road Shanghai ,CH., China 3 University of Washington – 1122 NE Boat St, Box 355020 Seattle, WA 98195-5020, United States 4 Texas AM University-Corpus Christi, Science Engineering, Life Sciences (TAMUCC) – College of Science Engineering Texas AM University-Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Drive Unit 5806 Suite 374 Corpus Christi, TX 78412, United States
Gobies (families Gobiidae+Gobionellidae) are one of the most diverse groups of teleosts, and one of the most complicated. Phylogenetic studies of gobies using traditional genetic mark- ers or morphology have revealed the presence of a deep divide between primarily saltwater, reef-dwelling gobies (Gobiidae) and freshwater or brackish gobies (Gobionellidae), but have not been able to resolve many intergeneric relationships within the Gobiidae to this point. The lack of resolution is due to an early period of rapid diversification, which led to the evolution of a remarkable variety of ecologies and morphologies. Gobiids have evolved an array of unique specializations that have allowed them to take advantage of an extraordinary number of niches. This diversity makes them ideal subjects for the study of many topics of ecology and evolution, including the evolution of behavior and life history traits, ecological and morphological adapta- tion, and species diversification. However, without properly resolved relationships it is difficult to assess the many interesting questions within these subjects, such as whether the behavioral or morphological adaptations are unique, or did they evolve in parallel, and if so, how many times? Are any associated with shifts in speciation or extinction rates? The phylogenetic struc- ture of the gobiids must be resolved to investigate the mechanisms behind such events. A new gene-capture method provides the ability to accomplish this. By examination of a large suite of functional, protein-coding genes across a broad range of taxa both the evolutionary links among rapidly evolved taxa and the gene suites responsible for adaptations in gobiids will be deter- mined. A high number of markers would be able to resolve the dense phylogenetic relationships, while the use of functional genes allows the investigation of signatures of selection in genes po- tentially associated with physiological and morphological adaptations. The ability to combine the identification of loci under selection with the resolution of difficult relationships via gene capture offers unprecedented opportunity to increase the scientific community’s understanding of adaptive radiations and speciation in general. Here I report the initial findings of my research into gobiid phylogeny and evolution utilizing this new method.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
58 Genomic Analysis of Disjunct Marine Fish Populations of the Northeastern Pacific and Sea of Cortez
Eric Garcia ∗ 1, Giacomo Bernardi 2
1 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) – 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, United States 2 University of California Santa Cruz – 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, United States
Disjunct populations are formed after a physical barrier separates the populations of a species, which then has the potential to remain the same species or diverge depending on how effectively the barrier impedes gene flow. Disjunct populations provide an excellent opportunity to study the evolutionary processes of allopatric speciation. The sargo, Anisotremus davidsonii (Haemulidae), and the longjaw mudsucker, Gillichthys mirabilis (Gobiidae), have disjunct dis- tributions with populations in the Pacific coast of California and Baja California and isolated populations in the upper half of the Sea of Cortez. These disjunct populations have been sug- gested to be at the initial phases of allopatric speciation. This project utilizes restriction site associated DNA (RADSeq) to produce a highly confident connectivity analysis of populations sampled across the Pacific and Sea of Cortez ranges of these species. The goals of this project are to (1) characterize the genomic structure of these populations and assess divergence levels across the Baja California peninsula, (2) determine the connectivity within each region and (3) explore the molecular signatures of incipient allopatric speciation. This study sheds light into the processes in the speciation continuum in these species and provides a deeper understanding of how populations are connected and how biodiversity might be shaped in these regions.
∗Speaker
59 Genomic signatures of parallel selection in surfperches (Embiotocidae)
Gary Longo 1, Giacomo Bernardi ∗ 2
1 NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA, NMFS) – 2725 Montlake Blvd E, Seattle, WA 98112, United States 2 University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) – Long Marine Lab 115 McAllister Wy Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States
Cases of parallel selection in closely related taxa provide excellent opportunities for bet- ter understanding the genetic component of selection and adaptation. Controlled experiments with E. coli and studies utilizing both terrestrial and freshwater systems have progressed our understanding of parallel selection, however there are few examples from the marine environ- ment. Here, we perform exploratory genome scans for selection in four species of Embiotocid surfperches between populations in Monterey Bay, California, USA and Punta Banda, Baja, Mexico. These localities are on opposite sides of a well-known biogeographic break and ex- perience significantly different sea surface temperatures (SST) as well heterogeneous species assemblages. Using an FST outlier approach, we detect strong signals of intraspecific balancing and divergent selection as well as clear evidence for interspecific parallel selection with some loci aligning to NCBI proteins. These results suggest that California surfperches represent an ideal system for investigating different forms of selection in a natural marine environment.
∗Speaker
60 Genomics of adaptation in the ocean
Agostinho Antunes ∗ 1,2
1 Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of Porto – Av. General Norton de Matos, s/n, 4450–208 Porto, Portugal., Portugal 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto – Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal., Portugal
The completion of the human genome sequencing in 2003 opened a new perspective into the importance of whole genome sequencing projects, and currently thousand of species are having their genomes completely sequenced, from simple organisms, such as bacteria, to more complex taxa, such as mammals. This voluminous sequencing data generated across multiple organisms provides also the framework to better understand the genetic makeup of such species and related ones, allowing to explore the genetic changes underlining the evolution of diverse phenotypic traits. Here, recent results from our group retrieved from comparative evolutionary genomic analyses of varied adaptive traits (e.g. sensory, reproduction, venom, etc) in different marine species (e.g. fish) will be considered to exemplify how gene novelty and gene enhancement by positive selection might have been determinant in the success of adaptive radiations into diverse habitats and lifestyles. The findings pinpoint unique molecular products of critical relevance in species evolution, diversification and conservation, but also highlight genomic novelties of importance for environmental and biomedical research.
∗Speaker
61 Genomics of habitat choice and adaptive evolution in the deep sea
Michelle Gaither ∗† 1,2, George Gkafas 3, Menno De Jong 2, Fatih Sarigol 4, Francis Neat 5, Thomas Regnier 5, Daniel Moore 2, A. Rus Hoelzel‡ 2
1 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) – Kaneohe, Hawaii, United States 2 Durham University (Durham) – United Kingdom 3 University of Thessaly – Fytokou str., 384 46, Volos, Hellas., Greece 4 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit¨atM¨unchen – Grosshaderner Strasse 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany 5 Marine Scotland – 75 Victoria Road, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Intraspecific diversity promotes evolutionary change and can form the basis for speciation. Marine species live in a complex three dimensional environment. While horizontal (longitudi- nal and latitudinal) habitat transitions have been proposed to define marine communities and promote intraspecific differentiation, little is known about the importance of transitions along vertical depth gradients, though substantial changes in species assemblages with depth have been recorded. Here we generate an annotated genome assembly for the deep sea fish Coryphaenoides rupestris and combine this with re-sequencing and genome sampling data to show that fixed non-synonymous differences in functional loci distinguish individuals living at different depths, independent of horizontal distance. Our data indicate disruptive selection at these loci across only 800 m of depth, but no clear evidence for assortative mating as would be expected if there was incipient ecological speciation. We propose that individuals with distinct genotypes at relevant loci, maintained by strong selection, segregate by depth as they mature, and that these adaptive genotypes are likely associated with distinct phenotypic requirements at different depths. An important implication is that an evolutionary radiation could proceed rapidly by building on established intraspecific polymorphisms linked to resource partitioning in distinct habitats.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
62 How the devil ray got its horns: the genetic basis of body plan remodeling in manta rays and their relatives
Karen Crow ∗ 1
1 San Francisco State University (SFSU) – 1600 Holloway Ave San Francisco, CA 94132, United States
Compared to sharks, the skates and rays exhibit highly modified body plans that are adapted to life on the benthos, including dorso-ventral compression with pectoral fins that extend an- teriorly and fuse to the head. Patterns of morphological evolution in the pectoral fins of most batoids are constrained due to their dual use in feeding and swimming. For example, skates use their pectoral fins to capture prey by ”tenting”, and employ the undulatory swimming mode for locomotion. However, the manta rays and their relatives (Myliobatidae) have evolved distinct pectoral fin domains that are functionally dedicated to feeding (cephalic lobes) or swimming (modified pectoral fins). Due to the presence of highly derived cephalic lobes, the mobulids have been referred to as the only vertebrate with three paired appendages, however, we found no evi- dence that cephalic lobes develop independently from pectoral fins. In an analysis of differential gene expression from comparative RNASeq data and in situ hybridization, we uncovered expres- sion of several patterning genes that are shared with the anterior pectoral fin of skates. Further, we found that the fin rays in cephalic lobes exhibit several ancestral characteristics, similar to pectoral fin rays in skates. We conclude that cephalic lobes are neither independent nor novel appendages. That said, both cephalic lobes and pectoral fins of myliobatids exhibit adaptations associated with specialized feeding or the evolution of the oscillatory swimming. We found novel expression patterns in developing cephalic lobes of the cownose ray that suggest rearrangements of the ancestral genetic regulatory network for fin/limb outgrowth and patterning. Finally, we found a redistribution of pectoral fin rays in the Myliobatidae and Gymnura that arose multiple times independently in association with pelagic flight and the oscillatory swimming mode.
∗Speaker
63 Hybridisation between sympatric species of coral reef fish
Samuel Payet ∗† 1, Hugo Harrison 1, Jp Hobbs 2, Joseph Dibattista 2,3, Tane Sinclair-Taylor 3, Stephen Newman 4, Michael Berumen 3, Jennifer Mcilwain 2
1 James Cook University – Townsville, QLD, Australia 2 Curtin University – Bentley, West Australia, Australia 3 Reef Ecology Lab, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Red Sea Research Center, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia 4 Department of Fisheries West Australia – Hillarys, West Australia, Australia
Coral reefs contain some of the most diverse vertebrate assemblages in the world, yet the mechanisms that have generated this diversity are unclear. How do species arise in these highly connected ecosystems where there are few physical barriers to gene flow? Modern molecular and genomic tools are providing new insight into speciation while blurring the distinction between taxonomic lineages. Many species of reef fish are now shown to hybridise with closely related taxa, suggesting that hybridisation may have played a creative role in their evolution. The discovery of marine hybrid zones provide an ideal opportunity to study this process. However, hybridisation is not restricted to these regions of biogeographic overlap, in fact, sympatric species of reef fish may interbreed throughout their range. This presentation considers two cases of hybridisation. The first, between two allopatric species of grouper that have come into secondary contact in the east Indian Ocean, and the second, between three sympatric species of grouper that have overlapping distributions on Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. The causes and evolutionary consequences of each are discussed and compared. Genomic and ecological perspectives are likely to provide crucial insight into the role of geographic isolation and natural selection among sympatric species that hybridise.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
64 Investigating the genetic basis of clownfish adaptive radiation using comparative genomics
Anna Marcionetti ∗ 1,2, Victor Rossier 1, Joris Bertrand 1,2, Nicolas Salamin 1,2
1 Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne – Rue du Bugnon 27 1011, Lausanne Switzerland, Switzerland 2 Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) – Quartier Sorge - Batiment Genopode 1015 Lausanne Switzerland, Switzerland
Clownfishes (family: Pomacentridae, subfamily: Amphiprioninae) is a group of 28 described species and their distinctive characteristic is the mutualistic interaction they maintain with sea anemones. While all species of the clade are associated with sea anemones, there is a large discrepancy in host usage. Indeed, some species are strictly specialist and can interact with a unique species of sea anemones, while others are generalists and can cooperate with a large number of hosts. The mutualistic interaction between clownfishes and sea anemones was identi- fied as the main ”key innovation” that opened new ecological niches and triggered the adaptive radiation of clownfishes. Although this group is an iconic group of coral reef fish, little is known about the exact genetic mechanisms that allowed clownfishes to adapt to their sea anemones hosts. There is also very little understanding of the process that led to the diversification of the clownfishes once they acquired the mutualistic interaction. Thanks to the advances in next generation sequencing technologies, we are investigating the genomic basis of the diversification process of the clownfishes. Based on predictions from theoretical models of speciation, we ex- pect that the acquisition of a new phenotype, such as the ability to interact with sea anemones, should be driven by positive selection on existing single copy genes or neofunctionalization of duplicated genes that are specific to clownfishes. We sequenced, assembled and annotated the genomes of 10 clownfish species (Amphiprion frenatus, A. melanopus, A. nigripes, A. bicinc- tus, A. perideraion, A. akallopisos, A. polymnus, A. sebae, A. ocellaris, Premnas biaculeatus). We used comparative methods and models of molecular evolution to infer the level of selection on all the one-to-one orthologous genes of the clownfishes and on clownfish-specific duplicated genes. We identified twelve genes under positive selection that are potentially associated with the adaptation of clownfishes to sea anemones and their diversification. Although evidence from additional experiments is necessary, these preliminary results suggest that at its early stages, this adaptive radiation was triggered by changes in few genes of large effect and our findings corroborate the expectations from theories of adaptive radiation.
∗Speaker
65 Long live the kingfish: patterns and processes of evolution in carangiform fishes
Jessica Glass ∗† 1, Richard Harrington 1, Paul Cowley 2, Thomas Near 1
1 Yale University – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, PO Box 208106, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States 2 South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) – Private Bag 1015, Grahamstown, South Africa
Carangiformes is a clade of approximately 170 marine acanthomorph species that exhibit wide morphological and ecological diversity, including species such as the jacks, scads, pompanos, billfishes, and remoras. Many carangiforms are large predators and ecologically significant for coral reef and coastal ecosystems, and economically important in recreational, commercial, and artisanal fisheries in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. A number of molecular phylogenetic studies have brought into doubt the monophyly of some genera, as well as the relationships among major carangiform subclades, including the monophyly of the most species-rich subclade, Carangidae. Previous molecular studies have either lacked sufficient taxonomic coverage or sampled too few loci to adequately test carangiform systematics. We seek to resolve taxonomic relation- ships within Carangiformes through genomic sequencing of 1200 ultraconserved DNA elements (UCEs), in addition to analyzing one mitochondrial and three nuclear protein-coding loci. Using this molecular dataset, which samples 80% of carangiform species, we performed fossil-calibrated divergence dating in order to assess timing of carangiform diversification. We observed conflict over the monophyly of Carangidae between our concatenated nuclear-mitochondrial dataset and the UCE dataset. Our results provide new insight on the phylogenetic relationships of Carangi- formes and the timing of its evolution in the context of significant historic evolutionary events such as the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. By mitigating taxonomic uncertainty in an important acanthomorph clade, we aim to more accurately characterize teleost biodiversity, a pressing issue in the face of increasing anthropogenic disturbances on marine ecosystems.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
66 Marine connectivity in time and space: Insights from an intertidal goby
Joshua Thia 1, Libby Liggins 2, Cynthia Riginos ∗ 1
1 University of Queensland (UQ) – School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia 2 Massey University – Massey University Auckland, North Shore, Auckland 0745, New Zealand
Connectivity and genetic structure within marine metapopulations may be highly variable in space and time-a phenomenon coined ‘chaotic genetic patchiness’. Historically, it has been largely presumed that planktonic dispersal during the larval phase of many marine organisms would facilitate high connectivity among populations and create genetic homogeneity within a species. However, stochastic forces in the marine environment are becoming increasingly recog- nised as significant causes of spatiotemporal variability in the distribution of genetic variation through their impact on larval supply and/or variability in local selection. It is therefore im- portant to consider both adult and juvenile cohorts when studying chaotic genetic patchiness, yet few studies to date have replicated sampling across space and time to make full assess- ments of the: (1) variability in genetic connectivity and structure, and (2) processes that drive this variability. We achieve this by considering spatiotemporal replicates of adult and juvenile Bathygobius cocosensis along the east coast of Australia. These individuals were sequenced using restriction associated DNA markers (RADseq) to obtain a large number of polymorphic loci for population genetic analyses. We consider how spatial distance, directionality in ocean currents, and larval retention rates, dictate connectivity through their impact on larval delivery. Furthermore, we test the potential for variability in local selection to impact genetic diversity by contrasting outlier loci across cohorts, sampling sites, and time.
∗Speaker
67 Pathways and perils: Building up genomic resources in a specialized group of reef fish
Joseph Dibattista ∗ 1
1 Curtin University – Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, PO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia, Australia
Closely related species can provide valuable insights into evolutionary processes through their ecology, distribution, and the history recorded in their genomes. Butterflyfish are particu- larly interesting given that they are dependent on coral reefs for food and shelter, and represent a model system to study general questions of biogeography, evolution, and population genetics. From a biogeographic perspective, butterflyfishes are prominent in fish assemblages of one of the most unique and geologically complex regions of the world’s oceans, the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. This environment at the western periphery of the Indo-Pacific is characterized by strong latitudinal gradients in water temperature, salinity, and nutrient load that may act as ecolog- ical barriers to larval dispersal and the eventual settlement of marine fauna. The aim of this presentation is to outline our recent experiences building up genomic resources for ”non-model” butterflyfish species by sequencing and annotating the genome of the range-restricted blacktail butterflyfish, which may serve as a starting point for investigations of genes underlying adap- tation to the unique Arabian environment. I will further discuss: 1) isolating restriction site associated DNA (RAD-seq) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers to quantify connec- tivity and natural selection in nine butterflyfish species from the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, 2) how we validated the butterflyfish genome as a scaffold for congeneric RAD-seq data, 3) meta- barcoding their gut contents to characterize diet and niche partitioning, and 4) deep sequencing ultraconserved elements (UCEs) across the Chaetodontidae family to help explain the high levels of endemism in the region.
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68 Population genomics of New Zealand snapper and testing for size-selective fishing using ancient DNA
Peter Ritchie ∗ 1
1 Victoria University of Wellington – PO Box 600 Wellington 6140 NEW ZEALAND, New Zealand
Chrysophrys auratus (Australasian snapper) is a common sparid species found in the coastal waters of New Zealand and Australia. It is a valuable commercial species and frequently targeted by recreational fishers. We have used genetic markers to assess the level of gene flow among sites around the New Zealand North Island and northern parts of the South Island. The results did not show a consistent pattern of population genetic structure when compared to the findings of previous studies. To resolve this uncertainty, we have determined the genome sequence of C. auratus and are using a Genotyping-by-Sequencing approach to quantify the genome-wide levels of variation and testing for differentiation. We are also able to use the genome data to test for loci under selection from environmental pressures, such as size-selective fishing. Bone measurements from archaeological sites have been used to suggest that the overall size of New Zealand snapper has reduced since the onset of commercial scale size-selective fishing. We will use well-preserved DNA that can be retrieved from prehistoric fish bones and compare them to modern fish using genome sequencing. This approach will enable us to determine whether there is a genetic pattern associated with size reduction and if it is correlated with the conditions needed for fishing-induced evolution.
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69 The Future of Phylogenomics
Prosanta Chakrabarty ∗ 1
1 Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science (LSU) – Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, United States
The end of systematics will be the day we have a Tree of Life with complete genomic sampling of every species on Earth, and all the fossil taxa we can fit into it. Well before that day comes we will be using reduced genomic sampling from target capture to sequence phylogenomic markers such as ultraconserved elements and exons to study the history of major clades. Although phylogenomic markers are a great leap forward from Sanger sequencing, we now have more data than we can handle with few analytical tools for studying coalescence, divergence times, or evolutionary process. We will present case studies from a number of fish lineages that reveal how much further we have to go before we can transition into full genome phylogenies.
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70 The Genomic Observatories Metadatabase (GeOMe): A new repository for field and sampling event metadata associated with genetic samples
Eric D. Crandall ∗ 1, Michelle Gaither† 2, Cynthia Riginos 3, Neil Davies 4, Robert Toonen 2, Rodney Ewing 5, Christopher Bird 6, Christopher Meyer 7, John Deck 8
1 California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) – Marina, CA, United States 2 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) – Kaneohe, HI, United States 3 University of Queensland (UQ) – Brisbane, Australia 4 Gump South Pacific Research Station – Moorea, French Polynesia 5 Biocode, LLC – Junction City, OR, United States 6 Texas AM University, Corpus Christi – Texas, United States 7 National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution – Washington D.C., United States 8 Berkeley Natural History Museums – Berkeley, CA, United States
Documenting patterns of global biodiversity and understanding how that diversity is gener- ated and maintained are important first steps towards mitigating the effects of anthropogenic stressors. Genetic data are key to this effort. Whereas public databases have served as vital repositories for DNA sequences, they do not accession the metadata required for ecological or evolutionary analyses. This ”metadata gap” means that vital information about sampling events, such as precise sampling location, date, habitat, and organism life history are rarely reported. Instead most of this information is left unpublished, greatly diminishing the potential value of the data. To fill this ”metadata gap” we have developed the Genomic Observatories Meta- database (GeOMe; http://www.geome-db.org/); an open access repository for geographic and ecological metadata associated with genetic data. GeOMe provides a user-friendly, web-based interface that allows data contributors to create a customized, yet standards compliant spread- sheet that captures the temporal and geospatial context of each biosample. These metadata are then validated and permanently linked to archived genetic data stored in NCBI’s Sequence Read Archive via unique persistent identifiers. Under the auspices of the Diversity of the Indo Pacific Network (DIPnet) GeOMe has already assembled over 35,000 individual mitochondrial sequences from and over 200 coral reef associated species sampled at over 1,500 sites across the Indo-Pacific making GeOMe the most extensive database of georeferened sequence data.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
71 Through a liquid glass to the eye of the beholder: Visual ecology of coral reef fishes isolated by the Isthmus of Panama
Michele Pierotti ∗ 1, W Owen Mcmillan 1, D Ross Robertson 1
1 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) – Balboa, Ancon, Panama
Coral reef fishes are ideal system for studies examining the effects of ecological selection on traits involved in sensory divergence and the evolution of animal communication systems. Here we take advantage of a unique natural experiment, the 3.1 my old uplift of the Isthmus of Panama, which separated a once single aquatic ecosystem into two isolated and highly different oceans, the Caribbean and the Tropical East Pacific (TEP). This ’placed’ similar genomes, those of sister species isolated on either side of the isthmus, into radically different photic environments: the turbid nutrient-rich waters in the Eastern Pacific or the clear oligotrophic waters in the Caribbean. We collect underwater spectral data, characterize rods and cones visual sensitivities physiologically, and employ RNAseq transcriptome sequencing to identify the opsin complement and relative expression in each geminate pair. This design allows us to test, within a well-characterized timeframe (3.1 mya), whether the spectral characteristics of these two bodies of water drove similar selective pressures on visual sensitivities in phylogenetically distant reef fish families. In addition, by contrasting geminate pairs that differ in peak diel activity, foraging strategies and position in the water column, we examine the role of these ecological factors in shaping reef fish visual systems. We discuss our findings in relation to the visual ecology of related species in the Great Barrier Reef.
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72 Time-calibrated Phylogenomic Reconstruction of Batfishes (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae)
Cerise Chen ∗† 1,2
1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology [UC Santa Cruz] (EEB) – 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, United States 2 Department of Ichthyology[California Academy of Sciences] – 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94118, United States
Batfishes (family Ogcocephalidae), some described as aliens, are a group of bizarre walking fishes related to the coral reef frogfishes (family Antennariidae), both belong in the anglerfish order Lophiiformes. The family Ogcocephalidae contains 10 genera and 78 species, of which 7 genera and 55 species are found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. The family represents one of the least known lophiiform families, therefore having a solid phylogenetic history available is crucial to the understanding of the evolutionary history of this group of fish. Even to this date the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial genes and protein-coding nuclear genes contained less than 20% of all species of Ogcocephalidae. Despite discrepancies between morphological and molecular phylogeny, both support a monophyletic Ogcocephalidae. The dis- covery of fossil record of batfishes (Tarkus squirei gen. et sp. nov.) from the late early Eocene of Monte Bolca may enable the application of coalescent approaches to calibrate divergence esti- mates for the proposed study. Elucidation of the origin of Ogcocephalidae may also provide an age estimation as a reference for other lophiiforms and their tree of life, hence I wish to apply Next-Generation Sequencing tools such as targeted enrichment of ultraconserved nuclear DNA elements (UCEs) and their flanking regions for time-calibrated phylogenomic reconstruction of batfishes. Fresh genetic materials of 24 species of Ogcocephalidae and other lophiiforms includ- ing members of 4 species of Lophiidae and 2 species of Chaunacidae from Taiwan were obtained, DNA sampling was also made possible from old museum specimens thus enable archival sam- pling to be used in revealing the evolution of batfishes and their kin.
This is a presentation of a project proposal.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
73 Toward resolving complex evolutionary history of the Indo-West Pacific sergeant majors (Pomacentridae: Abudefduf)
Wei-Jen Chen ∗ 1
1 Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University (IO NTU) – No.1 Sec. 4 Roosevelt Rd. Taipei 10617, Taiwan
The Indo-West Pacific (IWP) is the Earth’s tropical largest marine biogeographical region. Actually, over 3000 reef fish species have been recorded in this region whereas the total species richness is only a few hundreds in the outer regions of the IWP. Although its rich biodiversity has been documented for many years, the comprehensive surveys from various groups in this region are still needed to reach conclusions on the major evolutionary patterns and processes at play. With around 360 extant species found in all tropical seas, mostly in the IWP, the Pomacentridae is the one of the diverse and mostly abundant fish groups inhabiting coral reefs. This makes it suitable to a comparative study in phylogeny and biogeography to document the origins and patterns of diversification in time and space. In our research, the sergeant-majors living in the IWP are targeted. An integrated approach based on the DNA sequence variations obtained from classical Sanger sequencing and state-of-art Next Generation sequencing methods were used to investigate their population structure, phylogeography, and phylogenetics. The results from our recent paper (Bertrand et al. 2017 in Mol. Ecol.) based on the data from one mitochondrial and two nuclear genes demonstrated that three regional sublineages in A. sexfasciatus are present and the other species, A. vaigiensis, is polyphyletic and consists of three distinct genetic lineages (A, B and C) whose geographic ranges overlap. Although A. vaigiensis A and A. sexfasciatus were found to be distinct based on nuclear information, A. vaigiensis A was found to be nested within A. sexfasciatus in the mitochondrial gene tree. A. sexfasciatus from the Coral Triangle region and A. vaigiensis A were not differentiated from each other at the mitochondrial locus. In this presenting paper, the extended datasets with the sequences from whole mitogenomes, additional nuclear genes, and ddRAD for the IWP sergeant-majors were constructed. The analytical results confirm our previous discoveries and reveal another case of mito-nuclear discordance, which implies an ancient mitogenomic introgression happened in their evolutionary history. Finally, the developed SNP markers through the NGS will be presented and their unity for the prospective research will be discussed.
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74 Understanding Anti-Tropical Distributions in Centrarchiformes
William Ludt ∗ 1, Christopher Burridge 2, Thomas Near 3, Prosanta Chakrabarty 4
1 Louisiana State University (LSU) – 119 Foster Hall, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70806, United States 2 University of Tasmania (UTAS) – School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia 3 Yale University – Department of Ecology Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States 4 Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science (LSU) – Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, United States
The order Centrarchiformes contains 18 families whose relationships have been previously contested. Within this order there are several examples of anti-tropical distributions – a pattern where closely related groups occur on opposite sides of the tropics, yet are absent within. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this distribution pattern, yet the ultimate causes are still unknown for many species. Centrarchiformes, which contains anti-tropical distributions at different taxonomic levels, can be a model system for understanding this biogeographic pat- tern. Here we take a phylogenomic approach using over 500 ultraconserved elements to broadly examine the relationships among Centrarchiformes. We then used this dataset to focus on anti- tropicality within a single Indo-Pacific family, Cheilodactylidae. Our data strongly support a polyphyletic Cheilodactylidae, with the two South African species of Cheilodactylus forming a clade distantly related to the remaining species within the genus. We then used this phylogeny to specifically examine anti-tropical divergences within the remaining members of this genus, which primarily inhabit temperate rocky reef habitats in the southern Pacific, with four species occurring in the northern hemisphere. Using multiple fossil calibrations, we time calibrated our phylogeny to determine the timing of anti-tropical divergence events within this clade. We used this calibrated tree, coupled with stochastic character mapping, as well as multiple biogeo- graphic models, to determine the fit of our data to the mechanisms proposed for anti-tropical distributions. Northern hemisphere species do not form a monophyletic group, suggesting mul- tiple equatorial divergence events for these species. We find evidence supporting late Miocene and Plio/Pleistocene divergence events across the tropics explaining the multiple invasions of the northern hemisphere. Together with our biogeographic models, our data suggest that multiple mechanisms may be responsible for the anti-tropical distribution in this group.
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75 A3/ Integrative approaches in understanding fish diversity: Morphology, Systematics, and Taxonomy
76 A review of the genus Sparidentex (Pisces: Perciformes, Sparidae) with a new species from the Indian Ocean
Yukio Iwatsuki ∗ 1, Kent Carpenter ∗
2
1 University of Miyazaki (MUFS) – 1-1 Gakuen-kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, JAPAN, Japan 2 Old Dominion University (ODU) – Norfolk, Virginia 235290266 USA, United States
The sparid genus Sparidentex is taxonomically reviewed based on all known nominal species. The genus is restricted to the Indian Ocean and partially characterized by a lack of molariform teeth. Two valid species are recognized: Sparidentex hasta Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenci- ennes, 1830 with a deep body from eastern Persian Gulf to southern India and an undescribed species, Sparidentex n.sp, with a slender body from the western Persian Gulf to Pakistan. Spari- dentex n.sp. is called the ”Sobaity seabream” in the Persian Gulf and is important for aqua- culture and fisheries. Sparidentex cuvieri (Day, 1875), S. belayewi (Hora & Misra, 1943), and S. jamalensis Amir, Siddiqui & Masroor, 2014 are junior synonyms of Sparidentex hasta based on an examination of type material and other extensive material from the region. Sparidentex n.sp. differs from Sparidentex hasta in having 7-8 (usually 8) scale rows on cheek, 47-51 pored lateral-line scales, pectoral-fin tips not vertically beyond the first anal-fin spine base, a slender body (mean depth 34.7% of SL) than S. hasta, 4 or 5 scale rows between the fifth dorsal-fin spine and lateral line, and the second anal-fin spine (2AS) slender, its width larger than the third anal-fin spine (3AS; 1.0-1.3, mean 1.2 for 2AS/3AS). This compares to 6-7 (usually 6) scale rows on cheek, 43-46 pored lateral-line scales, pectoral-fin tips nearly vertically reaching to first anal-fin spine base, (mean depth 40.9 % of SL), second anal-fin spine width (1.2-1.4, mean 1.3 for 2AS/3AS), and 3 or 4 scale rows between the fifth dorsal-fin spine and lateral line in S. hasta. All nominal species of Sparidentex are discussed along with often confused nominal species of Acanthopagrus. A key is provided.
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77 Balistoid Habitat Use and Swimming Performance: An Evolutionary Perspective
Andrew George ∗ 1, Mark Westneat 1
1 University of Chicago – Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Triggerfishes and Filefishes in the superfamily Balistoidea exhibit vast degrees of morpholog- ical and ecological diversity. These fishes range in body shape from elongate and dorsoventrally compressed to highly rounded forms and inhabit a wide variety of marine habitats including coral reefs, seagrass beds and even the open ocean. Additionally, balistoid fishes possess me- dian dorsal and anal fins that lie on a continuum from high to low aspect ratio (AR). Despite this diversity, all balistoid species power locomotion with their median fins in a unique swim- ming mode termed balistiform locomotion. Researchers have demonstrated that higher AR fins used in locomotion are often associated with higher endurance swimming performance, which suggests that balistoid fishes likely exhibit a wide range of swimming performance capabilities. Differences in swimming performance among balistoid species could help explain relationships between habitat use and morphology. Specifically, we predicted that balistoid fishes possessing high AR median fins are associated with open water habitats, which likely require a greater reliance on endurance swimming ability for survival than structurally complex reef habitats. Recent advances in our understanding of balistoid phylogenetics have opened the door for these comparative studies. In order to test these predictions, we calculated balistoid median fin ARs, performed geometric morphometric analysis of balistoid fin and body shapes and collected habitat data from published studies and museum databases. Phylogenetic ancestral state recon- structions revealed that reef-association and both high and low AR median fins likely evolved multiple times within Balistoidea. Using the results of these studies, we selected fifteen species of ecologically, morphologically, and phylogenetically diverse balistoid fishes to undergo endurance swimming performance tests. As predicted, we found that increasing median fin AR is associ- ated with higher endurance swimming performance in balistoid fishes. Additionally, geometric morphometric analyses revealed that various aspects of body and caudal fin shape are associated with high endurance swimming performance. Finally, our results suggest complex relationships between morphology and habitat use. All together, these results aid our understanding of the evolution of the highly versatile balistiform swimming mode.
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78 Convergent evolution in the lateral line system between two subfamilies of Apogonidae: a view from the innervation
Mao Sato ∗† 1, Masanori Nakae 2, Kunio Sasaki 1
1 Laboratory of Marine Biology, Faculty of Science, Kochi University (BSKU) – 2-5-1 Akebono-cho, Kochi, Kochi 780-8520, Japan 2 Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science (NSMT) – 4-1-1, Amakubo, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-0005, Japan
Examination of two species of Apogonidae (Pseudamia gelatinosa in the Pseudaminae and Cercamia eremia in the Apogoninae) using fluorescent dye (4-Di-2-ASP) on living specimens reveals that numerous rows of superficial neuromasts (SNs) are present over the entire body in both species. This configuration of SNs contrasts to the condition seen in most other apogonids and acanthomorphs in which SNs occur only on the lateral line scales dorsal to the horizontal skeletogenous septum (HSS). Although these species share a broader distribution of SNs over the entire body, their innervation patterns are distinct, strongly suggesting an independent origin. In C. eremia the branches of the dorsal longitudinal collector nerve (DLCN) extend both dorsally and ventrally to innervate multiple SN rows on multiple scales both dorsal and ventral to the HHS. In P. gelatinosa, the DLCN is mirrored ventral to the HHS by a ventral longitudinal collector nerve (VLCN) not present in C. eremia. Consequently, the condition of having SNs distributed over the entire body has evidently evolved via two distinct patterns of innervation, providing an example of convergent evolution within the lateral line system.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
79 Cryptic species and strong genetic sub-structure in a tropical freshwater stream headwater-specialist, the Exquisite Rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae: Melanotaenia exquisita)
Michael Hammer ∗† 1, Gerry Allen 2, Mark Adams 3, Glenn Moore 2, Peter Unmack 4
1 Museum Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) – Darwin, Australia 2 Western Australian Museum – Perth, Australia 3 South Australian Museum – Adelaide, Australia 4 University of Canberra – Canberra, Australia
Various models have been proposed to explain the genetic structure of organisms in dendritic stream systems. The headwater and discrete population models describe patterns of genetic structure in organisms who’s biological requirements limit their distribution to headwater sec- tions of freshwater systems. The models predict little or no gene flow between populations as the norm, but with enhanced opportunities for crossing drainage divides by living close to upland divides geographically and with specific adaptations for dispersal and persistence biologically; so patterns can be predictably chaotic. The Exquisite Rainbowfish is unique in being one of the few widespread headwater specialist fishes occurring in northern Australia. It is restricted pri- marily to upland sandstone escarpment habitats in the Kakadu region of the Northern Territory and other small sandstone outcrops stretching into the Kimberley, Western Australia. These sandstone escarpment areas are effectively ancient islands of distinct habitat, and are heavily divided by separate drainage systems. We undertook a study to firstly better map the range of the Exquisite Rainbowfish in a remote and rugged region working closely with Aboriginal ranger groups and land managers. We then undertook a molecular assessment to investigate the broad genetic structure in the species using bi-parentally inherited multi-locus nuclear markers, with a specific focus on taxonomic and evolutionary significant units to inform conservation and management. The results conform to model predications, flagging long isolation for habitat islands and most drainages (cryptic species and major genetic sub-structure) with some selec- tive connectivity across drainage divides. Future work will focus on taxonomic descriptions and on highlighting the value of the Exquisite Rainbowfish complex as an aquatic indicator for managing sandstone escarpment habitats.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
80 Evolution of the oral dentition in sparisomine parrotfish (Scarinae, Labriformes)
J´er´emieViviani 1,2, David Lecchini 2, Ren´eGalzin 2, Laurent Viriot ∗ 1,2
1 Institut de G´enomiqueFonctionnelle de Lyon (IGFL) – Ecole´ Normale Sup´erieure- Lyon, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMR5242, Universit´eClaude Bernard Lyon 1 – Ecole Normale Sup´erieurede Lyon 46 all´eed´Italie 69364 Lyon CEDEX07, France 2 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
The family Labridae (wrasses) encompasses, among others, the subfamily Scarinae (par- rotfish) that is the sister subfamily of Cheilinae. Scarinae are broken down into two tribes: Sparisomini that includes the genera Leptoscarus, Calotomus, Sparisoma, Nicholsina, and Cryp- totomus, and Scarini that includes the genera Bolbometopon, Cetoscarus, Hipposcarus, Chloru- rus, and Scarus. Sparisomini is a noteworthy group because it gathers many parrotfish with non-beaked oral dentitions, whose study is crucial to understand the transition that occurred from the carnivorous dentition of Cheilinae to the beaked dentition of durophagous parrotfish. Taking Cheilinus (Cheilinae) as outgroup, we explored the diversity of oral dentitions in Spari- somini with the aim at scrutinizing how the transition from independent marginal dentition to beaked dentition took place throughout evolution. For that purpose, we collected fish in the Society Archipelago and we borrowed Atlantic specimens from museum collections. Heads of collected specimens were dehydrated in a desiccator, and then scanned using X-Ray conventional microtomography. Museum specimens were scanned in ethanol. Dedicated software allowed re- constructing images of jaws and dentitions in 3D with the possibility to generate surface, volume or virtual sliced renderings. All teeth of Cheilinus are located on marginal border of the oral cavity. Individual teeth are conical and the oral dentition is organized in various horizontal families that are replaced verti- cally. At the opposite, teeth that together form the marginal dentition of Sparisomini belong to oblique dental families that are deeply rooted into jaw bones so that each dental family forms a continuous rising system between teeth under development and functional teeth. Individual marginal teeth of Sparisomini show a variety of shapes ranging from ovoid to lanceolate crowns that are laterally compressed and have a rather blunt tip. An innovation occurs in some Spari- soma species, in which tooth crowns of neighboring dental families interlock to form together a compact dental beak that is embedded in a bone-like tissue. Evolution of the dentition from Cheilinae to beaked parrotfish appears as linked to a shift in diet: while Chelinae are invertebrate predators, basal Sparisomini are macroalgal feeders, and some of the most derived Sparisomini are durophagous that feed on hard substrata.
∗Speaker
81 Innovations and the conquest of the oceans by acanthomorph fishes
Peter Wainwright ∗ 1, Sarah Longo 1
1 University of California, Davis (UC Davis) – Department of Evolution Ecology, United States
The world’s oceans are home to many fantastic creatures, including about 16,000 species of actinopterygian fishes, the ray-fins. But, being marine is not evenly spread among actinoptery- gians, as 85% of marine fishes come from a single subgroup, the Acanthomorpha or spiny-rayed fishes. We review eight functional innovations found in marine acanthomorphs that have been instrumental in the adaptive radiation of this group in the marine realm. Two of these inno- vations are shared derived traits for acanthomorphs, upper jaw protrusion and the presence of fin spines. Jaw protrusion substantially enhances the ubiquitous fish suction feeding mech- anism while fin spines are a major deterrent to predators and enhance locomotor function of fins. Pharyngognathy is a derived condition of the pharyngeal jaw apparatus that enhances the ability of fish to process hard and tough prey. Endothermy allows fish to function at high lev- els of physiological performance in cold waters and facilitates frequent movement across strong thermal gradients found in the open ocean. Intramandibular joints enhance feeding by fishes that bite and scrape prey attached to hard surfaces. Antifreeze proteins bind to forming ice crystals and prevent their growth in extracellular fluids, allowing fish to function in water that would otherwise be cold enough to freeze them. Air-breathing allowed fishes at the water’s edge to exploit terrestrial habitats, thereby avoiding predators and opening up novel feeding areas. Finally, bioluminescence functions in communication, attracting prey, and in hiding from preda- tors, particularly for fishes of the deep ocean. A major feature shared by all of these innovations is that each has evolved multiple times in fishes. The frequent occurrence of convergent evolu- tion of these complex functional novelties speaks to the persistence and potency of the selective forces in marine environments that challenge fishes and stimulate innovation.
∗Speaker
82 Integrating morphology and genetics to study the larval community of gobies in the central Arabian Red Sea
Stamatina Isari ∗† 1, John Pearman 1, Craig Michell 1, Laura Casas 1, Joao Curdia 1, Michael Berumen 1, Xabier Iriogien 1,2,3
1 Red Sea Research Center - King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (RSRC - KAUST) – Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) Building 2, Level 3, Office 3216 -WS09 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Thuwal 23955-6900 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain – Spain 3 AZTI - Marine Research – Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g – 20110 Pasaia (Gipuzkoa), Spain, Spain
Despite the importance of the family Gobiidae in reef and coastal ecosystems, species mor- phological identification at the larval phase is largely hindered by the lack of morphological descriptions for the majority of the species (ca. 90%). Here we investigated the abundance and species diversity of the gobiid larval community in the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea combining morphological and molecular methods. Monthly ichthyoplankton sampling in 2013 was carried by oblique bongo-net tows (60 cm diameter, 500 µm mesh size) at two distinct sites in close prox- imity to coral reefs: one shallow inshore station (ca. 50 m depth) and a nearby offshore, deeper station ( ˜500 m depth). Gobiid larvae presented a major component of the total fish larval catches accounting up to 70% and 49% in the inshore and offshore waters, respectively. Several morphotypes could be distinguished based on body shape and pigmentation pattern, while DNA barcoding (COI) was further used to deepen the taxonomic identification to the sub-family level. Molecular analysis applied to 966 individuals (52% of the total gobiids collected) revealed 99 operational taxonomic units, from which only 21% matched sequences (at 97% similarity level) within the NCBI reference database. Species richness was almost doubled in the inshore shallow waters (inshore: 91, offshore: 54, shared: 46) and a notable rich inshore species assemblage was observed in early spring. A good match between morphology and barcodes was not achieved for some particular gobiid morphotypes that appeared to include a high species diversity. Aiming to future environmental metabarcoding projects we improved and verified species identifications using two additional genetic markers (mitochondrial 16S and the Hyper-Variable Region1 – dloop) for the 99 COI based genetic species. Amplification of 16S gene was the most successful (in 86%) with blasting of the sequences improved species identification by 14%. D-loop was successful only in 38% of the genotypes and resulted in no further species identification. Prelim- inary applications of DNA metabarcoding techniques to mixed unidentified gobiid larval pools suggest that these genetic markers could help species identification in natural plankton samples in the study area.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
83 Macroevolution and speciation in freshwater Glossogobius from Sulawesi
Douglass Hoese ∗ 1, Fabian Herder 2, Renny Hadiaty 3
1 Australian Museum (AMS) – 1 William Street Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia 2 Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK) – Adenauerallee 160, D-53113 Bonn, Germany 3 Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Division of Zoology, Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (MZB) – Raya Bogor Km 46, Cibinong 16911, Indonesia
Taxonomists are increasingly finding examples of highly specialised species, that were tra- ditionally regarded as distinct clades, actually are nested within the larger group previously regarded as a sister taxa. Studies of Glossogobius New Guinea, the Philippines and India in- dicate parallel evolution in highland species and morphological modification of species in the Malili Lakes in Sulawesi provides an example of how major morphological changes can occur in a localized area. Currently 7 species of Glossogobius are known from the Lakes, all showing major modifications that have led traditional taxonomic studies to regard one or more of the species are belonging in separate genera. Associated with those major changes are major changes in ecology from one of many benthic predators to the dominant pelagic predators. The species are characterised by a high level of intraspecific variation, with considerable overlap between species. The sensory pores and papillae have become considerably modified, with the pores becoming reduced and highly variable and the papillae expanding over much of the cheek region, becoming more extensively developed than in any other gobioid fish. Within the Lakes the smaller sized species (less than 130 mm SL) are all largely confined to a single lake, but the two larger species (> 200 mm SL) are found in several of the lakes and believed to be able to move between the lakes despite strong flowing connecting rivers. Individuals of smaller species appear to be washed down into a lower lake and these tend to reach a larger size than normal, suggesting that they are not breeding in these downstream lakes. The morphological and genetic evidence indicates that the species form a monophyletic group most closely related to a small sized species found in the rivers of Sulawesi and the Philippines.
∗Speaker
84 Morphological and genetic variation of Gymnothorax undulatus (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) in the Western Indian Ocean
Yonela Sithole ∗ 1,2, Gavin Gouws 1, Monica Mwale 3
1 South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) – Private Bag 1015 Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa, South Africa 2 Rhodes University (RU) – Drosty Rd, Grahamstown, 6134, South Africa 3 National Zoological Gardens (NZG) – 232 Boom Street, Dasport 319-JR, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Gymnothorax undulatus is a common, tropical, reef-associated species distributed in the Indo-Pacific region. The taxonomic history of the species reveals considerable variation in colour patterns and morphological characteristics compared to other Indo-Pacific species within this genus. This has resulted in taxonomic confusion and several synonyms, which are known from outside the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. This study, therefore, aimed to re-evaluate the taxonomic status of G. undulatus in the WIO using morphology and genetics. A total of 99 specimens from the WIO and extralimital areas were examined. Eight morpho- logical characters were subjected to multivariate principal component and discriminant function analyses in PAST and STATISTICA, to examine morphological differentiation between speci- mens from various geographic regions. Meristic characters (vertebrae and dentition) were also examined. DNA sequence data from mitochondrial genes (COI and 16S) were analysed us- ing standard phylogenetic procedures in MEGA7 to examine relationships among the various regions of the WIO for G. undulatus. The multivariate analysis resulted in four distinct clus- ters/groupings with several geographic regions overlapping, but with little to no overlap for three regions. These groupings accounted for 83.53% of the total variation, with 57.58% overall clas- sification success of individuals to their original geographic regions, showing that these groups are well differentiated (p< 0.05). Furthermore, analysis of the total vertebral count produced similar groupings to the multivariate analyses. Colour patterns distinguished South African samples from those of other regions. All other clusters/groups had a similar typical G. undu- latus colour pattern despite being separated from each other by morphometrics and vertebral counts, suggesting the existence of a cryptic species complex.
The neighbour-joining and maximum likelihood trees from the genetic analyses revealed that G. undulatus was paraphyletic, with at least two distinct clades, not closely related to each other with > 80% and genetic distance > 0.1. One of the two clades was widespread in the WIO and in the Pacific Ocean and is regarded as a nominal Gymnothorax undulatus. The second clade comprised of morphometrically-distinct South African samples, suggesting the description of this population as new species. A third Pacific clade was identified where the data were available.
∗Speaker
85 Ontogenetic and phylogenetic simplification during white stripe evolution in anemonefish
Pauline Salis ∗ 1, Natacha Roux 1, David Lecchini 2, Vincent Laudet† 1, Bruno Fr´ed´erich 3
1 OOB, UMR CNRS 7232 BIOM UPMC – oob – 1 avenue Pierre Fabre, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France 2 PSL Research University - EPHE-CNRS-UPVD USR3278 CRIOBE – BP1013 Papetoai, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia 3 Laboratory of Functional and Evolutionary Morphology, – AFFISH Research center, University of Li`ege,Li`ege,Belgium
Coral reef fishes provide classical examples of complex colour patterns exhibiting a huge diversity. Most of these species display spots, stripes, repeated lines, eyespots, grids, etc. This diversity in colour patterns might serve for species recognition, camouflage, mimicry and/or warning. To date, work have mainly been focused on the link between colour patterns, ecology and behavior, that is the ultimate role of these patterns. However, the underlying development and cellular mechanisms controlling these patterns and their evolution, that is their proximal mechanisms, are still largely unknown. To address this question, we are using a well-known coral-reef fish models, anemonefishes (Amphiprion and the monotypic Premnas). This tribe (Amphiprionini) within the Pomacentridae is composed of 30 species that display a relatively simple colour pattern made of 0-3 white stripes that are well visible on a yellow to red, brown or even black body background. This simple colour pattern offers a unique opportunity to bet- ter delineate the pattern and processes allowing the diversification of such diversity. Here, we focus on the vertical white stripes present in most species of Amphiprion. We first map their striped patterns on the anemonefish evolutionary tree and reconstruct the ancestral state. Our results provide evidences that the diversification in colour pattern in anemonefish results from successive losses of stripes during evolution. Then, by an ontogenetic study, we show that larvae stripes always appear from rostral to caudal. Interestingly, larvae of some species such as A. frenatus have surplus stripes (with a maximum of three stripes) which disappear caudo-rostrally during the juvenile phase to acquire their adult color pattern. The reduction of stripes number over ontogeny totally matches the sequences of stripe losses across evolution. This demonstrates that the diversification in colour pattern among anemonefish lineages results from changes in developmental processes. Finally, assuming that the number of stripes may be related to the species ecology, we further determined the links between the number of stripes and ecomorpho- logical traits. Together, this innovative study allows to understand how developmental processes are shaping the diversification of color pattern of anemonefishes and how it may be related with ecomorphological traits evolution.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
86 Ontogeny of tooth replacement of Molidae (Ocean Sunfishes) and Diodontidae (Porcupinefishes)
Katherine Bemis ∗† 1, James Tyler 2, William Bemis 3, Eric Hilton 1
1 Department of Fisheries Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary (VIMS) – 1357 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062, United States 2 Department of Paleontology, Smithsonian Institution (SI) – National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560, USA, United States 3 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University (CU) – 225E Corson Hall, 215 Tower Road, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA, United States
As part of a broad study on the evolution of dental morphology in Tetraodontiformes, we compared the development and replacement of dental tissues in Mola mola and Diodon hystrix in specimens ranging from larvae to adults using osteology, histology, and micro-CT scanning. Unlike other living Tetraodontoidea (Triodontidae, Molidae, Diodontidae, Tetraodontidae), both the upper and lower jaws of Molidae and Diodontidae are completely fused at their midlines in even the smallest larvae studied. Adults of both families have a beak along the jaw margin. The beak of M. mola wears away from the oral surface; replacement material is added from a single large pulp cavity at its base. There are no discrete units within the beak, and it is uniformly mineralized. In contrast, the beak of D. hystrix consists of stacks of small discrete plates surrounded by less dense matrix. New plates form from beneath existing stacks. Posteriorly and between the dentaries of adult D. hystrix are large paired crushing plates, termed triturating plates, that are replaced from beneath; nothing comparable is present in adult M. mola. In contrast to adults, larval and juvenile molids and diodontids have a paired series of individual triturating teeth each of which has a large pulp cavity. During ontogeny, these discrete teeth are lost in M. mola, whereas in D. hystrix they develop into the large, stacked, triturating plates. From similar beginnings, the individual triturating teeth of larval molids and diodontids develop into very different forms in adults.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
87 Overview of the skeletal anatomy and systematics of Zoarcoidei (Cottiformes)
Eric Hilton ∗ 1
1 Department of Fisheries Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary (VIMS) – 1357 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062, United States
Zoarcoidei contains nine families: Anarhichadidae (wolffishes), Bathymasteridae (ronquils), Cryptacanthodidae (wrymouths), Pholidae (gunnels), Ptilichthyidae (quillfish), Scytalinidae (graveldiver), Stichaeidae (pricklebacks), Zaproridae (prowfish), and Zoarcidae (eel pouts). These fishes are found primarily in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, although represen- tatives of Zoarcidae are found worldwide. Most families have relatively few species, with three (Ptilichthyidae, Scytalinidae, and Zaproridae) being monotypic and four with fewer than 15 species each (Anarhichadidae, Bathymasteridae, Cryptacanthodidae, Pholidae); Stichaeidae (c. 82 species) and Zoarcidae (over 220 species) are the only two diverse families in the group. Col- lectively, zoarcoid fishes have been historically allied with blennioid, trachinoid, and notothenioid fishes, among others. Zoarcoidei is most recently considered to be the sister group of the Cot- toidei, together forming Cottiformes. The monophyly of Zoarcoidei is well accepted. However, the internal relationships among families are in a state of flux. Most notably, the monophyly of Bathymasteridae has been challenged from molecular data, which presents the family as a paraphyletic grade at the base of Zoarcoidei. Stichaeidae has been recovered as a polyphyletic assemblage based on both molecular and morphological analyses. Previously unrecognized and unanalyzed characters may provide new sources of phylogenetic information. For instance, the ontogenetic fusion of hypurals dorsal to the caudal diastema is found in Ronquilus (Bathymas- teridae) and some Stichaeidae (e.g., Xiphister); reduction of the caudal skeleton is found in other families (e.g., Ptilichthyidae, Zoarcidae), however, makes this character difficult to assess in all zoarcoids. A unique developmental pattern of the vertebral column (centra and other portions of the vertebrae developing anteriorly and posteriorly from a central point vs. developing anterior to posterior) has been discovered supporting Bathymaster + Ronquilus. Prominent unossified extensions from opercular bones and elements of the shoulder girdle (cleithrum and supraclei- thrum) are found in different combinations in several zoarcoid families (e.g., Bathymasteridae, Cryptacanthodidae, Stichaeidae, Pholidae). This presentation will provide an overview of the systematics of the group and will review recent studies of the osteology of zoarcoid families.
∗Speaker
88 Review of the Indo-West Pacific genus Parapterois (Scorpaenidae: Pteroinae)
Mizuki Matsunuma ∗ 1, Hiroyuki Motomura 2
1 Laboratory of Marine Biology, Faculty of Science, Kochi University (BSKU) – 2-5-1 Akebono, Kochi 780-8520, Japan 2 The Kagoshima University Museum (KAUM) – 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
The taxonomic review of the genus Parapterois Bleeker, 1876 (Scorpaenidae: Pteroinae) resulted in the recognition of the following three valid species from the Indo-West Pacific re- gion: Parapterois heterura (Bleeker, 1856) (northern and eastern Indian and western Pacific oceans); Parapterois macrura (Alcock, 1896) (northern Indian Ocean); and Parapterois nigrip- inna (Gilchrist, 1904) (western Indian Ocean). Parapterois macrura differs from Pa. heterura and Pa. nigripinna in having a relatively longer and deeper head, its length 41.2–45.4 (mean 43.1) % SL and depth 19.2–24.5 (22.1) % SL [vs. 33.8–43.5 (39.7) % SL and 16.0–21.4 (18.5) % SL, respectively, in Pa. heterura; 35.1–42.3 (39.2) % SL and 18.0–20.7 (19.2) % SL, respec- tively, in Pa. nigripinna]; and the orbit located highly on the head, the upper margin of the orbit higher than or level with the first dorsal-fin spine base (in lateral view) in large specimens (vs. not reaching level with the first dorsal-fin spine base through all stages in the latter two species). Although Pa. nigripinna originally described from South Africa has previously been regarded as a junior synonym of Pa. heterura, the former can be primary distinguished from the latter by having strongly mottled white markings below the eye (vs. 2 or 3 almost vertical white bars in the latter) and fewer total gill rakers 15–17 (modally 16) [vs. 16–20 (18)]. Ex- aminations of the available type specimens and the original descriptions of all nominal species assigned to Parapterois revealed that Pterois natalensis von Bonde, 1923 (type locality: South Africa) was regarded as a junior synonym of Pa. nigripinna. Moreover, the following four nom- inal species originally described from Japan, Pterois jordani Regan, 1905, Ebosia starksi Franz, 1910, Pterois tanabensis Tanaka, 1918, and Ebosia pavo Schmidt, 1931, were herein regarded as a junior synonyms of Pa. heterura.
∗Speaker
89 Review of the triplefin genus Helcogramma (Tripterygiidae) in Japanese waters with two undescribed species
Satokuni Tashiro ∗ 1, Hiroyuki Motomura 2
1 The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University – 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan 2 The Kagoshima University Museum (KAUM) – 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
The triplefins of the genus Helcogramma are widely distributed in the tropical to temperate Indo-Pacific region. Occurrence of seven species in the genus in Japanese waters was confirmed: i.e., Helcogramma aquila Williams & McCormick, 1990, H. fuscipectoris (Fowler, 1946), H. inclinata (Fowler, 1946), H. ishigakiensis (Aoyagi, 1954), H. nesion Williams & Howe, 2003, H. rhinoceros Hansen, 1986, and H. striata Hansen, 1986. During recent ichthyological surveys in Japanese waters, two undescribed species of the genus, Helcogramma sp. 1 (collected from the Minami-daito Islands) and Helcogramma sp. 2 (off Kochi Prefecture, and the Izu and Ogasawara islands), are recognized to occur in Japan by molecular and morphological analyses in addition to the seven species. Both two undescribed species and H. fuscipectoris are similar to each other in nuptial coloration of males and sharing the following meristics: usually 14 second dorsal-fin spines, 4 + 1 + 4 mandibular pores, and 38–41 longitudinal scales. However, Helcogramma sp. 1 and Helcogramma sp. 2 can be distinguished from H. fuscipectoris by having usually 11 third dorsal-fin soft rays (vs. 10 in H. fuscipectoris), 6 (6 or 7) infraorbital pores [vs. 5 (5 or 6)], and the second dorsal and pectoral fins without melanophores (vs. distal part of second dorsal fin and lower half of pectoral fins with scattered melanophores). In addition, Helcogramma sp. 1 differs from Helcogramma sp. 2 in having usually 25 lateral-line scales (vs. 23 in Helcogramma sp. 2), the dorsal margin of the orbital ridge poorly developed (vs. well developed), an interorbital space almost flat (vs. convex), and the cheek without blotches (vs. single bright blue blotch on cheek) in nuptial males.
∗Speaker
90 Species grouping within the genus Apristurus Garman, 1913 using dermal denticles
Justin Cordova ∗ 1, David Ebert 1
1 Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) – 8272 Moss Landing Rd, Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States
Apristurus is one of the largest shark genera, comprised of 38 valid species. Multiple mor- phological and molecular studies have shown the genus can be subdivided into three distinct subgroups: the A. brunneus subgroup, A. spongiceps subgroup, and A. longicephalus subgroup. This study examines the dermal denticles of 12 Apristurus species from across each subgrouping and compares them within and between species. Specimens were collected in the eastern North Pacific, western North Pacific, and from the Southwestern Indian Ocean. The species examined to date for this study includes: A. cf albisoma, A. cf ampliceps, A. manis, A. kampae, for the spongiceps subgroup; A. brunneus, A. sinensis, A. gibbosus, A. japonicus, A. macrorhynchus, A. platyrhynchus, A. cf melanoasper, for the brunneus subgroup; A. herklotsi for the longi- cephalus subgroup. Dermal denticles were taken from below the origin of the first dorsal fin and observed under a scanning electron microscope. Morphological features including cuspid counts, denticle size, surface area of the crown and spacing between denticles are compared in order to determine any noticeable differences. Any observed differences or similarities will be incor- porated as a means of further organizing the genus taxonomically, and to investigate whether these differences may have ecomorphological significance relative to their preferred associated habitats.
∗Speaker
91 Taxonomic review of the cardinalfish genus Apogon (Apogonidae) in Japan
Tomohiro Yoshida ∗ 1, Nozomu Muto 2, Hiroyuki Motomura 3
1 The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University – 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan 2 Department of Marine Biology and Sciences, School of Biology, Tokai University – 5-1-1-1 Minamizawa, Minamiku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 005-8601, Japan 3 The Kagoshima University Museum – 1–21–30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890–0065, Japan
The cardinalfish genus Apogon is characterized by having VI-I, 9 dorsal-fin rays, II, 8 anal- fin rays, and a semitranslucent red body. During recent ichthyofaunal surveys in Japanese waters, two undescribed species of the genus, Apogon sp. 1 and Apogon sp. 2, are found from the Ryukyu and Ogasawara islands, respectively, on the basis of molecular and morphological analyses. Apogon sp. 1 is similar to A. coccineus R´’uppell, 1838 and A. erythrinus Snyder, 1904, in having a rounded head and oval body. Apogon sp. 1, however, differs from the latter two in having lower counts of the developed gill rakers 1 + 7–8 (vs. 2–3 + 9–10 in A. coccineus) and the pectoral-fin rays 13 (vs. 14 in A. erythrinus), and a slit on the snout below the anterior nostril (vs. absent in A. erythrinus). Although Apogon sp. 2 is most similar to A. caudicinctus Randall & Smith, 1988 in having a slender body and a black band on the caudal-fin base, the former differs from the latter in having 13 pectoral-fin rays (vs. 12), the relatively short 1st spine length of the 2nd dorsal fin, its length 11.3–13.3% of SL (mean 12.1%) [vs. 13.4– 15.3% (14.0%), and a wide black band on the caudal-fin base (vs. narrow). In addition to the two undescribed species, occurrence of 10 species of Apogon in Japanese waters was confirmed in this study: i.e., Apogon caudicinctus, A. crassiceps Garman, 1903, A. doryssa (Jordan & Seale, 1906), A. indicus Greenfield, 2001, A. kominatoensis Ebina, 1935, A. seminigracaudus Greenfield, 2007, A. semiornatus Peters, 1876, A. susanae Greenfield, 2001, A. talboti Smith, 1961, and A. unicolor Jordan & Snyder, 1901.
∗Speaker
92 Taxonomic review of the genus Kaiwarinus Suzuki 1962 (Perciformes: Carangidae)
Seishi Kimura ∗ 1, Akihiro Yoshikawa 2, Shintaro Yasui 2
1 Fisheries Reserch Laboratory, Mie University (FRLM) – 4190-172, Wagu, Shima-cho, Shima, Mie 517-0703, Japan 2 Fisheries Research Laboratory, Mie University (FRLM) – 4190-172, Wagu, Shima-cho, Shima, Mie 517-0703, Japan
The carangid genus Kaiwarinus Suzuki 1962 has been synonymized with Carangoides Bleeker 1851 for a long time except in Japan where the former is treated as a valid genus all along. Our molecular and morphological studies on the genus revealed Kaiwarinus as to be valid. The genus is isolated far from Caranogides phylogenetically, and can be distinguished from all other carangid genera by following characters: upper jaw with tooth band, vomer with anchor-shaped tooth plate, straight part of lateral line with no or a few cycloid scales anteriorly, anterior 2nd dorsal-fin rays not elongated; parapophysis of precaudal vertebrae independent of posterior hemal zygapophysis. Kaiwarinus includes following five species: K. acutus (Kotthaus 1974), Western Indian Ocean including the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden; K. dasson (Jordan & Snyder 1907), Hawaii; K. equula (Temminck & Schlegel 1844), Japan, Korea and China; Kaiwarinus sp. 1 Australia; and Kaiwarinus sp. 2 the Red Sea. Diagnostic characters of those species are as follows: K. acutus-upper jaw scaly posteriorly, temporal area covered sparsely by scales, lachrymal covering less than half of upper jaw, total dorsal- and anal-fin soft rays (DA) 43–45, total gill rakers (GR) 30–34; head length (HL) 29.1–35.5% of standard length (SL), body depth (BD) 37.9–46.9% SL; K. dasson-upper jaw naked, temporal area covered sparsely by scales, lachrymal covering less than half of upper jaw, DA 44–46, GR 25–31; HL 32.1–35.8% SL, BD 33.6–39.4% SL; K. equula-upper jaw naked, temporal area covered densely by scales, lachrymal covering less than half of upper jaw DA 44–49, GR 26–31; HL 31.0–35.3 % SL, BD 40.0–53.9% SL; K. sp. 1-upper jaw scaly posteriorly, temporal area covered sparsely by scales, lachrymal covering more than half of upper jaw, DA 45–49, GR 27–33; HL 29.8–35.9 % SL, BD 42.9–50.8 % SL; K. sp. 2-upper jaw naked, temporal area covered sparsely by scales, lachrymal covering less than half of upper jaw, DA 44–46, GR 30–32; HL 35–37.1 % SL, BD 37.0–41.9 % SL.
∗Speaker
93 Taxonomic status of five nominal species in the genus Stolephorus (Clupeiformes: Engraulidae)
Harutaka Hata ∗ 1, Hiroyuki Motomura 2
1 The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University – 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan, Japan 2 The Kagoshima University Museum – 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan, Japan
Stolephorus waitei Jordan & Seale, 1926 (type locality: Queensland, Australia) has been considered as characterized by having black spots on the lateral surface of the head, and a long upper jaw, its posterior tip reaching to or extending beyond the preopercular margin. Exami- nation of the holotype of S. waitei and non-type specimens from Queensland revealed that the species clearly differs from a species currently regarded as S. waitei in having a shorter upper jaw (its posterior tip not reaching to preopercular margin, 72.6–73.5% HL vs. reaching to or ex- tending beyond, 81.5–90.0% in the latter), shorter anal-fin base (15.9–16.9% SL vs. 17.6–21.7%) and higher counts of total gill rakers (41–43 vs. 34–40) and pseudobranchial filaments (28–30 vs. 15–25). The species currently considered as S. waitei is most likely to be S. insularis insularis Hardenberg, 1933. Since S. i. insularis is preoccupied by S. insularum Jordan & Seale, 1926 (currently regarded as a junior synonym of S. indicus van Hasselt, 1823), a new replacement name for S. i. insularis is needed. Moreover, taxonomic status of three subspecies described by Hardenberg (1933) with S. insularis insularis (bataviensis, baweanensis, and oceanicus) are assessed on the basis of examination of the original descriptions (type specimens of all nom- inal species apparently lost) and a large number of specimens of the genus. As a result, S. i. bataviensis (previously regarded as a junior synonym of S. waitei) and S. i. oceanicus (a junior synonym of S. i. insularis) are herein regarded as two valid species, S. bataviensis and S. oceanicus, and S. i. baweanensis (previously regarded as S. waitei) is herein regarded as a junior synonym of S. insularis. Stolephorus bataviensis is diagnosed by a predorsal-scute and dorsal surface of body without lines. Although S. oceanicus resembles to S. chinensis, the former can be distinguished from the latter in having a lower number of the transverse scales (8 vs. 10 in the latter) and a deeper body (19.7–24.1% SL vs. 16.0–18.9%).
∗Speaker
94 The Intermuscular Bones and Ligaments of Batrachoidiformes (Percomorphacea: Teleostei)
Diego Vaz ∗† 1, Eric Hilton 1, Adam Summers 2
1 Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) – 1375 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, VA, 23062, United States 2 Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington (FHL) – 620 University Dr., Friday Harbor, WA 98250, United States
Intermuscular bones develop directly in the myosepta and generally are associated with liga- ments. Intermuscular bones are categorized into three main series: epineurals (dorsal to the hor- izontal septum); epicentrals (in the horizontal septum); and epipleurals (ventral to the horizontal septum). Batrachoidiformes, the Toadfishes, has been described as having only the epineural series. The first epineural is enlarged and articulates with the cleithrum. Although this arrange- ment was previously proposed as a synapomorphy of Batrachoidiformes, intra-ordinal variation of intermuscular complex is unknown. Additionally, the interrelationships among species of Batrachoidiformes and the order’s position among Percomorphacea is unclear. Representatives of the four sub-families of Batrachoidiformes were examined using CT-scans and cleared-and- stained specimens, looking to identify variations in the intermuscular complex that may be phylogenetically informative. The described arrangement of the first epineural (en) was found in all examined species of Batrachoidiformes and seems unique among fishes. Additionally, the origin of third and fourth epineurals of toadfishes is at the level of neural arches, which differs from the condition of these elements in other percomorph fishes, which originate at the level of parapophyses. The second epineural (en2) is variable: in Halophryinae, it articulates with the second neural spine (ns); in Thalassophryinae, en2 articulates with ns1; and in Batrachoidinae, en2 is reduced. In Porichthyinae, en2 and en3 are absent. Epicentrals are firstly described for Batrachoidiformes as both ligament (in all species) and bone (only in Barchatus, Chatrabus, Col- letteichthys, Halobatrachus, Perulibatrachus and Riekertia). The implication of these characters for reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships within Batrachoidiformes will be discussed.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
95 The Osumi Line: a newly recognized major biogeographical boundary line for fishes in southern Japan
Hiroyuki Motomura ∗ 1, Hiroshi Senou 2
1 The Kagoshima University Museum (KAUM) – 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan 2 Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History (KPM) – 499 Iryuda, Odawara, Kanagawa 250-0031, Japan
A cluster analysis of ichthyofaunal surveys in 12 localities of southern Japan, including the Ryukyu and Ogasawara islands, revealed two distinctive biogeographical regions: one is the Japanese mainland and the Izu and Ogasawara islands, and the other is the Ryukyu Islands, including Yaku-shima. The commonly accepted major biogeographical boundary line for ter- restrial and aquatic biota is called the Watase Line, and is located between Akuseki-jima and Kodakara-jima in the southern Tokara Islands (part of the Ryukyu Islands). However, our re- sults showed that the Watase Line is invalid for marine fishes and a new line was identified in the Osumi Islands (northern extremity of the Ryukyu Islands), ca. 180 km north of the Watase Line. The Osumi Islands is composed of seven islands, including Yaku-shima, Tanega-shima, Iou-jima, and Take-shima. Exhaustive ichthyofaunal surveys in all islands of the Osumi Islands revealed that a major biogeographical boundary line for fishes in southern Japan, named here as the Osumi Line, is located between Yaku-shima and ”Tanega-shima, Iou-jima, and Take-shima”. The ichthyofaunas of Tanega-shima, Iou-jima, and Take-shima are statistically similar to those of the southern Japanese mainland, and the Izu and Ogasawara islands, and the ichthyofauna of Yaku-shima is similar to that of the remaining part of the Ryukyu Islands. This is despite a distance of only 20 km between Yaku-shima and Tanega-shima. Analysis of the top eight speciose families of fishes occurring in the 12 localities surveyed also showed the same result. In this presentation, the characteristics of the ichthyofauna of southern Japan, and the Osumi Line and its relation with the Kuroshio Current, are discussed in detail.
∗Speaker
96 The influence of sociality and foraging strategy on the evolution of defensive morphology in butterflyfishes
Jennifer Hodge ∗ 1, Peter Wainwright 1
1 Department of Evolution Ecology, University of California Davis – One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, United States
Butterflyfishes (Family Chaetodontidae) are iconic coral reef inhabitants. Their striking color patterns belie a potent set of structural defenses against predators, featuring an unusually deep-body and numerous, long and strong spines in the dorsal and anal fins. Both a deep body and spines help defend fishes against gape-limited predators. Social behavior can increase vigilance for predators, especially while biting prey from the benthos as many butterflyfishes do. Although most butterflyfishes are benthic biters, foraging strategies vary from active hunting to grazing. Foraging strategy may influence predation risk and subsequently defensive morphology. We explored the impact of social behavior and foraging strategy on defensive morphology across 87 butterflyfish species. Eight morphological traits that function to defend against, or detect and avoid predation were measured and analyzed in a phylogenetic context. Phylogenetic least squares analysis revealed no relationship between body depth and spine length, in contrast to the results of a survey that spanned teleosts. An evolutionary model selection approach revealed foraging strategy as the best predictor of defensive morphology for all traits except maximum body size. Species that hunt invertebrate prey from the benthos occupy separate adaptive peaks compared with species that obligately or facultatively graze on corals, and species that primarily hunt plankton. Benthic invertebrate hunters are the most well defended, with long, offset spines, deep bodies, large eyes and emarginate caudal fins. We explored whether defensive morphology can predict foraging strategy separately for solitary and social species, and found evidence for a reduction of predation pressure and reduced morphological defenses only among benthic invertebrate hunters that are social, occurring in pairs or groups. Moreover, species that obligately graze on corals have reduced defensive morphologies regardless of their sociality. These results suggest that predation pressures are greatest among species that hunt benthic invertebrates alone, while species that graze likely receive additional protection from their close association with corals.
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97 Two undescribed species of the genus Iniistius (Labridae) from Australia and the Philippines
Yoshino Fukui ∗ 1, Hiroyuki Motomura 2
1 The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University – 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan, Japan 2 The Kagoshima University Museum (KAUM) – 1-21-30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
Two undescribed species of the razorfish genus Iniistius Gill, 1862 are recognized on the basis of seven and four specimens from Australia and the Philippines respectively. Iniistius sp. 1 from southern Queensland and New South Wales, Australia is most similar to an Australian endemic congener, Iniistius jacksonensis (Ramsay, 1881) originally described from New South Wales, in having IX, 12 dorsal-fin rays, 12 pectoral-fin rays, and several dark blotches on the posteroventral surface of the body along the anal-fin base in preserved specimens. However, Iniistius sp. 1 can be distinguished from I. jacksonensis by dorsal profile of head convex (vs. straight in the latter); angle formed by axes of upper lip and dorsal profile of snout more than 85 degrees (vs. less than 75); no scale around orbit (vs. one scale on posteroventral margin of orbit); 5 or 6 scale rows on cheek (vs. 7 or 8 scale rows); posterior tip of last dorsal-fin soft ray extending beyond vertical through that of last anal-fin soft ray (vs. not reaching); and no blotches on head (vs. distinct blotches scattered on opercle). Although Iniistius sp. 2 from Panay Island in the Philippines is similar to the western Pacific species, Iniistius evides (Jordan and Richardson, 1909), in having the thick and short dorsal-fin spines, and a poorly defined large yellowish blotch on the mid-lateral surface of the body, the former differs from the latter in having a band of small bluish blotches and bars margined with yellow extending from the posteroventral margin of the orbit to the pectoral-fin base (vs. no band in the latter), no small blotches below the mid-base of the spinous portion of the dorsal fin (vs. black blotches with whitish margin present), and a black blotch, its size less than orbit diameter, on a membrane between the last two dorsal-fin soft rays (vs. no blotch).
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98 A4/ Bio/Phylo-geographical patterns and processes in Indo-Pacific coral reef fishes
99 A subtropical reef fish with a disjunct distribution: one species or two?
Thomas Trnski ∗ 1, Liam Kilduff 1, David Aguirre 2, Liggins Libby 2
1 Auckland War Memorial Museum – Auckland, New Zealand 2 Massey University – Massey University Manawatu (Turitea) Tennent Drive Palmerston North 4474, New Zealand
The pomacentrid Chrysiptera rapanui (Greenfield & Hensley 1970) is known from only Rapa Nui Easter Island and Rangitahua Kermadec Islands, separated by about 6000km. At each lo- cation, it is among the most abundant reef fish. We compared morphological and molecular di- vergence between these two disjunct populations of C. rapanui as well as populations of closely related species (C. galba and C. notialis) occupying reef locations between Rapa Nui Easter Island and Rangitahua Kermadec Islands, and neighbouring Norfolk Island. Multivariate anal- ysis of the 21 metric morphological characters clearly separated the three described species of Chrysiptera as well as the two populations of C. rapanui. The strongest discriminating characters were the length of medial fins and fin bases, and size of eyes. Moreover, we also found a signifi- cant difference in one additional meristic character – the number of anal-fin rays was greater in the Rangitahua Kermadec populations of C. rapanui than the Rapa Nui Easter Island popula- tion (16 and 15 fin rays for the Rangitahua Kermadec populations and Rapa Nui Easter Island populations, respectively). Although initial analysis of the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 gene region for the two C. rapanui populations suggested genetic divergence commensurate with species level distinction, inclusion of C. galba and using the Cytochome Oxidase B gene region revealed that the two C. rapanui populations may be part of a species complex including C. galba. The combined morphological and molecular evidence indicates that the Rangitahua population of C. rapanui is more closely related to C. galba than the Rapa Nui population of C. rapanui, but arguably may represent an undescribed neoendemic.
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100 Assessing spatial patterns of coral reef fishes : the contribution of a multi-component beta-diversity approach
Ga¨elleLegras ∗ 1, Nicolas Loiseau 2, Michel Kulbicki 3, Bastien M´erigot 4, Mireille Harmelin-Vivien 5, Nabila Mazouni 6, Ren´eGalzin 7, Jean-Claude Gaertner 6
1 Ecosyst`emesInsulaires Oc´eaniens(EIO) – BP 6570 - 98 702 FAAA,´ French Polynesia 2 MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC) – Institut de Recherche pour 0 le D´eveloppement : UMRD248, InstitutfrancaisdeRecherchepourl¸ ExploitationdelaMer : UMR9190, UniversitedeMontpellier´ : UMR9190, CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique : UMR9190 − −CentredeSeteUMRMARBECSET` E − AvenueJeanMonnet − CS3017134203SETECEDEX,France 3 Laboratoire dExcellence´ CORAIL (LabEX CORAIL) – Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement – Labex Corail58, avenue Paul Alduy66860 Perpignan CEDEXT´el.: 04 30 19 23 32Email : [email protected], France 4 Universit´ede Monpellier 2 (UM2) – universit´emontpellier 2, universit´emontpellier 2 – Place Eug`ene Bataillon 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France 5 Institut M´editerran´eend’Oc´eanologie(MIO) – Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement : UMRD235, AixMarseilleUniversite´ : UM110, Institutderecherchepourledeveloppement´ [IRD]: UMR235 : UMRD235, UniversitedeT´ oulon : UMR7294, CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique : UMR7294 − −M.I.O.InstitutMediterran´ eend´ 0OceanologieCampusdeLuminyCase´ 90113288MARSEILLEcedex09, F rance 6 UMR EIO – Universit´ede Polyn´esiefran¸caiseBP 6570 98702 Faa’a Tahiti, French Polynesia 7 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
The process behind community assembly have long been a central issue in ecology and con- servation. This issue is the focus of an upsurge of interest due to the awareness that accelerating global change does affect the spatial distribution of species and consequently the functioning ecosystems. More specifically, the study of spatial patterns of dissimilarity of community com- position (beta diversity) is widely used to analyse which ecological processes drive the community assemblages. Here, we applied a multicomponent approach to beta diversity (taxonomic and functional data) for assessing the ecological factors that structure coral reef fish communities at two spatial scales (i.e. within and among lagoon atolls of Tuamotu Archipelago). Specifically, we determined the influence of ecological factors in shaping patterns of beta diversities of coral reef fishes and the relative contribution of turnover and nestedness to overall beta diversities in 10 atolls characterized by contrasted geomorphology in the Tuamotu Archipelago. Finally, we demonstrated how our results could impact conservation decisions in addressing the dilemma of which diversity component (i.e. taxonomic or functional) should be favored in conservation strategies.
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101 Biodiversity and biogeography of reef fishes of the remote and near-pristine Kimberley, Western Australia
Glenn Moore ∗ 1, Susan Morrison 1, Michael Craig 2
1 Western Australian Museum – Perth, Australia 2 University of Western Australia – Perth, Australia
Globally, mounting habitat impacts and increasing food security pressures jeopardise the diversity and productivity of tropical reef fish communities. Few near-pristine reef habitats remain to examine fish communities with little anthropogenic disturbance but the Kimberley region in north-west Australia provides such an opportunity. Our study area is vast and remote, it is frequently subjected to cyclones and the inshore habitats are uniquely characterised by tidal oscillations of up to 12m. Up until now, few data on the biodiversity of the region have been available but here we report the findings from six years of shallow-water (< 30m) marine biodiversity surveys in the Kimberley, which provide a baseline biogeographic dataset for the shallow reef fish communities of the inshore islands and reefs, midshelf shoals and shelf-edge atolls. Nearly 700 species of fishes were recorded by underwater visual census at 117 sites. In addition, 1500 samples were collected for further taxonomic and molecular research. In general, the fish community composition demonstrates important biogeographic links with the broader Indo-West Pacific, rather than the east coast of Australia. The fish communities were patchily distributed reflecting the heterogeneous reef systems, but there were distinct patterns of commu- nity structure correlated with shelf position, tidal zone and latitude. At clear-water shelf-edge atoll sites, most recorded species are widely distributed across the Indo-West Pacific, and reef slope communities were more diverse than lagoonal communities. Turbid inshore sites gener- ally supported around half the species richness of offshore sites, with more endemic species and subtle differences in faunal composition evident along the 400 km inshore latitudinal gradient. By surveying sites that have never previously been surveyed, we have added new records for the region, discovered new species and provided much needed new data to confirm that the Kimberley may provide an important refugia for reef fishes that are increasingly threatened in other parts of their distribution range while also supporting unique endemism. Future anal- yses will incorporate these data with matching datasets of benthic fauna and flora to explore biogeographic patterns at ecosystem scales.
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102 Biogeographic Patterns of the Pomacentridae with insight into the Coral Triangle
Chloe Nash ∗ 1, Charlene Mccord 2,3, Mark Westneat 1,3
1 Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago – Chicago, IL 60637, United States 2 Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University – Orange, CA 92866, United States 3 Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago – Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Major insights into the historical biogeography of coral reef fishes are now possible with the availability of highly resolved phylogenetic hypotheses and increasingly detailed spatial distribu- tion data. The prevalence of georeferenced data enables a high-resolution approach to evaluating the factors that influence biogeographic boundaries through the fine-scale delineation of faunal groups. Most studies utilize a shared scheme across a variety of taxa to investigate current and historical biogeographic patterns. However, the assumptions used to generate these groups can often mask taxon-specific biogeographic patterns. Here we present the biogeography of the damselfishes using a new phylogenetic time tree of 276 species and a grid-cell ordination method to define novel clusters based on community composition, explore the current biogeographic patterns across the family, and estimate ancestral ranges at global and local spatial scales. In our study, we delineate the boundaries of biogeographic provinces specific to the Pomacentridae through the use of a grid-cell ordination method based on over 400,000 georeferenced points from museum databases and checklists. These provinces were used to estimate ancestral ranges and shifts across the phylogenetic tree to examine patterns of lineage evolution and dispersal within complex marine regions. Results from grid-cell ordination reveal novel global biogeo- graphic provinces for the Pomacentridae, in addition to the proposal of a fine scale provincial breakdown within the Coral Triangle. The central conclusions of this study are (1) grid-cell ordination methods are effective in delineating taxon-specific biogeographic provinces, (2) these novel provinces provide new insight into the current biogeographic patterns of the Pomacentri- dae at both the global and Coral Triangle scale, and (3) we identify the most robust estimation of ancestral ranges within the Pomacentridae.
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103 Biogeographic patterns in major marine realms: function not taxonomy unites fish assemblages in reef, seagrass and mangrove systems
Christopher Hemingson ∗ 1,2, David Bellwood 1,2
1 James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Fish assemblages in the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean exhibit high taxonomic and func- tional diversity. However, much of the research conducted in these two realms focuses only on coral reef habitats. The two other major coastal tropical habitats, seagrass beds and man- grove forests, also cover extensive areas within the tropics and are frequently found adjacent to reefs. The close proximity of these three habitats and their shared evolutionary history caution against a focus on one habitat in isolation, especially given the potential evolutionary interac- tion between these habitats and ecosystems. The Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean faunas both arose from the same ancient tropical ocean approximately 40-50 million years ago. However, each of these realms had substantial time in isolation to develop their own unique taxonomic and functional structures. This offers an ideal setting to study how taxonomic and functional assemblages have evolved independently in the same habitats in two completely distinct and disjunct locations. Therefore, we asked the question: what do the taxonomic and functional assemblage of fishes look like in the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean? Specifically, what are the taxonomic units and functional traits that characterise fish faunas in coral reefs, in seagrass beds and in mangroves forests in the two realms? Using a standardised sampling protocol in both the Caribbean and on the Great Barrier Reef we recorded the abundance of taxonomic and func- tional groups. The taxonomic composition of assemblages followed biogeographic expectations, with realm-specific family-level compositions. In marked contrast, the functional composition of assemblages separated habitats regardless of their biogeographic locations. Seagrass fishes are functionally similar regardless of their taxonomic composition or biogeographic location. Likewise, for coral reefs and mangroves. The results emphasise the advantages and limitations of taxonomic vs. functional metrics in evaluating patterns. Taxonomy primarily reflects biogeo- graphic and evolutionary history while functional characteristics may better reflect ecological constraints.
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104 Breakdown in assortative mating leads to hybrid swarm in pygmy angelfishes
Tane Sinclair-Taylor ∗ 1, Jean-Paul Hobbs† 2, Joseph Dibattista 3
1 Reef Ecology Lab, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Red Sea Research Center, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia 2 Curtin University of Technology [PERTH] – GPO Box U1987 Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia 3 Curtin University – Department of Environment and Agriculture, PO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
With the advent of genetic tools, hydridisation through interbreeding is increasingly reported for coral reef fishes. Despite this advance, the ecological mechanisms that lead to and maintain interbreeding is often ignored, remains poorly understood, but particularly relevant to taxonomic efforts. For example, hybridisation can occur unintentionally due to mixing of external gametes from different species of fish that spawn at the same time, or deliberately when two species choose to interbreed. This breakdown in assortative mating is commonly implicated in hybridisation of coral reef fishes, and although mixed species social groups are often seen, interbreeding is rarely observed in the wild. Based on field observations spanning 15 years, we document interbreeding involving three parent species of pygmy angelfishes (Centropyge flavissima, C. eibli, and C. vrolikii) at Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean, the most recognised hybrid hotspot in our tropical oceans. First, we show that parental species cohabit, form harems with each other, interbreed by deliberate incorrect mate choice, and produce hybrid offspring. These spawning patterns were observed on multiple occasions and video recorded on consecutive nights in September 2015 and April 2016. Second, we report that adult male and female hybrids are viable, courting and deliberately interbreeding with each of the three parent species, resulting in a continuum of color morphs of hybrid offspring between them. Indeed, we here present in situ photo panels documenting a series hybrids possessing colour characteristics of all three parental species. Overall, these ecological observations support the theory that introgression identified by recent genetic work in the pygmy angelfishes is likely due to ongoing breakdown in assortative mating caused by deliberate incorrect mate choice and not unintentional spawning.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
105 Comparative phylogeography of fishes in the South China Sea
Nozomu Muto ∗ 1, Ryo Kakioka 2, Veera Vilasri 3, Ricardo Babaran 4, Ulysses Alama 4, Van Quan Nguyen 5, Mazlan Abdul Ghaffar 6, Hirohiko Takeshima 7, Fumihito Muto 8, Hiroyuki Motomura 9, Satoshi Ishikawa 7
1 School of Biological Sciences, Tokai University – 5-1-1-1 Minamisawa, Minami-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 005-8601, Japan 2 National Institute of Genetics – 1111 Yata, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan 3 Natural History Museum, National Science Museum – Technopolis, Khlong 5, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand 4 College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas – Miagao, 5023 Iloilo, Philippines 5 Institute of Marine Environment and Resources – 246 Danang Str., Hai Phong, Vietnam 6 School of Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu – 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia 7 Research Institute for Humanity and Nature – 457-4 Kamigamo-Motoyama, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan 8 School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University – 3-20-1 Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424-8610, Japan 9 The Kagoshima University Museum – 1–21–30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890–0065, Japan
The South China Sea (SCS) lies at the western margin of the Pacific Ocean, in close prox- imity to the Indian Ocean. It is known for high marine fish diversity, consisting of more than 3,000 recorded species. These fishes were subjected to dramatic environmental and demographic changes during Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations, including complete elimination from the con- tinental shelf during the low sea-level stands. Until date, it is largely unknown how these events affected the evolutionary and biogeographic histories of the fishes. In the present study, we con- ducted phylogeographic analyses of 12 Indo-Pacific or Indo-West Pacific species belonging to the families Priacanthidae, Carangidae, Gerreidae, Nemipteridae, and Scombridae, with particular emphasis on the histories of SCS populations. Specimens were sampled mainly from four localities in the coast of the SCS: Rayong (Thai- land), Iloilo (Philippines), Terengganu (Malaysia), and Ha-long Bay (Vietnam). The analyzed species showed a variety of species-specific phylogeographic patterns, with sharing some con- spicuous features. Most importantly, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene trees of a subset of the species showed two divergent lineages, suggesting that multiple populations have contributed to the present SCS populations of these species. These included Megalaspis cordyla (Carangidae) and Rastrelliger kanagurta (Scombridae). Geographic separation was evident between the two mtDNA lineages in the former but not in the latter, which suggested contemporary and his- torical population differentiation, respectively. In addition, the former exhibited morphological and nuclear DNA differentiation, thus being recognized as separate species, in spite of evidence showing hybridization.
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106 Overall, these results suggest that fission and fusion of populations, probably driven by the sea- level changes during Pleistocene, have been the dominant processes shaping marine fish diversity in the SCS. This hypothesis is further discussed in relation to other possible factors, such as the species-specific life history traits and the contemporary environmental conditions of the SCS, thereby elucidating how the species-specific as well as common phylogeographic patterns have been established.
107 Drivers of reef fish assemblages in the Indian Ocean
Melita Samoilys ∗ 1,2, Andrew Halford 3, Ronan Roche 4, Michael Bonsall 5, Alex Rogers 2
1 CORDIO East Africa (CORDIO) – Nairobi, Kenya 2 Department of Zoology – University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, United Kingdom 3 Curtin University – Perth, Australia 4 Bangor University (School of Ocean Sciences) – Bangor University - Bangor -Gwynedd - LL57 2DG, United Kingdom 5 Mathematical Ecology Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford (MERG) – Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK, United Kingdom
Understanding the drivers of variability in the composition of fish assemblages is crucial for managing coral reef ecosystems under climate change and fishing pressure. However, elucidating which drivers are influential is challenging due to the multiple variables involved and the high biodiversity on coral reefs. From an initial set of 16 known environmental and anthropogenic drivers we found geographic location and reef geomorphology were the most influential, explain- ing ˜33% of the structure of fish communities surveyed across 45 sites from 4 countries in the western Indian Ocean (WIO). Three additional variables were also significant at a regional scale: chlorophyll a, reef exposure and slope. However, at smaller spatial scales, reef benthic compo- sition was significant, with live hard coral and dead coral cover correlating strongly with fish assemblage structure. Fishing pressure was a secondary influence only correlating with fish abun- dance across sites within Tanzania and Mozambique. In the Chagos Archipelago, where there is little to no fishing, we found 40-fold differences in parrotfish population densities, suggesting the influence of ”bottom-up” control mechanisms. Detritivorous and herbivorous parrotfishes and surgeonfishes were the most significant species driving the composition and abundance of fish assemblages across a wide diversity of reef geomorphologies within the WIO region. We discuss the primary importance of the relationship between reef geography and geomorphology and the associated reef fish assemblages, and how this affects the trophic dynamics, functional roles and inter-specific interactions of the fishes within these communities. The implications of these results in supporting coral reef resilience are also explored.
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108 Ecological and evolutionary drivers of reef fish agonistic interactions
Luisa Fontoura ∗† 1, Maur´ıcioCantor 2, Fabien Leprieur 3, Gabriela Sardinha 2, Sergio Floeter 4, Elizabeth Madin 1
1 Macquarie University – Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia 2 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – Campus Reitor Jo˜aoDavid Ferreira Lima, s/n - Trindade, Florian´opolis - SC, 88040-900, Brasil, Brazil 3 Universit´ede Montpellier – Institut de recherche pour le d´eveloppement [IRD] : UMR237, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS – 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France 4 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – Campus Reitor Jo˜aoDavid Ferreira Lima, s/n - Trindade, Florian´opolis - SC, 88040-900, Brazil
Competition is a key process structuring ecological communities, as it affects individual survival and, ultimately, species distributions. Reef fish, contests for corals, algae and ben- thic invertebrates as shelter and food result in agonistic interactions that evidence direct intra- and inter-specific competition. However, the proximate and ultimate drivers of such aggres- sive behaviour remain underexplored. We hypothesize that high species density may stimulate competition, which may be fiercer among species that occupy similar functional roles in the com- munity. To test this, we investigate the influence of species abundance and functional similarity on the structure of reef fish agonistic interactions in three Indo-Pacific locations (Fiji, Bali, and Moorea). In each location, we recorded 50 remote (non-diver-operated) high-resolution video samples. Each video consisted of a 15-minute continuous shot of 2m2 of shallow sheltered reefs, from which we extracted the number agonistic interactions among fish species, and estimated the relative density of all species, observed interacting or not. We then built weighted networks to depict the interacting fish species as nodes connected by links whose thicknesses were pro- portional to their frequency of agonistic interactions. We also calculated functional traits and density distances among all interacting species. Using multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure (MRQAP), we tested whether such covariates affected the structure of the agonistic networks. Our findings reveal that neither functional proximity nor density explain the strength and distribution of agonistic interaction among fish. Conversely, the frequency of agonistic interactions was positively associated with overall density when considering both interacting and non-interacting species. The rate of increase in interactions with increasing overall density differed among locations, particularly at lower densities. Our findings indicate that reef fish agonistic behaviour is not solely driven by the density of interactig species neither by their func- tional similarity, although overall species density may play a role. Phylogenetic proximity may influence agonistic interactions due taxonomical conservation on species-pairs among networks, but this hypothesis remains to be tested. We suggest that local factors, such as resource avail- ability (potentially species’ evolutionary histories as well), could influence aggressive behaviour, and so drive competition in reef fish communities.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
109 Emergent patterns of genetic diversity across the Indo-Pacific Ocean
Libby Liggins ∗ 1,2, Eric Crandall 3, Cynthia Riginos 4, Michelle Gaither 5, Chris Bird 6, Sean Connolly 7, Loic Thibaut 8, Eric Treml 9, Elizabeth Sbrocco 10, Maria Beger 11, Peter Cowman 7, Rob Toonen 5, Diversity Of The Indo-Pacific Network (dipnet) 12
1 Massey University – Auckland, New Zealand 2 Auckland War Memorial Museum – Auckland, New Zealand 3 California State University, Monterey Bay – United States 4 The University of Queensland – Brisbane, Australia 5 Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa – Hawai’i, United States 6 Texas AM - Corpus Christi – Texas, United States 7 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University – Townsville, Australia 8 James Cook University – Townsville, Australia 9 University of Melbourne – Melbourne, Australia 10 Ronin Institute – Montclair, New Jersey, United States 11 University of Leeds – Leeds, United Kingdom 12 http://diversityindopacific.net/ – Several countries, United States
Patterns of genetic diversity provide a window into the historical and contemporary de- mography of a focal species, and can inform their conservation management. However, despite the potential for genetic diversity information from a whole community of species to provide insight regarding the origin, maintenance, and future of that community, there have been few synthetic analyses of genetic diversity patterns across multiple species in the marine environ- ment. There is the general expectation that patterns of genetic diversity will mirror patterns of species diversity owing to common underlying drivers of biodiversity, such as habitat area (+), isolation (-), and stability/age of habitat (+), as suggested by the theory of island biogeography for species richness and Wright’s island model for genetic diversity. For instance, large areas of shallow reef habitat within the Indo-Australasian Archipelago – a well described species diver- sity hotspot – may also be expected to support large population sizes, and therefore high levels of genetic diversity. Although many researchers have independently collected genetic data for Indo-Pacific marine organisms over the past several decades, combining these data to address multi-species patterns of genetic diversity has been previously impeded by data accessibility and interoperability of database infrastructures. To overcome these challenges, the Diversity of the Indo-Pacific Network (DIPnet) was formed, and the Genomic Observatory Metadatabase (GeOMe) was established to provide a centralised repository for genetic data of marine species. GeOMe is now the most extensive database of georeferenced mitochondrial DNA sequences com- prising over 35,000 individuals and over 200 species. In my talk I will present some of the first multi-species, synthetic analyses regarding genetic diversity patterns for Indo-Pacific marine or- ganisms, conducted by DIPnet and based on GeOMe data. Our analyses suggest that genetic diversity weakly correlates with patterns of species diversity in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Fur-
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110 thermore, regions where genetic diversity and species diversity diverge are identified, providing insight into the processes generating diversity patterns across the biodiversity hierarchy.
111 Environmental drivers of Pomacentridae distribution and abundance in American Samoa
Motusaga Vaeoso ∗ 1
1 American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources – PO Box 3730, Pago Pago, 96799., American Samoa
Currently, no detailed ecological analyses of Pomacentridae species have been conducted in American Samoa. There is a local resource management need to improve coral reef monitoring methods to incorporate rapid assessment techniques, including the use of indicator species re- sponsive to changes in local coral reef ecosystems. This study focusses on initial investigations into the linkages between Pomacentrid damselfish community composition, benthic habitat com- position, specific coral species, and local environmental variables. In 2015 a US-EPA funded project was developed between local resources agencies to increase the understanding of the link- ages between water quality and coral reef health. Additional project goals included identifying the most likely drivers of poor reef health, and how to address spatially different management priorities around the main island of Tutuila. As part of this project, thirty reef slope sites were surveyed over a three-week period in November 2016 around Tutuila Island, which included a comprehensive survey of damselfish conducted by one surveyor. Sites were selected based on a human population density gradient, and all sites were located at the same distance from major stream mouths. Recent studies on trophic level and functional group categorization were in- corporated into analysis on trends in trophic feeding groups. Using univariate and multivariate statistical methods, initial investigations were conducted to determine whether the distribution and abundance of different functional groups are driven by habitat composition, using benthic cover data derived from photo-quadrat surveys and analyzed by CPCe. Environmental variables were derived using GIS data layers to develop proxies for natural environmental factors and hu- man stressors. When considering these environmental variables, there were no clear relationships between the distribution and abundance of the most common Pomacentrid species. Additional analysis relating trends in species composition between sites, showed predictable correlations with benthic cover data and coral species demography data. This initial investigation into the comprehensive Pomacentrid species data set will be complemented with future studies to incor- porate NOAA CREP data, in addition to exploring potential temporal changes in community composition and abundances following past disturbance events.
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112 Evolutionary processes underlying reef fish latitudinal differences in biodiversity
Alexandre Siqueira ∗† 1, Luiz Oliveira-Santos 2, Peter Cowman 3, Sergio Floeter 4
1 College of Science and Engineering/Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia 2 Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) – Campo Grande, MS, 79070-900, Brazil 3 Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia 4 Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) – Florian´opolis, SC, 88040-970, Brazil
Although it has been described for many taxa and many hypotheses have been raised to explain it, the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) remains poorly understood with respect to its underlying processes. Part of this lack of understanding occurs because, for a long time, historical and evolutionary factors have been overlooked as part of the explanation. Reef asso- ciated fishes make ideal candidates for the study of these evolutionary aspects since they reflect a strong LDG with diversity distributed among tropical (coral reef) and extratropical (rocky and algal reef) environments, and have relatively well resolved phylogenetic relationships. In the present study, we examined the temporal dynamics of the processes of speciation, extinc- tion and dispersal in the marine realm using phylogenies to reveal the evolutionary mechanisms that promote latitudinal differences in biodiversity. Using phylogenetic comparative methods we assessed whether tropical reef fish lineages show higher diversification rates and whether the majority of extratropical lineages have originated from tropical areas. We used fossil cal- ibrated phylogenies for four families (Chaetodontidae, Labridae, Pomacentridae and Sparidae) and applied evolutionary models that allow the estimation of speciation, extinction and disper- sal rates associated with geographic ranges. Further, we performed simulations to assess our ability to distinguish between popular hypothesis for the LDG and explored potential biases from unsampled characters. We found that tropical lineages show higher rates of speciation and tended to have lower extinction rates. Overall, we identify higher net diversification rates for tropical lineages compared with those in extratropical regions in all four families. Rates of dispersal tended to be higher for lineages with tropical origins expanding into extratropical regions. Within the family Labridae, two tropical lineages were found to exhibit higher net diversification rates, above that expected from latitudinal differences. Our results offer support for the predictions of the ‘out of the tropics’ and ‘evolutionary speed’ models of evolution, both of which highlight the marine tropics as an important evolutionary engine promoting latitudinal differences in reef fish biodiversity. Moreover, we find that two tropical labrid lineages have undergone exceptional diversification associated with additional traits, possibly linked with the extreme sexual dichromatism observed in both clades.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
113 Further insight into the iterative ecological radiation of damselfishes (Pomacentridae)
Laura Gajdzik 1, Gilles Lepoint 2, Loic Michel 2, Nicolas Sturaro 2, Eric Parmentier 1, David Lecchini 3, Bruno Fr´ed´erich ∗ 1,2
1 Laboratory of Functional and Evolutionary Morphology, – AFFISH Research Center, University of Li`ege,Li`ege,Belgium 2 Laboratory of Oceanology – MARE Centre, University of Li`ege,Li`ege,Belgium 3 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
The evolutionary history of Pomacentridae (damselfishes) is a rare example of the occur- rence of an iterative ecological radiation in the ocean. Damselfishes have experienced many repeated convergences wherein subclades radiated across similar trophic strategies (i.e. pelagic foragers, benthic feeders, and an intermediate group) and similar morphologies. The presence of evolutionary convergences in damselfishes was recently highlighted by the combination of ecological and morphological data, and the use of phylogenetic comparative methods. Never- theless, many other aspects of these replicated sets of lineages remain unexplored. For example, little is known about the functional diversity of assemblages including convergent lineages that emerged from iterative processes of ecological radiation, or which of the niche-related processes and phylogenetic conservatism are the major factors shaping these assemblages. Here, we con- ducted a quantitative comparison of these processes in damselfish assemblages that belong to three distinct Indo-Pacific coral reefs differing in taxonomic composition, morphology and de- gree of human disturbance. Using various metrics, we compared the functional diversity (based on a dataset of eight functional traits) and the isotopic diversity (a proxy of trophic diversity) among assemblages, grasping many aspects of the eco-functional diversity of Pomacentridae. We also tested whether these eco-functional traits displayed some evolutionary conservatism. Our results demonstrate that the eco-functional diversity of damselfishes follows similar patterns among Indo-Pacific coral reefs. The trophic space remains equivalent despite gradient in species richness, whereas the number of functional entities occupied by taxa dictates the size of the functional space. In each assemblage, eco-functional niches are highly differentiated and evenly distributed in spaces of similar size. The inconsistent phylogenetic structure of eco-functional traits suggests that the similarity in the diversity of damselfish assemblages is mainly driven by niche-based processes and not by phylogenetic relatedness. We suggest that a broader applica- tion of our approach will help to uncover the mechanisms of reef fish community assembly over space and time.
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114 New phylogenetic trees, evolutionary history and global biogeographic patterns of coral reef fishes using all-species phylogenetic trees
Mark Westneat ∗ 1
1 University of Chicago – Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Building large-scale phylogenies with all known species in various reef fish groups is now possible using a molecular backbone and a morphological trait matrix in tandem. New multi- locus molecular phylogenies built with 10 nuclear and mitochondrial genes, with many additional taxa added, advance our understanding of species-rich assemblages and aid in fine-scale time tree construction. All-species phylogenetic trees are presented for the Labridae (including the scarines and odacines), Chaetodontidae, Pomacanthidae and Pomacentridae. Anatomical char- acters play a key role in clade support and in placing rare taxa into the tree topology. The high resolution, species-level topologies for the three iconic reef fish families are used as a framework for mapping the evolutionary diversification of function and enhancing our understanding of biomechanical convergence in these groups. Finally, reconstructing global biogeographic pat- terns in the three families across major biogeographic provinces and from temperate to tropical seascapes show that these often sympatric fish groups show alternative patterns of phylogenetic dispersion history.
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115 Origins of Hawaiian reef fauna: evidence from sister pairs of Pacific blennies
Michael Hoban ∗ 1, Randall Kosaki 2, Brian Bowen 1
1 Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) – 46-007 Lilipuna Rd Kaneohe, HI 96744, United States 2 Papahnaumokukea Marine National Monument (PMNM) – NOAA/Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center NOS/ONMS/PMNM 1845 Wasp Blvd, Building 176 Honolulu, HI 96818, United States
All living inhabitants of the Hawaiian archipelago necessarily originate elsewhere, due to the volcanic history of the island arc. Two prominent hypotheses regarding the origins of Hawaiian marine species maintain that colonists arrive either from the south (via the Line Islands and Johnston Atoll) or from the west (via Japan). Previous research has shown that Hawaiian endemic limpets (genus *Cellana*) arrived from Japan 3 - 7 million years ago (Ma; Bird et al. 2011). Orange-band surgeonfish colonized from the Central Pacific about 0.5 Ma (Gaither et al. 2015), and butterflyfishes may have colonized from both the West Pacific and South Pacific (Craig et al. 2010). Hodge et al. (2014) resolved two waves of marine colonization into Hawaii at 0 - 3 Ma and 8 – 12 Ma. Finally, Andrews et al. (2014) report evidence for a colonization pathway from the south (Johnston Atoll) to the middle of the archipelago in the protected Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM). Here, we synthesize available data, and introduce a new data set based on endemic Hawaiian blennies (Blenniidae) compared to widespread sister species, in order to further elucidate the ages and origins of Hawaiian reef fauna. One emerging conclusion is that a dispersal corridor between the Line Islands / Johnston Atoll and the PMNM may constitute an important entry point for colonization into Hawaii, which provides insight into factors that promote and maintain endemic reef biodiversity.
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116 Phylogenetic diversity of New Zealand ray-finned fishes across depth and latitude.
David Eme ∗ 1, Libby Liggins 2, Elisabeth Myers 3, Clive Roberts 4, Carl Struthers 4, Salme Kortet 4, Jeremy Barker 4, Andrew Stewart 4, Marti Anderson 3
1 New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study (NZIAS) – Massey University Albany campus, New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, E-center building, Gate 5, Oaklands Road, Massey University, Albany, Auckland 0632, New Zealand 2 Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (INMS) – Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University, Albany campus, Private Bag 102904, North Shore Auckland 0745, New Zealand, New Zealand 3 New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study (NZIAS) – Massey university, Albany campus, New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, E-center building, Gate 5, Oaklands Road, Massey University, Albany, Auckland 0632, New Zealand 4 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) – Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand, New Zealand
Knowledge regarding spatial patterns in marine biodiversity, including fishes, is mostly lim- ited to shallow waters which represent less than 10% of marine habitats. However, understanding the ecological/evolutionary processes shaping marine biodiversity requires including a third di- mension – depth. Difficulty in sampling deep oceanic areas means that our understanding of biodiversity patterns along the depth gradient is restricted to a few studies that are largely descriptions of species diversity. In general, these studies suggest that fish species diversity decreases with depth; or in some cases, species richness increases until a certain depth, and then decreases as ecological conditions become more stressful at greater depths (high pressure, limited productivity and ambient energy). However, despite these environmental constraints at depth, deep sea environments are larger, more homogeneous, and have been more stable through time than the shallow waters, potentially increasing the opportunity for long and diverse evo- lutionary histories in deep sea fishes. Therefore, documenting phylogenetic diversity patterns of fishes across depth may reveal striking patterns of primary importance to understanding the processes that have shaped marine biodiversity. Our research aim is to quantify phylogenetic diversity of New Zealand’s ray-finned fishes across depth (50–1200m) and latitude (21 degrees) using a robust, stratified, replicated survey of the fish community. In this talk, I will present our progress in exploring the likelihood of an increase in the phylogenetic diversity of fishes across depth. First, we have constructed a new time-calibrated molecular phylogeny based 70% on New Zealand’s ray-finned fish species using our purpose-built pipeline that extracts DNA sequences and metadata from databases and performs different selection steps in order to build a multi-gene Bayesian phylogeny. Second, we have modelled the different facets of phylogenetic diversity across depth and latitude using a range of phylogenetic diversity measures and various null models of community assemblages, while taking into account phylogenetic uncertainty. The
∗Speaker
117 different patterns of phylogenetic diversity inferred suggest that deep sea fish communities com- prise clusters of sister, or closely related taxa, which are widely spread through the phylogeny of New Zealand ray-finned fishes.
118 Phylogenetic perspectives on reef fish functional traits
Sergio Floeter ∗† 1, Mariana Bender 1, Alexandre Siqueira 2, Peter Cowman 2
1 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) – Depto. de Ecologia e Zoologia - CCB, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florian´opolis - SC, Brazil, 88040-900, Brazil 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Functional traits have been fundamental to the evolution and diversification of entire fish lineages on coral reefs. Yet their relationship with the processes promoting speciation, extinction and the filtering of local species pools remains unclear. We review the current literature exploring the evolution of diet, body size, water column use and geographic range size in reef-associated fishes. Using published and new data, we mapped functional traits on to published phylogenetic trees to uncover evolutionary patterns that have led to the current functional diversity of fishes on coral reefs. When examining reconstructed patterns for diet and feeding mode, we found examples of independent transitions to planktivory across different reef fish families. Such transitions and associated morphological alterations may represent cases in which ecological opportunity for the exploitation of different resources drives speciation and adaptation. In terms of body size, reconstructions showed that both large and small sizes appear multiple times within clades of mid-sized fishes and that extreme body sizes have arisen mostly in the last 10 million years (Myr). The reconstruction of range size revealed many cases of disparate range sizes among sister species. Such range size disparity highlights potential vicariant processes through isolation in peripheral locations. When accounting for peripheral speciation processes in sister pairs, we found a significant relationship between labrid range size and lineage age. The diversity and evolution of traits within lineages is influenced by trait–environment interactions as well as by species and trait–trait interactions, where the presence of a given trait may trigger the development of related traits or behaviours. Our effort to assess the evolution of functional diversity across reef fish clades adds to the burgeoning research focusing on the evolutionary and ecological roles of functional traits. We argue that the combination of a phylogenetic and a functional approach will improve the understanding of the mechanisms of species assembly in extraordinarily rich coral reef communities.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: sergiofl[email protected]
119 Phylogeography, Biogeography, and the Origins of Indo-Pacific Reef Fishes
Brian Bowen ∗ 1, Michelle Gaither 2, Joseph Dibattista 3, Matthew Iacchei 4, Kim Andrews 5
1 Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) – 46-007 Lilipuna Rd Kaneohe, HI 96744, United States 2 University of Hawaii – 46-007 Lilipuna Road, Kaneohe, Hawaii, USA, United States 3 Curtin University – Department of Environment and Agriculture, PO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia 4 University of Hawaii – Department of Oceanography, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Honolulu, HI 96822, United States 5 University of Idaho – Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, Moscow, ID 83844, United States
Understanding how ecology, geography, oceanography, and climate have ultimately shaped marine biodiversity requires aligning the distributions of genetic diversity across multiple taxa. Here, we examine phylogeographic partitions in Indo-Pacific reef fishes against a backdrop of biogeographic provinces defined by taxonomy, endemism, and species composition. The taxo- nomic identities used to define biogeographic provinces are routinely accompanied by diagnostic genetic differences between sister species, indicating interspecific concordance between biogeog- raphy and phylogeography. In cases where individual species are distributed across two or more biogeographic provinces, shifts in genotype frequencies often align with biogeographic bound- aries, providing intraspecific concordance between biogeography and phylogeography. This con- cordance indicates that the population-level genetic divergences observed between provinces are a starting point for macroevolutionary divergences between species. However, isolation between provinces does not account for all marine biodiversity; the remainder arises through alterna- tive pathways, such as ecological speciation and parapatric (semi-isolated) divergences within provinces and biodiversity hotspots.
∗Speaker
120 Population genomics and phenotypic differentiation between pairs of sister species of clownfishes
Joris Bertrand∗ 1, Anna Marcionetti 1, Alberto Garcia Jimenez 1, Nicolas Salamin †‡ 1
1 University of Lausanne, Department of Computational Biology (UNIL) – Department of Computational Biology Biophore University of Lausanne 1015 Lausanne Switzerland, Switzerland
Identifying the molecular basis of phenotypic variation is an important step to understand the mechanisms of adaptation and speciation. Next generation sequencing brings new oppor- tunities to address this question thanks to the large amount of genomic data that it provides. However, comparing patterns of phenotypic and genetic differentiation among natural popula- tions remains challenging and it is essential to account for the complex spatio-temporal dynamics that are specific to each population when estimating the variation in traits. We used genomic data and morphometric analyses for several species pairs of clownfishes to compare the patterns of phenotypic and genomic differentiation at the population level. The clownfishes are a nice example of adaptive radiation at a broad geographic scale and they present interesting characteristics to study the role of ecological and evolutionary processes in driving population divergence. Their mutualistic interaction with sea anemones favored the evolution of unique life history traits features and triggered their radiation. Previous studies have shown that physical barriers also played an important role in lineage formation in this group. In the meantime, reproductive isolation is still incomplete between some species that somewhere hy- bridize. There is now a need for disentangling the role of geography and ecology to understand the explosive evolution of Amphiprioninae from the lowest taxonomic scales. We selected individuals from three species pairs of clownfishes with overlapping geographic dis- tribution to quantify the variation within- and between- populations either in allopatry or in sympatry. We obtained whole-genome sequencing data from representative populations from Eastern Indian Ocean, Coral Triangle region and New Caledonia, and measured ecologically relevant phenotypic traits obtained from morphometrics analyses and coloration patterns. Our results show that a substantial amount of the genetic differentiation occurs between the re- gions, even at the intra-specific level, which is consistent with a key role played by geographical isolation. Where species range overlap, the fine-scale genomic data enabled us to search for subtle phenotypic differences between species possibly associated with genomic islands of diver- gence. This allows us to unravel the underlying mechanisms of reproductive isolation and better understand the mechanisms involved in the diversification and adaptation of clownfishes.
∗Corresponding author: [email protected] †Speaker ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
121 Quantifying the emergent geography of dispersal barriers and environmental gradients: biogeographic implications across the Indo-Pacific.
Eric Treml ∗† 1, Libby Liggins 2, Cynthia Riginos 3
1 University of Melbourne – Melbourne, VIC, Australia 2 Massey University – Auckland, New Zealand 3 The University of Queensland – Brisbane, Australia
Dispersal limitations and environmental gradients are known to restrict larval exchange and species’ ranges and contribute to broad-scale biogeographic and phylogeographic patterns. How- ever, the relative roles of biophysical processes and environmental variables in forming biogeo- graphic patterns varies across the seascapes. In this study, we map the geographic structure of multivariate environmental gradients and intersect these with the location and strength of mul- tispecies dispersal barriers across the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Specifically, we ask three questions: (1) What is the spatial structure and range in environmental gradients across this seascape? (2) What is the geographic configuration and biophysical drivers of multispecies dispersal barriers? (3) What spatial sampling strategy would maximise the likelihood of testing the influence of dispersal and environmental factors on bio/phylogeographic patterns? Here, we analyse eight commonly used seascape parameters (e.g., sea surface temperature, salinity, depth, and net primary productivity) with other key seascape factors, such as a thermal stress metric and a proxy for Pleistocene habitat stability, to quantify the spatial structure of environmental gra- dients across the seascape. A biophysical dispersal model was used to quantify and map the emergent patterns of multi-species population connectivity and predict the strength of concor- dant dispersal barriers arising from seascape features. Although individual taxa varied in their predicted fine-scale population connectivity, there was broad-scale consistency in the location of dispersal barriers. Across all trait combinations, reproductive output (fecundity and density of reproductive adults), reproductive strategy (spawning phenology) and the length of the larval dispersal phase determined the strength of barriers at the seascape scale. Combining these dis- persal barriers and corridors with the hotspots of change in environmental gradients allows us to develop spatially-explicit sampling strategies to explore genetic-environmental associations while considering species’ dispersal potential (such as when search for loci under selection in population genomic investigations). This targeted strategy maximises the likelihood of finding key associations while allowing one to sample at appropriate distances to minimise autocorrela- tion among sample sites and accommodate the dispersal scales of interest. This spatially-explicit approach may contribute to the development of a more holistic understanding of the regions’ biogeography.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
122 Response of reef fish functional groups to local stressors in American Samoa
Alice Lawrence ∗ 1
1 American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources – PO Box 3730, Pago Pago, 96799., American Samoa
American Samoa has a long history of quantitative coral reef surveys, dating back to 1917, with more regular surveys initiated after the 1979 Acanthaster plancii outbreak. Past studies to assess the correlations between human activities and coral reef health proved difficult, possibly due to the masking effect of this disturbances, in addition to hurricane and bleaching events. A watershed-based coral reef monitoring program instigated by the local EPA office in 2015 was the foundation for collaboration between local resources agencies to increase the understanding of the linkages between water quality and coral reef health. This study focusses on initial in- vestigations into the linkages between reef fish communities, benthic habitat composition, and key local environmental predictor variables. Statistical analysis of the EPA 2013 dataset using forward step-wise regression modeling highlighted wave energy, fishing access, and disturbed land as the strongest contributing variables predicting ecosystem condition. Thirty reef slope sites were surveyed over a three-week period in November 2016 around Tutuila Island, providing a novel opportunity to analyse the largest number of sites surveyed over a short time period for over 10 years. The survey was designed to improve statistical confidence, sites were selected based on a human population density gradient, and all sites were located at the same distance from major stream mouths. Reef fish species from non-cryptic families were in- cluded in the analysis, with the exception of Pomacentridae analysed in a complementary study. Fish health metrics were derived by univariate and multivariate analysis approaches, and regres- sion models run using R Studio. Environmental predictors were derived using GIS data layers to develop proxies for natural environmental factors and human stressors, and standardised for building regression models. Initial results were imported into an ArcGIS geodatabase which as- sisted with visualising trends, including interesting relationships between trophic feeding groups and fishing access. Monthly water quality data sampled at each site over a one-year period will be integrated into the modeling process by end of 2017. Future work will investigate temporal changes and in-depth ecological studies to further understand the drivers and predictors of reef fish communities in the territory.
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123 Revisiting the ”Center Hypotheses” of the Indo-West Pacific: Idiosyncratic genetic diversity of nine reef species offers weak support for a center of biodiversity.
Ambrocio Melvin Matias ∗† 1,2, Cynthia Riginos 1
1 University of Queensland (UQ) – School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia 2 University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) – Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines
Several hypotheses seek to explain the distribution of marine species diversity in the Indo- West Pacific (IWP), particularly the extreme high species diversity at its center – the Coral Triangle (CT). Among these hypotheses, the various ”centers hypotheses” have sustained on- going interest among biogeographers and phylogeographers. Delineating the causes of IWP biodiversity, however, remains an unresolved question. Though the underlying processes behind these hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, they offer explicit predictions regarding patterns of biodiversity in the IWP, which we test using intraspecific genetic diversity. Here, we use existing mitochondrial DNA data of nine reef species and augment them with new samples from the Philippines to cover key regions of the IWP. Using these data, we first examine patterns of genetic diversity across the IWP to test if genetic diversity peaks in the CT. We then investigate the historical demography of these species to evaluate the possible correlation of genetic diversity with likely Pleistocene refugia. Finally, we estimate gene flow between regions – CT vs Indian Ocean (IO) and CT vs Pacific Ocean (PO) – to assess concordance with predicted patterns of connectivity. Contrary to our expectation, we do not find evidence for higher genetic diversity in the CT relative to the IO and PO. Moreover, we find highly variable patterns of genetic diversity when species are evaluated individually. Although there is no significant correlation between genetic diversity and likely refugia, genetic patterns suggest that some populations have experienced expansions, which is typical after bottlenecks. The regions with signals of expansion, however, are also inconsistent across species. Gene flow estimates indicated very limited exchange between regions, lending poor support for the different hypotheses tested. In summary, patterns of genetic diversity across nine reef species are not concordant with no single hypothesis regarding biogeographic origins of marine biodiversity supported for events in the recent past.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
124 The biogeography of tropical reef fishes: endemism and provinciality through time
Peter Cowman ∗ 1, Valeriano Parravicini 2, Michel Kulbicki 3, Sergio Floeter 4
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 CRIOBE – Universit´ede Perpignan – Perpignan, France 3 Laboratoire dExcellence´ CORAIL (LabEX CORAIL) – Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement – Labex Corail58, avenue Paul Alduy66860 Perpignan CEDEXT´el.: 04 30 19 23 32Email : [email protected], France 4 Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) – Florianopolis, Brazil
The largest marine biodiversity hotspot straddles the Indian and Pacific Oceans, driven by taxa associated with tropical coral reefs. Centred on the Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA), this biodiversity hotspot forms the ‘bullseye’ of a steep gradient in species richness from this centre to the periphery of the vast Indo-Pacific region. Complex patterns of endemism, wide- ranging species and assemblage differences have obscured our understanding of the genesis of this biodiversity pattern and its maintenance across two-thirds of the world’s oceans. But time- calibrated molecular phylogenies coupled with ancestral biogeographic estimates have provided a valuable framework in which to examine the origins of coral reef fish biodiversity across the tropics. Herein, we examine phylogenetic and biogeographic data for coral reef fishes to highlight temporal patterns of marine endemism and tropical provinciality. The ages and distribution of endemic lineages have often been used to identify areas of species creation and demise in the marine tropics and discriminate among multiple hypotheses regarding the origins of biodiversity in the IAA. Despite a general under-sampling of endemic fishes in phylogenetic studies, the majority of locations today contain a mixture of potential paleo- and neo-endemic fishes, pointing to multiple historical processes involved in the origin and maintenance of the IAA biodiversity hotspot. Increased precision and sampling of geographic ranges for reef fishes has permitted the division of discrete realms, regions and provinces across the tropics. Yet, such metrics are only beginning to integrate phylogenetic relatedness and ancestral biogeography. Phylogenetic dissimilarity clustering of extant assemblages identifies a large Indo-West Pacific cluster, but also clusters distant Pacific island together based on peripherally isolated, but phylogenetically close lineages. Through time, clustering of estimated ranges reveals the dynamic nature of reef assemblages with provincial changes reflecting large scale tectonic rearrangement of the tropical belt.
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125 The reefish Atlas
Fran¸coisGuilhaumon ∗ 1, Louis Nerriere 2, Fabien Leprieur 2, Valeriano Parravicini 3, Michel Kulbicki 4, Robert Myers 5
1 MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC) – Institut de Recherche pour 0 le D´eveloppement : UMRD248, InstitutfrancaisdeRecherchepourl¸ ExploitationdelaMer : UMR9190, UniversitedeMontpellier´ : UMR9190, CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique : UMR9190 − −UniversitedeMontpellier,´ P laceEugeneBataillon,` Montpellier, F rance 2 MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC) – Institut de Recherche pour 0 le D´eveloppement : UMRD248, InstitutfrancaisdeRecherchepourl¸ ExploitationdelaMer : UMR9190, UniversitedeMontpellier´ : UMR9190, CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique : UMR9190 − −Montpellier, F rance 3 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 4 Ecologie marine tropicale des oc´eansPacifique et Indien (ENTROPIE [Perpignan]) – Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement – 52, avenue Paul Alduy, 68860 Perpignan Cedex 9, France 5 Sea Clicks – 9273 Silent Oak Cir West Palm Beach, FL 33411, United States
The reefish Atlas is an open, collaborative and reproducible initiative to gather, curate and diffuse openly taxonomic and biogeographic information about Indo-Pacific coral reef fishes. Based on more than 650 reviewed checklists, the reefish Atlas website propose scientists, and more generally people interested in coral reef fishes, to browse, download and comment on the presence/absence patterns of more than 2000 Indo-Pacific coral reef fishes (belonging for now to 18 families, but more are to be incorporated) in more than 150 marine bio-regions. Implemented in a transparent and reproducible manner, the reefish Atlas is open from the beginning and welcome expert discussions about the biogeographical patterns presented. On top of biogeographical patterns and pictures contributed by the reefish Atlas authors, the website is a hub gathering life history traits, threat status and taxonomic information available from other global data bases such as fishbase, the WoRMS or the IUCN red list. We believe the review and diffusion of hundreds of checklists is timely and will provide community acknowledged information to be used in scientific research and outreach.
∗Speaker
126 A5/ Ecology & Evolution of Gobies
127 A Survey of Reproductive Morphology of Gobioid Fishes, Part 1: Rhyacichthys aspro
Kathleen Cole ∗† 1, Lynne Parenti 2
1 University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) – Department of Biology, 2538 McCarthy Mall, Edmondson Hall 216, Honolulu, HI 96822, United States 2 National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian (USNM) – 1000 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20560, United States
Reproductive morphology is an informative system for phylogenetics and evolution. The most recent molecular phylogenetic hypothesis of the Gobioidei proposes eightconstituent clades, of which the family Gobiidae is the largest. Reproductive morphology has been studied exten- sively in the Gobiidae relative to the other clades. Consequently there are few data available to construct hypotheses of the evolution of gobioid gonadal and accessory structures. To fill this gap, we have initiated a survey of reproductive morphology of representatives of all gob- ioid clades, beginning with Rhyacichthys aspro (F. Rhyacichthyidae), part of a clade considered ”basal” within the Gobioidei; i.e., sister to all other gobioids. A detailed histological exami- nation of the reproductive system including gonads, accessory structures, and genital papilla morphology revealed some characters apparently unique to R. aspro, as well as characters more broadly distributed among percomorphs. Gobioids have an unrestricted, lobular testis; sper- matogonia are distributed along the length of the lobule. Among females, the genital papilla rests on an elaborate, fimbriated pad originating near the papilla base. The fimbriae have no apparent secretory structures; their function is possibly sensory. In males, the spermatogenic lobules form an unusual radiating pattern, for known gobioids, that converges on a medial col- lecting channel within the testis wall. Posteriorly the testis lobes remain separate; each becomes continuous with an associated accessory gonadal structure (AGS). In R .aspro, the AGS pro- duce secretions, store sperm, and form the gonadal duct that carries sperm and secretions into the genital papilla. Our ultimate goal is to survey reproductive morphology across all major clades of gobioid fishes to understand the evolution of these characters within a functional and phylogenetic context.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
128 Characterization of hybridization within a secondary contact region of the inshore fish, Bostrychus sinensis, in the East China Sea
Shaoxiong Ding ∗† 1, Michael Miyamoto 2
1 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361012, China – Room B1-215, Zhoulongquan Building, Xiangan Campus, Xiamen University, Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China, China 2 Department of Biology, University of Florida – Department of Biology, Box 118525, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-8525, USA, United States
The northwest Pacific marginal seas are a primary center of phylogeographic and evolution- ary research, because of their dynamic geographic history of falling and rising sea levels during the glaciations and interglaciations of the last one million years. Here, we present new molecular and morphological data for geographic samples of the four-eyed sleeper (Bostrychus sinensis), which reinforce the evidence for secondary contact and hybridization between two phylogeo- graphic lineages in the East China Sea. Specifically, we find that the secondary contact region is characterized by a low frequency of hybridization, where mitochondrial DNA introgression is relatively common whereas F1 hybrids are correspondingly scarce. Furthermore, the adult standard lengths of the two phylogeographic lineages vary geographically in a manner that is consistent with reproductive character displacement. Collectively, the molecular and morpho- logical data document that sleeper hybridization conforms to the classic ”tension/sink” model, where alleles are lost via reduced hybrid viability and/or positive assortative mating but are then replenished by dispersal from south of the secondary contact region. They also indicate that the two phylogeographic lineages are at an incipient stage of the speciation process. These results and conclusions for the four-eyed sleeper are presented as a case study for future research on the vicariance, secondary contact, and hybridization of marine groups in the northwest Pacific marginal seas.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
129 Comparative assessment of morphological and pigmentation characters during larval development of species of 10 genera of F. Gobiidae and one genus of F. Eleotridae
Tony Miskiewicz ∗ 1
1 Wollongong City Council – Locked Bag 8821 South Coast Mail Centre Wollongong NSW 2500, Australia
The Gobiidei are a very diverse group of fish comprising nine families with about 270 genera and 2,210 species. There have been a variety of studies undertaken using morphological, oste- ological and molecular characters of adults to investigate phylogenetic relationships within the group. Larval developmental series collected from southern Australian waters of 10 genera of F. Gobiidae (210 genera, 1,950 spp) Arenigobius, Afurcagobius, Favonigobius, Gobiopterus, Paedo- gobius, Psuedogobius, Redigobius, Nesogobius, Bathygobius and Tasmanogobius, and one genus of F. Eleotridae (35 genera 155 sp) Philypnodon were assessed. For larval development series of species from these 11 genera, ontogenetic changes in morphometric characters and pigmentation patterns and the size at development of fins, notochord flexion and transition to juveniles for each genus will be described and compared. There was considerable variation in these larval characters between the two families and between genera. The larval development characters are assessed to determine similarities and differences between genera and then compared with the proposed lineages for these genera based on adult characters.
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130 Diet and body shape changes of p¯aroko Kelloggella disalvoi (Gobiidae) from intertidal pools of Easter Island, Southeast Pacific
J Vera-Duarte 1, Claus Bustos 1, Mauricio Landaeta ∗ 1
1 Universidad de Valparaiso (CHILE) (UV) – Avenida Borgo˜no16344, Re˜naca,Chile
This study assesses seasonal variation in the morphology and diet of juveniles and adults of the endemic goby Kelloggella disalvoi from intertidal pools of Easter Island, south Pacific, during September–October 2015 (spring) and June-July 2016 (winter), utilizing geometric mor- phometric and gut contents analyses. A set of 16 landmarks was digitized in 128 individuals. Shape changes related to size changes (i.e., allometry) were low (18.6%) and were seasonally similar. Body shape changes were mainly dorsoventral (44.2% of variance), and comprised pos- teroventral displacement of the premaxilla and bending of the body. The latter included vertical displacement of the anterior portion of the first and second dorsal fins, and the entire base of the caudal fin. Diets mainly comprised developmental stages of harpacticoid copepods (from eggs to adults), ostracods, isopods, gastropods and bivalves. Also, Pearre’s trophic niche breadth remained constant throughout development and did not vary between seasons. Nonetheless, significant dietary differences were detected in specimens collected during spring (main prey items: harpacticoid copepods and copepod eggs) and winter (harpacticoid copepods and cope- pod nauplii). Finally, there was weak but significant covariation between diet and morphology: molluscivores were characterized by having an inferior mouth gape, whereas planktivores had an anteriorly directed premaxilla. Funding: CONA C21I 15-05.
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131 Discoveries of cryptic goby species: history and perspectives in the Indo-Pacific
Ekaterina Vasil’eva ∗ 1, Victor Vasil’ev 2
1 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Biological Department, Zoological Museum (ZMMU) – Moscow 125009, Bol’shaya Nikitskaya Str., 2, Russia 2 A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS (A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS) – Moscow 119071, Leninskij prosp., 33, Russia
The family Gobiidae includes about 2000 described species and is accepted as the second largest vertebrate families. However, the vast majority of its species distributed worldwide in both tropical and temperate habitats were not genetically studied, and until today some species are described based on external features from a few specimens or even in individual. At the same time, a number of genetic studies prove the conspecificity of some morphological or color morphs, as well as significant genetic differences between morphologically similar populations. The first cryptic goby species were discovered in the Ponto-Caspian basin by karyological studies among ”freshwater Caucasian gobies” (Vasil’eva, Vasil’ev, 1994) which for a long time have been attributed to the same subspecies Neogobius platyrostris constructor. Recently, this group of morphologically and ecologically similar Ponto-Caspian gobies includes six species: Ponticola constructor, P. cyrius, P. rhodioni, P. iranicus, P. rizensis, and P. turani; the first four species demonstrate distinct karyological differences and are confirmed by molecular phylogeny. The mtDNA cytochrome b gene analysis revealed four phyletic lineages in the genus Proterorhinus, external diagnostic features of these cryptic species are not found yet. And the last discovered Ponto-Caspian cryptic species are widely distributed Ponticola gorlap and P. iljini from the Mangyshlak Peninsula distinguished by both karyological and cytochrome b gene analyses. Recent genetic studies revealed cryptic species among several groups of Atlantic gobies, for example, in coral-reef Elacatinus, Tigrigobius, and Risor (Victor, 2010, 2014), and in widely distributed euryhaline frillfin goby Bathygobius soporator (Lima et al., 2005). Compared with aforementioned investigations, the number of genetic studies, resulted in the discovery of cryptic species in the Indo-Pacific, looks very scarce with respect to the greatest taxonomic diversity of gobiids in this area. Indeed, the alleged Indo-West-Pacific origin of Gobiiformes, the striking level of observed ecological and physiological adaptations in different species, the high habitat fragmentation, the isolation of small lagoon populations of coastal widespread species, and numerous freshwater insular populations suggest that species diversity is underestimated. In this respect, the most interesting for genetic studies are inshore gobies distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific in brackish and fresh waters, and coral-dwellers.
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132 Ecological drivers of speciation and phenotypic evolution in gobiiform fishes
Tyler Mccraney ∗ 1, Michael Alfaro 1
1 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) – 612 Charles E Young Dr S Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
Why are some taxa more diverse than others? Understanding the causal mechanisms that have resulted in variable species richness and morphological diversity across the Tree of Life is fundamental to evolutionary biology. Behavioral, morphological, and geological factors have been hypothesized to drive diversification by providing ecological opportunities that reduce competition among lineages, but testing these predictions has often been limited to small, geo- graphically restricted clades, or sparsely sampled radiations of diverse taxa. Here we construct a time-calibrated megaphylogeny (909 species, 32 genes) and use macroevolutionary modeling of speciation and phenotypic rates to test ecological drivers of diversification across the globally distributed Gobiiformes. We find accelerated rates of body size evolution in freshwater lineages and greater speciation rates in mutualistic clades, but no relationship between reef-association, diversification, and phenotypic evolvability. These results support the role of freshwater habitats and symbiotic behaviors as ecological drivers of diversification in gobies.
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133 Goby fossils and what they can tell us
Bettina Reichenbacher ∗† 1, Christoph Gierl 1
1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeontology Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) – Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 Munich, Germany
Fossils can document the first appearance of a given lineage, but are always younger than the primary divergence event. Bearing this caveat in mind, the fossil record can provide crucial data on the distribution and diversification of a lineage in the past. Here we present a re-evaluation of fossil Gobiiformes (gobies). Our objective is to place the fossil taxa in a phylogenetic framework in order to determine when and why diversification rates accelerated. To achieve this, we assem- bled a new morphological data set based on fossil gobies from historical collections, and modern species of all goby families and all gobiid and oxudercid lineages. Characters of the skeleton were scored for both fossil and extant species, and data from the literature was also included. Our results show that the most ancient goby fossils are 42–43 m.y. old (middle Eocene). They likely represent stem gobiiforms. Based on our material, fossil gobies that were closely related to extant families first appear around 34 m.y. ago, in shallow fresh- or brackish water settings, often located near the sea. These fossils can be assigned to (or close to) the Odontobutidae, the Eleotrididae and the Butidae. However, these families may be much older, and their emergence might have been linked to global warming. Members of the modern Gobiidae and Oxudercidae appeared in marine settings 30–33 m.y. ago, but remained rare and of low diversity until 23–20 m.y. ago. They subsequently became abundant in marine and brackish habitats, but species diversity remained low. A significant increase in species numbers set in 18–19 m.y. ago, and may have been related to the formation of new habitats in the course of the closure of the Tethys. Almost all known fossil gobies come from Europe, but this reflects the long tradition of palaeon- tological research in that part of the world, rather than the ‘true’ biogeography of past gobies. New finds of fossil gobies from non-European sites, and especially in the Indo-Pacific realm, would significantly add to our knowledge of the biogeography and evolution of ancient and mod- ern gobies.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
134 Gonad Structure of Juveniles of the Hermaphroditic Goby Species, Eviota epiphanes
Helena Barreto ∗† 1, Kathleen Cole 1, Jessica Maxfield 1
1 University of Hawai‘i at Mnoa – 2538 McCarthy Mall Edmondson Hall 216 Honolulu HI 96822, United States
Teleost fishes exhibit a dynamic range of sex-determining systems and reproductive strate- gies. This diversity has been extensively explored in the literature. However, the majority of studies have focused on gonochoristic fishes (i.e., those with separate sexes). The precise mech- anisms for sexual differentiation and maintenance of sexual function in hermaphroditic fishes remain poorly understood. We propose to use Eviota epiphanes as a vertebrate model to inves- tigate the morphological structure of the ovotestis (e.g., gonad that produces both ovarian and testicular tissues) of juvenile individuals in order to provide insight into ovotestis development. Specifically, this study focuses on investigating the distribution of both ovarian and testicu- lar tissues in the developing ovotestis of immature E. epiphanes individuals. We hypothesize that the relative proportions of ovarian and testicular tissues present in the ovotestis of Eviota epiphanes during the juvenile period differ throughout development according to social context. The results of this study will provide us with a better understanding of how sexual function is determined and maintained in the ovotestis of a hermaphroditic fish.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
135 Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of the gobioid fishes
Takeshi Kon ∗ 1, Tetsuya Sado 2, Lukas R¨uber 3, Takashi Satoh 4, Tetsuo Yoshino 5, Mutsumi Nishida 1, Masaki Miya 2
1 University of the Ryukyus – 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan, Japan 2 Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba – 955-2 Aoba-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8682, JAPAN, Japan 3 Natural History Museum, Bern – 15 Bernastrasse, Bern 3005, Switzerland, Switzerland 4 Kyoto University – 459 Shirahama, Nishimuro, Wakayama 649-2211 Japan, Japan 5 Okinawa Churashima Foundation – 888 Ishikawa, Motobu 905-0206, Japan, Japan
The gobioid fishes (Teleostei, Perciformes), distributed worldwide, except for the Arctic and Antarctic regions, include > 2000 species. They are adapted to various environments, for exam- ple exposed littoral surfaces and swiftly running streams, and a wide altitudinal range between the sea bottom (> 300 m depth) and mountain streams (1000 m above sea level). Gobioid’s sizes range from 8-10 mm in standard length (SL) to > 500 mm SL. Gobioids also include pae- domorphic species, having a permanent planktonic life form. Accordingly, the life histories (egg size, duration of planktonic larvae, age at maturity, duration of reproduction, longevity, etc.) of gobioids are widely diverse. Here we aimed to obtain a robust, time-calibrated phylogenetic framework of gobioids to elu- cidate the evolution and diversification of this speciose group. Our phylogenetic hypothesis is based on nucleotide sequences of the whole mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and three nuclear genes (rag1, zic1, gpr85 ) . Today, many partial sequences of mtDNA of gobioids have been deposited in DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank. We performed a comprehensive investigation of the phy- logenetic relationships among gobioid species on a worldwide basis using the best-scoring ML tree topology obtained in the above analysis as a backbone constraint and a ”supermatrix” comprising the downloaded partial mtDNA sequences from the database (total 523 species). Our phylogenetic analysis yielded a topology with resolution of the branching pattern among gobioids and revealed 31 major lineages. The resultant trees showed that the unstable or rogue gobioid genera Kraemeria (sanddivers) and the Schindleria (paedomorphic goby) were placed as sister group to the Gobiidae and Oxymetopon, respectively. The divergence time of the 31 lineages was estimated to be 65–35 million years ago (Mya) by a fossil-based method. Addition- ally, using the supermatrix tree described above, character evolution reconstruction of salinity preference indicates that the common ancestor of the Gobioidei likely inhabited a freshwater– euryhaline environment. We also calculated diversification rates via the BAMM framework. The analysis identified four significant rate shifts within gobioids occurring at different times in four distinct lineages (Rhinogobius-, Sicydiines-, Gobiodon-, and Gobius-lineages).
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136 Neglected taxa, morphology and molecules: recent advances in systematics of gobioid fishes (Teleostei, Gobioidei)
Lukas R¨uber ∗ 1,2, Ulrich Schliewen 3
1 Naturhistorisches Museum Bern (NMBE) – Bernastrasse 15, 3005 Bern, Switzerland 2 University of Bern – Institut of Ecology and Evolution, Baltzerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland 3 Zoologische Staatssammlung M¨unchen - SNSB (ZSM) – Department of Ichthyology, M¨unchhausenstrasse 21, 81247 M¨unchen, Germany
With over 2200 species worldwide, the Gobioidei is undoubtedly one of the most species-rich clades of fishes. However, our understanding of phylogenetic relationships among gobioids is still poor and there is still no consensus regarding the number of families recognized. A serious problem in our advancement of gobioid systematics is the lack of morphological studies and the fact that many gobioid clades are still undiagnosed by synapomorphies. Here, we focus on the ‘basal’ gobioid families Rhyacichthyidae, Odontobutidae, Milyeringidae, Eleotrididae, Butidae, Xenisthmidae and Thalasseleotrididae, characterized by six branchiostegal rays. We will provide an overview of previous morphology based studies and will present novel molecular data (mi- tochondrial and nuclear DNA) extending the study of Agorreta et al. (2013), representing the most comprehensive molecular phylogenetic framework of gobioid fishes thus far. We further use different fossil calibration strategies to provide a time-calibrated framework of gobioid evolution.
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137 New data on the distribution of the fossil gobiiform fishes in the Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys
Alexander Bannikov ∗ 1
1 Borisyak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Profsoyuznaya 123, Moscow 117647, Russia
Living gobiiforms are small benthic percomorph fishes, both marine and freshwater, have a worldwide distribution and represent one of the most species-rich vertebrate clades. The fossil record of the Gobiiformes is based on both skeletal material and isolated otoliths. Although the most ancient osteologically-based gobioid is known from the early Eocene (Bannikov & Carnevale 2016), the overall gobiiform fossil record is relatively scarce and mostly restricted to the Miocene of southern and central Europe. However, numerous articulated skeletons collected from lower and middle Miocene marine and brackish strata of the Eastern Paratethys, i.e. eastern Europe and western Asia, provide a new contribution to the evolutionary history of gobiiform fishes. This material is mostly undescribed yet and originates from the nine localities of different age. During the early and middle Miocene, the Eastern Paratethys was a huge intercontinental sea basin that extended from Bulgaria and Romania across the Black Sea and the lowlands north of the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea; sometimes it was separated from the World Ocean. The old- est Eastern Paratethian gobiiform fossils originate from the marine Upper Maikopian deposits of three localities in the Caucasus (SW Russia and Azerbaijan) and Crimea (lower Miocene, lower Burdigalian). Slightly younger gobiiform fossils, often preserved with otoliths in situ, originate from marine sediments of two localities (the Crimea and Krasnodar Region) Tarkha- nian in age (uppermost lower to lowermost middle Miocene) and a locality (in Azerbaijan) of non-subdivided Tarkhanian-Tchokrakian age (lowermost middle Miocene). Several gobiiform fossils were collected in the latter site in a slightly younger brackish-water Karaganian deposits (=middle Miocene, lower Serravalian). The youngest gobiiform fossils of the Eastern Paratethys originate from the marine lower Sarmatian (Volhynian) deposits of the North Caucasus and Re- public of Moldova (middle Miocene, middle to upper Serravalian), from two localities: Pshekha River in Krasnodar Region and Naslavcea in northern Moldova, respectively. The gobiiform fishes vary greatly at the Naslavcea locality in their size and it can be assumed that at least three or four different taxa of gobies were present there.
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138 Restructuring the gonad: how does a bidirectional hermaphroditic fish undergo shifts from ova to sperm production
Jessica Maxfield ∗† 1, Kathleen Cole 1
1 University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) – Department of Biology 2538 McCarthy Mall Edmondson Hall 216 Honolulu, HI 96822, United States
Functional hermaphroditism describes the ability to transition between ova and sperm pro- duction at some point in adult life, and has evolved independently numerous times across a broad range of teleost fish taxa. In some groups, such as Labridae, it appears to have evolved just once at the origin of the group. In others, such as the family Gobiidae, it appears to have evolved mul- tiple times. While many aspects of hermaphroditic sexual lability have been explored, we know very little about the gene networks that regulate functional shifts in gamete production. Here we explore the genes responsible for a shift in reproductive function in two bidirectional (multi- ple shifts in gamete production) hermaphroditic gobies, Eviota epiphanes and Lythrypnus dalli. We used whole transcriptome sequencing (RNASeq) to profile all genes being expressed in the gonads during a shift from ova to sperm production. Using this approach we were able to track the up-regulation and down-regulation of genes and gene expression patterns both known to be important in, and not previously associated with, the regulation of vertebrate sexual function. We have taken a comparative approach by assessing concomitant changes in gonad morphology and gene expression in the transitioning gonad to better understand the mechanisms by which shifts in sexual function occur.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
139 Using exon capture sequencing to determine the population structure of amphidromous gobies from the genus Stenogobius in the Central Pacific
Kirill Vinnikov ∗† 1, Kathleen Cole 1
1 Department of Biology, University of Hawai‘i at Mnoa – 2538 McCarthy Mall, Edmondson Hall 216, Honolulu, HI, USA 96822, United States
A large number of species of indigenous freshwater fish fauna on tropical and subtropical oceanic islands is represented by amphidromous gobies. Amphidromy means that these fishes live and reproduce in freshwater environment but also have a short marine larval stage, which may encourage their extensive dispersal in the Indo-Pacific. High gene flow, if it occurs between island populations, would strongly diminish the rates of their diversification and would preclude an accurate assessment of their population structure using conventional approaches on a small number of genes of interest. The current study is designed to investigate the population structure and larval dispersal patterns of amphidromous gobies from the genus Stenogobius (Teleostei: Gobiidae), based on a comparison of their exomes. As there is some debate as to the validity of some species, we opted to collect fish and simply designate them by locale rather than a species name. A total of 140 adult fish from 16 stream populations across the Central and Western Pacific Ocean were collected. The collection sites included the Hawaiian, Marquesas, Society and Solomon Islands, and Ambon Island (Indonesia). In order to design the exon capture baits, we first produced a pseudoreference with more than 200,000 contigs by making deep transcriptome sequencing for three individuals of S. hawaiiensis. This pseudoreference was then annotated using SWISSPROT database and reduced to 15,000 long transcripts with known gene function. After testing all transcripts for exon boundaries and splicing events, we randomly selected 17,000 unique exons and designed the bait capture kit to perform the exon capture sequencing of all 140 individuals. For each individual of Stenogobius, we were able to recover more than 20,000 annotated exon regions with 20X average base coverage, half of which were shared among all samples. Shared exons were then aligned and trimmed to produce the final sequence matrix, which we analyzed in STRUCTURE and RAxML. Our preliminary results show a strong divergence between populations of Stenogobius from the different archipelagos. Moreover, the resulting dataset provides the amount of necessary information for recovering genes under selection and for estimating the larval dispersal pathways.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
140 Wading into the Mud: Phylogeny and Evolution of the Amblyopine Gobies
Zeehan Jaafar ∗ 1, Edward Murdy 2, Lynne Parenti 3
1 National University of Singapore – Department of Biological Sciences, 14 Science Drive 4, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore 2 George Washington University – George Washington University, Washington DC, USA, United States 3 National Museum of Natural History – National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution PO Box 37012, MRC 159 Washington, DC 20013-7012, United States
The amblyopine gobies are a poorly-known group of fishes inhabiting muddy substrates. Twenty-six species in fourteen genera are recognized yet the majority of these taxa are rarely represented in natural history museums. Their elusive nature, and the rarity in collections have hampered our understanding of their biology and affinities. Hypotheses of relationships within the amblyopine gobies, and to other gobioid groups are conflicted and unresolved. We present a hypothesis of the relationships between amblyopine genera, and propose a sister group based on osteology and morphology. Adaptive characters to fossorial behaviour are reviewed in the context of present data, and other published phylogenetic hypotheses.
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141 What is the information of goby otolith morphology?
Christoph Gierl ∗ 1, Bettina Reichenbacher 1
1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeontology Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) – Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 Munich, Germany
Otoliths are small aragonitic structures found in the skull of bony fishes that develop in- dependently of the rest of the skeleton. As components of the inner ear, they contribute to the senses of hearing and balance. Otoliths exhibit a variety of phylogenetically informative features on their inner surface, and morphometric studies allow the identification of a fish down to the species level in many cases. Because preservation of articulated skeletons is extremely rare in the fossil record, palaeontologists have used the much more abundant otoliths for tax- onomic purposes since the 19th century. Consequently, many fossil fish taxa are known solely on the basis of otolith material. However, the identification of fossil otoliths requires a com- prehensive knowledge of otolith characters in different fish groups, which can only be obtained by working with recent material. Using comparative morphology and statistical analyses of morphometric characters, we present a case study of otoliths from the five lineages of the go- biiform family Oxudercidae recognized in previous molecular work: Mugilogobius (represented by Brachygobius xanthozona, Chlamydogobius eremius, Schismatogobius roxasi, S. sadanundio); Acanthogobius (represented by Rhinogobius candidianus, R. formosanus, R. rubromaculatus, R. zhoui); Pomatoschistus (represented by Buenia affinis, Gobiusculus flavescens, Knipowitschia croatica, Pomatoschistus marmoratus); Stenogobius (represented by Awaous flavus, Gobioides broussonnetii, Stiphodon atropurpureus); and Periophthalmus (represented by Boleophthalmus dussumieri, Periophthalmus waltoni, Scartelaos tenuis). The results indicate that, while otolith morphology is not distinctive for an individual lineage, it is diagnostic at the level of genera and species. These findings, for the first time, provide a sound framework for the interpreta- tion of fossil otoliths from the Middle Miocene (c. 15 m.y. ago) of Central Europe, for which an Indo-Pacific origin had already been proposed in earlier work. The new data adds to our knowledge of the dispersal of Oxudercidae through time from their putative center of origin in the Indo-West-Pacific.
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142 B1/ Sustainable pathways in reef fisheries: Maintaining catches and ecosystem functioning
143 A vulnerability-based approach to promote synergies in the management of small-scale fisheries
Lauric Thiault ∗ 1, Paul Marshall 2, Stefan Gelcich 3, Fr´ed´eriqueChlous 4, Joachim Claudet 1
1 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 2 Reef Ecologic – Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia 3 Centro de Conservaci´onMarina, Departamento de Ecolog´ıa,Pontificia Universidad Cat´olicade Chile (PUC) – Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile, Chile 4 Patrimoines Locaux et Gouvernance (PALOC) – Mus´eumNational d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – PALOC, UMR208 MNHN-IRD, 75231 Paris, France
It is now widely accepted that natural resource conservation and poverty reduction should be tackled together to sustain small-scale fisheries effectively. However, clear operational schemes are needed if practices in these two areas are to be combined. Building on mature and exten- sive practices in fisheries management and sustainable livelihood approach, and drawing from recent advances in social-ecological science, we use a vulnerability approach as a lens to un- derstand the underlying sources of unsustainability and define a set of targeted management interventions to address linked social-ecological vulnerabilities. Applying the framework to the coral reef small-scale fishery of Moorea, French Polynesia, we show that the ecological entry- point of the current management system is mostly ill-fitted to the great spatial variability in social-ecological vulnerability and is therefore unlikely to provide win-win outcomes. A portfo- lio of interventions combining technical measures and temporal fishing closures in the lagoon, permanent fishing closures on the fore reef, and targeted development actions is recommended to maintain ecosystem functioning and resilience while advancing human well-being in Moorea. Managing social-ecological systems through the lens of vulnerability enables to better cope with complexities of social-ecological systems than the singular emphasis on threat mitigation or poverty reduction, but will require significant shifts in how institutions approach this issue to be effectively implemented.
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144 Assessing value of subsea infrastructure for fish and fisheries: informing decommissioning options
Dianne Mclean ∗ 1, Todd Bond 1, Julian Partridge 1, Susan Gourvenec 1, Tim Langlois 1
1 The University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley WA 6009, Australia
Large-scale marine infrastructure is a feature of industrial activity in many of the World’s territorial seas, including along the North West Shelf of Western Australia where it is associ- ated with large scale offshore oil and gas production. A full understanding of any potentially positive value of marine infrastructure for fish and fisheries is essential towards the end of its operational life as various decommissioning options are considered. Decommissioning options range from 100% removal to partial removal and relocation (e.g. US ”rigs to reefs” programme) or partial removal and in situ decommissioning. There is also the option to augment infrastruc- ture left in situ with engineered artificial reefs modules to optimise environmental and ecological benefits. Predicting the environmental and ecological consequence of various decommissioning options relies on a regional-specific understanding of the ecological communities that utilise these structures. For the North West Shelf of Western Australia, historically high trawling effort has extensively removed and modified complex epibenthic habitats, negatively impacting valuable commercial fisheries. Recent research into fish-habitat associations on subsea infrastructure in the region suggests that modern pipelines offer hard substrate for the development of epibenthic habitats and refuges for fish, potentially comparable in physical complexity, if not in extent, to the historical habitats lost to trawling. Here, we present the results of the first fish-pipeline stud- ies conducted on the north-west shelf of Western Australia and discuss how these studies can be used to inform discussions regarding the ecological and fisheries implications of decommissioning.
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145 Decadal declines in the small-scale inshore fishery of Pohnpei, Micronesia
Kevin Rhodes ∗ 1, Dalia Hernandez-Ortiz ∗† 2, Javier Cuetos-Bueno ∗‡ 2
1 MarAlliance – 160 Conaway Ave., Grass Valley, CA 95941, United States 2 University of Guam (UoG) – UoG Marine Lab, UoG Station, Mangilao, GU 96923, Guam
Over the past half-century, Pacific small-scale inshore fisheries have increasingly shifted from subsistence to commercial activities, however management has rarely kept pace with changing needs. In Pohnpei, Micronesia, a 10-year follow-up market comparison of the commercial inshore fishery identified an increased use of unsustainable fishing methods, shifts in catch composition, a reduction in total marketed volumes, catch-per-unit effort and economic return, and a loss of biodiversity. Overall, marketed coral reef fish volumes declined by 50 mt over the 10-year period, while unsustainable gear use increased by 75.5% to 81.9% of total effort. Nighttime spearfishing now comprises 76% of the fishery. Per-trip volumes increased, but were paralleled by a rise in the average number of fishers per trip. Effort shifted from inner to outer reef areas, with more effort away from high fisher density communities. CPUE declined from 3.4±0.1 to 3.2±0.4 kg hr-1 fisher1, while the economic return as price per unit effort was reduced by nearly half for all gear types. At the family level, increases in the percentage of lower tropic level catch were observed, with acanthurids now comprising 34% of total catch and Lined surgeonfish, Acanthu- rus lineatus now representing 15% of all catch among targeted species. The only increase in percent yield among top carnivores was for epinephelids, however the most commonly targeted grouper, Camouflage grouper, Epinephelus polyphekadion, was comprised of 54% juveniles, with aggregation densities declining by 82%. Wholly eight epinephelids present in 2006 were absent in catch in 2015. An ecological footprint analyses in 2014 showed the inshore fishery now 300% over biocapacity, while catch data in 2015 showed dedicated targeting of spawning aggrega- tions of a range of species. The results highlight the outcome of a commercialized small-scale fisheries operating under a management and enforcement void, which is now threatening fish- eries, ecosystem health and economic security. To reverse declines, dramatic political and social changes are needed with a strong emphasis on eliminating the use of nighttime spearfishing and de-commercialization of the inshore sector.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
146 Fish nurseries: how context drives the functional value of habitats for reef and coastal fishes.
Michael Bradley ∗ 1, Ivan Nagelkerken 2, Ron Baker 1, Marcus Sheaves 1
1 James Cook University (JCU) – Estuary and Coastal Wetlands Ecosystem Research Group, TropWATER, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 2 University of Adelaide – Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia, Australia
Nursery habitats, like mangroves and seagrass, can be critical for coastal and reef fish species, and the fisheries that they support. However, the contexts in which these habitats are found vary massively throughout the Info-Pacific. The nursery value of these different habitats can vary greatly between regions, making decisions about habitat conservation and coastal management difficult. Recent global reviews have found that nursery value may be predictable, based on a few key environmental factors such as tidal range and rainfall. Our research tested whether these factors can predict nursery value within the Indo-Pacific. Using underwater video sampling, we collected more than 1,800 individual point census surveys, encompassing the full range of different coastal habitats in a set of locations with radically different tidal ranges and rainfall patterns. By using the same survey method across all habitats and regions we were able to compare juvenile habitat use patterns, and assess their relative importance. We compared sites in the tropical Indo-Pacific with tidal ranges of between 1 and 12 metres, and yearly average rainfalls of between 800mm and 4,500mm. Using machine learning techniques, we found that the relative importance of habitats does change according to environmental factors. One key finding is that the dominant nursery habitat for coral reef fish switches from mangroves to seagrass, depending on tidal range and salinity. In contexts with small tidal ranges, mangroves serve as important juvenile habitat, used by a range of coastal and reef fish. In contexts with larger tidal ranges, mangroves are less important. Instead, sub-tidal seagrass meadows are used by many species of juvenile reef fish. Across all regions however, seagrass becomes less valuable as juvenile habitat in the presence of extensive freshwater runoff. Other habitats also emerged as important for juvenile fish. Rocky habitat and woody debris can be as important as mangroves or seagrass in certain situations. These results, together with previously published meta-analyses, help us draw the outlines of an Indo-Pacific wide view of juvenile fish habitat requirements, allowing for the first time, location specific predictions of nursery value for conservation and fisheries management.
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147 Fundamental drivers of reef fish growth
Renato Morais ∗ 1,2, David Bellwood 1,2
1 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science Engineering James Cook University Townsville, QLD, Australia 4811, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Growth rates are one of the most important parameters in fisheries science. However, there have been few attempts to understand how growth patterns in fishes scale at the community and macroecological level. This study aims to quantitatively evaluate the drivers of fish growth across a large gradient of environmental variables and across a range of functional traits. Additionally, we aim to provide a framework for the prediction of growth trajectories of unsampled species. We compiled Von Bertalanffy Growth Function coefficients for reef fishes from the literature, and standardized the growth deceleration coefficient, K, relative to each species maximum size obtaining Kmax. In doing so, we were able to compare growth rates of populations without the variability introduced by the asymptotic size, Linf, that may vary with sample sizes and among populations. We then modelled the response of 1,869 values of 575 species to body size, diet, shape, reef association, schooling behaviour, sea surface temperature and pelagic net primary productivity using a Generalized Additive Mixed Modelling approach. All variables except for schooling were included in the final model, which explained almost 68% of the variation in Kmax. Body size and temperature were by far the most important variables, explaining 58% and 13% of the modelled variation respectively. All other variables explained less than 2%. Kmax steadily decreased with body size, increased with temperatures higher than 20oC and increased linearly with primary productivity. All else being equal, herbivores/macroalgivores and pelagic reef fishes had higher growth rates than all other reef groups. Our results are consistent with (1) metabolic theory that predicts the dependence of physiological rates on body size and temperature; and (2) with ecological theory that implies an influence of resource availability and acquisition on growth. Moreover, a cross-validation approach showed that our model was accurate in predicting growth rates and can be used for estimating growth of unsampled species. These findings bridge the gap between individual and community growth patterns, providing insights into the role of fish growth in the ecosystem process of biomass accumulation.
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148 Herbivorous fishes respond to changes in fishing gear but not to spatial management in an Indonesian national park
Sonia Bejarano ∗ 1, Shinta Pardede 2, Stuart Campbell 3, Sebastian C. A. Ferse 4
1 Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) – Fahrenheitstraße 6, 28359, Bremen, Germany 2 Indonesia Marine Program, Wildlife Conservation Society – Bogor, 16151 Jawa Barat, Indonesia 3 Rare Indonesia – Jalan Gunung Gede 1 No.6 Taman Kencana, Bogor, 16151 Jawa Barat, Indonesia 4 Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) – Fahrenheitstraße 6, 28359, Bremen, Germany
Spatially-explicit conservation plans typically comprise patchworks of areas where certain activities are prohibited or regulated. Positive effects of no-take zones on diversity, community trophic structure, and biomass are recognised. There is, however, ample scope for investigating the extent to which different levels of management restrictiveness influence the trajectories of distinct functional groups within trophic guilds. This is particularly urgent when the latter are heavily relied-upon for food security, and sustain pivotal ecosystem functions. We focus on megadiverse coral reefs in Karimunjawa National Park (Indonesia), where zonation plans have been in place since 1989, and on five functional groups of fish that contribute complementary facets of herbivory. We ask whether biomass and redundancy potential (i.e. species richness) trajectories per group over 7 years differed among areas subject to restrictive, moderate, and permissive management schemes. Biomass of scrapers-excavators, grazers-detritivores, and algal farmers doubled in 2012 compared to previous years (i.e. 2006-2009), and remained high in 2013 across levels of management restrictiveness. We discard that this biomass build-up resulted from predator depletion or increased food availability. Rather, we argue that it emerged in response to a park-wide cessation of muroami net fishing. This gear-driven biomass build- up was accompanied by a modest increase in functional redundancy potential. However, this pertained only to the scraping function, which is sustained by species of relatively resilient life history characteristics. We conclude that zonation plans with limited compliance play a weak role in driving fish trajectories, compared to changes in gear use across zones. Muroami cessation was propelled in our case by an increase in the cost-to-benefit ratio per fishing journey, thus providing a window of opportunity for national laws to be enforced and complied-with locally. Preventive measures to moderate herbivore catches with legal gears, should follow to protect key mechanisms required for systems to rebound after perturbations.
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149 Human influence on the regional distribution of bioerosion by parrotfish in New Caledonian reefs: a matter of size
Nina Schiettekatte ∗ 1,2, David Mouillot 1
1 Univ. Montpellier – UMR 5119, MARBEC – Eugene Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France, France 2 CRIOBE – CRIOBE USR3278 – 52 Av. Paul Alduy, 66100 Perpignan, France, France
Extensive overfishing on coral reefs is jeopardizing the existence of certain key ecosystem functions, carried out by reef fish. Bioerosion by parrotfish can increase the resilience of reefs by facilitating the settlement of corals and is particularly sensitive to fishing because it is carried out by a select group of large parrotfish. Yet, precise bioerosion rate estimation and regional scale assessment of its distribution are lacking. In this study, the effect of fish body size on bioerosion rates was investigated through field observations. Furthermore, the distribution of bioerosion rates was quantified and predicted across New Caledonian reefs, combining available visual census data with environmental, anthropogenic and management variables. Additionally, the effectivity of MPAs was investigated and compared to both fished and pristine reefs and finally, the role of species richness as a proxy for functioning was questioned.This study showed that fish body size had a strong non-linear effect on bioerosion rates, which has implications for its vulnerability to fishing. Indeed, we found proximity to humans to be the main predictor of bioerosion, with functional extinction in highly impacted reefs. Furthermore, MPA size was found to be key for ensuring presence of bioeroding parrotfish. Nevertheless, large MPAs fail to protect the largest fish and bioerosion rates do not reach pristine benchmark levels. Finally, there was a strong spatial mismatch between bioerosion rates and diversity, implying that species richness is a bad proxy for certain ecosystem functions. Large excavating parrotfish are dispro- portionally important in maintaining high bioerosion rates. Meanwhile, they are also the highest target for fisheries, which drives ecological extinction in heavily impacted reefs. Conservation management should aim to adapt fisheries and protect the largest fish, implement sufficiently large MPAs and include a focus on ecosystem functioning in their plans in addition to species richness in order to insure future integrity of coral reefs.
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150 Indo-Pacific Groupers: going, going, gone?
Min Liu ∗ 1, Yvonne Sadovy De Mitcheson† 2,3
1 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Science, Xiamen University (XMU) – Xiangan South Road, Xiangan District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China 2 Swire Institute of Marine Science, University of Hong Kong (HKU) – Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong SAR China 3 Science and Conservation of Fish Aggregations (SCRFA) – Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong Island,, Hong Kong SAR China
Groupers (Epinephelidae) consist of about 165 species which are important both in the tropics and sub-tropics globally. Groupers are among the most commercially important reef fishes, some fetching particularly high prices when marketed live, and are also of significance for subsistence and leisure activities (sport fishing and diving). However, several aspects of their biology make them susceptible to over-exploitation in the absence of management, and they are managed in very few places. Their low productivity, longevity, late sexual maturation and particularly the habit of most medium to larger sized species to spawn predictably in large spawning aggregations makes them very easy to be over-fished. When assessed according to IUCN criteria (2007), several Indo-Pacific groupers were considered to be threatened (e.g. Epinephelus akaara, E. bruneus, E. lanceolatus and Plectropomus areo- latus) and many more to be near-threatened. A recent (2016 and ongoing) re-assessment of the IUCN Red List status of all grouper species globally suggests that the situation has not been improved and that threats continue and some have worsened; management is mostly poor to non-existent, fishing pressures are increasing, spawning aggregations are declining or disappear- ing.
Many of the groupers entering fish markets are now in their juvenile size range. There is also a growing, poorly documented, international trade in high valued chilled/fresh grouper. Although grouper mariculture has greatly increased in Asia, especially in Mainland China, Taiwan and Indonesia, few species are cultured. ‘Mariculture’ often depends on the capture of wild juveniles for grow-out rather than hatchery production, and hence represents a further pressure on wild populations. Species-specific, regional and localized management for groupers can be effective, and there is now a greater recognition of the economic value and vulnerabilities of the taxon. A Marine Stew- ardship Council Initiative is exploring how to certify a small-scale multispecies fishery, which includes groupers. Minimum sizes are relatively easy to implement and enforce and protection of spawning aggregation sites or spawning seasons can be effective. Monitoring of fisheries and trade needs to be improved. The potential direct and indirect impacts of climate change should also be factored into population assessments of the future of groupers.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
151 Influence of market value and broad scale habitat on reef fish wariness
Ellen D’cruz ∗ 1, Joachim Claudet 2, Timothy Langlois 1, Jordan Goetze 3, Jane Prince 1, Lauric Thiault 2
1 The University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Highway Crawley Western Australia 6009, Australia 2 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 3 Curtin University – Bentley Western Australia, Australia
Fishing influences aquatic ecosystems through changes in abundance, size structure and species’ behaviour. However, there is a lack of studies seeking to separate the influence of anthropogenic (market value) and environmental (habitat structure) factors, and life history characteristics (body-length) on fish behaviour. Stereo-diver operated video was used to collect estimates of fish length and behaviour (using a proxy for fish wariness, minimum approach dis- tance) on two broad habitat types (reef slope and lagoon), in the waters around Mo’orea, French Polynesia, where spearfishing is common. Wariness was predicted to be greater in species with high market value compared to moderately and non-target species, lower on the reef slope due to increased complexity compared to the lagoon and have a positive relationship with fish body- length (i.e. large-bodied fish will have greater wariness than small-bodied fish). As predicted, wariness was greater in high value species, and increased with body-length across all groups tested. Wariness was lower in the lagoon compared to the reef slope. In particular, wariness of a highly valued and locally abundant species, bullethead parrotfish (Chlorurus spilurus), was greater on the reef slope and as body-length increased there was a small increase in wariness. Wariness in the lagoon was low for smaller-bodied C. spilurus, and increased rapidly with body- length. These results suggest spearfishing is impacting behavioural responses of fish in Mo’orea, and that these responses are also influenced by local factors such as market value, habitat and fish body-length.
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152 Marine protected areas increase resilience among coral reef communities
Camille Mellin ∗† 1, Aaron Macneil 1, Alistair Cheal 1, Michael Emslie 1, Julian Caley 1
1 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Townsville) – Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville 4810, Queensland, Australia, Australia
With marine biodiversity declining globally at accelerating rates, maximizing the effective- ness of conservation has become a key goal for local, national, and international regulators. Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been widely advocated for conserving and managing ma- rine biodiversity yet, despite extensive research, their benefits for conserving non-target species and wider ecosystem functions remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that MPAs can increase the resilience of coral reef communities to natural disturbances, including coral bleaching, coral diseases, Acanthaster planci outbreaks, and storms. Using a 20-year time-series from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, we show that within MPAs, (i) reef community composition was 21-38% more stable; (ii) the magnitude of disturbance impacts was 30% lower; and (iii) subsequent recovery was 20% faster that in adjacent unprotected habitats. Our results demonstrate that MPAs can increase the resilience of marine communities to natural disturbance possibly through herbivory, trophic cascades, and portfolio effects.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
153 Modeling Population Dynamics for Sustainable Harvest of Orange Clownfish
Emma Schlatter ∗† 1, Colleen Webb 1, Peter Buston 2
1 Colorado State University Department of Biology (CSU) – 1350 Centre Ave, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States 2 Boston University Department of Biology (BU) – 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, United States
Due to its popularity with aquarium owners, the orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula) is targeted for fishing in various parts of its range. Assessing the impact of this industry is not straightforward. A. percula lives and reproduces according to strict size-based breeding queues, so use of the standard formulas to estimate vulnerability to fishing from life history parameters may be inaccurate. In addition, because A. percula has a lifespan that can exceed 30 years, the effects of fishing on populations could take decades to become apparent. However, available empirical data on fished populations comes from relatively short-term monitoring programs. We create a discrete-time, stage-structured population model to account for A. percula’s unusual social and reproductive structure. We use the model to investigate the potential impacts of different fishing scenarios over long periods of time, enabling a more informed prediction about sustainable harvest strategies. We find that periodic removal of the largest individuals from a population may significantly slow its recovery because only the largest individuals reproduce. In contrast, a strategy that leaves the largest individuals and removes slightly smaller nonbreeders has greater yields over time at less risk to population persistence.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
154 Monitoring fisheries in the Phoenix Island Protective Area by satellite
Johnny Aase ∗ 1,2
1 Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) – Private bag 129 Hobart TAS 7001, Australia 2 Norwegian Defence Cyber Academy (NDCA) – PO Box 800 Postmottak 2617 Lillehammer, Norway
The purpose of this presentation and paper is to demonstrate how satellite-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) can monitor the activities of fishery vessels and reefers in Kiribati’s Phoenix Island Protective Area (PIPA). AIS is a system designed to improve safety at sea. All vessels over 300 tons and all passenger ships irrespective of size shall carry a transponder that sends static and dynamic information about the vessel to other ships and land stations. Examples of static information are the ships name, IMO- and MMSI-numbers, while the dynamic information is e.g. course, speed over ground and position. This information can be received by satellites in low Earth orbit. Norway has currently two such sensors in polar orbit and one on the International Space Station. The first, AISSat-1, was launched in July 2010. Data are recorded globally and downloaded every 100 minutes, and are immediately available for Norwegian authorities. More satellites are scheduled for launch in 2017 and 2018.
In my presentation I will show statistics about fishery vessels in the PIPA, and show how specific vessels can be tracked in the high seas or remote waters in almost real time. One obvious weakness with AIS is that the transponder can be turned off or be set to transmit false information. One way to circumvent this problem is by using images from optical or radar satellites. I will show how such data, which are available on the internet for free, can be used to verify AIS transmissions.
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155 Performance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park since the 2004 re-zoning
Mike Emslie ∗ 1
1 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Townsville) – Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville 4810, Queensland, Australia, Australia
Networks of no-take marine reserves (NTMRs) are widely advocated for preserving exploited fish stocks and for conserving biodiversity. We used underwater visual survey data of coral reef fish and benthic communities to quantify the short- to medium-term (5 to 30 years) ecological effects of the establishment of NTMRs within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). The density, mean length and biomass of principal fishery species, coral trout (Plectropomus spp.), were consistently greater in NTMRs than on fished reefs over both the short- and medium- term. However, there were no clear or consistent differences in the structure of fish or benthic assemblages, non-target fish abundance, fish species richness or coral cover between NTMR and fished reefs. There was no indication that the displacement and concentration of fishing effort had reduced populations of coral trout on fished reefs. A severe tropical cyclone impacted many survey reefs during the study, causing similar declines in coral cover and fish density on both NTMR and fished reefs. However, coral trout biomass declined only on fished reefs following the cyclone. The GBRMP is performing as expected for the protection of fished stocks and biodiversity in a developed country where fishing is not excessive and targets a narrow range of species. Although NTMRs cannot directly protect coral reefs from regional- scale acute disturbance, impacted NTMR reefs supported higher biomass of key fishery-targeted species, following a strong tropical cyclone and should provide valuable sources of larvae that will enhance population recovery and long-term persistence.
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156 Regional Differences in Fishing Pressure and Habitat Quality Alter the Organic Matter Supporting Fish in a Temperate Rocky Reef Community
Jacquetta Udy ∗† 1, Stephen Wing 1
1 University of Otago (UO) – Department of Marine Science University of Otago 310 Castle Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand Department of Marine Science University of Otago 310 Castle Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand Department of Marine Science University of Otago 310 Castle Street Dunedin 9016 New Zealand Department of Marine Science University of Otago 310 Castle St Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Temperate reef fish community composition is affected by the presence of macroalgae as it provides a complex habitat. However, there is limited evidence for the trophic importance of macroalgae to temperate reef fish, and very little information on how human disturbances alter the trophic contribution of macroalgae. This study aims to resolve the relative importance of natural patterns in productivity of habitats versus fishing pressure in determining the primary organic matter source of the reef fish community. We examined fish community composition be- tween fished and unfished communities in Fiordland and the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand, with an orthogonal design covering habitats with varied algal densities. Fiordland has a largely undeveloped catchment with minimal fishing pressure, where as Marlborough Sounds has been subjected to land clearing and ongoing fishing pressure. Stable isotope analysis was used to determine the trophic position of different species and hence elucidate the trophic contribution of macroalgae to each species. We showed that the primary organic matter source supporting the fish community did not differ between habitats or fishing pressures within each region, how- ever there was a significant difference between regions. In Fiordland the community was mainly supported by macroalgae, with the exploited species using a significantly higher proportion of macroalgae than the non-exploited species. However in Marlborough, were there has been sig- nificant declines in macroalgae abundance attributable to trophic cascades and sedimentation, the community was predominantly supported by pelagic production. These results demonstrate that land based run off and fishing pressure both alter the energetics of fish communities and can adversely impact on productivity of fisheries resources.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
157 Subsistence harvesting by a small community does not substantially compromise coral reef fish assemblages
Tyson Martin ∗ 1, Rod Connolly 1, Andrew Olds 2, Daniela Ceccarelli 3, Douglas Fenner 4, Thomas Schlacher 2, Maria Beger 5,6
1 Australian Rivers Institute – Coast and Estuaries, and School of Environment, Griffith University – Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia 2 School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast – Maroochydore QLD 4558, Australia 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University – Maroochydore QLD 4558, Australia 4 Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission – POB 7390, Pago Pago, AS 96799 USA, American Samoa 5 ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland – Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia 6 School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds – LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
Fisheries usually first remove large predators before switching to smaller species, causing lasting changes to fish community structure. Reef fish provide essential protein and income for many people, and the impacts of commercial and high-intensity subsistence fishing on reef fish are well documented. However, how fish communities respond to low levels of subsistence fishing using traditional techniques (fishing for food, few fishers) is less well understood. We use three atolls in the Marshall Islands as a model system to quantify effects of commercial and subsistence fishing on reef fish communities, compared to a near-pristine baseline. Unexpectedly, fish biomass was highest on the commercially-fished atoll where the assemblage was dominated by herbivores (50% higher than other atolls) and contained few top predators (70% lower than other atolls). By contrast, fish biomass and trophic composition did not differ between pristine and subsistence-fished atolls– top predators were abundant on both. We show that in some cases, reefs can support fishing by small communities to provide food but still retain intact fish assemblages. Low-intensity subsistence fishing may not always harm marine food webs, and we suggest that its effects depend on the style and intensity of fishing practised and the type of organisms targeted.
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158 The functional backstop of reef fisheries conservation
Aaron Macneil ∗ 1
1 Dalhousie University – 1355 Oxford St., P.O. Box 15000, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada
Coral reef conservation has frequently focused on maintainence of biodiversity and the factors that influece local and regional drivers of species ranges, with an eye to ensuring speicies do not go extinct. Yet extinctions of reef fish species are rare or non-existent and the use of biodiversity as a proxy for reef health is often ambiguous. Here I will revew a decade of reef fisheries research by the SERF working group to show that clear trade-offs can be made between conservation and exploitation. I outlinine how failures in sampling have re-enforeced the emphasis on biodiversity and argue that utlimately what we want to conserve is a minimum level of function among harvested reef fish communities, rather than biodiversity per se. As poorly-managed coral reef fisheries are the primary source of protein for hundreds of millions of people world-wide, a portfolio of function-based guidelines can help improve fisheries management among developing nations where the majority of reef fisheries occur.
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159 Towards management for resilience: Combined effects of natural disturbances and fisheries activities on coral reef ecosystem functioning.
M´elodie Dubois ∗ 1, Joachim Claudet 1
1 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ [EPHE], CNRS : USR3278 – Universit´ede Perpignan 52 Avenue Paul Alduy 66860 Perpignan Cedex, France
Worldwide, fisheries provide benefits to many countries, especially in tropical environments where exploitation of reef marine resources provide to coastal communities valuable services such as food and economic security, and contribute to their societal and cultural identity. However, coral reef ecosystems evolves under several natural disturbance regimes which, combined with increasing multiple human stressors, may cause irreversible shifts in community structure, and thus in the delivery of ecosystem services. These regime shifts had led to manage not just for the steady-state of the coral reef ecosys- tem but for its resilience. This approach supposes to move management actions towards the preservation of key ecological processes that are responsible for the ecosystem dynamic rather than to preserve an optimal ecosystem state. However, to date little is known about the whole ecosystem structure and functioning of coral reefs, and even less about how feedbacks (social and ecological) affect system dynamics.
With the objective to better understand complex interactions of the ecosystem dynamics we developed a trophic model that assesses how acute combined effects of natural disturbances (such as crown-of-thorns sea star outbreaks or cyclone events) and local fisheries dynamic in coral reef trophic cascade. Based on a case study in Moorea Island (French Polynesia), we present a dynamic and spatially explicit trophic model that highlights fundamental ecosystem functions of an exploited coral reef. In particular we show that, according to the way that communities use marine resource through fishing, different key ecological processes are affected, having different consequences on the coral reef resilience. These results can inform and guide robust resilience-based management.
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160 Where fishing meets function: the intersection of spearfishing selectivity and functional roles of herbivorous fishes on Fijian coral reefs
Ryan Mcandrews ∗† 1,2,3, Sebastian Ferse 1, Sonia Bejarano 1
1 Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) – Fahrenheitstr. 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany 2 University of Bremen – Bibliothekstr. 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany 3 New England Aquarium (NEAq) – 1 Central Wharf, Boston MA 02110, United States
Herbivorous coral reef fishes are simultaneously important to the health of coral reef ecosys- tems and as sources of protein for reef-side communities throughout the tropics. Reconciling these two value systems is a major focus of fisheries management, but how the two might inter- act is not well understood. We employed a dual perspective, trait-based approach to examine the intersection of ecological and social importance of herbivorous coral reef fishes in the Fiji Islands. Consulting published literature, we built a matrix of functionally important traits to classify the functional versatility and uniqueness of species observed using underwater visual census and remote cameras at twelve sites across four islands. Surveys of the principal market in Suva were conducted over a three-month period and revealed a large variety of herbivores, chiefly caught by spearfishing. The available catch was dominated by a few species that did not numerically dominate natural assemblages. Fishers’ selectivity for these species was confirmed during interviews with fishers from the same twelve areas. Consistent physical and behavioural traits underpinned the desirability and/or catchability of valuable and popular species. Ad- ditionally, some of the more popular and valuable species were identified from transect and camera data as relatively rare and functionally unique, while some appeared to be functionally redundant. With some fishes, traits that corresponded to functional importance also made them desirable to fishers. The overlapping of such traits is likely resulting in the selection of function- ally important species, which could in turn impede critical aspects of herbivorous fish functions. Understanding what traits make a species a preferred target or functionally important could prove useful to local communities in lessening the overlap between the two, by shifting fishing selectivity from functionally unique to relatively redundant species and reducing the impact of fisheries on ecosystem functioning.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
161 B2/ Marine Reserves as Tools for Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management in the Indo-Pacific
162 Can collaborative governance arrangements effectively scale up local fisheries management?
Rebecca Weeks ∗† 1, Rene Abesamis 1, Vera Horigue 2, Eric Treml 3, Cesar Villanoy 2
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) – Diliman, Quezon City, 1101 Metro Manila, Philippines 3 University of Melbourne – Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
Many natural resource management challenges arise as a result of scale mismatches between ecological systems and processes and the governance structures tasked with managing them (known as ‘the problem of fit’). In coral reef ecosystems, species persistence and ecosystem functioning depends upon larval dispersal between reef patches. Where management is decen- tralised, as is the case for coral reef fisheries throughout much of the Indo-Pacific, the scale of this dispersal typically extends beyond the boundaries of a single governance jurisdiction. Thus, the effectiveness of marine reserve networks and complementary fisheries management strategies may depend upon coordination between local governance units. The Philippines is recognised as a forerunner in both the establishment of locally managed marine reserves and the formation of collaborative governance arrangements for coastal resource management, known locally as ‘alliances’. For a case study region in the central Philippines (which includes more than 500 locally managed marine reserves), we explore whether these alliances can help to resolve the problem of fit and thus improve fisheries management. Using a structural network approach, we evaluate the level of fit between ecological connectivity, modelled as demographically significant dispersal linkages between reefs, and collaborative networks, defined by interactions among 141 coastal municipalities with responsibility for managing coral reef fisheries. We propose that if collaborative arrangements are to resolve the problem of fit, three conditions must be met: (1) collaboration must occur between municipalities whose reefs are connected via dispersal; (2) collaboration must function to improve management of reef fish populations; and (3) collabora- tion must occur across spatial extents that match the extent of dispersal. We find that fisheries management is improved by collaboration (for example on enforcement activities) and coordina- tion (e.g. of fisheries management regulations) among municipalities. However, while alignment between collaborative and ecological networks is improved within alliances, the spatial extent of collaboration does not match the full extent of dispersal. Our results have implications for policies aimed at scaling up local fisheries management efforts in the Philippines and elsewhere.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
163 Cost benefit analysis of proposed marine sanctuary in French Polynesia’s Austral archipelago
Guillaume Leport ∗ 1
1 The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) – 2005 Market Street Suite 2800, Philadeplphia, PA 19103, United States
Healthy marine ecosystems provide a wide range of biological and socio-economic benefits. Marine protected areas (MPA) are considered to be an effective tool for the conservation of ecosystems, which when healthy, can support sustainable fisheries through increased or main- tained fish biomass, as well as the spillover of juvenile and adult fish beyond marine reserve boundaries (Sibert & Hampton, 2002). Recent studies also highlight MPAs ability to promote adaptation to climate change (Callum et al., 2017). MPAs provide these benefits, in addition to numerous cultural and economic benefits for local communities. The five inhabited islands of French Polynesia’s Austral Archipelago-Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai, Raivavae, and Rapa-have proposed the creation of a large marine sanctuary in their waters, in order to effectively reap the many benefits of a large, fully protected marine reserve. Within this study, we conduct a cost benefit assessment of the proposed marine sanctuary, with an emphasis on its economic impact on the tourism and fishing sectors.
The waters surrounding the Austral Islands are pristine and rarely fished; therefore the fish- ing industry will not be strongly impacted by the creation of a marine sanctuary. However, positive impacts of a large MPA include the improvement of current pelagic stocks-securing local artisanal fisheries, as well as a diminution of proteins replacement food importations and a possible spill-over effect to northern Polynesian fishery areas.
Preservation of this pristine ecosystem would also result in a thriving tourism industry, which would boost the economy in French Polynesia, while theimplementation, enforcement and man- agement costs are expected to be relatively low. Cultural benefits are also expected, and would include the reduction of social inequalities, reinforcement of connections between the communi- ties of the Austral Islands and the ocean, reappropriation of environment and cultural practices by local communities. In conclusion, the economic, cultural, and biological benefits of a marine sanctuary far outweigh the limited implementation and management costs.
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164 High prevalence of homing behaviour in juvenile coral reef fishes may limit spatial responsiveness of fish communities
Robert Streit ∗† 1,2, David Bellwood 1,2
1 James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Since the protective function of marine reserves is spatially restricted, it is crucial to under- stand to what extent fishes and fish communities remain site-attached. A valuable proxy for site attachment is homing behaviour, which can reveal the astonishing sensory and locomotor capabilities of fishes. While adult coral reef fishes are known to remain relatively site-attached throughout their lives and display remarkable abilities to return home after being displaced, we know very little about homing behaviour in juvenile fishes, when site attachment may be the most labile. Homing behaviour in juvenile fishes is of particular interest because it will shape subsequent spatial distributions of adult fish communities. Comparing multiple species, families and functional groups allows us to distinguish between species-specific traits and more generalised, species-independent traits. Using displacement experiments, we quantified homing behaviour of juvenile, newly recruited reef fishes of seven species in three families, including herbivorous parrot- and rabbitfishes, carnivorous wrasse and planktivorous damselfishes. All species showed the ability to home successfully over distances well exceeding their home ranges. Across all species body size appeared to be the main driver of homing success, rather than species-specific traits. With every cm increase in body size, the chance of returning home al- most tripled across all species. Interestingly, the probability of getting lost was not related to body size, which suggests that mortality was not a major driver of unsuccessful homing. Higher likelihood of homing over short distances (10 m) may suggest that different sensory cues are used to navigate when close to home. Overall, our results suggest that homing ability is a widespread trait among juvenile reef fishes. A ‘sense of home’ and site attachment appear to develop early during ontogeny, especially above taxon-specific size thresholds. Hence, spatial flexibility exists only in a brief window after settlement, with direct implications for connectivity and ecosystem function in adult reef-fish populations. Such information is crucial when considering the viability of novel management approaches such as deliberate relocations of fishes to bolster local biomass or ecosystem function.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
165 Long-term effects of marine reserves and habitat change on coral reef fishes: a 20-year study
Maya Srinivasan ∗† 1,2, Mark Mccormick 2,3, Philip Munday 4, Mary Bonin 5, Janelle Eagle 6, Stephen Neale 7, Geoffrey Jones 2,6
1 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Queensland 4811,, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – James Cook University, QLD 4811, Australia 3 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville City, QLD, 4814, Australia 4 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 5 Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCOE) – James Cook University, QLD 4811, Australia 6 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – James Cook University, QLD 4811, Australia 7 Advisian – Level 31, 12 Creek St, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
No-take marine reserve networks are being widely implemented throughout the world as a tool to promote sustainable fishing and protect biodiversity. Many studies have documented the benefits in terms of increases in the abundance and biomass of exploited species within reserves. However, the potential for reserves to safeguard the majority of unexploited species over periods of substantial habitat degradation is less clear. To date, there have been relatively few long-term studies of no-take and fished areas before and after reserves have been implemented. Here we report on changes in fish communities occurring over a 20-year period in a small marine reserve network in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea. Reef fish densities and benthic cover were monitored for three years before (1997-1999) and 18 years after (2000-2017) reserves were implemented. Positive effects of reserve status were detected for a small number of exploited surgeonfish species. These reserve effects accumulated over a 3-5 year period following reserve implementation and then remained relatively consistent over time. For most of the smaller, coral-associated fishes, the long-term dynamics reflect cycles of decline and recovery in branching coral cover. While fish biodiversity recovered from a low point in 2002, it has never returned to pre-1998 levels. There is evidence of long-term habitat degradation, with increasing macroalgae and sediment cover, which may hinder the ability of reefs to recover after periods of decline. Our results support the view that no-take areas are necessary for coral reef conservation, but must be supplemented with effective measures to reduce extrinsic impacts on coral health.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
166 Management and mitigation of drifting FAD fishing in the world largest tuna purse seine fishery
Lauriane Escalle ∗† 1, Stephen Brouwer 1, Maurice Brownjohn 2, Graham Pilling 1
1 Oceanic Fisheries Programme, The Pacific Community (SPC) – B.P. D5 98848 Noumea, New Caledonia 2 Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) – P.O. Box 3992, Majuro, 96960, Marshall Islands
The Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) is a major tropical tuna fishing ground with more than half the world’s tuna catch. Approximately 65% of the WCPO tuna catch comes from the purse seine fishery, with an important part from sets associated to drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (dFAD). This fishing mode has grown rapidly since the 1990s and became increasingly efficient with the advent of new technologies to track dFADs and monitor the fish below them, such as satellite and echo-sounder buoys. However, several issues emerged with the extensive use of dFADs. Firstly, dFAD associated sets targeting skipjack tuna also catch juvenile bigeye tuna, impacting the sustainability of this stock in the WCPO. Secondly, sets on dFADs have high bycatch rates of other non-target species, including vulnerable species such as sharks and sea turtles. Thirdly, dFADs drifting out of productive areas are generally abandoned by fishers and may beach on reefs or disintegrate at sea leading to pollution and potential damage to coral reefs. This is particularly concerning in the WCPO, where, unlike other oceans, fishing grounds occur within the Economic Exclusive Zones (EEZs) of developing Pacific Island Countries and Territories. Finally, the number of active dFAD buoys at any time and the precise number of dFAD deployments per year (estimated at more than 30,000 in 2013) is currently unknown, which complicates management of dFAD fishing in the WCPO. Our research focuses on i) exploring management measures to limit purse seine bigeye catch on dFADs, such as spatial management considerations or identification of factors (e.g. environmental, vessel and dFAD characteristics) linked with high bigeye catch; ii) investigating and, if possible, quantifying the operational use of dFADs (deployment, drifting, setting, recovery, appropriation, loss and beaching events); iii) exploring the ecological effects of extensive dFADs use (proxy of dFAD density); and iv) studying fishing dynamics around a dFAD closure (dFAD-related activities prohibited for three to four months). Overall, we aimed to increase knowledge on dFAD fishing dynamics and the ecosystem interactions they drive, and provide useful advice to inform management in order to limit the impact of dFADs on marine ecosystem.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
167 Marine protected areas are natural responses to fisheries expansion
Daniel Pauly ∗ 1
1 Sea Around Us, Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries, University of British Columbia – 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, Canada, V6T 1Z4, Canada
Marine protected areas (MPA), especially their most effective form, no-take marine reserves (NTMRs), are often criticized by lobbyist for the fishing industry (both commercial and recre- ational) as being an artificial imposition on fisheries stemming from the fevered brain of radical environmentalists. This would be true if MPAs were a recent invention. However, MPAs, whether explicit, in the form of societal arrangements (”There shall be no fishing in this place”), or implicit, as areas where we could not fish (because it was too far off the coast, or too deep, or too stormy) have existed for as long as people have been fishing. Both societal and natural restrictions, which protected fish populations the same way that a safe protect cash in a bank, where overcome by massive injection of fossil energy into ever-expanding fisheries (from steam to diesel trawlers, from rowing to outboard engines, from salting fish to refrigerating them and from their local consumption to airplanes flying locally caught-fish to distant, insatiable mar- kets). This opening of nature’s safes can be countered only by creating new safes where at least a part of our biodiversity capital can be protected, and increased until we learn to extract only the interest from natural capital. Until the 2000s, the growth of the area somehow protected by MPAs was slow, and none of the ambitious target we had set for ourselves seemed reachable, particularly with regards to NTMRs. This dynamic changed with the declaration of a huge NTMR around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, soon matched elsewhere in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, with the Atlantic to follow suit. The research on MPAs has also progressed, and not only confirmed an ubiquitous ‘spillover’ benefiting fisheries around MPAs, but also docu- mented mitigating effects on ocean warming and the possibility of genetic effect of large NTMRs, leading to the (re-)emergence of resident populations within the area they protect from fishing. This presentation will emphasize these last two points.
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168 Marine reserve network design for coral reef fisheries
Nils Krueck ∗† 1, Peter Mumby 1
1 University of Queensland – St Lucia Campus, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
Overfishing threatens the sustainability of coastal marine biodiversity, especially in tropical developing countries. To counter this problem, about 200 governments worldwide have commit- ted to protecting 10%–20% of national coastal marine areas in reserves. However, local fishery impacts of decisions on the total coverage, location and individual size of marine reserves are generally unspecified, potentially diminishing catches that millions of fishers depend on for food and livelihoods. Here, we present findings from two research projects, which aim to advance marine reserve network designs throughout the Coral Triangle region with the explicit focus to benefit diverse and otherwise unregulated coral reef fisheries. Our findings suggest that realis- tic marine reserve network designs (10-30% strict protection of fished habitat in 1-20 km wide reserves) should help sustain or rebuild the long-term productivity of almost any such diverse and otherwise unregulated coral reef fishery. Intuitively, we find that the most critical drivers of fishery outcomes are the level of fish population recovery in reserves, and whether the export of fishes from reserves to unprotected areas can be expected to seed productivity at important fishing grounds. To achieve this management goal based on systematic reserve network design within a given seascape, we present a suite of tools that support informed decision making even if knowledge of local systems is very limited.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
169 No-take marine reserves in Moorea, French Polynesia decrease wariness but do not increase abundance
Brooke Gibbons ∗ 1, Timothy Langlois 1, Joachim Claudet 2, Jordan Goetze 3, Jane Prince 1, Lauric Thiault 2, Ellen D’cruz 1
1 The University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Highway Crawley Western Australia 6009, Australia 2 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 3 Curtin University – Bentley Western Australia, Australia
No-take marine reserves (marine reserves) are commonly used to assess the impacts of fishing. Many metrics such as abundance, size classes and biomass have been used in combination with marine reserves to assess the effects of fishing, however a recent study on the behaviour of coral reef fish suggests that behavioural metrics may be more sensitive to changes in fishing pressure than measures of abundance, length or biomass (Goetze et al. 2017). The effectiveness of marine reserves has been found to depend on the life-history and fisheries value of species considered, the size and age of the marine reserves and the level of compliance. In Mo’orea, French Polynesia, a marine reserve network was implemented in 2007 however, underwater visual census surveys have demonstrated inconsistent effects of protection (Thiault et al. in prep). We used diver-operated stereo video (stereo-DOV) to collect data on fish behaviour (using a proxy for wariness, minimum approach distance) simultaneous to abundance and length estimates to determine the effectiveness of three of the marine reserves surrounding Mo’orea. We observed no patterns in total abundance, species richness and the abundance of the two most abundant highly targeted species (Chlorurus spilurus and Ctenochaetus striatus). However, overall wariness was lower within the reserves and increased with increasing body size at a faster rate in fished areas compared to inside the reserve. This was consistent for non-targeted, moderately targeted and highly targeted species. The current reserve network in Mo’orea is not adequately protecting the fish assemblage. We recommend compliance should be increased in the marine reserves to provide adequate protection for the fish assemblages of Mo’orea.
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170 Partially protected areas: a conservation middle ground?
April Hall ∗† 1, Michael Kingsford 2
1 College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – Marine Biology, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia, Australia
The establishment of marine protected areas to conserve coral reef biodiversity is known to be an effective conservation measure to combat fishing impacts. In the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), many studies have highlighted the effectiveness of no-take marine re- serves, however, very little data exists for zones that offer partial protection to fishes, such as Conservation Park Zones (CPZs). Conservation Park zones are areas within the GBRMP where partial protection is provided through restrictions on the use of fishing gear (e.g. 1 hook/line per fisher), and prohibition of destructive fishing techniques such as trawling. These zones may offer dual benefits by allowing limited access to fishers whilst potentially gaining a conserva- tion benefit. Conservation Park Zones could be a powerful conservation tool, if they enable the needs of stakeholders to be balanced against conservation goals. Here, we examine trends in predator-prey relationships in CPZs in the Capricorn Bunkers region, and assess their utility for protecting key fishing targets such as coral trout. Surveys were conducted in no-take ma- rine reserves, conservation park zones, and open fishing zones, to encompass a range of fishing intensity. We found evidence of a gradient response to fishing intensity, whereby biomass of coral trout was intermediate in CPZs compared to marine reserves (greatest biomass), and open fishing areas (lowest biomass). There was variation in the response of other trophic groups, however we did find evidence of prey release for small fishes in areas where predators where depleted, which suggests that protection of predators in CPZs may have a flow on effect to other trophic groups. These data provide the first insight into the performance of CPZs on the GBR, and suggest that partial protection may be effective for conserving predatory fishes and trophic relationships. Future studies will more comprehensively examine the role of CPZs in protecting reef fish assemblages and biodiversity, and enable an assessment of the overall value of CPZs within the zoning design. This research will provide much needed insight into the ability for partially protected areas to enable conservation outcomes, and their potential use as a ”conservation middle ground”.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
171 Relationships between Zooplankton Production, Pelagic Fish Production and Commercial Finfish Catch in Tropical Shelves
Bruce Hodgson ∗ 2,1
2 [email protected] – 116 Military Road, Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2089, Australia 1 Aurecon Australasia, Advisory – 116 Military Road, Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2089, Australia
The purpose of this study was to review Ecopath model results for six tropical shelves (Christensen and Pauly, 1993, Bulman, 2006) to investigate the role of zooplankton production to pelagic fish production as a fundamental process to inform acceptable levels of fish catch in these fishery areas, at the trophic ecosystem level. The investigation of the relationships be- tween productions of pelagic fish with acceptable levels of catch was prompted by Allen’s 1971 paper on the ”Relation between Production and Biomass”. Zooplankton production transfers to small pelagic fish, and from them to pelagic finfish production, was investigated using trophic transfer efficiencies in the six tropical shelf fishery areas. These relationships were then used at Heron Island to estimate the potential acceptable level of fish catch from measurements of zooplankton biomass and estimates of production near Heron Island, in the southern area of the Great Barrier Reef marine park. The six tropical shelves were reviewed for the following productivity and fish catch relationships:
Estimating Trophic Transfer Efficiencies from zooplankton to fish;
Determining relationships between fish production and the commercial pelagic fish catches;
Considering the role of fish production in the various fishery areas in relation to acceptable levels of fish catches;
Estimating pelagic fish production at Heron Island from the trophic transfer efficiencies and potential fish catch from the tropical shelf relationships between fish production and catch.
The close-fitting relationships between the tropical shelf zooplankton production, pelagic fish production and fish catch data suggests that the fish catches across all these areas are strongly
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172 related to the productivity of the fisheries. This suggests that fish catches are at acceptable levels because they keep pace with the available production inputs from zooplankton production, into the fishery. Subject to further investigation, the potential benefits of this approach for fishery management could include consideration of production based fish catches as acceptable levels in marine parks and surrounding areas, with protection of appropriate areas (eg. spawing areas) that generate the fish production supporting the fish catch.
173 Science inventory of the Austral Islands’ marine environment and project of large marine reserve by the population of the 5 Austral islands
Donatien Tanret ∗ 1, Tihoti Tanepau 2
1 The Pew Charitable Trusts – Tahiti Gare maritime, French Polynesia 2 School of Tubuai – Tubuai, French Polynesia
A detailed scientific inventory of the Austral Islands’ marine environment has been con- ducted in 2015 by IRCP, CRIOBE and The Pew Charitable Trusts, with thirty experts and four field expeditions. With a total ocean area of about 1 million square kilometers, the Austral archipelago differs from other island strings in French Polynesia. The diversity of island topographies, the varied characteristics of the Austral climate between a tropical zone and a temperate one, and the Australs’ relative isolation has led to a remarkable diversity of life well preserved and a high number of endemic species, especially among mollusks, fish, coral, and algae. It makes this a valuable site to observe the impacts of a changing climate. The island of Rapa is a hot spot of marine biodiversity, with 112 coral species out of the 170 in all of French Polynesia, 250 species of mollusks and 383 species of coastal fish-10 percent of which are endemic to the island.
In the 1980s, Rapa was able to fix their coastal fish decline through a coastal rahui cover- ing 30% of the coast. This traditional temporary ban on the use of a resource or a territory was widely used in the Polynesian Triangle. But now, local fishermen are experiencing a collapse of their pelagic resources because of industrial fishing of which they are not responsible. Therefore, they want to create a pelagic rahui in the waters of their archipelago. They called this proposal the ” big rahui of Austral islands ”. After an extensive series of consultations and a participatory and collaborative process, the 5 municipalities and the population of the 5 Austral islands have proposed a large marine reserve in the waters of their archipelago. The proposed zoning foresees 5 coastal fishing areas of 20 nautical miles around each island, with boats smaller than 10 meter long. And a large 1 million km2 no take marine reserve up to the limit of the EEZ where no fishing could occur. This would help protecting the Austral fishing resources for the 1600 Austral artisanal fishermen relying on them for their subsistence.
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174 The role of marine protected areas in the replenishment of local fisheries
Hugo Harrison ∗ 1, Michael Bode 1, David Williamson 2, Michael Berumen 3,4, Geoff Jones 5
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies) – 1 James Cook Drive, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia 3 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Thuwal, Saudi Arabia 4 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – 266 Woods Hole Road Woods Hole, MA 02543-1050, United States 5 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University (CoralCoE and JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia
The precarious state of many coastal marine ecosystems has prompted the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a tool for management and conservation. However, the effectiveness of MPA networks is contingent upon our understanding of the processes that affect population dynamics. Since coral reefs are a naturally patchy and fragmented environment, the degree of connectivity between discrete populations is critical to the persistence of populations and by extension, the subsistence of local fisheries. We compared observed patterns of larval dispersal over successive years for two exploited species of coral reef fish in the Keppel Islands, Great Barrier Reef. We combine parentage analysis with emergent analytical tools in graph theory to determine the consistency of larval export from a small network of no-take MPAs to nearby fished areas. Further, we test the old adage that bigger, older and fatter fish make the greatest contribution to the replenishment of fished population, and provide empirical evidence for the relationship between fish size and local recruitment success. Our findings give unprecedented insight into the mechanisms shaping connectivity patterns in coral reef fish and the role of no-take MPAs in the replenishment of local fisheries.
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175 Towards a network of large marine reserves in the Pacific ocean
J´erˆomePetit ∗ 1
1 The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) – Gare maritime, Papeete, Polyn´esiefran¸caise,French Polynesia
From the heat of the equator to the deep chills of the North and South poles, the ocean binds the planet together. Making up more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, it is home to nearly a quarter of the world’s known species, many of which still await discovery. But human activities are increasingly threatening its health. Research shows that large, fully protected marine reserves are a key tool for addressing many challenges to ocean health. Reserves help conserve valuable biodiversity and protect traditional cultures closely linked to the sea.
In 2006, The Pew Charitable Trusts and several partners launched the Global Ocean Legacy project in an effort to establish the world’s first generation of great marine parks. In its 10 years of existence, Global Ocean Legacy helped to obtain commitments to safeguard more than 2.4 million square miles (6.3 million square kilometers) of ocean.
But even with these successes, less than 3 percent of the world’s ocean has strong protections. Recognizing that the International Union for Conservation of Nature recommends we need to protect 30 percent of our oceans, based on the best-available science, Pew and the Bertarelli Foundation have joined forces in a new partnership with the goal of helping increasing the num- ber of fully protected parks in the sea and contributing to the management of existing marine reserves. This presentation will review the current efforts undertaken to help creating fully protected ma- rine reserves in New Caledonia, the Austral Islands and Marquesas of French Polynesia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands and to help managing created and announced marine reserves: Papah¯anaumoku¯akea Marine National Monument, Aus- tralia’s Coral Sea, Easter Island Marine Park, the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary in New Zealand and Palau National Marine Sanctuary.
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176 Tracking Interactions of Large Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries from Space
Kristina Boerder ∗ 1, Derek Tittensor 2, Boris Worm 1
1 Dalhousie University (DAL) – Biology Department Dalhousie University 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS B3H 4J1, Canada 2 United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP WCMC) – 219 Huntingdon Rd Cambridge CB3 0DL, United Kingdom
Large Marine Protected Areas (LSMPAs) are increasing both in size and number - since 2012 five protected areas exceeding 1 million km2 have been implemented and further areas have been announced, all located in remote oceanic areas. However, their benefits for highly migratory tuna and billfish, and their associated fisheries, have been difficult to assess empirically. Using novel satellite-based vessel tracking data (AIS) collected by Global Fishing Watch we present global analyses of spatial and temporal patterns of fishing effort in relation to existing LSMPAs. We exemplify interactions of spatial protection and fisheries for the Gal´apagosMarine Reserve, documenting its effects on tuna and associated purse seine in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. While tuna biomass and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) are declining in the surrounding area following changes in productivity regimes, areas bordering the Gal´apagosMarine Reserve attract four times the fishing effort and sustain higher catches and CPUE. In conjunction with an extensive review of the current literature on impacts of spatial protection on large pelagic predators we discuss further ongoing analyses of other LSMPAs and the potential of satellite-based vessel tracking data in the context of MPA monitoring and fisheries science.
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177 B3/ Aquaculture of native marine and estuarian South Pacific finfish
178 Aquaculture in French Polyn´esia:from rural to industrial sectors
Lafille Marc-Andr´e ∗ 1
1 Direction des ressources Marines et Mini`eres(DRMM) – BP 20 Fare Ute Papeete 98713 TAHITI, French Polynesia
With about 120 islands and atolls spread over 5 archipelagos, French Polynesia has a mar- itime area as large as Europe. With about 280,000 inhabitants, French Polynesia is strongly turned towards the ocean. Marine resources are therefore the most important economic resources of the country (tourism attraction, fishing, pearl farming, etc.). Around the world, as well as in French Polynesia, the demand for sea products is constantly increasing and some natural stocks are decreasing dangerously. Aquaculture allows to limit over-fishing and French Polynesia have a considerable potential for the development of these sustainable sectors (available maritime surface, favorable climate conditions, health status, limited industrialization, etc.). In French Polynesia, aquaculture revolves around different private actors, and the Polynesian government, through the Direction of Marine and Mining Resources with its research partners, intervenes to assist and guide the development of a sustainable Aquaculture. Here, it is proposed to give an overview of Aquaculture in French Polynesia (excluding pearl farming): from a rural to an industrial sector.
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179 Environmental analysis method to guide aquaculture sustainable development: case study in Mayotte marine natural park
Killian Chary ∗ 1, Myriam Callier 1, Denis Coves 1, Joel Aubin 2, Annie Fiandrino 3
1 Institut Fran¸caisde Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la MER - IFREMER (3AS - UMR MARBEC) – Institut Fran¸cais de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la MER - IFREMER – Chemin de Maguelone, F-34200 Palavas, France 2 INRA Rennes (INRA) – UMR 1069 AS – 65 rue de Saint Brieuc CS 84215 35 042 Rennes cedex, France 3 Centre for Marine Biodiversity, Exploitation and Conservation (MARBEC) – Institut Fran¸caisde Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS, Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement - IRD (FRANCE), Universit´eMontpellier II - Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc – Avenue Jean Monnet CS 30171 34203 S`etecedex, France
Mayotte Island is a French Outermost Region located in the Indian Ocean. A marine Nature Park was created in 2010 and cover all EEZ. Within Mayotte’s Marine Park management plan, a goal of sustainable aquaculture in Mayotte was recognised by stakeholders and local authori- ties. The marine fish farming sector mainly produced red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and it is composed of small and medium size farms (200t) to serve the European Market. The present project aims at developing a methodology to compare the environmental perfor- mances of several scenarii of aquaculture production (production scale, farm sites). Impact assessment of aquaculture systems are mainly studied with two different kinds of environmental assessment methods; sites vs product approach. Sites approach gives an absolute evaluation of environmental sustainability through indicators that measure the effect of a pollution (ex. Nutrient enrichment) or an ecosystem state (ex. Diversity indices) at a local or regional scale. Product approach analyses environmental burdens at all stages of its life cycle and gives relative environmental performances (ex. Carbon footprint) at a global level.
The specific objective is to combine sites and product complementary approaches. Local impact assessment is focused on benthic effects associated to particulate waste deposition from aquacul- ture cages and is evaluated with the DEPOMOD particle tracking model. Global environmental impact assessment of emissions and resources used for red drum farming production is conducted with a product perspective using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The project will contribute to 1) site selection for aquaculture to respect environmental carrying capacity of tropical lagoon, 2) develop an integrated tool to assess the environmental performance of aquaculture systems. The integration of local impact indicators based on organic footprint and benthic impacts to existing impact categories in LCA will allow to highlight potential impact transfers between local, regional and global scales. This environmental analysis method is a generic framework
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180 that can be applied to other species or territories and that can be useful for decision makers to guide aquaculture development.
181 Nutritional evaluation of two types of euryhaline rotifers Brachionus plicatilis sp. complex and digestive enzyme response at first feeding in Japanese Flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus
Viliame Waqalevu ∗† 1, Shojiro Miyauchi 2, Shuo Zhang 2, Tomonari Kotani 3
1 United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University – United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University Korimoto 1-21-24, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, 890-0065, Japan 2 Graduate School of Fisheries, Kagoshima University – Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University Shimoarata 4-50-20, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, 890-0056, Japan 3 Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University (http://www.fish.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/efish/) – Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University Shimoarata 4-50-20, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, 890-0056, Japan
It is well established that aquaculture can provide solutions in relieving pressure applied to wild stocks due to heavy consumer demand that often leads to a cascade of ecological effects. The bottleneck in hatcheries in many developing countries lies in reliable production of live feed suitable for the important stage of first exogenous feeding. Rotifers occur naturally in the wild and due to many of its suitable characteristics, it is a preferred source of nutrition during first feeding of finfish larvae. In this study, B. plicatilis (Obama strain) and B. rotundiformis (Indonesian strain) were enriched with microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and Salmon roe derived oil emulsion and fed to Japanese flounder until 7 days after hatching (DAH). Analysis were conducted to assess the viability of these enrichment media in terms of its (i) essential fatty acids content such as arachidonic acid (C20:4 n-6; ARA), eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5 n-3; EPA) and docohexaenoic acid (C22:6 n-3; DHA), vital for the development of early stage fish larvae and (ii) differences in the induction of digestive protein breakdown in first feeding stages of the Japanese flounder. It was found that DHA enriched C. vulgaris and salmon roe emulsion oil contain high fatty acid composition of essential fatty acids that were absorbed by both rotifer species. It was also found the smaller sized B. rotundiformis induced higher protein hydrolysis in 5 DAH larvae and this activity switched to L-type at 7 DAH. This may be reflective of the preference of the larvae and/or metabolic changes linked to metamorphosis that it would soon undergo in its life cycle. There are hopes that parallels from this study on nutritional requirements and digestive enzymatic activity can be used to develop knowledge on the culture of the economically important and difficult to culture, Leopard Coral Trout, Plectropomus leopardus, at the moment of first exogenous feeding.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
182 Treatment of bacterial disease in fish aquaculture by natural products from French Polynesia
Tepoerau Mai ∗ 1, Raimana Ho 2, Ali Al-Mourabit 3, Phila Raharivelomanana 1, Denis Saulnier 4, Cecile Debitus 5
1 Universit´ede la Polyn´esiefran¸caise(UPF) – BP 6570, 98 702 FAA’A, Tahiti, French Polynesia 2 Universit´ede la Polyn´esiefran¸caise– BP 6570, 98 702 FAA’A, Tahiti, French Polynesia 3 Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) – CNRS – Gif sur Yvette, Avenue de la Terrasse, France 4 IFREMER – BP 6570, 98 702 FAA’A, Tahiti, French Polynesia 5 LEMAR – Laboratory IUEM LEMAR Technopole Brest – TechnopˆoleBrest-Iroise, rue Dumont d’Urville, 29280 Plouzan´e, France
In French Polynesia, fish aquaculture of Platax orbicularis is a sector in emergence. However bacterial infection by Vibrio harveyi and Tenacibaculum maritimum limits its development. This study aims to identify if natural products from French Polynesia can be an efficient biosourcing to prevent bacterial infection in the aquaculture of P. orbicularis. Methodology consisted in a screening of live organisms in the inhibition of V. harveyi quorum sensing, then the isolation of natural products from these organisms and the identification of quorum sensing inhibitors. Two natural products sourcing were studied, the plant Morinda citrifolia and the marine sponge Leucetta chagosensis. Derivatives of aminoimidazole from Leucetta chagosensis were identified as quorum sensing inhibitors and lyophilized powder of M. citrifolia was shown to protect fishes from bacteria in vivo. These results could be used as an alternative of antibiotic supply to prevent bacterial diseases in fish aquaculture.
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183 C1/ The role of fishes on coral reefs
184 A morphological and functional basis for maximum prey size in piscivorous fishes
Michalis Mihalitsis ∗ 1,2, David Bellwood 1,2
1 James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 2 Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
Trophic relationships within coral reef ecosystems are difficult to disentangle. While func- tional groups are recognized as important, the identity of such groups and their ecological roles remain unclear. Piscivorous fishes are widely recognized in coral reef ecosystems, however, large parts of their ecology still remain a mystery. One of the key questions is the size of their potential prey, since this can directly influence patterns of resource use. Our goal was to link morphology to performance and thereby establish potential function. In terms of the feeding ecology of pis- civorous fishes, the ‘gape’ has been widely recognized as a proxy for the prey sizes these fishes can consume. However, there is wide disparity in the literature on which specific measurement should be used; there does not appear for example, to be a consistent terminology for the term ‘gape’. This presentation will describe recent research clarifying the trophic morphology of the digestive tract of piscivorous fishes, comparing 18 potential ‘gapes’ with maximal performance. Specifically, relevant gapes and their relationship to maximum prey size in piscivorous fishes that swallow their prey whole will be clarified. The specific morphological measurement that best describes maximal feeding performance in these fishes is also identified, highlighting previ- ously unconsidered morphological traits, such as the ability of tissues to stretch or prey to be compressed.
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185 Assessing the Population Structure and Characterizing Spatio-temporal Distributions of a Red Hind (Epinephelus guttatus) Spawning Aggregation in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Jonathan Brown ∗† 1, Richard Nemeth 2, Virginia Shervette 3
1 Master of Marine and Environmental Studies, University of the Virgin Islands – 2 John Brewers Bay St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802-9990, U.S. Virgin Islands 2 Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of the Virgin Islands – 2 John Brewers Bay St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802-9990, U.S. Virgin Islands 3 Fish/Fisheries Conservation Lab, University of South Carolina Aiken – Aiken, SC 29801, United States
Red hind, Epinephelus guttatus, form fish spawning aggregations (FSA) within a seasonal no-take marine protected area (MPA) in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. To examine changes in population structure after ten and twenty years of seasonal protection differences among length, sex ratio and density were tested between baseline data and this study. Additionally, telemetry data collected over two consecutive spawning seasons tested if fish regularly cross the western MPA boundary. Results showed signs of a recovering spawning population with a significant increase in total length (TL) and a return from a leptokurtic to a bimodal size distribution. Female-to-male sex ratios also showed improvement from 1:1 to 4:1, representing an appropriate ratio for this haremic spawning species. Conversely, mean density decreased by 55%. Telemetry recorded few detections along the MPA’s western boundary, but instead, sequential detections along its northwestern boundary revealed a migratory corridor not previously documented. De- tections also revealed high site fidelity within the MPA during primary spawning months, which concurs with the peak reproductive period for this species in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Although, numerous detections were also recorded within the MPA after the no-take period, suggesting temporal variability among known spawning months. Age structure data collected the following spawning season yielded a 9:1 female-to-male sex ratio with a mean age of 7 years at 33.8 cm TL. Findings emphasize the need to continue studies for understanding the density decrease and improving spatio-temporal resolution for better MPA design and FSA protection.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
186 Behavioral indicators provide insight into a fish’s perception of coral reefs: implications for management.
Margaret Malone ∗ 1, Christopher Whelan 1, Joel Brown 1
1 University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) – 845 West Taylor Street (MC 066) Chicago, IL 60607-7104, United States
Fishes have long been suggested as indicators of coral reef quality. Traditionally, population surveys are used to measure and assess the effects of habitat degradation. While we learn a great deal through these assessments, they are unfortunately a trailing indicator, indicating a problem only after populations or communities have already changed. Coral reef managers can benefit from an assessment technique that is a leading indicator of the status of fish populations and communities. Foraging behavior may signal changes that occur prior to shifts in fish communi- ties. We apply foraging theory to supplement standard population and benthos assessments of patch coral reefs in Kane’ohe Bay, Hawaii. This approach allows us to gain insight into coral reef quality from the fish’s perspective and incorporates an assessment of ecological processes, such as predation. We hypothesize that a core habitat reef will have high fish density and high foraging intensity, while reefs of inferior value to the fish will have low density and low foraging intensity. Differences in foraging intensity among coral reefs reveals perceived predation risk and missed opportunities reflecting differences in background food availability. We selected study reefs of high and low quality using Hawaii’s Department of Aquatic Resources (DAR) survey data of invasive algae. Fish communities and substrate types, along with the foraging behavior of the abundant and widespread generalist invertivore, Thalassoma duperrey (saddle wrasse), were surveyed. We quantified foraging intensity as the giving-up density (GUD) from experi- mental food patches. Among reefs, we found that saddle wrasse density and foraging intensity was lower in low quality reefs. Based on our findings, we classified reefs into categories of core habitat, refuge, food for predators, and inferior habitat through the combination of behavioral indicators and population surveys. This information can be used to help maintain coral reef ecosystems and the populations and communities they support.
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187 Collective Aggressiveness of Fish Social Groups Contributes to Variation in Coral Replenishment
Sally Holbrook ∗ 1, Jonathan Pruitt 2, Russell Schmitt 1
1 University of California Santa Barbara – Marine Science Institute and Dept of Ecology, Evolution Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California 93106 USA, United States 2 University of California Santa Barbara – Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States
Many animal societies exhibit stable intergroup differences in their collective behavior, yet the degree to which such differences impact broader ecological phenomena remains unclear, particularly on coral reefs. Farmerfish live in groups and collectively defend their gardens of palatable algae from intrusion. In French Polynesia, farmerfish (Stegastes nigricans) provide settlement and nursery habitats for coral because they mob corallivorous fish that attempt to enter their territories. Their role in providing nursery habitat for young branching corals (Acropora, Pocillopora) via territorial defense has been recognized for several decades – and has been argued to play a critical part in recovery of coral following disturbances. We tested for stable intergroup differences in collective vigilance and mobbing behavior in colonies of farmerfish in Moorea, French Polynesia. Our behavioral assays revealed large among-colony differences in collective aggression towards intruder fish. We examined whether the territories of aggressive groups provided greater protection to corals than non-aggressive groups. Surveys revealed that territories of aggressive groups naturally harbored greater numbers of branching corals than non-aggressive groups. Field experiments revealed that survival and growth of outplanted staghorn coral nubbins were positively correlated with levels of collective aggression, and with adequate protection, they can develop into a staghorn thicket. Our findings highlight the potential for significant ecological impacts of intergroup differences in collective behavior, and suggest that factors that increase the collective aggressiveness of farmerfish groups could enhance the protective value of their territories for the replenishment of coral populations.
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188 Coral-damselfish mutualism: effects on photosynthesis and links to predation risk
Sebastian Ferse ∗ 1, Robin Gauff 1,2, Sonia Bejarano 1, Nur Garc´ıa Herrera 1,3
1 Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) – Leibniz-Zentrum f¨urMarine Tropenforschung GmbH, Fahrenheitstr. 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany 2 Oceanography and Marine Environments department, Universit´ePierre et Marie Curie – Universit´e Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) - Paris VI – 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05, France 3 Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI) – Am Alten Hafen 26, Bremerhaven 27568, Germany
Close associations with live corals are widespread among fish species on coral reefs. A large number of species selectively recruit to living corals, and several maintain a strong bond with live coral as adults. Fish utilise their host coral as shelter from predators and for egg deposition and feeding, while corals benefit from the nutrients excreted by fish and the ventilation by sleep-swimming fish among coral branches at night. Nocturnal ventilation by fish has been demonstrated to mitigate oxygen depletion inside the coral colony. Current flows are beneficial for coral photosynthesis, and some photosynthetic cnidarians actively induce flow across their surfaces. However, the effects of fish ventilation on coral photosynthesis have not been studied to date. Shelter-seeking behaviour of coral dwelling fish is usually linked to predation risk, implying that changes in predator abundance may affect the extent of benefits corals derive from sheltering fish. Here, we report the results of respiration chamber measurements of the obligate coral-dwelling damselfish, Dascyllus marginatus, and its host coral, Stylophora pistillata. When the damselfish was allowed to swim among the coral branches, net oxygen production was 22% higher than when the fish and coral were separated by a mesh barrier. Ventilation by D. marginatus may augment coral photosynthesis by 3-6%, depending on the amount of time fish spend seeking shelter among coral branches on the reef. The relationship between predation risk and shelter-seeking behaviour was assessed in a field study of the coral-associated lemon damselfish, Pomacentrus moluccensis. Large damselfish ventured further away from their host coral than small ones. Unexpectedly, predator activity was positively related to the distance swum by large fish away from their host coral. This may indicate that P. moluccensis displays a form of sentinel behaviour, and implies that cascading effects of predation on host corals are complex and depend on the ontogenetic stage of individuals and social structure of the species.
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189 Exploring the functional traits which may provide mechanism of assembly rules among reef fishes from contrasting habitat types
Catalina Ruz ∗ 1, Vladimir Garmendia 1, Alejandro Perez Matus† 2
1 Subtidal Ecology Laboratory, Estaci´onCostera de Investigaciones Marinas, Pontificia Universidad Cat´olicade Chile, Santiago, Chile (SUBELAB) – Osvaldo Marin 1672, El Tabo-Las Cruces, Chile 2 Subtidal Ecology Laboratory and Marine Conservacion Center, Estaci´onCostera de Investigaciones Marinas, Pontificia Universidad Cat´olicade Chile, Santiago, Chile (SUBELAB) – Osvaldo Marin 1672, El Tabo-Las Cruces, Chile
A fundamental concern in community ecology is to understand how species assemblages form under different environmental conditions and which functional traits converge among commu- nities. Functional traits can reveal demographic processes that determine how species co-exist within communities. Reef fish offer a great diversity of functional traits establishing strong relationships with their habitat. In this study, we compared functional traits (ecological, mor- phological, and physiological) and habitat characteristic parameters (complexity, abundance of habitat features, rugosity and wave exposure) among reef fish from kelp, foliose algae, and coral-dominated ecosystems from continental Chile, Juan Fernandez Islands, and Rapa Nui Is- land, respectively. With the expectation that there is a direct and positive relationship between habitat-trait diversity and that of the corresponding traits of reef fish, we combined visual census methods, landmark geometric morphometry, fin aspect ratio, and routine oxygen consumption of the most abundant reef fish from these ecosystems. Results up-to date indicate that few organisms dominate the reef fish assemblages in these contrasting habitats. In spite of the tax- onomic differences, strong similarities in shape and form of reef fishes were present between temperate reef fishes from kelp and foliose algae dominated ecosystems from Continental Chile and Juan Fernandez, respectively. We also found slight variation in body shape and form within coral-dominated reef fish from Rapa Nui but strikingly different to those present in temperate ecosystems. We also found that abundant reef fishes have similar physiological traits (routine oxygen consumption) despite the environmental variability within each ecosystem. Finally, cer- tain habitat features- such as bottom rugosity, abundance of dominant habitat, and length of habitat- filter several traits within each ecosystem. We conclude that organisms are functionally able to match different environmental conditions and habitat characteristics via plasticity in phenotypic traits.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
190 Fish as a primary source of reef carbonate sediment: an overlooked ecosystem process?
Michael Salter ∗ 1, Chris Perry 2, Rod Wilson 3, Alastair Harborne 4
1 University of Exeter – University of Exeter, College of Life and Environmental Sciences (Geography), Amory, Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, UK, United Kingdom 2 University of Exeter – University of Exeter, College of Life and Environmental Sciences (Geography), Amory, Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, UK, United Kingdom 3 University of Exeter – University of Exeter, College of Life and Environmental Sciences (Geography), Geoffrey Pope, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK, United Kingdom 4 Florida International University (FIU) – Department of Biological Sciences - Marine Sciences Program Florida International University, MSB 352, Biscayne Bay Campus, 3000 NE 151 Street, North Miami, Florida 33181, USA, United States
Fishes play several key roles in coral reef sedimentary systems. In addition to well-known functions as bioeroders (e.g., parrotfishes) and as vectors of sediment removal from reefs (e.g., surgeonfishes), all marine fishes precipitate CaCO3 in their intestines as a waste product of os- moregulation, and thus represent a primary source of carbonate sediment. This ‘gut carbonate’ production is relevant in all marine settings, but its contribution to sediment loads is likely to be particularly significant in warm-water reef complexes, because: i) these systems can support high fish biomass; and ii) gut carbonate production rates correlate positively with temperature so will be relatively high. Unconsolidated sediment represents a volumetrically significant component of reef complexes that can influence both ecological and geomorphological processes, including recruitment potential, grazing preferences, and local water chemistry, whilst also supporting important benthic communities that include burrowing organisms and seagrasses. Thus, our understanding of reef ecosystems is incomplete without a detailed knowledge of the sedimentary processes (i.e., production, deposition, and preservation) operating within them. Regarding piscine gut carbonates, recent production models have highlighted their potential significance in sedimentary systems of The Bahamas. However, these datasets are poorly suited to wider as- sessments extending across contemporary warm-water reef settings, because: 1) many Bahamian reefs are extensively degraded and may support considerably lower fish biomass than healthier reefs in other systems; 2) atypical habitat configuration in The Bahamas means that production models generated there may be irrelevant elsewhere; and 3) gut carbonate mineralogy, which influences preservation potential, varies among fish families – but the limited number of families studied to-date means mineral phase quantification remains poorly constrained. Here we begin to address these issues using new datasets from relatively healthy reef systems of the Western Pacific that greatly expand the number of fish species ( ˜90) and families ( ˜40) studied. We integrate these data with fish biomass datasets from different reef complexes (encompassing a range of biomass concentrations) in order to generate gut carbonate production models that re- solve for mineralogy. Through these model refinements we are able to better understand piscine gut carbonate sediment production and its significance as a reef ecosystem process.
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191 Fish-derived nutrients and their roles in Indo-Pacific coral reef systems
Burkepile Deron ∗ 1, Andrew Shantz 1, Jacob Allgeier 1, Valeriano Parravicini 2, S´ebastienVill´eger 3, Katrina Munsterman 1, Russell Schmitt 1, Sally Holbrook 1
1 University of California Santa Barbara – University of California Santa Barbara, United States 2 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ [EPHE] – Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, France 3 Universit´ede Montpellier – Universit´ede Montpellier – Universit´ede Montpellier, France
Nutrient input via consumers may be especially important in ecosystems, like coral reefs, that typically have low nutrient availability. Rising ocean temperatures and the increasing fre- quency of warm-water anomalies have led to predictions that the majority of coral reefs could be lost to bleaching by the end of the century. Previous studies, focused mostly on Caribbean reefs, suggest that fishes may be one of the most important sources of nitrogen for reef systems. Here, we describe our ongoing work examining the role of fish-derived nutrients on the reefs of Moorea, French Polynesia. First, we are using empirical excretion models and bioenergetics models to determine how recycling of nitrogen and phosphorus varies over space and time across the dif- ferent reefs of Moorea. This work allows us to address both spatial and temporal variability in the recycling of nutrients and how these patterns change with disturbances and variability in benthic community structure. Second, we are addressing more mechanistic-level questions about how fish-derived nutrients impact coral growth and physiology. Healthy fish populations may increase coral resistance to bleaching by providing key limiting nutrients, especially phosphorus that is capable of alleviating P-starvation and damage to photosynthetic mechanisms. To test this, we maintained fragments of the coral Pocillopora eydouxi under ambient (27.5 C) or ele- vated temperatures (29.5 C) in the presence and absence of yellowtail damselfishes (Dascyllus flavicaudus), a fish commonly found sheltering in Pocillopora spp. Regardless of fish presence, exposure to high temperature caused rapid declines in the photosynthetic capacity of corals. However, after 10 days of temperature stress, the photosynthetic capacity in corals maintained with D. flavicaudus had recovered to levels indistinguishable from control corals. In contrast, in temperature-stressed corals kept without fishes, the photosynthetic capacity remained depressed even after a 10-day recovery period at ambient temperature. Similarly, coral growth rates were lowest in temperature-stressed corals kept without fish but were actually highest in corals ex- posed to high-temperature and fish-derived nutrients. Our ongoing work points to the critical nature of healthy fish populations on coral reefs for determining important bottom-up forcing in these ecosystems.
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192 Lek-like versus Promiscuous Mating Systems on a Resident Spawning Aggregation Site: Examples From the Labridae
Terry Donaldson ∗ 1
1 Marine Laboratory (UOGML) – UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam 96923, United States
Species of fishes reproducing on resident spawning aggregation sites use different mating systems, and there is intraspecific and interspecific variation in their use. A number of species utilize a lek-like system in which males secure and defend temporary territories for the purpose of attracting females. They defend these territories against rival males, often vigorously, and in some cases territorial males will also engage in streaking or sneaking while attempting to mate with a rival male’s females. The territories they hold may be favorable if found in a location that is attractive to females. Attraction isn’t everything, however. Some males forego establishing mating territories and instead mimic females in coloration, body size and even behavior, and reproduce using multiple episodes of group spawning. The tropical wrasses (Labridae) Cheilinus trilobatus and Hemigymnus melapterus engage in lek-like behavior but may be reduced to pair- spawning if site densities are low. In contrast, Thalassoma hardwicke and Cheilio inermis engage in group spawning but occasionally larger, single males also pair-spawn if site densities are low or if group spawning activity is reduced. Site density of either species on the site at any given time is a common factor for both species. What is not clear is the role of timing, given that moon phase, tidal state and time of day do not appear to influence local population densities at the site let alone the reproductive behavior observed there.
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193 Look out behind! Are additional cameras in baited video worthwhile?
Sasha Whitmarsh ∗† 1, Charlie Huveneers 1, Peter Fairweather 1
1 Flinders University – Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
The increasing popularity of baited cameras to assess fish assemblages offers the opportunity to improve the design and information that can be obtained from such devices. In all currently published Baited Remote Underwater Video Station (BRUVS) studies, cameras are oriented only forward, towards the bait bag. We hypothesised that using cameras oriented in all directions to provide a 360◦ view of the nearby habitat and associated fish assemblages will increase species richness and abundance estimates. We used single BRUVS set-ups with 4 GoPro cameras per frame, facing forward, behind, and to both sides to test this. We conducted our study in a range of habitats (seagrass, reef, wreck, and soft sediment) to determine whether the benefits of using this 360◦ set-up were consistent across habitats and fish communities. We found that some species (especially shyer species) and individuals were not visible on the forward-facing camera. We also investigated the impact that current direction had on assemblages observed and found more species to be observed in the downstream direction. This study quantifies the benefits of using additional cameras and provides an example of modifications that can be applied to BRUVS to collect further information on the fish assemblages observed.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: sasha.whitmarsh@flinders.edu.au
194 Mucus-secreting lips offer protection to suction-feeding corallivorous fishes
Victor Huertas ∗† 1,2, David Bellwood 1,2
1 James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Of over 6,000 reef fish species, only 128 feed on corals. Despite being widely available on tropical reefs, corals appear to represent a particularly challenging trophic resource, with mucus and nematocyst-laden tissues spread over a sharp coral skeleton. Tubelip wrasses possess distinctive fleshy lips that are shaped like a tube when the mouth is closed. In this study, we used light and scanning electron microscopy to examine these unusual trophic structures. We also provide the first quantitative morphological analysis of lips in reef fishes, and offer insights into the feeding mechanism of tubelip wrasses. A principal components analysis of 27 morphological features revealed a clear differentiation between the lips of three tubelip wrasse species and 12 non-corallivorous wrasses. This separation was based primarily on the existence of a glandular epithelium in the lips of tubelip wrasses. From morphological and behavioral observations, we conclude that coral-feeding tubelip wrasses are able to suck material from the coral surface using highly-modified lips. These lips have a specialized mushroom-like lamellar epithelium that secretes mucus. This mucus may facilitate suction, and reduce damage by nematocysts in a manner akin to anemonefishes. The remarkable lip specializations observed in tubelip wrasses highlight the potential role of soft tissues in shaping the trophic ability of fishes and underscore the need to look beyond jaws and muscles to adequately assess the feeding abilities of reef fishes.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
195 Pacific-Wide Analysis of Specialization in Herbivorous Reef Fish Assemblages
Eileen Nalley ∗ 1, Adel Heenan 2, Megan Donahue 3
1 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Mnoa (HIMB) – 46-007 Lilipuna Rd., Kneohe, Hawaii 96744, United States 2 Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaii at Mnoa NOAA Pacific Islands Fishery Science Center (JIMAR (UHM) NOAA PIFSC) – 1845 Wasp Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96818, United States 3 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Mnoa (HIMB) – 46-007 Lilipuna Rd., Kneohe, Hawaii 96744, United States
Despite the great diversity seen in coral reef fishes, complementarity in roles that contribute to ecosystem function appears to be common among herbivores. Specialized fishes fulfill unique roles, and their absence can be detrimental to community resilience and therefore is of relevance to management. In this study the relative abundance of specialized herbivorous fishes was used as a measure of functional diversity to explore how human impacts are affecting reef fishes throughout the Pacific. First, we developed a dietary specialization index based on a systematic literature review. This index was combined with species abundance data collected by NOAA’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Program at 35 islands and atolls throughout the Pacific. Hierarchical models were used to assess how biological, physical, and anthropogenic drivers influence the relative abundance of specialized herbivores at each site. We found that habitat degradation and homogenization reduce community specialization, and high herbivore biomass appears critical to maintaining specialization in reef fish assemblages. The response of individual functional groups (e.g., grazers and detritivores) may also be masked by overall community effects, suggesting that herbivores should not be treated as a singular group. Our results support the concept that specialized organisms are disproportionately affected by human impacts, and our approach reveals nuances that are not seen using traditional diversity metrics. The interest in herbivore specific fisheries management interventions is growing, and our findings highlight the need to consider the sensitivity and functional importance of dietary specialists.
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196 Parrotfish movement patterns vary with spatiotemporal scale
Jenn Caselle ∗† 1, Kathryn Davis 1, Peter Carlson 1, Christopher Lowe 2, Robert Warner 3
1 Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara (MSI, UCSB) – Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106, United States 2 Dept. of Biological Sciences, California State University Long Beach (CSULB) – 1250 Bellflower Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90840, United States 3 Dept. Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara (EEMB, UCSB) – Dept. Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106, United States
Herbivorous fishes are being increasingly valued for their ecological function in coral reef systems, and consequently they have become the focus of management actions on many reefs around the world. Because many conservation actions require an understanding of the space use patterns of species of interest, there has been an increased effort in recent years to study the movement patterns and home range sizes of many herbivorous taxa. Also of great interest are the fine-scale foraging patterns of parrotfishes and the spatial and temporal scale of their interactions with benthic organisms. In this study, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of the movement and foraging patterns of the parrotfish, Chlorurus microrhinos, over multiple spatial and temporal scales at the relatively unimpacted, Palmyra Atoll. We documented large home ranges when accounting for migrations to spawning and night refuge sites, but within feeding territories activity is highly non-random and is quite spatially constrained and temporally episodic, indicating a high level of feeding selectivity. We also found high within-atoll variability in fine-scale spatial and temporal feeding patterns. These patterns of foraging activity result in the patchy removal of algae from the reef, which may have significant consequences to the space competition between algae and corals.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
197 Parrotfishes: Can the hypothesis of obligate microphagy explain their evolutionary history and ecological success.
John Choat ∗ 1, Brett Taylor 2, Kendall Clements 3
1 James Cook University (JCU) – Marine Biology Douglas, Australia 2 NOAA Inouye Regional Centre (NOAA) – Inouye Regional Centre 1845 Wasp Bld Honolulu Hawaii, United States 3 School of Biological Sciences University of Auckland (UA) – University of Auckland Private Bag Auckland, New Zealand
Piscine herbivory appears to be widespread in marine reef environments a view supported by the high abundances, structural and biochemical diversity of marine autotrophs. However only a small proportion of the perciform reef fishes (the most diverse vertebrate fauna in existence) has evolved to obtain nutrients and energy directly from autotrophs (herbivory). The evolutionary timing of emergence of herbivorous clades is very heterogeneous with some having a history that extends through the Cenozoic while others exhibit a Pleistocene tenure. Two signature-groups of herbivorous reef fishes, Surgeon fishes (Acanthuridae) and Parrotfishes (Labridae) considered to represent the most functionally important assemblages on coral reefs illustrate contrasting evo- lutionary histories. The former are characterized by an evolutionary history extending through the Cenozoic initiated by a particularly high diversity of herbivorous taxa during the Eocene, a feature that has continued to present coral reefs. Parrotfish are a more recent group that emerged as a major ecological feature of reefs only during the late Pliocene/Pleistocene thus entering an environment already dominated by acanthurid herbivores. These events, the evo- lutionary emergence and diversification of parrotfishes and the components of the autotroph resources that they exploit are presently debated and have a major bearing on the status of coral reef ecosystems. This presentation evaluates these issues by focusing on the link between food resources, functional anatomy, demographic features and the evolutionary history of Indo- Pacific parrotfishes. The primary aim is to interrogate the hypothesis that the metabolically and demographically demanding life history of parrot fishes may by effectively satisfied by tar- geting protein-rich microbial elements of the coral reef ecosystems and has been the driver of diversification of this clade during the Pleistocene. This hypothesis also provides a framework for investigating how the diverse and complex herbivore faunas of coral reefs can partition po- tentially limiting resources and how they will respond to predicted changes to reef ecosystems over the next decade.
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198 Positive indirect effects of top-predators on the survival and behaviour of juvenile fishes
Maria Del Mar Palacios ∗† 2,1, Mark Mccormick 2,1
2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, 4811 QLD, Australia 1 James Cook University – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville QLD 4811, Australia
Top-predators can suppress mesopredator behaviour through risk effects. However, there is limited understanding on whether such behavioural suppression can dampen the lethal and sub-lethal effects of mesopredators on bottom level prey. Here, we document a field experi- ment that examines how the presence of top-predator cues (visual and chemical stimuli from a coral trout) indirectly influences the behaviour and survival of juvenile fish prey from different species (Pomacentrus amboinensis and P. chrysurus) and sizes (small and large; ˜ 0.15 cm SL difference). Results showed that after exposure to reef mesopredators for 72 h, juvenile fish had higher space use ( ˜46 %), feeding rate ( ˜95 %), and survival ( ˜67 %) on habitat patches where top-predator cues had been deployed. Survival was always higher for individuals of P. amboinensis and of large-size independent of the presence or absence of predation risk cues from the top-predator. We hypothesize predation risk from the top-predator indirectly favoured the persistence and behaviour of juvenile fishes, by promoting risk-averse behavioral responses in mesopredators. Our results evidence a potential mechanism through which risk effects can affect community dynamics and highlight the consequences that harvesting top-predators may have on the replenishment of bottom prey populations.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
199 Quantifying reef-scale rates of parrotfish bioerosion and sediment production
Robert Yarlett ∗† 1, Chris Perry 1, Rod Wilson 1
1 University of Exeter – Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, United Kingdom
Parrotfish play a key role in a number of ecological and physical processes on coral reefs. In addition to their role in algal grazing, parrotfish are major bioeroders of reef substrates. Whilst feeding, now thought to be targeting cyanobacteria, parrotfish remove and ingest framework material, and subsequently excrete this as sediment. On some reefs in the Maldives, parrotfish have been estimated to account for up to 85% of biogenic sediment production. Through these processes, parrotfish exert a strong influence on reef growth potential, and can underpin the maintenance of tropical coastal landforms such as reef islands and beaches. However, despite the importance of parrotfish bioerosion, quantitative data to support estimates of both bioerosion rates, and of the resultant sand generation, remain sparse. In particular, there is little work on how these processes vary between species and sizes of fish, the sedimentary characteristics of the material produced, and how the importance of these processes varies spatially across reef habitats, over a reef scale. In this study, we address these knowledge gaps based on data from an atoll edge reef platform in the North Central Maldives. The reef platform comprised of eight distinct marine habitats, with 15 species of parrotfish identified. However, parrotfish only occurred in habitats which in total, comprised of 43% of the platform area, and each supports a unique species assemblage. Of the six dominant parrotfish species studied in detail, rates of bioerosion, and resultant new sediment generation varied between 1.5 kg ind-1 yr-1 (for Scarus psittacus) and 560 kg ind-1 yr-1 (for Chlorurus strongylocephalus) for the largest size classes of the species. Thus there is significant functional variability between species. At the habitat scale, overall rates of bioerosion ranged between 0.0 and 3.8 kg m-2 yr-1, highlighting the importance of accounting for inter-habitat variability in parrotfish assemblages in reef scale assessments. All species produced a broad range of size fractions of sediment, comprised predominantly of coral, and mostly in the silt to coarse sand size ranges. This corresponds to material reported to be dominant on local reef islands.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
200 Responses of coral reef fishes to predation risk
Maria Palacios 1,2, Maddison Craig ∗† 1, Elizabeth Madin 3, Mark Mccormick 1,2
1 College of Marine Environmental Sciences, James Cook University – 1 James Cook Dr, Townsville City QLD 4811, Australia, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 3 Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University – Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia
The non-consumptive (risk) effects of predators can influence natural ecosystems by affect- ing prey behaviour. However, given that prey communities are composed of many species from different trophic groups and with diverse phenotypic traits, it is likely that species display differ- ent risk-avoidance responses to predators. Using a controlled aquarium experiment, this study examined the behavioural responses of seven common reef fishes (from families Acanthuridae, Labridae, Lutjanidae, Pomacentridae, Pseudochromidae, Scaridae) to visual and chemical cues from a large predatory coral trout (Serranidae), a large non-predatory wrasse (Labridae), or a control (absence of fish). We found evidence that all coral reef fishes modified their be- haviour due to the presence of the predatory coral trout. However, the nature and magnitude of the antipredator response varied greatly with the identity of the fish prey. For example, parrotfish (Scaridae) responded to acute predation risk by changing their space use, dottybacks (Pseudochromidae) did so mainly by reducing their activity, while surgeonfish (Acanthuridae) increased their time sheltering. Although our results highlight the importance of predation risk in coral reefs, they also suggest that broad generalizations of risk effects across fish prey commu- nities (i.e., across different species and sizes) could incorrectly characterize the indirect role of predators in marine ecosystems. Keywords: predator-prey interaction, risk assessment, acute risk, fish behaviour
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
201 Spatial differentiation of tropical clupeid populations
Kynan Hartog-Burnett ∗† 1, Emma Woodcock 2, Gabriele Gerlach 3, Michael Kingsford‡ 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – Marine Biology, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia, Australia 2 Marine Biology, College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – Marine Biology, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia, Australia 3 Institut f¨urBiologie AG Biodiversit¨atund Evolution der Tiere, Carl von Ossietzky Universit¨at Oldenburg (IBU) – INSTITUT FUR¨ BIOLOGIE UND UMWELTWISSENSCHAFTEN (IBU) Fakult¨at V - Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften Carl von Ossietzky Universit¨atOldenburg Postfach 2503 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
Clupeids are a critical group of fishes worldwide for both commercial fisheries and in sup- porting higher trophic levels. Whilst temperate clupeids have been intensely studied, tropical species have been relatively ignored. The objective of this study was to use ecological and genetic approaches to elucidate the population structure of tropical clupeids at spatial scales ranging from over a thousand kilometres to groups of reefs separated by kilometres to tens of kilometres. The common tropical sprat Spratelloides delicatulus was sampled over multiple years on the Great Barrier Reef. Sprats of all life stages were most abundant within the lagoons of reefs when compared to inter-reefal waters; this suggested a high level of reef fidelity by fish. Population genetics of S. delicatulus (mtDNA) suggested separate stocks of this tropical clupeid over spatial scales greater than 800km. Variation in size to maturity and patterns of growth correlated with genetic differentiation over broad spatial scales concurring with our conclusion of stock structure. Surprisingly, genetic substructure was found between reefs separated by 10s of kms in the Capricorn Bunker. We argue that reef fidelity, spawning behaviour and reef geo- morphology play a role in maintaining higher levels of genetic diversity. Our results for tropical sprats contrast with patterns for temperate clupeid that generally have well mixed stocks over scales in excess of a 1000km.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
202 The conceptual and empirical basis of trophic resource partitioning in herbivorous coral reef fishes
Kendall Clements ∗† 1, Brett Taylor 2, Howard Choat 3
1 University of Auckland – School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand, New Zealand 2 NOAA Fisheries - Inouye Regional Center (NOAA) – NOAA Fisheries - Inouye Regional Center NMFS/PIFSC/FRMD/Brett Taylor 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176 Honolulu, Hawaii 96818, United States 3 James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia
Resource partitioning in animals can be studied from different conceptual and empirical per- spectives. The partitioning of trophic resources by herbivorous coral reef fishes has largely been viewed through the conceptual lens of plant-based approaches, where herbivory is understood in terms of its impact on plants. In empirical terms trophic partitioning in this assemblage has been studied extensively through feeding observations, diet choice experiments, and caging studies. We argue that the use of these approaches has resulted in a lack of resolution of both the actual nutritional resources that support these fishes on reefs and the partitioning of these resources among the fishes. This is especially the case with grazing coral reef fish taxa, whose dietary targets are generally resolved in terms of broad categories such as turf algae, epilithic algal matrix or detritus. This stands in stark contrast to the approach taken with many fresh- water fish assemblages, such as haplochromine cichlids, cyprinids and loricariid catfishes, where detailed analysis of diet and trophic morphology has resolved fine-scale resource partitioning. In such systems the use of biochemical diet markers has proved especially valuable in cases where fishes select from a complex resource base over small spatial scales, thus illuminating the evolutionary and ecological processes that led to and maintain these systems. Here, we examine stable isotope and fatty acid data from a sample of 18 species of herbivorous and detritivorous fishes collected from Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. While conventional gut content analysis had proved informative in characterizing the diets of browsing members of this assemblage, the nutritional targets of the grazing species was poorly resolved. Our stable isotope and fatty acid data demonstrate that the use of generalized categories such as turf algae, detritus and even macroalgae fail to capture the complexity of resource partitioning in these fishes, and thus highlight an urgent need for more detailed analyses of the trophic resource base that underpins these communities.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
203 The damselfish domino effect: a competitive release in a highly partitioned guild reveals subordinates versatility
Jacob Eurich ∗ 1, Mark Mccormick 2, Geoff Jones 3
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University (CoralCoE and JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University (CoralCoE and JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University (CoralCoE and JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia
A major goal of ecology is to explain the mechanisms that drive species distributions and ecological partitioning along gradients in the natural environment. The distributions of eco- logically similar animals may depend on the degree of habitat specialization and behavioural interactions within and among species. The extent of ecological partitioning in guilds of coral reef fishes has been a matter of debate, but the roles of habitat selectivity and agonistic interac- tions have received little attention. Territorial damselfish play an integral role in the structure of coral reefs through their abundant role as small-bodied consumers and aggressive holders of benthic space. Their agonistic interactions towards interspecific competitors and mobile herbi- vores have an influence on the fish community and benthos. In Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea, 7 territorial damselfish finely partition space (1 - 2 m) along the reef profile in discrete zones with semi-overlapping perimeters. Previous research suggested that habitat preference alone was insufficient in explaining the distributional patterns and that competition may be an additional driver. Here we examined how subordinates ecological versatility and spatial distribution was altered after an experimental competitive release. 22 m by 10 m removals of the most abundant territorial damselfish, Pomacentrus adelus, were conducted to assess subordinates versatility and spatial ecology. After removing P. adelus, the surrounding interspecific competitors shifted consecutively into the space previously occupied by P. adelus adults. Movement was observed immediately following the removal and the acquired space was retained 6 months post-removal at higher densities. P. adelus did not regain its original distribution despite normal recruitment. Thus, demonstrating that competition is a major driver behind fine-scale partitioning and that species can become versatile and alter ecological parameters if competition is decreased and additional space is made available. This is ecologically important as habitat loss may force specialists to either adapt their niche breadth and move into previously unoccupied habitats or subside to generalists.
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204 The functional roles of fishes on coral reefs: mediation by sediments
Sterling Tebbett ∗† 1, Christopher Goatley 2, David Bellwood 1
1 James Cook University – Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia 2 University of New England – Armidale, NSW, 2350, Australia
It is well established that fishes are involved in a number of key ecosystem processes which underpin the functioning of coral reefs. However, these functions can be impaired by increased sediment inputs, a key stressor in coral reef ecosystems. On coral reefs, the epilithic algal matrix (EAM) represents the critical interface where herbivorous and detritivorous fishes interact with turf-bound sediments. The EAM is often the most widespread benthic covering on coral reefs. It also represents a vast reservoir of nutritional resources for fishes. However, inorganic sediments affect the ability of fishes to feed on the EAM and consequently how fishes deliver specific functions. We clarify the functional roles of key herbivorous and detritivorous fishes, which are highly abundant on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, providing a more nuanced understanding of how these fishes interact with the EAM and its sediments. Fishes which are often categorised under the same functional banner were found to interact with the EAM in markedly different ways and to contribute to very different ecosystem functions. Based on recent experimental work, we explore how sediments affect these different functions. Sediments play a pivotal role in the nature of fish based herbivory and detritivory on the EAM. Increased sediment loads can alter fish interactions so markedly that the state of the EAM changes to long sediment-laden algal turfs (LSATs). LSATs are likely to become increasingly widespread on reefs in the future. However, by understanding the role of sediments and their impact on critical functions we may be able to help navigate reefs through these challenging conditions.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
205 The role of cryptobenthic fishes on coral reefs
Christopher Goatley ∗ 1,2, David Bellwood 2
1 University of New England (UNE) – Function, Evolution and Anatomy Research (FEAR) lab, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia 2 James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Reef ecosystems around the world are dominated by small fishes. In fact, on the Great Barrier Reef the average length of a reef fish is less than 45mm and 50% of all reef fish individuals belong to species that remain smaller than this for their whole lives. These species are known as cryptobenthic reef fishes, defined as small, camouflaged, bottom-dwelling fishes. While hugely abundant, we know remarkably little about the ecological roles of these fishes on coral reefs. However, there are clear indications that these small fishes may play a critical role in coral reef ecosystem dynamics, particularly as abundant prey items and as links in complex trophic webs. In this presentation, I will begin by providing a brief synopsis of what we currently know about the ecological roles of cryptobenthic reef fishes. I will discuss recent findings regarding the dynamics and drivers of the extremely high predation rates suffered by cryptobenthic fishes. This work has highlighted the surprising diversity of predatory fishes on coral reefs and the importance of rapid growth in minimising predation rates among cryptobenthic fishes. The second topic of my presentation will focus on how we can apply new tools to develop an understanding of how cryptobenthic fishes fuel these fast growth rates. Understanding where these little fishes gain their nutrition is of critical importance, as their diets may ultimately affect populations of larger, economically valuable species. Rather than conducting complex dietary analyses on individual fishes, I will demonstrate the potential for computer based morphological and biomechanical analyses which may allow us to infer critical dietary information about species across entire assemblages.
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206 The role of fishes on coral reefs: an overview
David Bellwood ∗ 1, Christopher Goatley 1,2, Deron Burkepile 3
1 James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 2 University of New England (UNE) – Function, Evolution and Anatomy Research (FEAR) lab, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia 3 University of California [Santa Barbara] – Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States
The concept of functional roles in coral reef ecosystems started in the early 1990s, looking at the functional importance of biodiversity. The classic example of the importance of roles rather than taxonomic status was the collapse of Caribbean ecosystems in 1983 following the loss of Diadema, the last functional macro-herbivore. In the 1990s, herbivores became the prime examples of important functional groups with parrotfishes leading the way with the familiar scrapers and excavators highlighting that it was the role of fishes that was more important for reefs than biodiversity. But, identifying functional groups or subgroups and then evaluating their importance is a difficult challenge. It is perhaps for this reason that we have moved to traits, where morphological or behavioral characteristics are assumed to have functional relevance. However, the utility of this approach rests on the functional relevance of traits. Traits have enabled us to look at global patterns and compare among systems, yet the key questions remain: 1. what are we comparing and to what extent are traits functional; 2. which groups or traits are important in reef processes, and 3. can we identify critical functional groups? As usual, the devil is in the detail. Fortunately, recent progress in nutrient transfer, bioerosion, nutritional ecology, sediment dynamics, and predation are yielding valuable breakthroughs that promise to deliver a more robust understanding of the roles that fishes play and their relative importance in maintaining coral reef ecosystem processes. As reefs around the world reconfigure, and new groups of fishes take up the established functional roles, our ability to identify critical functional groups will become more important than ever.
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207 The struggle for existence – how competition reigns, especially when predation abounds
Stuart Sandin ∗ 1, Brian Zgliczynski 1
1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) – University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0208, U.S.A., United States
The seminal work of Gause and colleagues led us to consider the prominent role of competi- tion in constraining the development of communities. When considering pairwise combinations of similar species in a closed environment, one species will exclude the other in the so-called ”struggle for existence”. In nature, though, we observe quite the contrary with countless species coexisting, challenging the strength of competitive dynamics in regulating community structure. Our group has been considering how complex ecological communities are organized, focusing on highly-diverse coral reef ecosystems and exploiting natural experimental conditions linked with human harvest and manipulation across replicate coral reef ecosystems (islands of the central Pacific). By including relatively untouched coral reef ecosystems as ecological end-members into the study, we have identified the profound importance of predator-prey dynamics in structuring communities. Critically, within the context of intensive predation we find a complementary increase of competitive dynamics – both with prey competing with prey and predators compet- ing with predators. These observations lead us to consider a new framework in which Gause’s ”struggle for existence” is brought into increasing focus in well-developed ecological communi- ties, and in which predation and competition are synergistic processes that lose their rhythm as the trophic structure of ecosystems is perturbed.
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208 C2/ Symbiosis in Fishes
209 Cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus presence increases post-settlement success of a coral reef fish
Alexandra Grutter ∗† 1, Redouan Bshary 2, James Kerry 3, Elizabeth Madin 4, Eva Mcclure 1, Derek Sun 1, Robert Warner 5, Mark Meekan 6
1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland (UQ) – University of Queensland Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia, Australia 2 University of Neuchatel – Department of Biology, University of Neuchˆatel,Emile-Argand, 11, Neuchˆatel,2000, Switzerland 3 James Cook University – Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia 4 Macquarie University – Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia 5 The University of California Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States 6 Australian Institute of Marine Science WA – The UWA Oceans Institute, 35 Sterling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
Cleaner wrasse remove ectoparasites and reduce stress hormones in fishes. In cleaners’ ab- sence, recruit, juvenile, and adult fish abundances are reduced. Settling damselfish are visually attracted to cleaner wrasse, suggesting cleaner presence may influence settlers’ habitat choice and consequently fish populations. Here, we tested whether post-settlement processes are also influenced by cleaners. We tagged Pomacentrus amboinensis recruits (n = 447) and resettled them to 16 reefs maintained with or without cleaner wrasse for 13 years. Several hours after resettlement (day zero), and on days one, four, and eight we recorded recruit presence (i.e. post-settlement success and presumed survival) and location (within-reef movement). Natu- rally occurring conspecific and piscivore abundances were also recorded. Survival over eight days tended (P = 0.0763) to be higher on reefs with cleaners and increased with fish length (P < 0.0001). However, on day zero only (when most mortality occurred), survival was 1.8 times higher on reefs with cleaners compared to those without (P = 0.0494) and increased with fish length (P = 0.0002). Survival on day zero did not correlate with abundances of con- specifics per ontogenetic stage (recruits, juveniles, and adults) and piscivores. Of survivors on day zero, the odds of within-reef movement differed with cleaner presence and fish length (P = 0.0284). Conspecific recruit and juvenile abundances were not affected by cleaners, whereas adult abundance was higher on reefs with cleaners (P = 0.0082); piscivore abundance was not affected by cleaners. Growth of remaining survivors recaptured 11 or 12 days from resettlement was higher on reefs with cleaners, but only for larger individuals (P = 0.0012). Remaining survivors’ ectoparasite loads (monogeneans, turbellarians, copepods) were not affected by clean- ers. Early post-settlement processes, possibly via factors associated with recruit growth, size, and within-reef movement, may therefore also disproportionately contribute to fish population changes related to cleaner presence.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
210 Embryonic learning of chemical cues via the parents’ host in anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Kazuko Miyagawa-Kohshima ∗ 1, Coral Group Of The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium 2, Hirokazu Miyahara 3, Senzo Uchida 3
1 Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University – 2-24 Tanaka-Sekiden-cho, Sakyo-ku,Kyoto, Japan 2 Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium – Ishikawa 424, Motobu-cho, Okinawa, Japan 3 Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium – Ishikawa 424, Motobu-cho, Japan
In the tropical and sub-tropical region of the Indo-Pacific Ocean, anemonefish inhabit species-specific symbiotic anemones. After entering the benthic stage, juveniles of each anemone- fish species look for their hosts by recognising chemicals emitted from their symbiotic anemones. This species-specific host-recognition system of anemonefish was further experimentally ana- lyzed, with a particular focus on the function of imprinting using naive Amphiprion ocellaris juveniles. We demonstrated the embryonic and immediate post-hatching learning of chemical cues via the parents’ host in A. ocellaris through a host-exchange experiment with egg batches during hatching. Anemonefish parents lay their eggs immediately adjacent to their host anemone so that the eggs almost always touch the host’s body or tentacles which ensures such imprinting. The memory obtained through this imprinting operates at the time when juveniles first search for their hosts in the sea. Unexpectedly, innate recognition was found to exist not only for the two symbiotic host species but also weakly for two non-partner species. Innate recognition alone is not sufficient to enable anemonefish to reach their hosts. Imprinting via the parents’ host complements innate recognition, leading to rigid species-specific host recognition. Imprinting by the parents’ single host provides a sufficient cue for reaching the two symbiotic host species of A. ocellaris. Furthermore, when combined with imprinting, innate recognition of non-partner species serves to supplement the recognition of those species, leading to substitute partnerships that are only observed in some localities. In short, innate non-partner recognition is considered to be a type of spare recognition. Whether a substitute partnership actually arises seems to de- pend on the ecological situation of each anemonefish in each habitat. The most relevant scenario is likely that anemonefish species face inter- specific competition over a common symbiotic host. We propose that such substitute partnerships should be distinguished from symbiotic relation- ships by calling them ”sub-symbiotic”. Clear distinctions between symbiotic and sub-symbiotic suggests that ”acclimation behaviour” is done only in quite special cases.
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211 Molecular phylogeny of obligate fish parasites of the family Cymothoidae (Isopoda, Crustacea): Evolution of the attachment mode to host fish and the habitat shift from saline water to freshwater
Hiroki Hata ∗ 1, Atsushi Sogabe 2, Hirohiko Takeshima 3, Ryota Kawanishi 4
1 Ehime University – 2-5 Bunkyo, Matuyama, Ehime 790-8577, Japan 2 Hirosaki University – 1-1 Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8560, Japan 3 Tokai University – 3-20-1 Orito, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424-8610, Japan 4 Hokkaido University – N10W5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan
In host–parasite co-evolution, parasite innovations including the acquisition of new habitats and novel traits can trigger evolutionary breakthroughs and enhance parasite diversification via accumulation of new hosts. All species of the family Cymothoidae are obligate fish parasites, attaching to exterior body surfaces of fish, the buccal or opercular cavities, or burrowing into abdominal muscle tissue. In the present study, we constructed a molecular phylogeny of 27 cymothoid species that parasitise 38 fish species, combined with 2 prior cymothoid datasets, based on the sequences of mitochondrial 16S rRNA and COI genes. We explored the evolu- tion of the host attachment mode, and the habitat shift from saline water to freshwater. Our evolutionary trees include two freshwater clades, an abdominal burrower clade, and cymoth- oid clades that are closer to the base of Cymothoidae than those initially analysed. We found that the basal clade of Cymothoidae was Elthusa sacciger, which is parasitic in the opercular cavity of synaphobranchid eels. This analysis suggests that cymothoids may have originated in deep seas, subsequently expanded to shallow seas, and then to brackish and/or freshwater, by shifting host species. Invasion of freshwater habitats has occurred at least twice; freshwater abdominal-muscle burrowers living on armoured catfish constitute a clade allied to E. sacciger. The ancestral host attachment site, based on our dataset, was the opercular cavity, followed (sequentially) by buccal colonisation and attachment to the external body.
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212 Skin microbiome of coral reef fishes is diversified, species-specific and not phylogenetically conserved
Marl`eneChiarello 1, Jean-Christophe Auguet 1, Corinne Bouvier 1, Thomas Claverie 2, Elliott Sucr´e 2, Thierry Bouvier 1, S´ebastienVill´eger ∗ 1
1 MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC) – Institut de Recherche pour 0 le D´eveloppement : UMRD248, InstitutfrancaisdeRecherchepourl¸ ExploitationdelaMer : UMR9190, UniversitedeMontpellier´ : UMR9190, CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique : UMR9190 − −UniversitedeMontpellierP´ laceEugeneBataillon` 34095MONT P ELLIERF rance, F rance 2 MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC) – Institut de Recherche pour 0 le D´eveloppement : UMRD248, InstitutfrancaisdeRecherchepourl¸ ExploitationdelaMer : UMR9190, UniversitedeMontpellier´ : UMR9190, CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique : UMR9190 − −CentreUniversitairedeMayotteRouteNationale3 − BP 5397660DEMBENIMayotte, F rance
All animals are covered by microbes and this skin microbiota is known to interplay with its host. Hence, it has been hypothesized that skin microbiota may have coevolved with their hosts promoting phylosymbiosis pattern. However, skin microbiota of fishes has been less studied than the one of terrestrial mammals. The few studies on fish skin microbiota were done on less than 10 species from the Atlantic realm. The diversity of skin-associated microbes of the numerous coral reef fishes from the Indo-Pacific remains unknown. Here we assessed for the first time the bacterial biodiversity covering skin of the main reef fish families and tested whether this biodiversity is driven by phylogeny or ecology. We sampled skin microbiota of 138 individuals belonging to 44 fish species from Mayotte coral reefs (Western Indian Ocean). Biodiversity of skin bacteria was assessed using Next Generation Sequencing and complementary indices describing diversity of each microbiota and dissimilarity between them. We used a dated phylogeny of teleost fishes and a database on fish ecological traits to test for effects of evolutionary legacy and ecology on skin microbiota biodiversity.
We found that skin of coral reef fishes host a higher phylogenetic diversity of bacteria than surrounding water. Abundance of bacterial phylogenetic lineages significantly differed between fish species. However, phylogenetic distances between hosts did not significantly explain these differences. The only ecological trait having a significant, although low, signal on skin microbiota diversity was fish diet. The absence of phylogenetic conservatism and of effect of species ecology contrasts with previous findings on other animal microbiota (e.g. gut microbiota of mammals) and suggests that drivers of fish skin microbiota have evolved rapidly.
Besides difference in bacteria structure, fish also exhibited significantly different levels of skin
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213 microbial diversity. This diversity of skin microbiota showed a significant phylogenetic signal with Scorpaenidae having the most diversified skin microbiota. Overall our results demonstrate that reef fishes support a unique diversity of microbes and the low signal of phylogenetic and ecological conservatism made this microbial biodiversity hotspot even more vulnerable to loss of fish species.
214 The cleaner’s mimic Aspidontus taeniatus utilizes the effect of aggressive mimicry only when it is small
Misaki Fujisawa ∗† 1, Yoichi Sakai 1, Tetsuo Kuwamura 2
1 Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University – 1-4-4 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8528, Japan 2 School of International Liberal Studies, Chukyo University – 101-2 Yagoto-honmachi, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8666, Japan
Numerous examples of mimicry have been reported from tropical reef fishes, and the best- known example is the cleaner’s mimic. The sabre-toothed blenny Aspidontus taeniatus resembles the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus in color and shape, but grows larger (max. 14 cm in total length) than the cleaner (11 cm). The cleaner wrasse intakes ectoparasites and mucus from other fishes (clients) while posing at the cleaning station. Hitherto, two benefits have been suggested on this mimicry of the blenny: (1) predator avoidance (protective mimicry) and (2) easy access to other fishes to bite pieces of flesh (mainly fin) from posing fishes (aggressive mimicry). Although the aspect of aggressive mimicry was initially emphasized, the blenny rarely attacks reef fish in most Indo-Pacific locations where field observations have been conducted. Therefore, it has been suggested that the main function of this resemblance is protective mimicry. However, a recent study has suggested that the relative importance of different mimicry benefits apparently varies between locations. So, we conducted a field survey to track tagged individuals of the blenny on reef of Sesoko Is., Okinawa from 2015. We hypothesize that if effectiveness of the fin-biting may vary with growth of the blenny, the fin-biting would be shown in limited conditions. As the result, the blenny fed mostly on tentacles of the Christmas tree tubeworm, mantle edges of the boring clam and demersal eggs of several species of damselfish, but rarely bit fish fin. We found that the tubeworm and the boring clam were utilized regardless of the body size of the blenny. On the other hand, the feeding frequency of the damselfish eggs increased with body size, and that of the fish fins decreased with growth. Thus, the effect of aggressive mimicry was utilized only when the blenny is small.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
215 The pair bonding in swimming goby, Ptereleotris hanae and the association between P. hanae and coinhabitant two species, nest-digging shrimp and its sentinel goby
Izumi Akagawa ∗ 1, Mizuki Kimura 2, Shoko Suzuki 3, Soichiro Matsumoto 4, Kazuhiro Ogawa 5
1 Izumi AKAGAWA – 106, Miyatake 2-19-1, Suruga-ku, Shioka city, Shizuoka 422-8035, Japan 2 Mizuki KIMURA – Chiba, Japan 3 Shoko SUZUKI – Aichi, Japan 4 Soichiro MATSUMOTO – Tokyo, Japan 5 Kazuhiro OGAWA – Chiba, Japan
The examples of an evolutionary process of behavioral and mutualistic symbiotic associations between gobies and shrimps in various stages have been studied. But the associations among coinhabiting three species have not known well. Ptereleotris hanae is a goby with elongated tail fin rays inhabiting reef edge in Indo-Pacific Ocean. Pairs of this species are often observed to coinhabit with nest-digging shrimp, Alpheus bellulus and another goby Amblyeleotris japonica. We observed 30 pairs in the reproductive season in 2012, 30 pairs in 2013, and 20 pairs in 2014 in Tachibanaura, Kochi pref. Japan where almost all adults were observed to inhabit the burrows in pairs that the shrimp digs and one or a pair of A. japonica always inhabit. Individual recognition of P. hanae was conducted by the length and position of the tail fin rays. Pairs of P. hanae were consisted with a female and a male which was significantly larger, spawning 2-3 times in a reproductive season. The paired individuals often nuzzled each other to maintain pair bond. Most pairs continued over one reproductive season and 30 percent pairs over two years. We investigated the frequency of carrying sand for maintenance of the nest by shrimp in case with and without P. hanae. We also recorded the order of three coinhabiting species coming out of the burrow after all hiding by threatening experimentally. The first one appeared from the nest might be a sentinel of the others. Then we investigated the negative effect of P. hanae on A. japonica. The underwater observations proved the interferences by A. japonica against P. hanae which tried to enter the nest. We discuss P. hanae works as a sentinel or a parasite for the other coinhabitant species.
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216 C3/ Fish trophic chains in the Indo-Pacific
217 A new method for inferring diet of coral reef fish by determining mineralized elements in situ within digestive contents using X-Ray microtomography
J´er´emieViviani ∗ 1,2, Ama¨elDupaix 1, Jean Bienvenu 1, Aurel Jennan 1, David Lecchini 2, Ren´eGalzin 2, Laurent Viriot† 1
1 Institut de G´enomiquefonctionnelle de lyon (IGFL) – CNRS : UMR5242, Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA) : UA1288, Universit´eClaude Bernard - Lyon I (UCBL), Ecole´ Normale Sup´erieure(ENS) - Lyon – ENS de Lyon - CNRS UMR 5242 - INRA USC 1370 46, all´eed’Italie 69364 Lyon cedex 07, France 2 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
Deciphering trophic relationships between organisms has a pivotal role for further implemen- tation of management programs based on ecology. Direct observation of digestive content and isotopic composition of muscle samples are two classical yet complementary approaches since digestive content provides data on the few last meals while isotope analyses cover longer periods of time. Here we propose a new method to investigate digestive content. We collected fish in the Society Archipelago. Digestive contents of collected specimens were de- hydrated in a desiccator, and then scanned using X-Ray conventional microtomography. Some specimens were scanned in ethanol. Dedicated software allowed reconstructing images of jaws and dentitions in 3D with the possibility to generate surface, volume or virtual sliced renderings. We investigated species with various feeding behaviors to see advantages or limitations of our method in different types of diet. Even if this method is not ideally designed for strictly her- bivorous species, investigating digestive content using X-ray microtomography revealed to be a perfectly adapted method to study diet of planktonivores and zoophageous fish. This method can be coupled with other methods of diet investigations such as metagenomics analysis.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
218 A reconstruction of coral reef food webs in Moorea: fish gut content metabarcoding as a tool to disentangle trophic interactions
Jordan Casey ∗ 1, Christopher Meyer 1, Serge Planes 2, Fabien Morat 3, Rene Galzin 4, Valeriano Parravicini 2
1 National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (NMNH) – Washington DC, United States 2 Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan – Perpignan, France 3 Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan – Perpignan, France 4 Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – Paris, France
Coral reefs harbor the highest levels of diversity in the ocean, but anthropogenic stressors such as climate change are leading to unprecedented biodiversity losses. In order to understand the effects of such losses, it is essential to disentangle species’ functional roles on coral reefs. Yet, we have a paucity of information on trophic relationships among species on coral reefs, and in particular, Indo-Pacific food webs have been over-simplified and poorly studied. One way to examine trophic interactions among species is to conduct dietary analyses. However, the most commonly employed techniques to examine diet, gut content analysis and stable isotope analysis, do not provide adequately high taxonomic resolution to assign species-specific trophic pathways in complex food webs such as coral reefs. Recent advances in molecular techniques have made metabarcoding, the mass amplification of DNA barcodes from samples containing a multitude of eukaryotes, an accessible and invaluable tool. Further, Moorea provides a unique opportunity for fish diet analysis due to the existence of an extensive DNA-barcode library (Moorea BIOCODE barcode library), which contains barcodes of the vast majority of marine organisms around Moorea. In the present project, we employed fish gut content metabarcoding with next-generation sequencing on fishes collected around Moorea, French Polynesia across a wide array of trophic guilds, including species from the families Pomacentridae, Chaetodonti- dae, Labridae, Balistidae, Gobiidae, Holocentridae, Apogonidae, and Pempheridae. With this technique, we have pinpointed detailed, species-level trophic assignments that considerably su- persede traditional, broad-scale trophic assignments (e.g. herbivores, corallivores, invertivores, etc) and demonstrate the efficacy of utilizing metabarcoding for food web reconstruction. Our data further reveals fine-scale trophic partitioning among species that are commonly considered to occupy synonymous trophic groups, which underlines the importance of qualifying fish trophic level beyond broad trophic categories.
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219 Comparative visual, molecular and stable isotope diet analysis in fishery-targeted groupers
Jordan Matley ∗† 1, Gregory Maes 2,3, Floriaan Devloo-Delva 4, Roger Huerlimann 5, Aaron Fisk 6, Colin Simpfendorfer 7,8, Michelle Heupel 9
1 University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) – 2 John Brewers Bay St. Thomas, VI 00802, United States 2 Laboratory for Cytogenetics and Genome Research, Center for Human Genetics, Genomics Core, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven [Leuven] (KUL) – Oude Markt 13, 3000 Leuven, Belgium 3 Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven [Leuven] (KUL) – Oude Markt 13, 3000 Leuven, Belgium 4 Oceans and Atmosphere - CSIRO (CSIRO) – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 5 Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering - James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Queensland, Australia 6 GLIER - University of Windsor Canada (GLIER) – Windsor, Ontario, Canada 7 Center for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA) – School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia 8 James Cook University (JCU) – Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia 9 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Townsville) – Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville 4810, Queensland, Australia, Australia
As high-order consumers, predatory fishes play a vital role structuring community com- position and ecosystem dynamics. Characterizing the diet of predatory fishes is important for management and conservation efforts because the impacts of prey selection can be broad and far- reaching in the aquatic environment. Although several techniques exist to identify and quantify prey, inherent limitations exist for all. There is growing need for more robust methods capable of high resolution output. In this study, we compared two traditional diet analysis techniques – visual gut content and stable isotope analysis – with a high-throughput molecular gut content technique. Specifically, we evaluated the limitations and advantages of each technique using species from the Plectropomus genus. Plectropomus are the most abundant medium/large-sized predators on coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific. Consequently, they have economic and sub- sistence value in a variety of fisheries, and hold ecological value as important components of reef food webs. We found that the molecular approach accurately described prey (to species) in ˜80% of individuals, including samples that were highly digested. This technique provided better prey resolution compared to other techniques, however stable isotope mixing models - based on experimentally-derived parameters - were still proficient describing prey at the family level. Although prey determination is less resolved using stable isotopes, the ability to sam- ple multiple tissues that represent different temporal assimilation periods has practical value, especially when multiple or repeat sampling trips are not viable. The results indicated that Cae- sionidae and Pomacentridae were the most important prey families, representing > 50% of all
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
220 prey contribution. This highlights the importance of planktivorous prey within a species group that is generally considered to be generalists, and provides cautionary information regarding the effects that changing resources could have in the reef ecosystem.
221 Insights from compound-specific isotope analysis into the functional redundancy of herbivorous reef fishes
Matthew Tietbohl ∗† 1, Thomas Larsen 2, Kelton Mcmahon 3, Leah Houghton 4, Tane Sinclair-Taylor 1, Simon Thorrold 4, Michale Berumen 1
1 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia 2 Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel – Christian-Albrechts-Platz 4, 24118 Kiel, Germany, Germany 3 University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) – 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, United States 4 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – 86 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States
Herbivorous coral reef fishes play keys roles in helping to structure their environment directly by consuming algae and indirectly by promoting coral health and growth. These fishes are gen- erally separated into three broad functional groups: browsers, grazers, and excavators/scrapers, with these groupings assumed to have a high level of functional redundancy. However, recent evidence questions the use of this broad classification scheme, and posits that there may actually be more resource partitioning within these functional groups. Here, we use a compound-specific stable isotope approach (CSIA) to show substantial diversity in the functional roles of key herbiv- orous coral reef fishes reflecting pronounced intra-group niche partitioning. The δ13C signatures from essential amino acids of reef end-members (coral, macroalgae, detritus, and phytoplankton) and fish muscle were analyzed to investigate differences in resource assimilation between fishes. Most end-members displayed clear isotopic differences; most fishes within functional groups were also distinct from each other in their isotopic signature, implying differences in the resources they target. No grazers closely resembled each other isotopically, implying a much lower level of functional redundancy within this group. Scraping parrotfish were distinct from excavating parrotfish and to a lesser degree different between each other. These results question the utility of lumping nominally herbivorous fishes into broad functional groups with assumed similarities in functional roles. Given the apparent functional differences between nominally herbivorous reef fishes, it is imperative for managers to consider the diversity of ecological roles each of these fishes play as important components of productive coral reef ecosystems.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
222 Patterns of trophic structure in a complex marine food web
Brian Zgliczynski ∗ 1, Gareth Williams 2, Scott Hamilton 3, Mike Fox 1, Yoan Eynaud 1, Elisabeth Cordner 1, Robert Michener 4, Les Kaufman 4, Stuart Sandin 1
1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) – University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0208, U.S.A., United States 2 School of Ocean Sciences – Bangor University, UK, United Kingdom 3 Moss Landing Marine Labs – Moss Landing, CA, USA, United States 4 Department of Biology, Boston University – Boston, MA, USA, United States
We take advantage of a natural gradient of human exploitation and oceanographic produc- tivity across six central Pacific coral reefs to examine patterns of trophic structure in 8 species of reef fishes. Using stomach content and stable isotope (δ15N, δ13C) analyses we found limited evidence for a relationship between body size and purported functional role. Surprisingly, we found a lack of distinction in the trophic position of carnivores despite observing a considerable difference in body size (10cm – 80cm) as well as size structuring in the types of prey items consumed between species. In contrast, the diets and isotopic signatures of herbivores were variable and inconsistent across islands. When examining the effects of human exploitation across islands, we found that the feeding behavior of fishes was not related to the abundance of apex predators. However, when examining the effects of oceanographic productivity, we found the δ15N signatures of carnivores and a planktivore species to be closely linked to oceanographic production while the herbivores were not. The consistency in trophic structure between carni- vores and planktivores across islands and the lack of consistency among herbivores suggests that fish assemblages on coral reefs may be tightly coupled not so much to trophic positions as to distinct sources of energetic production namely, allochthonous planktonic production, benthic primary production, and autochthonous recycling (detritivory). Our findings suggest that car- nivores and planktivores primarily exploit prey derived from, or coupled to pelagic planktonic subsidies while herbivores exploit resources derived from alternative benthic energetic resource pools. Further, our results indicate that these distinct energetic pathways may not only sup- port the nutritional requirements of distinct feeding guilds, but also likely contribute to the maintenance of exceptional biodiversity on tropical coral reefs.
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223 Seabird nutrients enhance fish productivity across trophic levels on coral reefs
Nick Graham ∗ 1, Shaun Wilson 2, Aaron Macneil 3,4, Pete Carr 5, Simon Jennings 6, Andrew Hoey 7,8
1 Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University – United Kingdom 2 Department of Parks Wildlife – Western Australia, Australia 3 Dalhousie University – 1355 Oxford St., P.O. Box 15000, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada 4 Dalhousie University – Halifax, Canada 5 University of Exeter – Exeter, United Kingdom 6 ICES – Copenhagen, Denmark 7 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 8 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University – Australia
Spatial nutrients subsidies between ecosystems can be key to ecosystem structure and pro- ductivity. For example, seabirds feeding in the open ocean can deposit large quantities of nutrients onto islands when roosting or breeding, which may enhance plant biomass, and the demographics of island fauna. However, if these spatial nutrient inputs extend out to coral reef environments and how they influence the system is poorly understood. Here, we utilise a rare natural experiment, where some islands in the Chagos Archipelago are rat infested with few birds, while others are rat free with abundant bird colonies. This scenario translates to marked differences in nitrogen delivery to the islands. Using stable isotopes of Nitrogen, we show how islands with seabirds have a dramatically heavier nitrogen signature and abundance in soils and new growth leaves of coastal shrubs. While attenuating with distance from shore, these differ- ences were apparent in halimeda and sponges on the reef flat, and in turf algae and damselfish (Plectroglyphidodon lacrymatus) muscle on the reef crest. Using fish otoliths we showed that the damselfish on reefs adjacent to the rat free islands were growing at faster rates compared to fish adjacent to rat infested islands. Reef fish communities adjacent to rat free islands had higher biomass across the trophic feeding chain, with overall biomass 50% greater that rat in- fested islands. Assessing ecosystem function, we show how grazing and bioerosion rates are 3 fold higher adjacent to islands with no rats and abundant bird colonies. Collectively, this study demonstrates a spatial nutrient subsidy to the reef ecosystems adjacent to rat free islands, which enhance the productivity of the reef fish community across trophic levels. Invasive rats have disrupted this natural dynamic, highlighting rat eradication as a high priority for conservation in remote oceanic islands.
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224 Spatial Variation of Environmental DNA in Coral Reef Ecosystems
Zachary Gold ∗ 1
1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA (EEB UCLA) – 610 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Los Angeles, California, 90095, United States
Accurate monitoring and assessment of ecosystem function and biodiversity is critical for assessing marine ecosystem health and efficacy of management policy. However, current methods for evaluating marine biodiversity require taxonomic expertise, are costly and labor intensive, and difficult to repeat. New environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques offer rapid and affordable tool for monitoring marine biodiversity. Recent studies have demonstrated eDNA as an accurate and highly sensitive species detection tool, out performing all traditional fish survey methods including observer transect surveys and trawling. Thus eDNA has the capacity to revolutionize biodiversity monitoring and fisheries science by facilitating large scale comparisons of marine biodiversity across environmental gradients, anthropogenic stressors, and marine management practices. However, little is known of the variability of eDNA signals in marine ecosystems. Understanding the variability of marine eDNA methods is critical for determining the sampling biases and underlying mechanisms that may affect the accuracy and repeatability of this new biodiversity monitoring technique. To better understand the spatial variability of eDNA in coral reef ecosystems and we conducted a 4km transect across back reef, fore reef, and pelagic habitats off Mo’orea, French Polynesia. Three samples were taken at 8 sites along a north- south transect and 5 sites known to have unique fish biodiversity. We generated eDNA sequence data using PCR primers that targeted the mitochondrial 12S rRNA and CO1 genes of marine teleost, elasmobranch, and invertebrate species. We found that eDNA is an effective biodiversity surveying tool, capturing over 200 species native fish species. Furthermore, we found that eDNA methods have high habitat specificity, being able to distinguish between fore reef and back reef fish communities. In addition, we found evidence that ocean currents can have a strong effect on eDNA signatures, blurring the signal between coral reef ecosystems despite previous research suggesting the dominance of biological control on eDNA fate and transport. Ultimately, these results suggest the importance of understanding ocean transport dynamics to inform effective eDNA sampling strategies which is critical for the effective application of eDNA as a rapid, reliable, and affordable marine biodiversity assessment tool.
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225 Stomach Content Analysis of Stocky Hawkfish (Cirrhitus pinnulatus) in Laie Bay, Oahu, Hawaii
Daxton Brooks 1, Katie Niedererr ∗ 1, Brad Smith 1
1 Brigham Young University – Hawaii, United States
The stocky hawkfish (Cirrhitus pinnulatus maculosus) is a native Hawaiian ambush preda- tory reef fish. While stocky hawkfish are abundant on nearshore reefs, anecdotal reports from North Shore spearfishermen suggest that larger adults may be declining in abundance. Roi (Cephalopholis argus) is an invasive grouper species in Hawai’i that is becoming more abundant in nearshore reefs and may be a potential competitor of stocky hawkfish. While the diet of roi has been studied in Hawai’i, the stocky hawkfish diet is largely unknown. To investigate whether competition for prey is occurring between these species the stomach contents from stocky hawk- fish were visually analyzed from an ongoing collection effort in Laie Bay on the North Shore of Oahu. Preliminary results suggest that crab, octopus, hermit crabs, shrimp, and sea stars com- monly comprise the diet with frequencies of 74%, 9%, 9%, 4%, 4% respectively. Crab appears to be the primary dietary component, comprising 37% of the total dietary content and 35% of the total dietary volume. While roi are primarily piscivores a smaller portion of their diet (< 10%) is comprised of crustaceans indicating that there may be only minimal overlap of diet between these two species.
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226 C4/ Acoustic Ecology of Indo-Pacific Fishes
227 Acoustic space sharing in the hullabaloo of a coral reef in Moorea Island, French Polynesia.
Fr´ed´ericBertucci ∗ 1,2, Katy Maratrat 3, Eric Parmentier 2, David Lecchini 4
1 Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – PSL Research University, EPHE-CNRS-UPVD, USR3278 CRIOBE Laboratoire d’Excellence ”CORAIL” Universit´ede Perpignan 52 Avenue Paul Alduy 66860 Perpignan Cedex France, France 2 Laboratory of Functional and Evolutionary Morphology – Campus du Sart Tilman - Bˆat.B6c All´ee de la Chimie, 3 4000 Li`ege1, Belgium 3 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) – Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ [EPHE] – Les Patios Saint-Jacques 4-14 rue Ferrus 75014 Paris, France 4 Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – PSL Research University,EPHE-CNRS-UPVD, USR3278 CRIOBE, Laboratoire d’Excellence ”CORAIL”, BP 1013, Papetoai, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia
The more vocal species in a community, the more complex the acoustic environment, and signals produced by marine organisms in order to communicate may interfere. Since acoustic space is a limited resource to be shared, selection may have favored a partitioning of the available acoustic windows both at the temporal and spectral levels. This has already been reported in insects, frogs, birds or mammals but rarely in fishes. Our study aimed to investigate sounds produced within an ichthyological community in the North Coast of Moorea Island (French Polynesia). By using passive acoustic monitoring technics, we identified a total of 38 different types of sounds, some dominating during day-time while others dominated during night-time. Over 24h, we also observed a succession of optimal sound production periods for each sound type which suggests a finer level of temporal partitioning of fish vocalizations. Finally, we fur- ther showed that acoustic features of co-occurring sound types significantly differed allowing partitioning at the spectral level too. These results demonstrate the existence of acoustic par- titioning and interference avoidance in a coral reef fish community and highlight how acoustic communication might be optimized in such a biologically rich and dense environment as coral reefs.
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228 Assessing ecological implications of boat noise disturbance on coral reef fish communities
Emma Weschke ∗ 1, Harry Harding 2, Timothy Gordon 1, Sophie Nedelec 1, Ricardo Beldade 3, Suzanne Mills† 3,4, Andrew Radford‡ 2, Stephen Simpson§ 1
1 University of Exeter – Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom 2 School of Biological Sciences, Bristol University – School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK, United Kingdom 3 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ [EPHE], CNRS : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia, France 4 Laboratoire d’Excellence “Corail” – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia – 58 avenue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan, France
Anthropogenic noise is recognised as a major pollutant in the 21st century, altering natural marine soundscapes. There is mounting evidence that noise pollution impacts fish physiology and behaviour, with consequences for fitness. Important survival behaviour including orienta- tion, post-larval settlement, predator–prey interactions and parental care can be impeded during periods of exposure to anthropogenic noise. However, no study to date has examined how the effects of anthropogenic noise on individual species translate at the community level. In this study, we are assessing species richness and abundance of coral reef fish assemblages across gra- dients of exposure to investigate whether the noise from well-established, busy boating channels alters local community composition. This research will provide an important advance from what we already know at the species level to what is needed to assess real-world implications at the ecosystem level, whilst also considering the potential for adaptation to chronic exposure. This research will inform our understanding of current risks to coral reef ecosystem health, providing a stronger basis for marine management and policy.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected] §Corresponding author: [email protected]
229 Bad parenting and cheating: Impacts of motorboat noise on coral reef fish
Sophie Nedelec ∗ 1, Andrew Radford 2, Suzanne Mills 3,4, Ricardo Beldade 5, Leanne Pearl 6, Brendan Nedelec 2, Mark Mccormick 7, Mark Meekan 8, Isabelle Cote 9, Stephen Simpson 1
1 University of Exeter – Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom 2 University of Bristol – School of Biological Sciences, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom 3 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 4 Laboratoire dExcellence´ CORAIL (LabEX CORAIL) – Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement, Universit´edes Antilles et de la Guyane, Ecole´ des Hautes Etudes´ en Sciences Sociales, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Institut fran¸caisde Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer, Universit´ede la R´eunion,Universit´ede la Polyn´esieFran¸caise,Universit´ede Nouvelle Cal´edonie,Institut d’´ecologieet environnement – Labex Corail58, avenue Paul Alduy66860 Perpignan CEDEXT´el.: 04 30 19 23 32Email : [email protected], France 5 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ [EPHE], CNRS : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia, France 6 Boulder University – USA, United States 7 James Cook University – Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia 8 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Townsville) – Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville 4810, Queensland, Australia, Australia 9 Earth to Ocean Group,Department of Biological Sciences – Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada
Anthropogenic noise is a pollutant of international concern, with mounting evidence of dis- turbance and impacts on animal behaviour and physiology. However, empirical studies measur- ing survival consequences or interactions between species are rare. We used two field experiments to investigate how motorboat-noise playback affects parental behaviour and offspring survival in the spiny chromis (Acanthochromis polyacanthus), and interspecific cleaning mutualisms that are critical for coral reef fish health, abundance and diversity. In the first experiment repeated observations were made for 12 days at 38 natural nests with broods of young. Exposure to motorboat-noise playback compared to ambient-sound playback increased defensive acts, and reduced both feeding and offspring interactions by brood-guarding males. Anthropogenic noise did not affect the growth of developing offspring, but reduced the likelihood of offspring sur- vival; while offspring survived at all 19 nests exposed to ambient-sound playback, six of the 19 nests exposed to motorboat-noise playback suffered complete brood mortality. In the second ex- periment, we conducted in situ observations of cleaning interactions between bluestreak cleaner
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230 wrasses (Labroides dimidiatus) and their fish clients before, during and after repeated, standard- ised approaches with motorboats. Cleaners inspected clients for longer and were significantly less cooperative during exposure to boat noise, and while motorboat disturbance appeared to have little effect on client behaviour, as evidenced by consistency of visit rates, clientele composi- tion, and use of cleaning incitation signals, clients did not retaliate as expected (i.e., by chasing) in response to increased cheating by cleaners. Our results suggest cleaners might be taking advantage of distracted clients to reduce their service quality. To more fully understand the importance of these findings for conservation and management, further studies should elucidate whether the efficacy of ectoparasite removal by cleaners is affected and explore the potential for habituation to boat noise in busy areas. Our studies, providing field-based experimental evidence of the impacts of anthropogenic noise, suggests potential fitness and population-level consequences of this global pollutant.
231 Degraded Great Barrier Reef no longer sounds like home
Tim Gordon ∗ 1, Harry Harding 2, Kathryn Wong 3, Nathan Merchant 4, Mark Meekan 5, Mark Mccormick 6, Andrew Radford 7, Stephen Simpson 1
1 University of Exeter – Biosciences College of Life and Environmental Sciences Geoffrey Pope University of Exeter Stocker Road Exeter EX4 4QD, UK, United Kingdom 2 University of Bristol – School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol Bristol Life Sciences Building 24 Tyndall Avenue Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom 3 Duke University – 130 Science Drive, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA, United States 4 Cefas UK – Cefas Laboratory, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK, United Kingdom 5 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Perth) – Australian Institute of Marine Science The UWA Oceans Institute (M096) 35 Stirling Hwy Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia, Australia 6 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville City, QLD, 4814, Australia 7 University of Bristol – School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK, United Kingdom
Coral reefs are increasingly degraded by climate change-driven bleaching and storm dam- age. Reef recovery relies on recruitment of young fish for regular replenishment of functionally important taxa. Recent work has shown that young reef fish use acoustic cues to guide their orientation, habitat selection and settlement; many families of fish ‘hear their way home’. How- ever, disturbance events that alter reef ecology are also likely to change natural soundscapes, through altered abundance and behaviour of sound-producing organisms, and the implications of such changes on fish recruitment remain untested. Here, we present spatio-temporally matched comparisons of soundscapes from Australia’s Northern Great Barrier Reef before and after re- cent major cyclone- and bleaching-related disturbances. Soundscapes changed significantly and consistently across multiple acoustic parameters: post-disturbance reefs were quieter and less acoustically diverse than before disturbance. Using complementary light-trap and patch-reef experiments, we then show that larval preferences for playback of pre-degradation reef sound were lost with post-degradation soundscapes, leading to 40% less recruitment to reefs. In both experiments, post-degradation reef sound was no more attractive than the control open-ocean sound treatment. Acoustically mediated reductions in recruitment may trigger concerning pos- itive feedback dynamics; declines in fish populations could slow recovery, facilitate macroalgal dominance, and ultimately lead to exacerbated degradation and further declines in recruitment. This has the potential to impair severely the resilience of damaged reefs. As well as looking for solutions to coral-reef degradation, we must also learn to listen.
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232 Diversity of fish sound types in the Pearl River Estuary, China
Wang Zhitao ∗ 1, Nowacek Douglas P. 2, Akamatsu Tomonari 3, Wang Kexiong† 1, Wang Ding‡ 1
1 Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences – Wuhan, China 2 Duke University of Marine Laboratory – Beaufort, NC, United States 3 National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Fisheries Research and Development Agency – Kanagawa, Japan
Background. Repetitive species-specific sound enables the identification of the presence and behavior of soniferous species by acoustic means. Passive acoustic monitoring has been widely applied to monitor the spatial and temporal occurrence and behavior of calling species. Methods. Underwater biological sounds in the Pearl River Estuary, China, were collected using passive acoustic monitoring, with special attention paid to fish sounds. A total of 1408 suspected fish calls comprising 18,942 pulses were qualitatively analyzed using a customized acoustic analysis routine.
Results. We identified a diversity of 66 types of fish sounds. In addition to single pulse, the sounds tended to have a pulse train structure. The pulses were characterized by an approx- imate 8 ms duration, with a peak frequency from 500 to 2600 Hz and a majority of the energy below 4000 Hz. The median inter-pulsepeak interval (IPPI) of most call types was 9 or 10 ms. Most call types with median IPPIs of 9 ms and 10 ms were observed at times that were exclusive from each other, suggesting that they might be produced by different species. According to the literature, the two section signal types of 1+1 and 1+N10 might belong to big-snout croaker (Johnius macrorhynus), and 1+N19 might be produced by Belanger’s croaker (J . belangerii). Discussion. Categorization of the baseline ambient biological sound is an important first step in mapping the spatial and temporal patterns of soniferous fishes. The next step is the identi- fication of the species producing each sound. The distribution pattern of soniferous fishes will be helpful for the protection and management of local fishery resources and in marine environ- mental impact assessment. Since the local vulnerable Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) mainly preys on soniferous fishes, the fine-scale distribution pattern of soniferous fishes can aid in the conservation of this species. Additionally, prey and predator relationships can be observed when a database of species-identified sounds is completed.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
233 Effects of noise on the communication space of New Zealand bigeye, Pempheris adspersa
Rosalyn Putland ∗ 1, Nathan Merchant 2, Adrian Farcas 2, Craig Radford 1
1 Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland (IMS) – Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland, 160 Goat Island Road, Leigh, 0985, New Zealand 2 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquulture Science - CEFAS (UNITED KINGDOM) (CEFAS) – Pakefield Rd, Lowestoft, NR33 0HT, United Kingdom
Sound pollution from vessels is a concern facing scientists and policy makers alike. Vessel sound directly overlaps the frequency range of many fish vocalisations, putting communication between individuals in jeopardy. However, quantitative research into the impact of vessel sound on communication space, is surprisingly limited. We used long term acoustic recordings and AIS ship tracking data to determine the effect of large commercial vessels on the communication space of the soniferous New Zealand bigeye, Pempheris adspersa. At four listening stations, in the Hauraki Gulf north eastern New Zealand, both natural seasonal variation in the sound- scape as well as individual vessel passages increased the ambient sound level. Bigeye use their sound as contact calls to maintain social cohesion, however vessel sound had the potential to mask any concurrent biological vocalisation reducing bigeye communication space by up to 45m. The quantitative methods used in this study provide an important tool for understanding the magnitude and potential effects of chronic noise from vessels on specific species. Applying the methods to other sound-producing fish or ecologically significant embayment would continue to improve shipping noise mitigation strategies.
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234 Hearing Nemo: Alarm Calling Behaviour in Coral Reef Fish
Isla Keesje Davidson ∗† 1, Andrew Radford 2, Ricardo Beldade 3, Suzanne Mills 3,4, Stephen Simpson 5
1 College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Exeter University (CLES) – Biosciences College of Life and Environmental Sciences Geoffrey Pope University of Exeter Stocker Road Exeter EX4 4QD, UK, United Kingdom 2 School of Biological Sciences, Bristol University – School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK, United Kingdom 3 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ [EPHE], CNRS : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia, France 4 Laboratoire d’Excellence “Corail” – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia – 58 avenue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan, France 5 University of Exeter – Biosciences College of Life and Environmental Sciences Geoffrey Pope University of Exeter Stocker Road Exeter EX4 4QD, UK, United Kingdom
Alarm-calling behaviour, the production and use of particular vocalisations that warn of im- pending danger, is a major antipredator strategy observed in a wide range of bird and mammal species. Receivers of alarm calls that respond adaptively to these acoustic signals obtain fitness benefits through increased survival. Although many fish species are known to be highly vocal and use acoustic cues to obtain information about the environment, the potential use of alarm calls by fish has received little empirical attention. This study adapts established terrestrial ex- perimental protocols – combining video and audio recordings, detailed observations, simulated model predator attacks and call playbacks – to explore alarm-calling behaviour in the anemone- fish Amphiprion chrysopterus in Moorea, French Polynesia. Our use of ecologically relevant predator models also illuminated non-vocal anti-predator behavioural responses of this highly social species. Initial analysis of video footage suggests that clownfish indeed demonstrate the three recognised stages of alarm-calling behaviour: call production, call usage and call response. Further analysis will assess the extent to which particular individuals respond both to a predator model and to the alarm call in isolation without a visual stimulus. This research deepens our understanding of fish vocal behaviour, identifying the ecological and social contexts in which different sounds are made, and the responses they elicit. As alarm calling can be altruistic, studying such behaviour will also increase understanding of the roles of reciprocal altruism and cooperation in fish. More generally, this research reflects the growing interest in understanding how fish species inhabiting coral reefs interact whilst navigating their acoustic environment.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
235 Parrotfish Soundscapes: Implications for coral reef monitoring and management
Timothy Tricas ∗† 1, Kelly Boyle 2
1 Department of Biology (Zoology), University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) – 2538 The Mall Univerisity of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, United States 2 Department of Biology (Zoology), University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) – 2538 The Mall University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI 96822, United States
Parrotfish (Labridae: Scarinae) are conspicuous members of the coral reef herbivore-detritivore feeding guild and have prominent beak-like jaws used to feed on hard benthic substrates. Their foraging activity has major influences on the control of macroalgal phase shifts, the maintenance of coral reef diversity, and the community resilience of coral reefs. Parrotfish also have modi- fied pharyngeal jaws that facilitate the grinding of post-ingestion food items that makes them major agents of bioerosion, coral sand redistribution and coral reef concretion. Thus, defining small and large-scale patterns of parrotfish feeding activity is critical for efficient monitoring and management of shallow coral reef systems. However, most previous studies on parrotfish feeding patterns involved direct observation by divers that are constrained by time, funding and personnel resources and limit the spatial scale for comparisons of species, populations and com- munities. The feeding bites of many parrotfish species produce brief, broadband acoustic pulses that result from intermittent contact of the jaws with the substrate. We used passive acous- tic monitors to collect hourly samples of ambient parrotfish feeding sounds over a continuous three-year period on two Hawaiian reefs, and an automated detection routine based on power spectral characteristics to test several hypotheses on the environmental and temporal correlates of parrotfish feeding. Total acoustic bite activity differed by a factor of 3-4 between the two reef sites. We identified statistical correlations and regression models for parrotfish feeding activity and sea surface temperature, day length and great daily tide range. Bite activity peaked in the summer months of June and July during the annual rise in local sea surface temperature, but was most closely associated with day length. Parrotfish feeding occurred only during daylight hours with a strong mid-morning peak and a secondary feeding peak in the late afternoon hours. This study confirms the efficiency and potential utility of this bioacoustic technique to monitor both fine and large scale foraging patterns of parrotfishes relative to traditional diver-observer methods. We present several future approaches needed to test assumptions of this method to enhance quantitative estimates of feeding by for parrotfish populations, and applications to coral reef community assessment.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
236 Singing in the right Cay?: Fish choruse contributions to soundscapes
Miles Parsons ∗ 1, Robert Mccauley 1, Christine Erbe 1, Jamie Mcwilliam 1
1 Centre for Marine Science and Technology, Curtin University [PERTH] (CMST) – GPO Box U1987 Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia
The use of soundscape ecology in monitoring ecosystem condition has increased dramatically in the past five years, as terrestrial methods begin to be applied in the marine environment. While other sensory systems can be inhibited by marine conditions, sound plays an important role in the various life stages and functions of many marine species. As such, it seems apt that the characteristics of a local soundscape might reflect the health or diversity of the residents and habitat it encompasses. Initial studies have identified spectral niches that may relate to this and suggest that they themselves are site-specific. Fish are significant contributors to soundscapes in nearly all environments the Centre for Marine Science and Technology has sampled, and the frequencies at which they produce sound have been noted as one of the potential frequency bands useful for ecoacoustics. However, before drawing conclusions on what such characteristics mean, it is important to understand trends in faunal sound production over the long-term and the effect some common patterns can have on different analyses. Fish calls and choruses do not always exhibit temporal or frequency partitioning. Chorus patterns may vary on daily, lunar or seasonal cycles, sometimes by hours within a period of days. Soniferous behaviour may be regional or site-specific and mobile aggregations may change calling position with the tide or current. This presentation will use examples observed in reef and coastal datasets from east (Great Barrier Reef), north (Darwin) and west (Kimberley) Australia to illustrate how some of the typical trends in sound production may change outputs of common acoustic indices, and that variance in long-term soundscape complexity should be assessed to better understand what these indices are telling us before inferences are made.
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237 Sound production mechanism in the boxfish Ostracion meleagris and O. cubicus
Eric Parmentier ∗ 1, Laura Solagna 1, Fr´ed´eric Bertucci 1, Michael Fine 2, Masanori Nakae 3, Philippe Comp`ere 1, Smeets Sarah 1, David Lecchini 4,5
1 Laboratory of Functional and Evolutionary Morphology – Campus du Sart Tilman - Bˆat.B6c All´ee de la Chimie, 3 4000 Li`ege1, Belgium 2 Virginia Commonwelath University – Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA, United States 3 National Museum of Nature and Science – Department of Zoology National Museum of Nature and Science 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0005, Japan 4 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 5 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
Different reviews have underlined the growing diversity of sound-producing mechanism in fishes. Most mechanisms, resulting from evolutionary convergences, employ high-speed muscles (contraction rate between 50 and 300 Hz) that insert in part or totally on the swimbladder. In these species, the contraction rate dictates the fundamental frequency of the sounds. The ability to produce sounds has already been reported in boxfish: spotted trunkfish Ostracion meleagris is known to produce sounds during courtship and agonistic behavior. We describe here additional sound types in O. meleagris and report for the first time sounds in O. cubicus. Sounds are exceptional since they produce two distinct sounds in a sequence. Humming sounds consist of long series (up to 45s) of regular low-amplitude pulses. Clock sounds have at least ten times greater amplitude and are typically interspersed with hums, underlining the array of messages these fish produce. There is no relationships between fish size in acoustic characteristics. This unique ability relies on a T-shaped swimbladder with a swimbladder fenestra and two separate sound-producing muscles. An extrinsic vertical muscle attaches to the vertebral column and the swimbladder. Perpendicularly and below this muscle, a longitudinal intrinsic muscle covers the swimbladder fenestra. We suggest that hums and clocks are produced by separate muscles.
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238 Soundtrack of the Anthropocene: Impacts of global change on coral reef communities in the 21st Century
Steve Simpson ∗ 1
1 Biosciences, College of Life Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter – Geoffrey Pope Stocker Road Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
In early life, the vast majority of coral reef organisms face four major tests that together determine dispersal, survival and population replenishment. Once larvae are sufficiently well developed to leave their early-life open-water environments, they must locate reefs, select suitable habitat, settle at locations with sufficient shelter, and avoid the immediate attention of many predators. Over the past 15 years, we have discovered the importance of the natural soundscape (combined with other cues) for guiding fish, crustacean and coral larvae towards reefs while allowing them to avoid predation. Reef noise is generated by the resident community, so reefs sound characteristically different and sound indicates the composition of the community and quality of the habitat, enabling larvae to locate and settle into appropriate microhabitat. But we live in an era of global change, with overfishing and environmental degradation compromising reef quality and associated reef noise, rising levels of atmospheric CO2 causing global warming and ocean acidification, and the noise of motorboats, ships, offshore industry and naval operations modifying natural soundscapes. Our recent work demonstrates that habitat degradation can alter natural soundscapes, ocean acidification can affect auditory behaviour of larvae, and that motorboat noise can affect orientation and settlement in larval fish and behaviour, physiology and survival of newly-settled reef fish. Following a summary of these studies, I will discuss current knowledge gaps and identify opportunities to manage and enhance the Soundtrack of the Anthropocene.
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239 The influence of habitat degradation on the susceptibility of coral reef fish to motorboat noise
Harry Harding ∗† 1, Tim Gordon 2, Katy Wong 3, Mark Mccormick 4, Stephen Simpson 2, Andrew Radford 1
1 University of Bristol – School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol Bristol Life Sciences Building 24 Tyndall Avenue Bristol BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom 2 Exeter University – Biosciences College of Life and Environmental Sciences Geoffrey Pope University of Exeter Stocker Road Exeter EX4 4QD, UK, United Kingdom 3 Duke University – Department of Biology, 130 Science Drive, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA., United States 4 James Cook University – Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia., Australia
Anthropogenic (man-made) noise permeates multiple biomes and is a pollutant of global con- cern, being included in environmental legislation around the world. Such noise is produced both intentionally (e.g. seismic and sonar) and as a by-product of our activities (e.g. pile-driving, commercial shipping and motorboats). Motorboat noise is increasing globally due to both hu- man population growth and the development of recreation and tourism in coastal areas. Marine fauna in such areas, including coral reefs, are therefore likely to suffer acoustic disturbances more frequently. Motorboat noise has been shown to affect fish orientation, communication, anti-predator behaviour and physiology, and to have negative impacts on fitness. However, or- ganismal responses to anthropogenic noise are likely influenced by the broader environmental context in which they live. How other stressors affect the impact of noise has received little experimental testing, especially in natural conditions. In the past two years, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), a system of high and increasing motorboat use, has been severely impacted by multiple climate-induced bleaching events and storm damage, resulting in widespread habitat degradation. Here, we tested whether habitat degradation influences the susceptibility of fish to short-term exposure to motorboat noise. In a large multi-site field experiment, using ventilation rate as a physiological response measure, we exposed Chromis viridis (blue green damselfish) from non-degraded and degraded habitats to real motorboat noise or ambient sound. Having found a difference in response, we then assessed body condition as a potential underlying mech- anism, testing the anti-predator and physiological responses of ‘good’ and ‘poor’ quality fish to real motorboats or ambient sound. Poor-quality individuals were more strongly affected than good-quality fish when exposed to motorboat noise. An increased impact of anthropogenic noise in degraded habitats would likely have consequences for reef recovery following environmental disturbance events, and should be considered in future management decisions on noise mitigation practices.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
240 The use of baited underwater video to monitor fish behaviour in response to boat motor noise
Craig Radford ∗ 1, Allen Mensinger 2, Rosalyn Putland 3
1 Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland (IMS) – Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland, 160 Goat Island Road, Leigh, 0985, New Zealand 2 University of Minnesota - Duluth – Duluth Minnesota, United States 3 Institute of Marine Science – Leigh Marine Laboratory, Institute of Marine Science PO Box 349, New Zealand
Human generated noise affects hearing, movement and communication in both aquatic and terrestrial animals, but direct natural underwater behavioral observations are lacking. Baited underwater video (BUV) equipped with hydrophones were deployed inside and outside a marine reserve to observe fish behavior during motorboat transits. BUVs were effective in attracting fishes to within camera range with fish numbers plateauing within 20 minutes of deployment. The fish assemblages were dominated by snapper (Pagrus auratus). A boat equipped with a 60 HP 4 stroke engine made two passes past the BUV and then circled the area three times. Video was analyzed for fish number, interactions with the bait jar, and intraspecific interac- tions. Preliminary results suggest that fishes inhabiting the protected area showed less response to motorboat transits compared to fishes outside the area. The experiments suggest that an- thropogenic noise in the marine environment can effect fish behavior and that BUVs provide the capability to monitor these interactions.
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241 C5/ Biotelemetry
242 Do Australian Bass overcome an instream barrier during migration?
Culum Brown ∗ 1, Evan Byrnes 1
1 Macquarie University (MQ) – Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia
Many urban river systems are impacted by instream barriers which present significant obsta- cles for diadromous fish migration. Australian bass, Macquaria novemaculeata, typically occupy freshwater environments but make annual migrations to estuaries to spawn. In the Lane Cove River, Sydney, a weir demarcates the upper tidal limit and bass must overcome it to make their breeding migration. Here we examined the movement of bass in the river using acoustic tech- nology. We show that half the tagged fish successfully migrated both downstream and returned upstream multiple times during the tagging period. Some migrated as far as the Sydney Har- bour Bridge, which is very near pure sea water. Downstream migration was linked with heavy rainfall, whereas the return migration was associated with high tides. We suspect the fish return to the freshwater reaches by using a newly built fish ladder that is only accessible at high tide. Our data show that high water flow is a key environmental driver of spawning behaviour in this species and that most of the spawning behaviour occurs in June within the estuary near the mouth of the river.
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243 Movement, habitat preferences and behaviour of swordfish satellite tagged at the southern extent of their known range in Australia
Sean Tracey ∗ 1, Julian Pepperell 2, Sam Williams 3
1 Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) – Private Bag 49, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia 2 Pepperell Research and Consulting Pty Ltd – P.O. Box 1475, Noosaville DC, Qld 4566, Australia 3 School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland – St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia
Swordfish (Xiphius gladius) are a globally ubiquitous species, found in all the major oceans of the world. Molecular evidence and electronic tagging studies suggest the presence of pop- ulation structure in the Pacific Ocean, with a lack of trans-equatorial movements and limited connectivity between eastern and western parts of the southwest Pacific. Previous tagging of commercially caught Swordfish in the Australian EEZ have shown very limited evidence of fish migrating south of 40◦S. The recent development of a recreational fishery targeting Swordfish off the east coast of Tasmania (40◦S - 43◦S), however, has shown that the fish do indeed inhabit the cooler waters off the southeast coast of Australia. The fish caught in this area by the recre- ational fishery have provided an unprecedented opportunity to satellite tag Swordfish caught at the southern extent of their range in Australia. To date, seven pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) have been deployed on swordfish off the east coast of Tasmania. The data received has provided novel insights into the broad ranging migrations of the species, with some fish travers- ing 25◦ of latitude in a matter of months as fish move north into tropical waters. Data from the tags also reveal a potential migratory path as the fish move north along the western edge of the Lord Howe Plateau. Some fish were also observed to embark on return migrations which generally occurred with the fish moving from the Coral Sea to the shelf break along Australia’s east coast before moving south. One fish was observed to return to waters close to where it was tagged after 250 days at liberty, which may indicate the presence of philopatry, similar to that observed in istiophorid billfishes. The tag data also provided insight into the vertical habitat usage of the fish as they migrate from the cool temperate waters adjacent to Tasmania into the tropical waters of the Coral Sea.
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244 Multispecies presence and connectivity around a designed artificial reef off coastal Sydney, Australia
Krystle Keller ∗† 1, James Smith 2, Michael Lowry 3, Matthew Taylor 3, Iain Suthers 1
1 School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW) – Randwick, NSW, Australia 2 School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW) – Randwick, NSW, Australia, Australia 3 Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries – Taylors Beach, NSW, Australia
A goal of designed artificial reefs (ARs) is to enhance fish abundance, species diversity and fishing opportunities through providing food and refuge for fishes. Quantifying the contribu- tion of ARs to coastal ecosystems and fisheries productivity requires an understanding of fish presence at the structure and connectivity with surrounding habitats. The movements and pres- ence of 10 Eastern Fiddler Ray (Trygonorrhina fasciata), 17 Port Jackson Shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni) and 18 Bluespotted Flathead (Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus) were monitored using acoustic telemetry around a 700 m3 designed AR in 38 m depth near Sydney, Australia. Fiddler Rays exhibited an average short-term presence of 43% at the AR, and 26% over the ˜20 month monitoring period, which was significantly higher than the other two species. Fish tagged at the AR showed high affinity to the site at which they were tagged compared with fish tagged on natural reef. All three species moved frequently between the AR and the other reefs in the area, indicating strong connectivity throughout the mosaic of habitats. The relatively moderate presence at the AR suggests that these species may contribute to some biomass production at this AR, by incorporating this reef in their natural range. Our findings also indicate that this reef may increase the connectivity between adjacent habitats and aid the dispersion of a range of benthic species.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
245 Navigation and homing ability in a benthic shark
Sherrie Chambers ∗ 1, Catarina Vila Pouca 1, Nathan Knott 2, Culum Brown 1
1 Macquarie University (MQ) – Sydney NSW 2109, Australia 2 NSW Fisheries – Huskisson, Australia
Many elasmobranchs undertake large-scale migrations to specific locations for events such as mating, pupping or feeding, and return regularly to these places throughout their lives. The Port Jackson shark is a small, benthic species that uses rocky reef habitat in NSW over winter for breeding and egg laying, and exhibits extremely high site fidelity between years. This study investigates homing ability and magnetic navigation in the Port Jackson shark by displacing animals from their ‘home reef’ and examining their movements. Sharks (n = 20) were captured in southern Jervis Bay, acoustically tagged, and translocated ˜8kms north, half with strong magnets attached to their heads and half with a sham attachment. The time taken to return ‘home’ ranged from 3 hours to 13 days, with 3 sharks never detected back in the home reef. Whilst there was no significant difference between magnet and control groups, differences were observed based on sex; males returned more quickly than females. These results indicate that Port Jackson sharks have a well-developed homing ability but do not use a magnetic sense to navigate over short distances. This study raises further questions about how the sharks use space and other resources during breeding season, and provides important information on the spatial ecology of benthic sharks.
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246 Travels with whale sharks: satellite-tracking the world’s biggest fish
Samantha Reynolds ∗ 1, Brad Norman 1, Maria Beger 2,3, Craig Franklin 4, Ross Dwyer 4
1 ECOCEAN Inc – 102/72 Marine Terrace Fremantle WA 6160, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland – Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia 3 School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds – LS2 9JT, United Kingdom 4 The University of Queensland (UQ) – School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Samantha Reynolds works with ECOCEAN Inc, a not-for-profit whale shark research organ- isation, and recently graduated from the University of Queensland with BSc (Hons), at the age of 44. Her Honours thesis used data from the satellite tracking of 29 whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, to elucidate long-term residency and movement patterns and to reveal important habitat for whale sharks in the context of their usage of existing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Understanding the spatial and temporal variation in the distribution of highly migratory species is critical for management and conservation efforts. However, challenges in observing the move- ments of mobile marine species hinders identification of critical habitats. Despite being the world’s biggest fish, the global movements and distributions of the endangered whale shark (Rhincodon typus), along with critical habitats, remain poorly understood.
Animal-borne telemetric devices gathered long-term movement data that was used to quantify shark usage of the existing MPA network. Non-linear models were developed, using environ- mental variables, to predict suitable habitat throughout the south-eastern Indian Ocean.
This study includes the first documented complete return migrations by whale sharks to Ningaloo Marine Park, which was found to be an important area for them all year round, not only during the currently recognised winter aggregation period. While existing MPAs along Australia’s west coast do afford some protection to whale sharks, habitat models revealed large areas of suitable habitat not currently protected, particularly along the Western Australian coast, in the Timor Sea, and in Indonesian and international waters.
The existing MPA network may not sufficiently protect whale sharks throughout the year, and this study suggests that telemetry-based habitat models can be an important tool to inform conservation planning and spatial management efforts for migratory species. This data from this project is publicly accessible on ZoaTrack.org and provided STEM learning opportunities for school children in Western Australia. Schools sponsored 14 of the 29 tags deployed and followed their sharks while participating in a learning program developed by the
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247 Department of Education. Open-access data makes research more transparent and provides opportunities to educate and raise public awareness for conservation issues.
248 Whale shark demography and spatial ecology in Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua, Indonesia
Megan Meyers 1, Malcolm Francis 2, Mark Erdmann ∗† 3, Abraham Sianipar 3, Rochelle Constantine 1
1 University of Auckland (UA) – Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand 2 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) – 310 Evans Bay Parade Wellington 6021, New Zealand 3 Conservation International (CI) – 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22202, United States
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a cosmopolitan species found in tropical and sub- tropical oceans that exhibits a range of residency and movement patterns. From 2010 to 2016, we photographically identified 108 individuals in Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia, a population dominated by juvenile males (93%). To determine spatio-temporal habitat use and distribution, from June 2015- May 2016 we deployed 16 SPLASH10, fin-mount satellite tags on male sharks. Ten tags were recovered after 88 to 499 days of deployment, with mean transmission of 271 days (±30 S.E.). Five sharks remained within the bay during the study and ten sharks traveled outside the bay from late March to early May. Their paths covered both coastal and offshore waters, with individuals traveling up to 5,154 km away from the initial tagging position. These movements may be in response to environmental factors, including sea surface temperature and local current changes. A switching state space model demonstrated that sharks spent an average of 81% of their time foraging, mostly in shallow waters (median=35m), while the majority of traveling was observed over deeper waters (median=1,284m). Sharks spent most of their time in the upper 25 m of the water column (66%). Reverse diurnal vertical movement was observed, with more time spent at the surface (< 10m) during the day than at night. The majority (84%) of deep diving activity (> 200m) took place during the day, with an observed maximum depth of 1,860 m. The movement patterns show variable periods of residency in the bay during the sharks’ juvenile years, with individual patterns of horizontal and vertical movement most likely in response to different abiotic and biotic factors, which may trigger seasonal dispersal and affect diving behaviour.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
249 C6/ Connectivity and Dispersal in the Indo-Pacific
250 A ecologist guide to disentangling genetic and non-genetic heritabilities in wild marine fish populations, the case study of the Kimbe island orange clownfish
Benoit Pujol ∗ 1, Caroline Thomson 2, Isabel Winney 2, Oc´eaneSalles 2
1 Laboratoire Evolution´ Diversit´eBiologique (EDB UMR 5174), Universit´eF´ed´eraleToulouse Midi-Pyr´en´ees,CNRS, ENSFEA, IRD, UPS, France. (CNRS-EDB) – CNRS : UMR5174 – Universit´e Paul Sabatier Toulouse, France 2 Laboratoire Evolution´ Diversit´eBiologique (EDB UMR 5174), Universit´eF´ed´eraleToulouse Midi-Pyr´en´ees,CNRS, ENSFEA, IRD, UPS, France. (CNRS-EDB) – CNRS : UMR5174 – 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France, France
Genetic variation for fitness related traits is not the only heritable source of adaptive poten- tial. Non-genetic sources of transgenerational inheritances (e.g., social interactions, epigenetic, ecological niche transmission), also exist in nature. It is crucial to disentangle these sources of heritable variation to refine our estimates of population evolutionary potential. We provided the first complete practical guide for researchers interested in distinguishing between genetic and non-genetic heritabilities for phenotypic and/or fitness variation. Our tutorial shows how matri- ces describing non-genetic similarity can be generated and included in the quantitative genetic ”animal model” to estimate simultaneously both genetic and non-genetic sources of heritabili- ties. We tested the implications of this original approach on the Kimbe Island orange clownfish population by using habitat and pedigree data from its long term survey. The habitat of this clownfish population will likely change rapidly in the near future. With climate change affect- ing coral reefs, the whole ecosystem may shift to a lower depth, and/or suffer strong damage. Our work highlighted that the transmission of habitats from parents to newly recruited clown- fish affects their local fitness. We will discuss habitat transmission and other transgenerational non-genetic mechanisms that may generate population potential to respond to directional selec- tion. We call for more case studies potentially testing for such alternative sources of adaptive potential.
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251 Connectivity within the Red Sea and around the Arabian Peninsula
Michael Berumen ∗† 1, Joseph Dibattista 2, Pablo Saenz-Agudelo 3, Gerrit Nanninga 4, Julia Spaet 4, Mark Priest 5, Song He 1, Sara Wilson 1, Tane Sinclair-Taylor 1, Vanessa Robitzch 1
1 Reef Ecology Lab, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Red Sea Research Center, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia 2 Curtin University – Department of Environment and Agriculture, PO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia 3 Universidad Austral de Chile – Independencia 641, Valdivia, Regi´onde los R´ıos,Chile 4 Department of Zoology [Cambridge] – University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom, United Kingdom 5 University of Queensland – St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
The waters surrounding the Arabian Peninsula are characterized by strong environmental gradients. For many species, these gradients seem to represent barriers to connectivity at both ecological and evolutionary scales. The relatively high portion of endemic species in the region may be partially explained by these potential connectivity barriers. Although this region is pe- ripheral to the broader Indian Ocean, it is probably inaccurate to collectively refer to these seas as marginal. Some case studies suggest that the Arabian region may have exported biodiversity into the Indian Ocean and some areas (such as the Red Sea) are considered biodiversity hotspots for certain taxa. Few studies have explicitly examined connectivity between seas of the Arabian region and the Indian Ocean. Even fewer studies have addressed within-sea connectivity in the Arabian region. This talk will present an overview of recent works on a variety of species that have examined potential boundaries within the region. These boundaries include shifts in habitat availability; oceanographic bottlenecks; upwelling zones; and clines of salinity, temperature, or productiv- ity. Various taxa have been studied and various techniques have been used (including a variety of molecular approaches and biophysical modeling), with a range of temporal scales ranging from single dispersal events to evolutionary connectivity over the course of several millennia. While the results to date are far too few to provide general, broad conclusions, there are inter- esting patterns emerging. Several case studies reveal inconsistent patterns among taxa (even among congeners). Some species appear to be limited by some of the hypothesized connectivity boundaries while other species appear to have few barriers over very large spatial scales. The evolutionary history (and the connectivity patterns underlying this history) of the fauna of the Arabian region remains an enigmatic topic with great potential for future work to examine the mechanisms playing a role in shaping connectivity over various timescales.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
252 Creating empirically-validated simulations of reef fish larval dispersal
Michael Bode ∗ 1, Hugo Harrison 1, Jeffrey Leis 2, Luciano Mason 3, David Williamson 3, Geoff Jones 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 University of Tasmania – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 3 Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies) – 1 James Cook Drive, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Most coral reef fish spend their larval stage dispersing in the open ocean. The distance they travel has important implications for coral reef ecology and conservation, but our current understanding of where larvae go is limited because our data is sparse, and our simulation mod- els are unvalidated. We have developed novel methods that can use genetic parentage datasets to empirically validate oceanographic simulations of larval dispersal. We show how these tech- niques can be used, by applying them to a case-study of Plectropomus maculatus dispersal from the southern Great Barrier Reef in Australia. A coupled oceanographic-biological model of lar- val dispersal was constructed for the system, based on our best understanding of the species’ behaviour (adult spawning, larval behaviour and ontogeny). This model was parameterised to match an extensive genetic parentage dataset that collected and analysed a large number of adults and juveniles in the system (> 2,000), and positively identified 69 parent-juvenile rela- tionships, over distances of up to 200 km. The result of our comparison is the first biophysical model of larval dispersal that is validated by appropriate data on larval dispersal.
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253 From spawning to settlement: Identifying fine-scale connectivity in the Convict Tang, Acanthurus triostegus, across Oahu
Richard Coleman ∗ 1,2, Derek Kraft 1, Robert Toonen 1, Brian Bowen 1
1 Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) – 46-007 Lilipuna Rd Kaneohe, HI 96744, United States 2 University of Hawaii, Manoa (UHM) – 2500 Campus Rd, Honolulu, HI 96822, United States
In Hawaii it is estimated that 31% of the residents participate in recreational fishing (i.e. sport, leisure or subsistence). It is also estimated that 36% of the total catch for the waters surrounding many Pacific nations are attributed to recreational fish harvest. Under-managed fisheries can lead to overfishing and can prohibit the long-term sustainability for communities that use this natural resource for subsistence. Maintaining food security into the future will require new management approaches to protecting coastal resources. One of the first steps to informing proper management of fisheries is to determine the source of fish populations. Here, we conduct a parentage analysis of a common and heavy fished species of reef fish, the Convict Tang, Acanthurus triostegus, to describe dispersal patterns and connectivity pathways. Over 1500 samples of adults and juveniles were collection from 21 locations around the island of Oahu, Hawaii. DNA signatures for individuals were developed from SNPs generated by ddRAD. The results of this research will be used by Native Hawaiian community leaders to help inform community-based management efforts.
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254 Larval dispersal and connectivity in a coral reef seascape
Geoffrey Jones ∗ 2,1, Serge Planes 3, Simon Thorrold 4, Michael Berumen 5, Michael Bode 6, Pablo Saenz-Agudelo 7, Mary Bonin 8, Ashley Frisch 9, Hugo Harrison 10, Vanessa Messmer 11, Gerrit Nanninga 12, Mark Priest 13, Maya Srinivasan 8, Tane Sinclair-Taylor 5, David Williamson 11, Glenn Almany 11
2 Australian Research Council, Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARC COE) – Townsville, Australia 1 College of Marine and Aquaculture Science, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Australia 3 Laboratoire d’Excellence CORAIL EPHE, PSL Research University – PSL Research University, UPVD, CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, BP 1013, 98729 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia 4 Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, – Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, United States 5 Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia 6 ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia – Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia 7 Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile – 5Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile 8 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, – Townsville, Queensland 4811,, Australia 9 Reef HQ, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, – Townsville, Queensland 4810,, Australia 10 6ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, – Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia 11 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811, Australia 12 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. – Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom 13 Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, – Queensland 4072, Australia
Larval dispersal is a critical yet enigmatic process in the persistence and productivity of marine metapopulations. Empirical data on larval dispersal remain scarce, hindering the use of spatial management tools in efforts to sustain ocean biodiversity and fisheries. Genetic parentage analysis is now being routinely used to provide individual dispersal vectors across a range of species. However, to date there has been limited success in fully describing the dispersal kernels of any species or providing reliable estimates of larval connectivity matrices. Here we document dispersal among subpopulations of clownfish (Amphiprion percula) and butterflyfish (Chaetodon vagabundus) from eight sites across a large seascape (10,000 km2) in Papua New Guinea across 2 years. Dispersal of clownfish was consistent between years, with mean observed dispersal
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255 distances of 15 km and 10 km in 2009 and 2011, respectively. A Laplacian statistical distribution (the dispersal kernel) predicted a mean dispersal distance of 13–19 km, with 90% of settlement occurring within 40 km of source. Mean dispersal distances were considerably greater (43–64 km) for butterflyfish, with kernels declining only gradually from spawning locations. We could explain up to 80% of the variation in the connectivity matrix for A. percula by sampling ˜95% of adults and ˜200 juveniles from selected subpopulations, and ˜10% of adults across the whole metapopulation. We demonstrate that reliable estimates of dispersal and metapopulation connectivity can be measured on spatial scales sufficient to inform the design of and test the performance of marine reserve networks.
256 Larval quality (morphological, physiological and behavioural traits) and dispersal
Ricardo Beldade ∗ 1, Giacomo Bernardi 2, Geoff Jones 3, Mark Mccormick 4, Russell Schmitt 5, Sally Holbrook 5, Jean Clobert 6, Suzanne Mills 1,7
1 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ [EPHE], CNRS : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia, France 2 University of California Santa Cruz – 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, United States 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland. 4811., Australia 4 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville City, QLD, 4814, Australia 5 University of California Santa Barbara – Marine Science Institute and Dept of Ecology, Evolution Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California 93106 USA, United States 6 Station d’Ecologie Exp´erimentale a Moulis USR 2936 CNRS – CNRS : USR2936 – Moulis, 09200 Saint-Girons, France 7 Laboratoire d’Excellence “Corail” – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia – 58 avenue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan, France
Phenotypic plasticity in coral reef fish dispersal associated traits, is one of the mechanisms fish may rely on to cope with climate change. The variation in specie’s dispersal ability either due to their parental or environmental context is yet to be properly quantified. Parental reproduc- tive strategies both through changes in reproductive skew and the quality of the offspring they produce (through parental effects) should theoretically permit adjustments to environmental variability. In this talk I will be addressing both conceptual and empirical measures regard- ing reproductive skew and phenotypic plasticity associated to dispersal in coral reef fish larvae. Phenotypic variability in morphological, physiological and behavioural larval traits through on- togeny will be presented to show (i) the variability in reproductive skew; (ii) the variability found in larval phenotypic traits (morphological, physiological and behavioral) within and among fam- ilies (iii) the role of environmental variability in shaping larval phenotypes; (iv) how some of the dispersal related larval traits might influence the dispersal outcome.
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257 Low potential for adaptive evolution in a wild reef fish population
Oc´eaneSalles ∗ 1, Benoit Pujol 1, Michael Berumen 2, Geoffrey Jones 3, Pablo Saenz-Agudelo 4, Maya Srinivasan 5, Simon Thorrold 6, Serge Planes 7
1 Laboratoire Evolution´ Diversit´eBiologique (EDB) – CNRS : UMR5174 – Universit´ePaul Sabatier Toulouse, France 2 Red Sea Research Center Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College od Science and Engineering – James Cool University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia, Australia 4 Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas (ICAEV) – Universidad Austral de Chile, 5090000 Valvidia, Chile, Chile 5 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and College of Science and Engineering – James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia, Australia 6 Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States of America, United States 7 Centre de Recherche Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement, Laboratoire d’Excellence ”CORAIL” (CRIOBE) – CNRS : USR3278 – BP 1013, Papetoai, 98729 Moorea Polyn´esieFran¸caise, France
Whether reef fish populations have the evolutionary potential to adapt to environmental changes will determine their capacity to survive to the rapid inevitable global changes affecting coral reefs. It has implications for the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs that affect mil- lions of people in developing tropical regions, where artisanal fisheries are the dominant source of protein. Building upon a unique multi-generational pedigree in a wild reef fish population by repeatedly genotyping all the orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula) at Kimbe Island (Papua New Guinea) during a 10-y period, we were able to assess for the first time its evolutionary po- tential to respond to selection. We measured heritable variation in fitness because it is required for adaptive evolution to occur through the action of directional selection. We used a quanti- tative genetic approach that revealed the low (< 1%) but significant heritability of their local fitness (the contribution of an individual to the local replenishment of the population). Natal habitat and resident habitat characteristics explained up to 96.5% of inter-individual differences in local fitness. Our results imply that the orange clownfish population has little additive genetic potential for adaptive evolution by selection. Successful conservation strategies should therefore direct their efforts upon maintaining habitats that promote local fitness.
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258 Ontogeny of swimming abilities of larval coral reef fishes and a hypothesis for their impact on the spatial scale of dispersal
John Majoris ∗† 1, Katrina Catalano 1,2, Derek Scolaro 1, Jelle Atema 1, Peter Buston 1
1 Department of Biology and Marine Program, Boston University – 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, United States 2 Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University – Rutgers, NJ 08901, United States
Recent studies have demonstrated that late-stage larvae of coral reef fishes possess strong swimming abilities that may allow them to influence their dispersal. However, due to the challenge of rearing or collecting larvae early in development, there is relatively little information on the ontogeny of swimming abilities in larvae from hatching through settlement. In this study, we investigated the ontogeny of critical and sustained swimming abilities, from hatching through settlement, in lab-reared larvae of Amphiprion percula, Elacatinus lori and E. colini. In general, the critical and sustained swimming abilities of the larvae improved with age. The congeners, E. lori and E. colini, possessed similar critical and sustained swimming abilities. A. percula was capable of swimming nearly twice as fast and three orders of magnitude longer than Elacatinus. We relate this data on the critical swimming speed of late-stage A. percula and E. lori, and literature data on the critical swimming speed of another species, Plectropomus leopardus, to the published pattern of dispersal for each species. Across species, a 10 cm s-1 increase in swimming speed was associated with an order of magnitude increase in the median and maximum dispersal distance. Considering other larval traits, swimming speed was a better predictor of dispersal distance than body size and pelagic larval duration. Based on these observations, we hypothesize that swimming abilities may play an important role in determining the extent of long distance dispersal, and make testable predictions about the spatial scale of dispersal for other families of coral reef fishes.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
259 Paradigm Lost: Climate change will demolish the paradigm of biophysical larval-fish dispersal
Jeffrey Leis ∗ 1,2
1 University of Tasmania – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 2 Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI) – 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia
The passive drift paradigm of larval-fish dispersal has only recently been replaced by a biophysical paradigm including the strong involvement of behaviour of larvae: directly by orien- tated swimming, and indirectly by depth control. Variability in behaviour leads to variation in dispersal outcomes: a form of evolutionary bet hedging. However, this will soon be ’Paradigm Lost’ due to climate change effects on larval-fish behaviour. Physiological processes in fishes have a dome-shaped temperature response, but otherwise, few adverse effects of temperature increase on fish larvae behaviour have been documented. Tem- perature increases will accelerate poleward extension of species’ ranges via larval dispersal, particularly where currents flow poleward, because a larva will remain in its thermal ‘comfort zone’ further as it moves poleward. The lower-latitude margin of ranges will contract as ther- mal ‘comfort zones’ shift toward higher latitudes, although contraction of the whole population will be slowed by the ‘storage effect’ provided by relatively temperature-tolerant adults. Where currents move equatorward, range changes will be slowed: poleward movement of larvae will be retarded by contrary currents, and temperature-induced range contractions at lower latitudes will be retarded by the equatorward movement of cooler water. The effects of lower pH as CO2 is absorbed by the ocean will perhaps be more profound and less spatially variable. Acidification results in neurotransmitter dysfunction, interfering with the senses of fish larvae that are vital to orientation in the ocean. Without orientation ability, swim- ming by larvae has greatly diminished influence on larval dispersal, and vertical distributions will become less structured. Therefore, behaviour will influence larval-fish dispersal much less, putting larval dispersal back to the old passive dispersal paradigm. Fish larvae will disperse more as plankton than as nekton. Average dispersal distances will increase, self-recruitment will decrease, and the spatial scale of population connectivity may increase. The ability of larvae to locate suitable settlement habitat and to avoid predators will decrease, resulting in lower settlement. Further, behaviour-driven variability in dispersal outcomes will decrease, resulting in less effective bet hedging. Ocean acidification will demolish the biophysical larval dispersal paradigm and be detrimental to populations of demersal fishes with pelagic larvae.
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260 Reef fish larval dispersal underscores major challenges for regional coral reef management in the Philippines
Rene Abesamis ∗ 1,2, Pablo Saenz-Agudelo 3, Michael Berumen 4,5, Michael Bode 2, Claro Renato Jadloc 1, Leilani Solera 6, Cesar Villanoy 6, Lawrence Patrick Bernardo 7, Abner Bucol 1, Angel Alcala 1, Garry Russ 8
1 Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management (SUAKCREM) – Dumaguete City, 6200 Negros Oriental, Philippines 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 3 Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas (ICAEV) – Universidad Austral de Chile, 5090000 Valvidia, Chile, Chile 4 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Thuwal, Saudi Arabia 5 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – 266 Woods Hole Road Woods Hole, MA 02543-1050, United States 6 University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) – Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines 7 Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology – O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan 8 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University – Townsville QLD 4811, Australia
Coral reef fish are a vital but rapidly diminishing resource for tens of millions of people in the developing world. In many Indo-Pacific countries, networks of no-take marine reserves (NTMRs) are widely advocated as a core strategy to revitalise reef fisheries. The push for the creation of NTMR networks is motivated by the probable extent of larval dispersal in marine species. For reef fish, this could mean significant demographic connectivity among reefs that are managed by politically- or culturally-separate human communities. However, the spatial and temporal variability of larval dispersal are still a major source of uncertainty in implementing NTMR networks. Over the past 6 years, we have elucidated patterns of larval dispersal among NTMRs and fishing grounds in the central Philippines by conducting genetic parentage analysis on the vagabond butterflyfish (Chaetodon vagabundus, Family: Chaetodontidae). This species has a pelagic larval life of 20-30 days, similar to many targeted reef fish. Our continuing investigation has so far measured larval dispersal distances ranging from 10 m to 168 km and unravelled a potentially significant role of seasonal flow reversals driven by the monsoons in shaping dispersal trajectories. Importantly, we have also uncovered all types of dispersal that may occur in NTMR networks (i.e., between NTMRs, NTMRs to fished areas, fished areas to NTMRs, between fished areas and self-recruitment). Inferred instances of connectivity far outnumbered self-recruitment. Our initial estimate of the shape of the larval dispersal kernel predicts a mean dispersal distance of 36.5 km, with 50% of fish larvae settling within 33 km of their natal reef, and 95% within
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261 83 km. These findings provide empirical support for the expectation that networks of closely- spaced NTMRs can enhance reef fisheries synergistically. However, they also highlight formidable challenges for the creation of large-scale NTMR networks in countries like the Philippines: 1) sustaining institutional support for NTMR networks that will inevitably span multiple political or cultural boundaries; 2) protecting larger proportions of reefs in NTMRs and reducing fishing pressure in order to achieve connectivity levels that may sustain reef fish populations.
262 Reef health influences self-recruitment in a meta-population of Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion akallopisos) in the Indian Ocean connected through larval dispersal
Filip Huyghe ∗ 1, Marc Kochzius 1
1 Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) – Pleinlaan2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Knowledge of ecological connectivity, i.e. self-recruitment (SR) and larval dispersal among reefs, is critical for MPA design. Empirical estimates have demonstrated a striking variety in levels of SR worldwide, as well as temporal and seasonal variety. As drivers for this variety larval behaviour, the influence of reef health on larval sensory capacity to localise reef habitat, oceanographic patterns, and the stochastic nature of larval survival have been suggested. We study the influence of reef health on SR and larval dispersal among populations of Skunk Clown- fish (Amphiprion akallopisos) around the Island of Unguja, Tanzania, as well as inter-annual and inter-seasonal variety in function of a seasonal change in wind direction and consequently sea surface current in the Zanzibar Channel. Furthermore, we describe the dispersal kernel, measure the mean dispersal distance of larvae, and assess meta-population resilience and adult replacement time. Tissue samples of 3.225 individuals, 1.777 adults and 1.448 juveniles, was col- lected on 14 reefs during two years and genotyped for parentage analysis using 13 microsatellite markers. Overall SR was 21.7%, and was highest in the healthiest reef (34.5%) but similar in the remaining reefs. The three healthiest reefs contributed the most to the larval pool. In total, 91.2% of the juveniles were assigned to parents within the dataset. All reefs around Unguja seemed to be well connected through larval dispersal. We did not detect any inter-annual varia- tion or influence of changing oceanographic conditions on SR or larval dispersal. Mean dispersal distance per larva was 15.63 km. Replacement time for the meta-population around Unguja was 1.35 years per adult, but was much higher for each individual reef when only SR was taken into account. We conclude that reef health increases SR but only when the reef is almost in pristine state. The meta-population of Skunk Clownfish around Unguja is largely self-recruiting and self-persistent. Individual reefs, however, rely on larval dispersal from other reefs for pop- ulation persistence. We therefore recommend the protection of a second reef (Bawe) as a MPA in addition to the current MPA (Chumbe reef) to improve resilience of the meta-population.
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263 Scales of marine dispersal, from ecological to evolutionary
Malin Pinsky ∗† 1, Pablo Saenz-Agudelo 2, Oc´eaneSalles 3, Glenn Almany 4, Michael Bode 5, Michael Berumen 6,7, Serge Andref¨ouet 8, Simon Thorrold 9, Geoff Jones 10, Serge Planes 11
1 Rutgers University – 14 College Farm Rd. New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States 2 Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas (ICAEV) – Universidad Austral de Chile, 5090000 Valvidia, Chile, Chile 3 Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) – 1PUC-Rio – Pontifıcia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro Caixa Postal 38097 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, Brazil 4 CRIOBE, USR 3278, CNRS–EPHE–UPVD, Laboratoire d’Excellence “CORAIL”, – criobe – 58 Avenue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan, France 5 U. Melbourne – ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia, Australia 6 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Thuwal, Saudi Arabia 7 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – 266 Woods Hole Road Woods Hole, MA 02543-1050, United States 8 IIRD – UMR250 ENTROPIE (Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, Universite de la Reunion, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), BP A5, Noumea, 98848, New Caledonia, New Caledonia 9 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – 86 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States 10 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 11 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
The scales over which offspring disperse is critical for understanding ecology and evolution in the ocean. At the moment, most estimates suggesting short-distance dispersal are based on di- rect ecological observations of dispersing individuals, while evolutionary estimates often suggest greater homogeneity among populations. Reconciling these two approaches and their seemingly competing perspectives on dispersal has been a major challenge. Here we show that evolutionary and ecological measurements of dispersal can agree, if carefully calculated and compared. In populations of the orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula), we found that evolutionary isolation by distance methods closely matched an exhaustive set of direct larval dispersal observations in two separate time periods. Our results suggest that carefully applied evolutionary methods, which are often less expensive, can be broadly relevant for understanding ecological dispersal across the tree of life.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
264 The ghost in the machine: a review of the biology behind biophysical models of marine larval dispersal
Stephen Swearer ∗ 1, Eric Treml 1, Jeff Shima 2
1 University of Melbourne – School of BioSciences, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia 2 Victoria University of Wellington – School of Biological Sciences, New Zealand
Despite its fundamental importance to understanding the ecology and evolution of benthic marine organisms, dispersal is arguably the least understood demographic process in the sea. Whether an individual larva is ultimately successful in dispersing from its birthplace to its recruit location depends on the culmination of a diverse suite of intrinsic and extrinsic processes operating in early life. Empirically generating this level of insight into the connectivity process, even for a handful of species, has been immensely difficult because of the challenges of studying and quantifying dispersal in the sea. As such, most estimates of dispersal are based on theoretical estimates of potential dispersal trajectories from biophysical models. Although there is a long history of larval dispersal modelling, there has been no review of this extensive body of research. Here we present a systematic review of this literature to ask the following questions:
Is there any systematic bias in the distribution of research effort based on geographical or taxonomic coverage?
Are hydrodynamic models resolving ocean circulation at scales relevant to the dispersal process under study?
Where, when and how many particles are being tracked and is it sufficient to capture the spatio- temporal variability in dispersal?
How much biological and behavioural complexity is being incorporated into Lagrangian particle tracking models and what, if any, stages of the dispersal process are not being well captured? We show that despite the increasing number of studies applying biophysical models, there remain considerable taxonomic and geographic biases, model resolution and particle number limits despite increases in computational efficiency, and very few studies with realistic biology. These findings provide further evidence for the need to validate model assumptions and to test predicted dispersal trajectories against empirically-derived data.
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265 There and back again: patterns and consequences of larval dispersal
Jeff Shima ∗ 1, Steve Swearer 2
1 Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) – School of Biological Sciences Victoria University Coastal Ecology Lab (VUCEL), New Zealand 2 School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne (UniMelb) – Parkville Campus Victoria, Australia 3010, Australia
Larval dispersal is disproportionately important for marine population ecology and evolu- tion, yet our inability to track individuals severely constrains our understanding of this key process. We analyze otoliths of a temperate reef fish, the common triplefin (Forsterygion lapil- lum), to reconstruct individual dispersal histories and address the following questions: (1) How many discrete sets of dispersal histories (‘dispersal cohorts’) contribute to replenishment of fo- cal populations; (2) When do dispersal cohorts converge (a metric of shared dispersal histories among cohorts); and (3) Do these patterns predict spatio-temporal variation in larval supply? We used light traps to quantify larval supply, and otolith microstructure and microchemistry (using LA-ICP-MS) to reconstruct daily environmental histories of individuals in their 30-day lead-up to settlement. Our results indicate a variable number of dispersal cohorts replenish fo- cal populations (range: 2-8, mean=4.3, SD=2.8). Convergence times varied (from 0d to > 30d prior to settlement), and larval supply was negatively correlated with cohort evenness but not with the number of cohorts, or when they converged-indicating disproportionately large contri- butions from some cohorts (i.e., sweepstakes events).Collectively, our results suggest that larval reef fishes may variably disperse in shoals, to drive local replenishment and connectivity within a metapopulation.
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266 Weak and monthly variable self-recruitment in the coral reef damselfish Dascyllus aruanus in New Caledonia
C´ecileFauvelot ∗ 1, Marion Cuif 1,2, David Kaplan 2,3, Daphne Grulois 1, Laurent Vigliola 1, Tri Nguyen-Huu 2, Christophe Lett 2
1 Ecologie marine tropicale des oc´eansPacifique et Indien (ENTROPIE [Nouvelle-Cal´edonie])– 101 avenue Roger Laroque, BP A5, 98848 Noum´ea,New Caledonia, New Caledonia 2 Unit´ede mod´elisationmath´ematiqueet informatique des syst`emescomplexes [Bondy] (UMMISCO) – Universit´ePierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6, Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement - IRD (FRANCE) – Centre de Recherche Halieutique M´editerran´eenneet Tropicale, Avenue Jean Monnet, CS 30171, 34203 S`eteCedex, France, France 3 Virginia Institute of Marine Science – Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William Mary, P.O. Box 1346, 1375 GreateRoad, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062-1346, USA, United States
Understanding the dynamics of marine populations is critical to managing marine systems effectively, and requires information on patterns of population dispersal and connectivity that are still poorly known. Here we use three complementary approaches to study larval dispersal of the Humbug damselfish, Dascyllus aruanus, in the patchy reefs seascape of the South-West Lagoon of New Caledonia (SWL), South-West Tropical Pacific. We used i) transgenerational marking (TRAIL) and ii) parentage analysis based on 10 microsatellite to assess self-recruitment empir- ically on a reef of the lagoon, as well as connectivity between this focal reef and 10 surrounding reefs. Lastly, iii) a biophysical model was developed to simulate larval trajectories during their dispersal phase within the lagoon. Both empirical methods revealed that self-recruitment var- ied significantly between months (ranging from 0 to 68 %) but was generally low. However, we found that the threshold used to determine marked/assigned individuals significantly affects perceived self-recruitment and connectivity rates and, therefore, must be chosen very carefully. To consolidate this result, we developed a new method to quantify the uncertainty associated with empirical estimates of connectivity. With this new approach we could estimate a 95% confi- dence interval of 0–3 true parent-offspring pairs and 7–23 TRAIL-marked settlers. In agreement with our empirical results, simulated self-recruitment at the focal reef and connectivity with the surrounding reefs exhibited considerable temporal variability and was generally very low, with an average value of ˜ 0.1 % (range 0–1%). In conclusion, self-recruitment on a focal reef of the South lagoon of New-Caledonia and connectivity with the surrounding reefs is possible but generally very low, which contrasts with results reported before in similar studies, though on different location. As other comparable studies start to accumulate, determining the physical, biological, and ecological conditions that lead to high vs. low self-recruitment and connectiv- ity values will likely be possible in the near future. We showed that uncertainty in empirical estimates of larval connectivity is generally high and should be accounted for, and that self- recruitment, local retention, and lifetime egg production should all be assessed for connectivity studies to be useful to assess population persistence.
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267 C7/ Larval recruitment in marine and freshwater fishes: Current issues and future directions
268 Are mangroves important for reef fish on the Island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean?
Rakamaly Madi Moussa ∗ 1
1 Institute for Pacific Coral Reefs (IRCP) – BP 1013 Papetoai 98729 Moorea, Polyn´esief¸caiseTel : (689) 40 56 13 45, French Polynesia
Coastal habitats such as mangroves are widely considered important nursery grounds for various species of juvenile reef fishes. In the Caribbean, mangroves are clearly connected to coral reef, while the function of Indo-pacific mangroves as nursery habitats for reef fishes has long been debated. This ecosystem has unfortunately been affected by human activity such as coastal development, bush clearance, landfill and unsustainable fishing. Due to a lack of studies, the nursery role of these habitats in this region remains undetermined and it is, therefore, essential to understand the role played by mangroves for coral reef fish on Mayotte Island. Sampling was carried out during twelve months from April 2016 to March 2017 in three sites (Bandrele near to a fringing reef, Dzoumogne close to a river mouth and Malamani in a bay) on the mangrove front using a fyke net combined to visual census surveys. A total of 28,689 fishes distributed among 75 species were recorded. The catches indicate the abundance of juveniles or sub-adults and small- sized species. At Bandrele’s site, specie richness was more diverse than the two other sites with more reef fish species, indicating that proximity to the coral reef provide an important habitat for juveniles reef fishes. Ambassidae, Atherinidae, Mugilidae, Sillaginidae, and Mullidae were the most abundant families in the mangrove of Dzoumogne whereas Atherinidae, Ambassidae and Leiognathidae dominated the fish population in Malamani Bay. We assume that the habitat configuration of the Bandrele site shows a possible effect of habitat connectivity between coral reef fish and adjacent mangroves. The mangroves of Mayotte also provide an additional foraging area for adults reef fish species during high tide. The mangroves are important habitats for a diverse assemblage of fish and also have a nursery function. However the mangrove importance to Mayotte’s reef fish is limited and its role as a nursery for juvenile reef fish should not be generalised to the whole mangrove island.
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269 Artificial Light At Night in the Underwater World
Jack O’connor ∗ 1, Emily Fobert 1, Marc Besson 2, Lecchini David 2
1 University of Melbourne – Melbourne, Australia 2 CRIOBE – bp 1013 Papetoai, French Polynesia
Anthropogenic light pollution affects organisms in terrestrial ecosystems, with chronic expo- sure leading to altered behaviours and community structures. Although over 20% of the world’s populated coastline experiences light pollution from coastal infrastructure and marine vessels, we know little about its impacts on marine organisms, many of which rely on natural lunar cues to trigger critical biological functions. We investigated for the first time the effects of artificial light on coral reef fishes during their early life history . Experiments on habitat choice, endocrinology, histology, growth and predation showed that individuals were behaviourally and physiologically sensitive to artificial light exposure from the larval stage through to post-settlement, result- ing in higher mortality rates and predation vulnerability. These results suggest that increasing exposure to coastal lighting may impact coral-reef fish populations.
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270 Effect of the 2011 Tsunami disaster accompanying the Great East Japan Earthquake on the population dynamics of Japanese tube snout Aulichthys japonicus
Go Katayose ∗† 1, Takashi Asahida‡ 1
1 School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University – Kitasato, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan
The Japanese tube snout Aulichthys japonicus is a small fish species which lives in shallow coastal waters, especially in seagrass (Zostera spp.) beds. The fish is known for their unusual spawning behavior of concealing their eggs in ascidians (Halocynthia roretzi). We have been studying the larval and juvenile fish fauna in a seagrass bed in southern Iwate, Japan from 2007, and observed that the fish is a dominant species in the seagrass bed. On March 11, 2011, the seagrass bed was washed away by the Tsunami. The Japanese tube snout also decreased after the Tsunami disaster together with the loss of the seagrass bed which plays an important role as a nursery ground for various coastal fishes. The seagrass bed has been recovering since 2012, the number of tube snout has also increased from 0.080 /m2 in 2012 to 0.214 /m2 in 2013. In contrast, the number decreased to 0.050 /m2 in 2014. We assumed that the increase and decrease of ascidian individuals affected the number of tube snouts, we counted the number of individuals of ascidians growing on the seawall adjacent to the seagrass bed. The number of ascidians increased from 0 /m2 in just after the Tsunami (2011) to 10 /m2 in 2013, however, they decreased to 8 /m2 in the spring of 2014 due to human activity. In 2015, all of the ascidians on the seawall were scraped off due to reconstruction, and the tube snout decreased to 0.048 /m2 in 2016 even though the seagrass bed has recovered. We observed some egg masses of the tube snout in the removed ascidians collected from the sea bed. The results of a statistical analysis using model selection by AIC suggested the effects of the decrease of ascidians led to the decrease of the tube snout.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
271 Environmental effects on larval swimming performance in Amphiprion chrysopterus
Daphne Cortese ∗† 1, Zoe Scholz 1, Suzanne Mills 1, Tommy Norin 2, Shaun Killen 2, Ricardo Beldade 1
1 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l´environnement (CRIOBE) – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, French Polynesia 2 University of Glasgow – Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health Comparative Medicine, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
Over the last few decades environmental changes have become more intense and frequent with considerable impacts on coral reef ecosystems. One way in which organisms can cope with these global changes is by shifting their range of distribution, which in most fish depends on their pelagic larval phase. The ability to disperse depends on certain phenotypic larval traits, which are plastic, but whether these traits depend on the parental phenotypic traits and/or the environmental context (water currents) from which larvae originate, is not yet clear. Here, we test the hypothesis that coral reef fish larval traits associated to dispersal (total length, pectoral and caudal fin size, as well as critical swimming speed - Ucrit) depend on the environment (i.e. water currents) and on parental phenotypic traits. Using offspring from breeding orange-fin anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysopterus): firstly we show the great variability in larval traits associated to dispersal within and among families; secondly, morphological traits associated to dispersal are not heritable; thirdly, larval swimming speed (Ucrit) depends on parental origin, and finally we show that environmental variability has an effect on larval phenotypes, particularly on larval size and Ucrit. From the moment of hatching until settlement, larvae with better swimming performance should also be better able to disperse and/or find a suitable settlement habitat. The specific way in which these traits influence the final dispersal and settlement outcomes remains unanswered.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
272 Fish sampling like nowhere else: remote video methods for studying fish populations in a croc infested, turbid, macrotidal system
Camilla Piggott ∗ 2,1, Martial Depczynski 2, Timothy Langlois 3
2 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Perth) – Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, Level 3 The University of Western Australia Fairway Crawley, WA 6009, Australia 1 University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 3 University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley WA 6009, Australia
Macrotidal and highly turbid environments present significant logistical and methodological challenges for research scientists. When coupled with factors such as remoteness, inaccessibility and an abundance of salt water crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) the ability to reliably collect fish community data using established diver visual sampling methods can be compromised. Understanding which data collection methods work best is therefore critical to provide a realis- tic ecological picture through the minimisation of extraneous variability. Baited and unbaited remote underwater video ([B]RUVs) sampling is being increasingly used to sample adult fish populations, typically for information on species composition and distribution, relative abun- dance, and size. [B]RUVs have been found to be cost-effective across a broad range of habitats and depths however they have not previously been used in macrotidal low visibility environ- ments to sample juvenile fish. This study was conducted in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia; an ecosystem that experiences tidal forcing of up to 10 knots, has a tidal range of 12 metres and ubiquitous poor water visibility. Both BRUVs and RUVs were deployed in a range of habitats, tidal states, current strengths and levels of turbidity to determine how each of these influenced the collection of relative abundance, richness and size data for adult and juvenile fish.
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273 Gaining the competitive edge: is early life-history linked to post-settlement performance in a territorial reef fish?
Emily Fobert ∗ 1, Davina Poulos 2
1 University of Melbourne – Melbourne, Australia 2 James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Australia
Research on early life-histories of marine reef fishes has determined that patterns of recruit- ment and survival in the post-settlement stage are largely established in the dispersal phase, as larval experience during dispersal can significantly influence individual fitness and habitat choice at settlement, and early post-settlement survival. Despite significant advancements in understanding the link between early life-history and post-settlement success in reef fishes, few studies have linked larval growth histories to behavioural traits and social interactions in the post-settlement stage. This is a critical question as the outcome of competitive interactions will influence the success of an individual through increased or reduced access to resources. In this study, we used a manipulative field experiment to investigate whether a physical advan- tage in the larval stage is linked to advantageous post-settlement behaviour (aggression and dominance) in a territorial damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis. Larval P. amboinensis were collected from light traps off Lizard Island, Australia. Fish were tagged and released onto exper- imental patch reefs, and boldness and aggression displays were monitored to assign a dominance hierarchy. Following the experiment, larval growth histories were calculated from the dispersal period of individual otoliths, to determine if there is a relationship between early life-history and competitive dominance in the post-settlement environment.
∗Speaker
274 Importance of metamorphosis in coral reef fish larval recruitment facing global change and water pollution
Marc Besson ∗† 1, David Lecchini 1, Guillaume Holzer 2, Lo¨ıcFran¸cois 1, Isadora Moniz 1, Hugo Jacob 1, Pauline Salis 3, Vincent Laudet 3
1 PSL Research University - EPHE-CNRS-UPVD USR3278 CRIOBE – BP1013 Papetoai, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia 2 IGFL, UMR CNRS 5242, ENS Lyon – Ecole´ normale sup´erieure- Lyon, Ecole´ Normale Sup´erieure- Lyon – 46 All´eed’Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France 3 OOB, UMR CNRS 7232 BIOM UPMC – oob – 1 avenue Pierre Fabre, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
Life history transitions are critical for many animal species and often correspond to con- comitant developmental and ecological shifts. Unfortunately, little is known on how internal and external cues act in concert during these events. Most teleost reef fish life cycle includes a major developmental and ecological transition. Adults reproduce in the vicinity of the reef, emitting eggs that disperse and hatch in the ocean, where the larvae grow. Then, larvae migrate back towards reefs where they settle and persist, a step called larval recruitment. Larval recruit- ment involves the perception of environmental cues for larvae to localize and select their new benthic habitat, and is accompanied by major morphological changes. Therefore, this ecological and developmental transition of pelagic larvae into reef-associated juveniles is often referred to as metamorphosis. This step is critical for the maintenance of reef fish populations, but its molecular control remains largely unknown.
In the current context of worldwide degradation of coral reef ecosystems, what affect coral reef fish populations and assemblages is no longer only attributed to overfishing pressures but also to replenishment issues. Indeed, the loss and degradation of coral habitats has been ac- knowledged for years to reduce (i) the potential of reefs to attract coral reef fish young settlers and (ii) the survival of these settlers. This leads to dramatic failure in larval recruitment and subsequent population replenishment in degraded reef areas.
Here, I will present new insights on coral reef fish metamorphosis: a TH regulated process reminiscent of the situation in amphibians that is at the crossroad of ecological, developmental, physiological and behavioral transformations, and which is prone to endocrine disruption. Since metamorphosis and larval recruitment are essential for the maintenance of fish populations and subsequent coral reef resilience, this provides a general framework to better understand, at the molecular, anatomical and behavioral levels, how global change and water pollution can threaten reef ecosystems.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
275 Otolith strontium isotope ratios identify recruitment sources of facultatively amphidromous fish in a complex riverine lake system
Matt Jarvis ∗ 1, Bruno David 2, Kevin Collier 3, Gerard Closs 1, Malcolm Reid 1, Andy Hicks 4, Deniz ¨ozkundakci 3
1 University of Otago – Dunedin, New Zealand 2 Waikato Regional Council – 401 Grey Street, Hamilton, New Zealand 3 University of Waikato – Hamilton, New Zealand 4 Hawkes Bay Regional Council – Napier, New Zealand
Information on the recruitment sources sustaining fish populations is integral to their effec- tive management, providing insights into early habitat requirements, population connectivity, and potential source-sink dynamics. However, the difficulty of tracking tiny larval and juvenile fish makes identifying recruitment sources particularly challenging for amphidromous species, which spend their larval period in a lake or the sea before migrating into streams as juveniles. We used Sr87/Sr86 ratios of otoliths and water samples to attempt to determine the larval origins of large galaxiids in the lower Waikato, a catchment with many potential larval sources including the sea and a complex system of riverine lakes. To identify larval origins, we compared Sr87/Sr86 ratios in the larval zone of otoliths with water samples from all potential larval sources. Nearly all fish examined had reared in lakes rather than the sea. While a few lakes had similar isotopic ratios which prevented definitive classification, discriminant function analysis classified the majority of fish to a larval rearing habitat with a high probability (> 70%). Further, nearly all of these fish were classified to the nearest downstream lake from their location of capture, indicating limited dispersal between sub-populations. Subsequent larval trawls confirmed rela- tively high abundances of larvae rearing in those lakes identified as major sources of recruits. These results demonstrate the potential for isotopic analyses of otoliths to be used in identifying sources of recruits to fish populations, and provide information crucial to the management and conservation of amphidromous fishes in the lower Waikato.
∗Speaker
276 Recruitment of Anguilla japonica glass eels in the Yangtze Estuary, China in relation to environmental variables
Hongyi Guo ∗ 1, Xuguang Zhang 1, Ya Zhang 1, Wenqiao Tang† 1,2, Jiakun Song‡ 1
1 College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University – No.999, Huchenghuan Rd , Nanhui New City, Shanghai, P.R. China, China 2 The Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Taxonomy and Evolution, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Shanghai – No.999, Huchenghuan Rd , Nanhui New City, Shanghai, P.R. China, China
The recruitmentpattern of Anguilla japonica glass eels into the Yangtze estuary, China was studied during fivesuccessive migration seasons (2012–2016). The variation in daily catch was analyzed in relation to environmental factors that affect inshore migration. Two large migration waves of glass eels were observed in each recruitment season: one in the winter (January/February) and the other in the spring (March/April). A generalized additive model indicated that daily changes in glass eel catch were partially affected by local water temperature and tidal range. Water temperature seemed to have a threshold effect in winter, and there were optimal temperature ranges between 6-8◦C and approximately 10.5-12.0◦C associated with different recruitment waves to the Yangtze estuary. The influence of tides was complex, with an overall positive correlation. The annual glass eel catch fluctuated greatly, but generally did not show a significant downward trend. To achieve the sustainable use of glass eels, this paper proposes that relevant management and conservation activities should bereinforced.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
277 Thyroid-hormone regulated metamorphosis: a dynamic and plastic process allowing ecological and developmental coupling of life history transitions
Vincent Laudet ∗† 1, Marc Besson 2, Guillaume Holzer 3, Natacha Roux 1, Pauline Salis 1, David Lecchini 2
1 OOB, UMR CNRS 7232 BIOM UPMC – oob – 1 avenue Pierre Fabre, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France 2 PSL Research University - EPHE-CNRS-UPVD USR3278 CRIOBE – BP1013 Papetoai, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia 3 IGFL, UMR CNRS 5242, ENS Lyon – Ecole´ Normale Sup´erieure- Lyon – 46 All´eed’Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France
Vertebrate metamorphosis is a spectacular post-embryonic process exemplified by the trans- formation of a tadpole into a frog. This transition implies the appearance of new body parts (e.g. the limbs), the resorption of larval features(e.g. the tail) and the remodeling of many organs (e.g. the skin or the intestine). Metamorphosis has been well characterized in anuran amphibians, where thyroid hormone (TH) orchestrates the intricate and seemingly contradictory changes observed at the cellular and tissue levels. TH controls a complex hierarchical cascade of target genes via binding to specific receptors, TRa and TRb, which are ligand-activated transcription factors belonging to the nuclear receptor superfamily. Metamorphosis is in fact widespread throughout vertebrates, which exhibit an impressive diversity in this regard. How- ever, outside specific model systems or aquaculture species it is poorly characterized in fish and this is particularly true in coral reef fish. There are however many data suggesting that this is a critical period in the life history of these organism, intimately linked to larval recruitment a very important event in terms of ecology and conservation biology. In addition, variations of this key event (from paedomorphosis, the absence of metamorphosis, to direct development which actually corresponds to precocious metamorphosis) provides a unique opportunity to illustrate how the tinkering of the cascade controlling metamorphosis can lead to divergent life histories. The data converge towards a model suggesting that post-embryonic remodeling governed by TH is a common feature in animals.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
278 D1/ Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of Chondrichthyan fishes
279 A Nursery Ground of Sicklefin Lemon Shark, Negaprion acutidens, at the Water of Dongsha Island in Dongsha Atoll National Park, Taiwan
Chen Yu Yun ∗† 1, Wang Jeng Ping 2
1 Department of Leisure Recreation Studies, Aletheia University – No.70-11, Beishiliao, Madou Dist., Tainan City 72147, Taiwan (R.O.C.), Taiwan 2 Department of Life Science, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) – No.1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan (R.O.C.), Taiwan
Recent studies have indicated the survival of juvenile sharks is more important for population maintenance than the survival of adult stages. Dongsha island surrounded with seagrass beds, locate at the western opening of Dongsha Atoll. There has been documented adult female sicklefin lemon sharks come close to the near waters of Dongsha island every year, and even enter into the gape of the small lagoon during the high tide in late March and April. A few days after, several aggregations of juvenile sicklefin lemon sharks, Negaprion acutidens, would be seen and recorded along the waters of Dongsha island. 549 sicklefin lemon sharks, most were juveniles had been caught from September 2012 to April 2017. We found these sharks commonly inhabited seagrass beds along the coastline of Dongsha island, a behavior facilitating both observation and collection. 5 years visual surveys and trap collections revealed that juvenile sicklefin lemon sharks were abundant from May through September at water temperatures ranging from 24 to 30◦C. Over 500 sampling yielded from 42–212 cm precaudal length (PCL), sex ratio of 0.83. Moving pattern and data from recaptured and acoustic tags showed nearshore migration here and mostly moved around the small lagoon, gape of the lagoon and the northern coast water of Dongsha island. Aggregations of juvenile lemon sharks documented might be the result of low-level water effect of the seagrass bed, which avoided the predation to the predator, meanwhile, provided the tidal area enhancing foraging opportunities as well as the protection from overfishing, which could be treated as a reserved area in sharks-depleted Southeast Asia waters. These findings indicate that nearshore waters of Dongsha island have been serve as one of the most valuable lemon shark nursery ground in South China Sea. Keywords: nursery ground, Negaprion acutidens, Dongsha island.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
280 An Interactive Online Database for Extant Chondrichthyan Fishes
Gavin Naylor ∗ 1
1 Florida Museum of Natural History (FMNH) – 1659 Museum Road PO Box 117800 University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611, United States
I will introduce a new website that provides access to information about the evolution, and biogeography of modern sharks, rays and chimaeras. The site contains scientific illustrations, distribution maps, estimated times of divergence and natural history pages for all currently described species. Interactive CT scans of skeletal elements are also available for representatives of several chondrichthyan families. The data are organized phylogenetically using an inference that is based on comparative genomic data. Queries can be conducted based on phylogeny, geography and depth of occurence..
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281 Are we underestimating elasmobranch abundances on BRUVS by using traditional metrics?
Samantha Sherman ∗ 1, Michelle Heupel 2,3, Andrew Chin 4, Colin Simpfendorfer 2
1 James Cook University (JCU) – 1 James Cook Drive Townsville, Queensland 4810, Australia 2 Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia 3 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Townsville) – Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville 4810, Queensland, Australia, Australia 4 Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia
Baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) are increasingly used to study aquatic fish communities, trends in biomass, and animal behaviour. The most commonly used metric to analyse BRUVS data is MaxN which refers to the maximum number of individuals observed in a single frame of a video. Here, we present a novel method for analysing BRUVS data that involves identifying and counting distinct individuals (MaxIND). Separate individuals of the oriental bluespotted maskray (Neotrygon orientalis) and the bluespotted fantail ray (Taeniura lymma), were identified on single BRUVS deployments by spot patterns, tail characteristics, and sex at three sites in Malaysian Borneo. We demonstrated that MaxIND gave abundances that were 2.4 and 1.1 times higher than MaxN for N. orientalis and T. lymma, respectively. Results were consistent for each species between sites and both within and outside marine reserve boundaries. There were differences in abundance estimates from MaxN and MaxIND between species, meaning a single correction factor cannot be calculated for one species and applied to all species to better estimate true abundance. Identifying individuals, although time consuming, is a valuable method for analysing BRUVS footage as it provides improved accuracy in comparing species abundance.
∗Speaker
282 Baited remote underwater video system (BRUVS) survey of elasmobranch abundance and distribution in the Arabian Gulf.
Rima Jabado∗ 1, Shamsa Al Hameli † 1, Edwin Grandcourt 1
1 Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) – PO Box:45553, Al Mamoura Building, Murour Road, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Elasmobranch populations have declined worldwide raising conservation concerns for many species. Understanding the distribution of sharks and rays is therefore vital in developing conser- vation and management plans. Data on the relative abundance and diversity of elasmobranchs in the Arabian Gulf has been limited to fishery-dependent surveys undertaken at landing sites and fish markets. This available data therefore lacks details of distribution and habitat utilization of sharks and rays, which is crucial to inform policy. To determine the distribution and relative abundance of elasmobranchs across United Arab Emirates (UAE) Gulf waters, Baited Remote Underwater Video System (BRUVS) were deployed across a range of habitat types and depths. BRUVS were deployed across randomly generated inshore and offshore locations (n=267) at depths between 2 and 25 m, from May-June 2015, March-June 2016, and September-December 2016. Preliminary data indicate that 12 species from 5 families were recorded with the dom- inant species being whiprays (Himantura spp.) and small carcharhinids in both summer and winter surveys. Preliminary Catch Per Unit Effort estimates suggests that despite the large area covered during the survey and extensive effort (over 700 hours of soak time), the abundance of elasmobranchs is significantly lower when compared to other regions of the world. This is the first comprehensive BRUVS survey of the relative abundance, diversity, and seasonal distribu- tion of elasmobranchs in the Gulf and results from this study will support the design of new conservation strategies for sharks and rays in the UAE.
∗Corresponding author: [email protected] †Speaker
283 Characterization, valuation and conservation of the first nursery area of blacktip and hammerhead sharks in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean
Catarina Frazao-Santos ∗ 1, Carina Vieira Da Silva 2, Rui Freitas 3, Rui Rosa† 1
1 Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Lisbon (MARE) – Laborat´orioMar´ıtimoda Guia, Avenida Nossa Sra do Cabo 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal 2 Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA) – Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal 3 Cabo Verde Zoological Society (SZCV) – Caixa Postal 163, S˜aoVicente, Rep´ublicade Cabo Verde, Cape Verde
Nursery areas, together with other key aggregation sites, are essential for effective conser- vation and management of sharks’ populations. Protecting shark nursery areas is also essential to ensure the provision of benefits to humans, as such areas support e.g. fisheries and ma- rine wildlife tourism activities. Here, we report the first potential shark nursery area in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, namely in Sal Rei bay, Boa Vista Island (SR-BVI), Cape Verde. Pre- liminary data show that such area is greatly used by juvenile scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) and blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) – species that are designated by the IUCN Red List as ”Endangered” and ”Near Threatened”, respectively. More specifically, we will present results from fourteen months of data collection on sharks’ catch per unit ef- fort (CPUE) and size/gender distribution, and also our approach to (1) estimate the economic value of the SR-BVI shark nursery area (i.e. discrete choice experiments, through on-site and off-site surveys to tourists and local populations), and (2) analyze the local marine governance system (i.e. institutional landscape, available management instruments). All this information will support the development of conservation measures and, subsequently, of a Shark Nursery Conservation Program – to be proposed to responsible entities. Although the SR-BVI shark nursery area is already partially covered by two of the 14 Natural Reserves located in Boa Vista Island, proposing a Shark Nursery Conservation Program is of the utmost importance because such reserves are not yet implemented (not having any management instruments in place), and do not encompass the entire SR-BVI area. Preliminary results regarding major challenges for sharks’ conservation in SR-BVI (including global change) will also be presented.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
284 Comparative behavioral and physiological response to longline capture in elasmobranchs
Brendan Talwar ∗ 1, Edward Brooks 1, Ian Bouyoucos 1,2, Jacob Brownscombe 3, Steven Cooke 3, Corey Suski 4, John Mandelman 5
1 Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) – Shark Research and Conservation Program, Cape Eleuthera Institute, Rock Sound, The Bahamas, Bahamas 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 3 Department of Biology, Carleton University (Carleton University) – Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1S5B6, Canada 4 University of Illinois (UofI) – Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, 61801, United States 5 Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, New England Aquarium (NEAq) – 1 Central Wharf, Boston, MA 02110, United States
The behavioral response to longline capture in sharks is poorly understood although it may be tightly linked with the magnitude of the physiological stress response, and, ultimately, may contribute to stress-induced mortality. We employed accelerometers, video cameras, and hook timers to analyze the behavioral response of wild sharks to experimental longline capture across varied capture durations, temperatures, and depths. We also sought to relate behavioral re- sponses to the magnitude of physiological responses for captured animals. We found significant differences in fight intensity values across capture durations and species as well as between venti- lation modes in sharks, with RAM ventilators and blacktips Carcharhinus limbatus in particular emerging as those demonstrating the most pronounced fighting behavior. We found no effect of fish size or capture temperature on fight intensity values. In addition, we found evidence of behavioral responses influencing the magnitude of physiological stress responses. Our results suggest that the behavioral and physiological response to longline capture is species-specific and highly variable and may be linked to distinct evolutionary traits, providing a frame of reference for vulnerability and risk assessments.
∗Speaker
285 Conservation Status of Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras in the Arabian Sea and Adjacent Waters
Jabado Rima ∗ 1, Peter Kyne 2, Riley Pollom 3, Dave Ebert 4, Colin Simpfendorfer 5,6, Nicholas Dulvy 3
1 Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) – Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 45553, Abu Dhabi, UAE, United Arab Emirates 2 Charles Darwin University – Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia 3 IUCN Shark Specialist Group (IUCN SSG) – IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group and Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Colombia V5A 1S6, Canada 4 Pacific Shark Research Center – Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States 5 Center for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA) – School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia 6 James Cook University (JCU) – Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
The Arabian Seas Region encompasses some of the most important chondrichthyan fish- ing and trading nations in the world. A regional IUCN Red List workshop was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in February 2017 to assess the relative extinction risk of 153 chondrichthyan species occurring in the region. All assessments followed the IUCN Red List Criteria and Categories and their guidelines for application at the regional level. Overall re- sults indicate that the Arabian Seas Region has some of the most threatened chondrichthyan populations in the world. We conclude that at least half of species are threatened based on the observed threat level of assessed species combined with a modeled estimate of the number of Data Deficient species that are likely to be threatened. Of the 153 assessed species, 78 (50.9%) are classified as threatened: 14 (9.2%) are assessed as Critically Endangered (CR), 34 (22.2%) Endangered (EN), and 30 (19.6%) Vulnerable (VU). A further 27 species (17.6%) are categorized as Near Threatened (NT). Twenty-nine species (19%) are Data Deficient (DD) meaning that information is insufficient to assess their status. By assuming all or none of the DD species are threatened between 50.9% (if all Data Deficient (DD) species are not threatened) and 69.9% (if all DD species are threatened). For sharks, 50.6% are threatened, while for batoids 52.7% of extant species are threatened (range between 51.3% and 71%).The two species of chimaeras occuring in the region were not considered threatened. Chondrichthyan populations in the re- gion are showing significant declines and immediate actions are required to ensure the long-term sustainability of species. There is urgent need for concerted national and regional management measures to ensure extinctions are avoided and the sustainability of more productive species is secured.
∗Speaker
286 Direct evidence of contemporary sex-biased reproductive dispersal in threatened river sharks.
Pierre Feutry ∗ 1, Oliver Berry 2, Peter Kyne 3, Richard Pillans 4, Richard Hillary 1, Peter Grewe 1, James Marthick 5, Rasanthi Gunasekera 1, Floriaan Devloo-Delva 1, Nicholas Bax 1, Mark Bravington 1
1 CSIRO – Oceans and Atmosphere, Castray Esplanade, Hobart 7000, Tasmania, Australia, Australia 2 CSIRO – Oceans and Atmosphere, PMB 5, Floreat 6014, Western Australia, Australia, Australia 3 Charles Darwin University – Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Darwin 0909, Northern Territory, Australia, Australia 4 CSIRO – Oceans and Atmosphere, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park 4102, Queensland, Australia, Australia 5 University of Tasmania – Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart 7000, Tasmania, Australia, Australia
Measuring population connectivity is a critical task in conservation biology. While genetic markers can provide reliable long-term historical estimates of population connectivity, scientists are still limited in their ability to determine contemporary patterns of gene flow, the most prac- tical time frame for management. Also, contrasting results from mitochondrial nuclear DNA markers are often interpreted as evidence of sex-biased reproductive dispersal. However, differ- ences in genetic drift in mitochondrial and nuclear genes is an equally valid explanation. This approach combining mitochondrial and nuclear genes has been used in many chondrichthyes species and sex-biased reproductive dispersal is now suspected to be a common feature in this class, although it has never been formally demonstrated. Here, we tackled these two issues by developing a new approach that only requires juvenile sampling at a single time period. To demonstrate the usefulness of our method, we used the Speartooth shark (Glyphis glyphis), a critically endangered species of river sharks found only in tropical northern Australia and southern Papua New Guinea.
Contemporary adult and juvenile shark movements was estimated with the spatial distribu- tion of kin pairs across and within three river systems. Over 200 full- and half-sibling pairs were identified. Full-sibling pairs were only captured within the same river suggesting that juveniles remain in the natal river for some time. Out of the 121 cross-cohort HS pairs, 103 were cap- tured within the same river system, indicating that in most cases at least one parent returned to reproduce in the same river system across breeding seasons. The remaining 18 cross-cohort HS pairs were shared between the Adelaide and the Alligator Rivers showing that at least one parent had moved between these rivers. The comparison of the mitochondrial haplotypes of these 18 pairs of juveniles revealed that males were most likely to be that parent. This is the first direct evidence of sex-biased reproductive dispersal in chondrichthyes and we showed that accounting for juvenile river fidelity and female philopatry is important in popula-
∗Speaker
287 tion structure analysis and that targeting sampling in nurseries and juveniles aggregation should be included in the genomic toolbox of threatened species management.
288 Evidence for rapid recovery of shark populations within a coral reef marine protected area
Conrad Speed ∗ 1,2, Mike Cappo 3, Mark Meekan 1,2
1 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Perth) – Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, The University of Western Australia (MO96), 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley Western Australia 6009, Australia 2 Global FinPrint Project (FinPrint) – The University of Western Australia (MO96), 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley Western Australia 6009, Australia 3 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Townsville) – Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville 4810, Queensland, Australia, Australia
There is limited evidence on the rate at which reef shark populations can rebound from over- exploitation, the baselines that might signify when recovery has occurred and the role of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in aiding this process. We surveyed shark assemblages at Ashmore Reef in the north-west of Western Australia using baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) in 2004 prior to enforcement of MPA status on the coral reef and then again in 2016 after eight years of strict enforcement of the MPA. We found an increase in the relative mean abundance of the most common reef shark, Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos from 0.16 ± 0.06 individuals/hr- 1 in 2004 to 0.74 ± 0.11 individuals/hr-1 in 2016, a change that was also accompanied by a shift in the community assemblage of sharks to greater proportions of apex species (from 7.1% in 2004 to 11.9% in 2016) and reef sharks (from 28.6% in 2004 to 57.6% in 2016), and a decrease in the relative abundance of lower trophic level species (from 64.3% in 2004 to 30.5% in 2016). Abundances and trophic structure of the shark assemblage at Ashmore Reef in 2004 resembled those of the Scott Reefs, where targeted fishing for sharks still occurs, whereas in 2016, abundances and trophic structures had recovered to resemble those of the Rowley Shoals, a reef system that has been a strictly enforced MPA for over 25 years and receives negligible fishing pressure. The rapid shift in abundance and community structure coincident with strict enforcement of the MPA at Ashmore Reef has occurred at a rate much greater than predicted by demographic models, implying the action of compensatory processes in recovery. Our study shows that shark communities can recover rapidly after exploitation in a well-managed MPA.
∗Speaker
289 Gigantothermy in whale sharks – tracking the behavioural strategies of a homeothermic ectotherm
Mark Meekan ∗ 1, Randall Davis† 2
1 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Perth) – Australian Institute of Marine Science The UWA Oceans Institute (M096) 35 Stirling Hwy Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia, Australia 2 Texas AM University Galveston Campus – Texas AM University Galveston Campus P.O. Box 1675 Galveston, Texas 77553, United States
Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are a tropical, warm-adapted species that feeds on dense aggregations of prey in the deep scattering layer (300-500 m depths) during the day. Feeding using the gill in this deep, cold water has the potential to cool the body of a whale shark very quickly. We developed a model of heat loss and gain from the gill as a means of understanding and predicting patterns of vertical movement in this species. Using this model and extensive time-depth and water temperature data from recovered Splash tags, we show how whale sharks have effectively become homeothermic ectotherms, maintaining stable and high (23-25oC) body temperatures despite feeding in deep, cold water. This has been achieved through a range of behaviours that include basking both before and after descents to the deep scattering layer and by partitioning time between warm surface water and deep cold water. Environmental heat gained by basking and time in shallow water is stored by a body plan adapted for gigantothermy. The strategy invoked by whale sharks provides insights into the evolution of filter-feeding in large marine vertebrates over the last 150 million years.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
290 How effective are front-line community programs in addressing the threats to marine species and habitats? A case study from the world’s largest manta ray hunting community.
Sarah Lewis ∗ 1,2,3, Shawn Heinrichs 1,2,4, Mochamad Iqbal Herwata Putra 2
1 Manta Trust – Catemwood House Corscombe Dorchester Dorset DT2 0NT, United Kingdom 2 Misool Foundation – Misool Baseftin, Perum KPR, Pepabri, Kelurahan Malaingkedi, Sorong, Papua Barat, Indonesia 3 Sea Sanctuaries Trust – London, UK, United Kingdom 4 Blue Sphere Foundation – New York, United States
There are a lot of questions, and a rise in skepticism surrounding the efficacy of community- based conservation programs, but as human behavior is the primary driver of global species and habitat decline surely the societal factors of conservation need to be addressed as a priority. There are numerous examples of well-intentioned conservation initiatives faltering when they fail to engage communities in the conservation process. On the other hand, there are also many cases of community-based conservation initiatives failing when communities are not approached in the right manner. In this presentation we discuss a case study from Lamakera Indonesia, the worlds’ largest manta ray hunting community, with a megafauna hunting tradition going back over 400 years. In 2014 we initiated a program to help Lamakera transition from the unsustainable hunting of manta rays, whale sharks and other vulnerable marine megafauna to sustainable fisheries and other alternative livelihoods. In 2016 we expanded the program to include other communities in the Savu Sea region who were also having a negative impact on the marine megafauna and marine environment. In the 3 years since the programs inception, there has been a lot of learning, disappointing setbacks, and exciting successes. Our program has demonstrated that we have not only affected positive change in the community where we have had our primary focus, but through a deliberated expansion of our activities to communities in the surrounding region, there has been a wide-scale and enthusiastic adoption of our conservation messages. As a result, community driven conservation activities are arising throughout the region, ultimately leading to significant increases in the protections of manta rays and other threatened marine species and habitats. Our experience in Lamakera is demonstrating that even the most difficult communities – a village nearly completely dependent upon unsustainable fisheries, driven by both destructive economics and outdated traditions – positive and lasting change can be achieved. We will show
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291 that environmental protection and long-term economic and cultural wellbeing can go hand in hand.
292 Incremental analysis of vertebral centra in wild and captive-bred bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) through micro-computed tomography
Fabienne Ziadi-Kuenzli ∗† 2,1, Momoko Sakurai 2, Katsunori Tachihara‡ 3
2 Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus – Senbaru 1, Nishihara, Okinawa 901-0213, Japan 1 Physics and Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University – Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan 3 Laboratory of Fisheries Biology and Coral Reef Studies, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus – Senbaru 1, Nishihara, Okinawa 901-2013, Japan
Age determination in tropical elasmobranchs is routinely performed using whole and sec- tioned vertebral centra. Seasonal variation in calcification rates results in visible bands or rings which are used as proxies for annual growth. Here, we assessed band deposition in vertebrae of young bull sharks from a natural riverine habitat at Iriomote Island (n=42), and captive-bred bull sharks from Churaumi Aquarium at Okinawa Island (n=6) using high-resolution computed tomography. From reconstructed images of scanned centra, we find that the birth ring is rep- resented by a distinct, thin band in the corpus calcareum. Opaque bands (‘winter bands’) were comparatively thicker and more prominent, but not present in neonate (0+) centra. All centra possessed a pre-birth mark, which may correspond with the time of placenta formation and attachment of placenta in bull shark embryo. Edge analysis and seasonal change in width of the summer increment in neonate centra was consistent with an annual formation of one growth band (opaque). Morphometric analysis of pre-birth ring, birth ring, and first year ring (radia length measured from vertebra focus along the corpus calcareum) showed no significant differences between wild and captive-bred individuals, indicating that captivity had no marked influence on growth performance on pups. Overall, CT imaging as a fast, non-destructive and cutting-edge technology is a powerful tool to visualize band characteristics in elasmobranchs and to locate growth bands through unlimited virtual sectioning.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
293 Long-term biological monitoring and stable isotope analysis of Aetobatus narutobiei in Ariake Bay, Japan: Feeding ecology and foraging impact on bivalve fisheries
Atsuko Yamaguchi ∗† 1, Mao Watanabe 1, Yu Umezawa 1, Keisuke Furumitsu 1
1 Nagasaki University (NU) – 1-14 Bunkyo, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan
The Naru eagle ray, Aetobatus narutobiei, inhabits areas ranging from the coastal areas of Japan to the South China Sea. Population has increased since the 1990s in the southwestern coastal areas of Japan, such as Ariake Bay. A. narutobiei feeds on commercially important farmed bivalves and is considered responsible for the decrease in bivalve catches in the bay. To reduce predation pressure on bivalves, a predator control program was initiated in 2001.At the same time, we studied the life history, behavior, seasonal migrations, and population structure of A. narutobiei. Detailed information on the feeding ecology of this species and its impact on bivalve fisheries remains limited, because the occurrence of this species, along with its movement patterns and food sources, vary annually. Therefore, for the past 16 years, we have monitored the control program and studied the biology of this species. Long-term monitoring showed a decrease in disk width and a decline in catch per unit effort. Stomach content analysis showed mostly bivalves, but the species composition varied throughout the monitoring period. However, Anadara kagoshimensis has remained the most important prey throughout the study. In the beginning of the survey, the pen shells, Atrina spp. and the Japanese carpet shell, Ruditapes philippinarum, was an important prey item for A. narutobiei, but after their abundance declined, the proportion of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, in the diet increased. Isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of muscle tissue samples suggested that A. kagoshimensis accounts for the largest proportion of A. narutobiei diet. Moreover, comparative analysis of the stable isotopes in A. kagoshimensis collected from cultured and natural areas showed that A. narutobiei feeds predominantly on wild, non-targeted clams. This study demonstrates the possibility of using stable isotope analysis as a tool to determine both the feeding ecology and foraging impact of a predator species on bivalve cultures.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
294 Projects Abroad – Fiji Shark Program: Linking Citizen Science to Fisheries Management
Gauthier Mescam ∗ 1
1 Projects Abroad - Fiji Shark Conservation (FSCP) – Lot 2, Ventura apartment, PO BOX 588 Pacific Harbour, Fiji
The number of citizen science projects focussed on marine conservation has increased globally over the past two decades. Such projects are relatively simple to set up, are often self-financing, and have an instantly accessible, growing market of volunteers. They can provide high volumes of data sets that would otherwise be difficult to attain by single researchers or small teams. How- ever, many projects lack reliability and replicability or are not conducted in cooperation with NGOs and academic institutions. The ensuing lack of scientific analysis and limits the ability to feed and translate into fisheries management and conservation processes. Of the known chon- drichthyans, about half are classified as data deficient or haven’t been evaluated due to the lack of national information, wrong geographic ranges, or taxonomic uncertainties. Well-managed citizen science projects can provide much needed assistance to fill these gaps. Project Abroad’s Fiji Shark Conservation Project (FSCP), based in Pacific Harbour, Viti Levu, Fiji, was established in January 2014 to try to tackle national shark conservation issues, while ensuring data integrity by providing training to volunteers. The FSCP is collaborating with conservation NGOs and researchers from academic institutions to collect scientific data and to address national shark conservation issues in Fiji.
The FSCP possesses now over three years of data of year round survey dives, baited remote un- derwater video camera deployments, and fishing surveys from various locations in the Southeast of Fiji’s principal island, Viti Levu. The FSCP also conducts a mangrove ecosystem restoration project, a critical ecosystem for many juvenile elasmobranchs, and features a significant edu- cation and awareness component with local communities, advocating the need to preserve the resources of small island nations like Fiji. Citizen science projects have the potential to provide much needed data for predatory fish populations and key marine species, and contribute invaluably to fisheries management and de- velopment of appropriate conservation measures. However, to reach these goals, citizen science projects require the support of academic expertise in order to provide and analyse robust, useful, and credible data.
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295 Species diversity, utilization status and conservation of sharks and rays in China
Jie Zhang ∗ 1
1 Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation BiologyInstitute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) – No.1-5 Beichen Xilu Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, P. R. China, China
Chondrichthyans, which include sharks, skates and rays, originated 400 million years ago with a further radiation throughout every world’s oceans and play a vital role in maintaining the balance of marine ecosystem as top predators in the ocean. There are more than 1200 shark species and their close relatives, skates, rays and chimaeras in the world, of which, 243 species are recorded in China. That is, Chinese chondrichthyan fauna is at least one-fifth of the extant species in the world. Chondrichthyan species composition in each Chinese Seas is as follows: 17 species in the Bohai Sea, 40 species in the Yellow Sea, 166 in the East China Sea, and 170 in the South Sea. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 91 chondrichthyan species in China were classified as threatened (critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable), which meant nearly 40% of chondrichthyans in China faced with danger. There are currently 26 countries that have shark as their commercially important of fishery. Reliable information on life history, population dynamic, distribution and exploitation of sharks and rays is very limited in China. Consequently, it is impossible to perceive threat mechanisms of certain species and to propose scientifically–sound policy on shark conservation and management. As a first step in the conservation of shark in China, accurate and unambiguous identification of shark and shark products using molecular method was constructed. Samplings were performed in fish ports, fish markets and dry seafood markets in 32 cities along the coastal line of China mainland, from November 2006 to August 2016. A total of 83 species, which include 64 species may distribute in China Seas and 19 alien species, were utilized in China. The number of Carcharhiniformes species was the most abundant, which makes up the bulk of utilized chondrichthyan species in China. Utilization types of shark and ray products in China were various, including fresh meat (43 species), salted meat (36 species), skin (22 species), fin(13 species), bone(vertebra, skull and fin ray, 9 species), and dried gill(5 species). Some detailed information on the utilization and conservation of CITES Appendix II species was also discussed.
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296 Stable isotope analysis of two filter feeding sharks in the waters off Taiwan
Chi-Ju Yu ∗† 1, Shoou-Jeng Joung 1, Kwang-Ming Liu 1, Hua-Hsun Hsu 2, Chia-Yen Lin 1, Atsuko Yamaguchi 3
1 National Taiwan Ocean University – No.2, Beining Rd., Jhongjheng District, Keelung City 202, Taiwan (R.O.C), Taiwan 2 Marine Studies Section, Center for Environment and Water, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals – P.B. No. 2094, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 3 Nagasaki University – 1-14 Bunkyo, Nagasaki City, Japan 852-8521, Japan
Feeding ecology is a good way to not only better understand the roles that animals play in the ecosystem, but also provide useful information for future resources management. However, most feeding studies in the past focused on high commercial value or high trophic level species, yet the information of primary consumers or secondary consumers is still limited. Both whale shark (Rhincodon typus) and megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) are filter feeders, but they have different feeding mechanisms, occurring time and location. The aim of this study is to understand the habitat utilization and feeding ecology of the two filtering shark species by using stable isotope analysis. In total, the tissues of 81 whale shark (30 females, 2.84-11.90 m TL; 51males, 2.86-7.20 m TL) and 29 megamouth shark (16 females, 3.41-7.10 m TL; 13 males, 3.63-4.84 m TL) were collected during 2008-2015. The prey items identified from 4 stomachs of megamouth shark included shrimp, jellyfish, eggs, and scales of teleost fishes. The δ13C values implied that both whale shark and megamouth shark moved from the open or deep waters to the costal/shallow waters as they grow up. However, the δ15N values showed that these two species have different feeding strategies. Whale shark has ontogenetic change in the diet; large individuals have highly developed filtering structures on the gill-rakers and having the ability to feed on prey with higher trophic level. However, due to the small sample size (n = 29), whether megamouth change prey items in different life stages is still unclear. The trophic levels of these two species were similar, which may be due to the similar body sizes of specimens. This study provides the first information on feeding ecology for whale shark and megamouth shark in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, but more specimens and factors including life stage, sex, and season should be taken into account in future study.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
297 Taxonomic review of the longnose dogfish genus Deania (Centrophoridae) from Japan
Akihiro Matsumoto 1, Kenji Nohara 2, Taku Horie 1, Sho Tanaka ∗† 3
1 Tokai University, School of Marine Science and Technology – 3-20-1 Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424-8610, Japan 2 Tokai University, School of Marine Science and Technology – 3-20-1 Orido, Shimiu, Shizuoka 424-8610, Japan 3 Tokai University, School of Marine Science an Technology – 3-20-1 Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka, 424-8610, Japan
The genus Deania belongs to the family Centrophoridae with the other genus Centropho- rus and is recognized to comprise 4 species: D. calcea, D. hystricosa, D. profundorum and D. quadrispinosa. D. calcea and D. hystricosa are known to inhabit Japanese water. The former was described briefly based on the specimen from Madeira by Lowe in 1839. Garman detailed the description of the latter using the specimen from Japan in 1906. However, by the absence of the D. calcea type, the taxonomy is still in a complex state. With the object of defining the taxonomy of Deania in Japan, we examined the morphological characters of Deania species collected from Japan and kept in several main Museums, including the type specimens, and the morphometric measurements were processed by multi- dimensional scaling (MDS). Three regions of mtDNA extracted from several Deania specimens without D. profundorum were se- quenced and a NJ tree was drawn. D. calcea in Japan was distinguished from D. calcea in the other localities in the dorsal fins and dermal denticles. Therefore Japanese D. calcea was des- ignated tentatively as D. rostrata. MDS divided the Deania genus between a group of rostrata, profundorum and quadrispinosa and a group of calcea and hystricosa. The NJ tree from the sequences of mtDNA made three grades; D. rostrata, D. quadrispinosa and a mix of D. calcea and D. hystricosa. The results suggest that 1) D. rostrata (Garman) 1906 is appropriate for the scientific name of Japanese D. calcea, 2) D. calcea and D. hystricosa may be synonyms, 3) the genus Deania comprises at least 4 species; D. calcea or D. hystricosa, D. rostrata, D. quadrispinosa, and D. profundorum. A key to the species is provided.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
298 Taxonomic variability in the white-spotted whiprays (gerrardi-complex) of the genus Maculabatis Last, Naylor & Manjaji-Matsumoto 2016
B. Mabel Manjaji-Matsumoto ∗† 1, Peter R. Last‡ 2, Hui-Xian Lee 3
1 Endangered Marine Species Research Unit, Borneo Marine Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) – Jalan UMS, 89400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,, Malaysia 2 Australian National Fish Collection, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO (ANFC, CSIRO) – Castray Esplanade, Hobart, TAS, 7001,, Australia 3 Endangered Marine Species Research Unit, Borneo Marine Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) – Jalan UMS, 89400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,, Malaysia
Whiptailed stingrays, or whiprays, of the genus Maculabatis comprise one of ten genera of the family Dasyatidae. Members form a subgroup of variably black- and/or white-spotted whiprays (the ‘gerrardi-complex’), and a second subgroup of plain-coloured whiprays (the ‘pastinacoides- complex’). Two white-spotted whiprays of the ‘gerrardi-complex’, M. gerrardi (Gray) and M. macrura (Bleeker), both of which are found off South-East Asia, were confirmed to be sister species based on molecular analyses. In this study, we investigated all major life stages (em- bryos/ neonates, immatures, adolescents, and adults) of these members of the ‘gerrardi-complex’ for colour and selected morphological traits (morphometry and squamation), to help further elu- cidate the two sympatric sister species. These observations will assist with identification of these two very similar species in the field.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
299 Uncovering the status of Oceania’s poorly-known endemic chondrichthyans
Peter Kyne ∗ 1, Clinton Duffy 2, Malcolm Francis 3, Claudine Gibson 4, Brit Finucci 5
1 Charles Darwin University – Ellengowan Dr Casuarina NT 0810, Australia 2 Department of Conservation – Carlaw Park 12-16 Nicholls Ln Parnell Auckland 114, New Zealand 3 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) – 301 Evans Bay Parade Greta Point, Wellington, New Zealand 4 Auckland Zoo – Motions Rd, Auckland 1022, New Zealand 5 Victoria University of Wellington – School of Biological Sciences Victoria University of Wellington PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
The IUCN Shark Specialist Group’s (SSG) Global Shark Assessment revealed high threat status ( ˜17%) and high data deficiency ( ˜46%) amongst the world’s chondrichthyan fishes. The SSG is currently embarking on its Global Shark Reassessment project, aiming to reassess the extinction risk status of all sharks, rays, and chimaeras by 2020. Australia, New Zealand, and the wider Oceania region have been a focus of initial efforts. We take an in-depth look at the status of a small sub-set of Oceania endemic species which are restricted to regional waters outside of Australia and New Zealand. These species are mostly known from localised areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and the region’s oceanic ridges. Endemic species are largely deep-sea, with diversity dominated by the softnose skates (Arhynchobatidae) and the catsharks (Pentanchidae and Scyliorhinidae). Species were assessed against the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Categories and Criteria, and it was revealed that the Oceania endemic fauna is characterised by an extremely high level of data deficiency ( ˜70% of species are Data Deficient). In many instances, species are known only from the type series. The New Caledonian Catshark Aulohalarlurus kanakorum, for example, is known only from a single specimen collected > 30 years ago on Noumea’s doorstep. The full geographic and depth range is unknown for many species, and their distributions may prove to be highly restricted. In the face of ongoing (fishing, climate change) and potential future (deep-sea mining) threats, there is a need to focus research on the region’s poorly-known endemic chondrichthyans.
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300 Visual ecology of Indo-Pacific mobula rays
Betty Laglbauer ∗† 1,2, Fanny De Busserolles 2, Jorge Fontes 1, Pedro Afonso 1, Michael B. Bennett 3, Matthew Broadhurst 4, Joshua Rambahiniarison 5, Justin Marshall 2
1 Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azores – Rua Prof. Dr. Frederico Machado, 9901-862, Horta, Portugal 2 Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland – St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia 3 School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland – St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia 4 NSW Department of Primary Industries, Fisheries Conservation Technology Unit, National Marine Science Centre – PO Box J321, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, Australia 5 Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines – Cagulada Compound, Tejero, Jagna, 6308, Bohol, Philippines
Visual tuning to the environment is a key adaptation enabling marine organisms to detect prey, mates and predators in the diverse ecosystems in which they primarily occur. Amongst those that experience the most drastic gradients in environmental light conditions are pelagic deep-divers such as mobulid rays (mantas and mobulas). While mobulids forage in epipelagic waters, some species, like the Chilean devilray, are able to dive to 1800 m, likely to obtain deep sea prey. Given extremely conservative life histories and the intense fishing threat that they are presently facing, understanding the biology and ecology of mobulids is essential. Topographic analyses of retinal ganglion cell densities can provide valuable information about the visual ecol- ogy of a species by identifying areas of acute vision within their visual field. Brain morphology suggests mobulids have a highly developed visual centre. However, no data is available on their visual system and it is currently unknown whether mobulids, as the only pelagic batoids, pos- sess similar visual adaptations to pelagic sharks or to their benthic and bentho-pelagic batoid counterparts. Our study investigates, for the first time, the visual capabilities of four mobulid species from the Indo-Pacific region, the pygmy devilray (Mobula kuhlii cf. eregoodootenkee), the Chilean devilray (M. tarapacana), the bentfin devilray (M. thurstoni) and the spinetail devilray (M. japanica cf. mobular). These species have differing lifestyles, ranging from epipelagic to vertically migrating and we therefore expect contrasting retinal specialisations. Initial results for the pygmy and spinetail devilrays show a visual streak (i.e. elongated increase of cell density) across the ventral retinal meridian. This would increase visual sampling of the upper lateral, temporal and nasal parts of the visual field. An area of high cell density is also present in the nasal retina re-enforcing the need for better acuity in the visual field situated behind them. While a nasal area is thought to allow the detection of predators in teleost fishes, in mobulids it may, in conjunction with the streak, be associated with foraging on dense prey patches which requires repetitive upward movements. We explore the link between visual specialisations and each species’ preferred habitat and behaviour.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
301 Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) Habitat Use at an Aggregation in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea
Royale Hardenstine ∗† 1, Jesse Cochran 1, Camrin Braun 2,3, Michael Campbell 1, Colleen Campbell 4, Greg Skomal 5, Simon Thorrold 2, Michael Berumen 6
1 Red Sea Research Center Division of Biological and Environmental Engineering – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – 86 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States 3 MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography- Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, United States 4 University of Southern California (USC) – Los Angeles, California, United States 5 Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries – 838 South Rodney French Blvd New Bedford, MA 02744, United States 6 Red Sea Research Center Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are known to aggregate at various locations throughout the Indo-Pacific. One such aggregation is located at Shib Habil, a near-shore reef in the south central Red Sea. Since 2010, this seasonal aggregation has been studied using multiple methods, including visual census and passive acoustic monitoring. Visual census data suggest that Shib Habil attracts a roughly equal number of males and females, a unique characteristic among Indo-Pacific aggregations which are otherwise dominated by one sex or the other. Areas of high use were determined using hot spot analysis of the sighting records and a time series comparison was made over multiple seasons to determine shifts in key usage areas. These analyses were also performed separately for males and females and used to confirm what appears to be similar habitat usage between the sexes. Finally, passive acoustic data collected over seven years was also analyzed to determine key areas of use and then compared with sightings-based results. The aggregation is located near the Saudi Arabian port city of Al Lith, and the sharks often feed in areas of high boat-traffic. A better understanding of the sharks’ habitat preferences and how these shift through time could help limit negative interactions between the local whale shark and human populations.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
302 D2/ Indo-Pacific Predators: Biology, ecology, conservation and management
303 First characterization of the Cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius sp.) predation pattern on different cetacean species in Martinique (FWI).
Virginie Scanga ∗ 1, Aurore Feunteun 2, Catalina Schrevel 2, Marie Verhaegen 2, Damien Chevallier 3, Matthieu Duchemin 4, Nicolas Ziani 5, Benjamin De Montgolfier† 1,2
1 Aquasearch-Polyn´esie– BP 21215, 98713 Papeete, French Polynesia 2 Aquasearch – ZAC Les coteaux, 97228 Sainte-Luce, Martinique 3 D´epartement Ecologie,´ Physiologie et Ethologie´ (DEPE), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), UMR 7178 CNRS et Universit´ede Strasbourg – Universit´ede Strasbourg, IPHC, CNRS, UMR 7178 – 23 rue Becquerel, F-67087 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France 4 DM Conseil – DM Conseil – 7 all´eedu bois rond, 69360 Serezin du Rhˆone,France 5 Groupe phoc´eend’´etudedes requins (GPER) – Groupe phoc´eend’´etudedes requins – 118 rue du Rouet, 13008 Marseille, France
Cookie-cutter sharks (Isistius sp.) are small squaloid sharks that live in tropical and sub- tropical oceans. Their name comes from their unique tactic of feeding, which enables them to parasitize marine mega-fauna, like cetaceans. Due to their morphological and anatomical characteristics, they are responsible of crater-like wounds on the skin of marine mammals. Little is known on Isistius sp. around the globe especially in Martinique, which represents a potential habitat. The main goal of this study was to assess the impact of cookie-cutter sharks on cetaceans by determining (1) seasonal changes in the occurrence of bites, (2) intra- and interspecific differences in frequencies and locations of bites within cetacean, and (3) link behavior patterns of both cookie-cutter sharks and cetaceans. Data were collected from a 3-year photo-identification database of Cetaceans in Caribbean coast of Martinique. Four hundred and thirty one wounds of various stages on 396 individuals from 9 species of marine mammals were recorded. Results did not show any significant variation in the occurrence of wounds between seasons. Intermediate state was more important, most injuries were observed on the SCF and in a lesser extent on young individuals (3.25%). The parasitic lifestyle of cookie-cutter sharks has been confirmed consistently on cetacean species in Martinique. Further studies are required with both scientists and fishermen to better understand their specific role in this marine ecosystem.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: b.montgolfi[email protected]
304 From sink to source: effects of declining fin demand on shark fishing livelihoods in Indonesia
Vanessa Jaiteh ∗ 1,2,3, Neil Loneragan 2,3, Carol Warren 2
1 Coral Reef Research Foundation Palau (CRRF) – PO Box 1765 Koror, PW-96930 Palau, Palau 2 Asia Research Centre, School of Management and Governance, Murdoch University – 90 South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia 3 Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University – 90 South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
For three decades, a booming demand for shark fin on Asian markets has provided im- portant livelihoods for remote fishing communities in Indonesia, a major source country for internationally traded shark fin. Fishery and interview data collected from three case studies in the Halmahera, Arafura and Timor Seas were used to examine changes in shark fishers’ liveli- hoods over the preceding 20 years. While recent reductions in shark fin demand have had a substantial impact on fishers’ livelihoods, the fishery’s vast geographic range and its political complexity in general have meant that government and international development agencies have largely been unaware of this impact. Many respondents remembered the Asian Financial Cri- sis in 1997-98 and the turn of the millennium as a time when sharks were still abundant and shark fin prices high, but were concerned about the on-going fall of shark fin prices since March 2012. High-value species, particularly guitarfish, hammerhead and sandbar sharks were most affected, losing up to 40% of their pre-2012 value. These changes, combined with the loss of fishing grounds, few attractive options for alternative income and restrictive debt relationships with shark fin bosses, have led some fishers to resort to high-risk activities such as blast fishing, illegal transboundary fishing, and even people smuggling. This paper examines the multi-layered causes and consequences of fishers’ decision-making in response to adverse economic and eco- logical changes in their fishery, and explores options and obstacles to pursuing livelihoods that carry lower environmental, financial and personal risks.
∗Speaker
305 Genetic connectivity of a coastal apex predator: The population genetic structure reveals a potential spatial isolation of Fijian bull sharks
Kerstin Glaus ∗† 1, Sharon Appleyard 2, Mahmood Shivji 3, Juerg Brunnschweiler 4, Amandine Marie 5, Ciro Rico 5,6
1 The University of the South Pacific (USP) – School of Marine Studies, Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji 2 CSIRO National Research Collections Australia, Australian National Fish Collection – Hobart, TAS., Australia 3 Guy Harvey Research Institute, Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center – 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL 33004, United States 4 Independent Researcher – Gladbachstrasse 60 Zurich, Switzerland 5 The University of the South Pacific – School of Marine Studies, Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji 6 Estaci´onBiol´ogicade Do˜nana,Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient´ıficas– Sevilla 41092, Spain, Spain
Knowledge about the genetic population structure is fundamental to fields ranging from evolutionary biology to species conservation management. To date and for sharks, the genetic population structure of only a few coastal species is known. Moreover, the application of whole genome-scans for non-model organisms allows genetic studies to enter a vast new stage of genomic exploration. The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is a large, mobile, circumglobally distributed species that inhabits a variety of coastal habitats including freshwater environments. Combining the bull sharks’ capability for long-distant movements and the species’ longevity, significant genetic exchange is generally assumed. Here, using Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), we test the null-hypothesis that bull sharks are panmictic throughout a subset of the species’ Indo- Pacific range. We analyzed 2793 high-quality neutral SNP markers in 150 individual bull sharks from Fiji, the east, north, and west coasts of Australia, Banda Aceh in Indonesia, and South Africa. Genomic diversity and population connectivity estimates including average observed heterozygosity (Ho) and pairwise FST were calculated. Observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.291 + 0.165 to 0.335 + 0.173. The analyses revealed significant genetic partitioning between Fiji and all other locations sampled (FST > 0.037, P < 0.001). Contrastingly, gene flow within all the remaining locations was apparent, with highest levels of genetic connectivity between West Australia and Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The absence of population structure across the Sunda Shelf barrier indicates that oceanic expanses and land barriers in Southeast Asia are not impediments to bull shark dispersal. Our results demonstrate, that a remote island archipelago, such as Fiji, offers a great opportunity to study genetic population structure in a mobile, coastal shark. We anticipate our genomic approach to be the starting point for our future research
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: kerstin [email protected]
306 which aims to understand the drivers of spatial isolation and the distinct genetic signatures in bull sharks from Fiji.
307 Global genetic inventory of the Silky Shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), the shark finning industry, and DNA fingerprinting
Derek Kraft ∗ 1,2
1 Melanie Hutchinson (International Fisheries Program NOAA) – International Fisheries Program 1845 Wasp Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96818, United States 2 Brian Bowen (HIMB) – Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology 46-007 Lilipuna Rd, Kaneohe, HI 96744, United States
The pelagic silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) occur in all oceans and are the second most commonly harvested shark on the planet. Their habitat overlaps with commercial tuna fisheries and they account for > 90% of the shark bycatch in tropical purse seine fisheries of the western and central Pacific. Silkys’ are also one of the most abundant species in the shark fin trade; contributing to a harvest estimated at 26-73 million sharks annually. As a result of these non-regulated fisheries, this formally abundant shark has declined by > 85% in the last 20 years, and is now listed as near-threatened and declining by IUCN. In the face of this dramatic decline, there is little information on extraction rates or stock structure, which are the basic units of wildlife life management. Here we provide a global genetic inventory of the Silky shark to resolve populations and delineate stock structure. Subsequently this information will be used as a baseline to identify the origins of Silky shark in the fin markets. We have secured global sampling coverage with > 2,000 specimens. To quantify genetic structure, we use restriction site-associated DNA polymorphisms (ezRAD) in whole genome scans. Once the population structure of Silky sharks is resolved, this data is used to quantify gene flow on a global scale. Finally over 1000 fin samples have been taken over four years from the shark fin trade in China and will be compared to our global baseline, using a Bayesian mixed stock model. This will allow the identification of sharks in the fin trade to both the species-level and oceanic region of origin, providing a much-need scientific foundation for management plans. Given that traditional extraction monitoring is not available, our assessment of stock harvest will happen at the end point of the market supply chain.
∗Speaker
308 Ground truthing dermal denticles to characterize shark assemblages on Palmyra Atoll
Erin Dillon ∗† 1, Kevin Lafferty 2,1, Darcy Bradley 3, Richard Norris 4, Douglas Mccauley 1, Aaron O’dea 5
1 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) – Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA, United States 2 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States 3 University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) – Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA, United States 4 Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) – University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0208, U.S.A., United States 5 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) – Balboa, Ancon, Panama
Assessing how and why predator assemblages vary over space and time is crucial for under- standing ecosystem trophic structure and dynamics. Historical accounts often depict extremely high densities of sharks that sharply juxtapose contemporary reports of shark abundance in the same regions. Although this suggests that shark populations have declined, evaluating the reliability of these anecdotes is challenging because detailed shark surveys began after the initial degradation of marine ecosystems. Consequently, quantitative pre-exploitation shark baselines are nearly nonexistent, so the magnitude and long-term trajectories of change in shark commu- nities are unresolved. To meet this challenge, we are reconstructing historical shark communities using dermal denticles, the small tooth-like scales covering elasmobranch skin, which accumulate and are well-preserved in modern and fossil coral reef sediments. They can be extracted and identified to reveal broad spatiotemporal patterns of relative shark abundance and diversity. To extend the utility of the denticle record as a new paleoecological proxy, we assessed its fidelity and resolution on Palmyra Atoll, a remote unfished U.S. National Wildlife Refuge in the central Pacific where shark abundance is high and well-documented. Here, we evaluated the alignment between denticle assemblages found in modern, time-averaged sediments collected from lagoonal and backreef environments with visual, video, and capture-recapture shark survey data, while also examining the extent of spatial patchiness in the denticle record across the atoll. We found rank alignment between denticle abundance per kilogram sediment and censused shark abun- dance, and denticle diversity reflected known taxa on the atoll. Comparing the outputs of these different survey methods as well as measuring and constraining potential biases of the denti- cle record can help standardize this tool, enabling comparisons between denticle assemblages in congruent habitats across wide spatial areas. This new data source could provide unique insight into shark communities before industrial fishing, facilitate assessments of the magnitude and ecological consequences of shark declines, and help set more appropriate, region-specific management targets.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
309 How does a shark’s paradise become a fish’s nightmare? Ecology and behaviour of reef sharks at Fakarava, one of the world’s biggest aggregations.
Johann Mourier ∗† 1, Laurent Ballesta 2, Charlie Huveneers 3, Yannis Papastamatiou 4, Serge Planes 5
1 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – CNRS : USR3278, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – Universite de Perpignan, 58 Av. Paul Alduy - 66860 Perpignan cedex, France 2 Andromede Oceanology – Andromede Oceanology – 7 Place Cassan, 34280 Carnon-Plage, France 3 Flinders University – Room 140, Biology Building, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA, 5042 South Australia, Australia 4 Florida International University – 3000 NE 151st st, North Miami, 33181, United States 5 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – BP 1013 - 98 729, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia
The extent of the global human footprint limits our understanding of what are natural base- lines in the marine environment. Remote near-pristine areas provide some baseline expectations for biomass and suggest that predators dominate, producing an ‘inverted biomass pyramid’. The southern pass of Fakarava atoll – a Biosphere Reserve in French Polynesia – hosts more than 500 reef sharks, 2-3 times the biomass/ha documented for any other reef shark aggregations. This huge biomass of predators makes the trophic pyramid inverted. Bioenergetics models indicate the sharks require ˜ 90 tons of fish/year while the total fish production in the pass is ˜ 17 tons/year. Sharks may overcome low local energy availability by feeding on fish spawning aggre- gations and other subsidies transiting into the pass which concentrate energy from other local trophic pyramids. Using a combination of cutting edge technologies, ongoing research aims to investigate the natural shark hunting behaviour, feeding ecology, movement patterns and social behaviour in a unique pristine reef to better understand the role of sharks on the local ecosystem and how such concentrations of predators are maintained. Altogether, our preliminary findings have important conservation implications for maintaining a balanced and healthy ecosystem.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
310 Indo-Pacific Predatory Fish Out of Context: Lionfish Invasion of Atlantic Coral Reefs
Mark Hixon ∗ 1
1 University of Hawaii – Department of Biology University of Hawaii Honolulu, HI 96822, United States
Lionfishes of the Pterois volitans/miles complex were introduced near Florida via the aquar- ium trade, likely during the 1980s, and are now found coastally along most of the US east coast, the greater Caribbean region, and the coast of Brazil. Voracious generalized predators of small reef fish, lionfish have severely reduced recruitment of many native species, including local ex- tinctions, at multiple spatial scales. Native prey fishes do not evade lionfish, and lionfish are seldom attacked by native predators, parasites, or interference competitors. There is evidence that invasive lionfish out-compete native mesopredators. Lionfish have reached far greater den- sities on invaded coral reefs compared to their native range, and there is little evidence of density dependence in their local population dynamics. Local control of the invasion is by lionfish der- bies and targeted fisheries by means of spearfishing. There is recent evidence that the invasion is starting to wane in the Bahamas, where the highest densities of lionfish previously occurred. The causes of this apparent decline in lionfish abundance are presently unknown.
∗Speaker
311 Insights into genetic chaos among tuna species in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
Giulia Anderson ∗ 1, Amandine Marie 1, Monal Lal 1,2, Janice Natasha 1, Roselene Dayal 1,3, Caroline Sanchez 4, Francois Roupsard 4, John Hampton 4, Graham Pilling 4, Neville Smith 4, Ciro Rico 1,5
1 University of the South Pacific (USP) – University of the South Pacific Laucala Bay Dr. Suva, Fiji Islands, Fiji 2 Tropical Aquaculture, Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering – University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, Queensland 4558, Australia 3 School of Sciences, College of Engineering, Science and Technology – Fiji National University, Nabua Campus, Fiji 4 Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) Pacific Community – 95 Promenade Roger Laroque, BP D5, 98848 Noum´ea,New Caledonia 5 Estaci´onBiol´ogicade Do˜nana,Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient´ıficas(EBD, CSIC), c/Am´ericoVespucio s/n, – Sevilla 41092, Spain
Ignoring stock structure in fisheries management may result in localized overexploitation. Genetic evidence suggests that tuna stocks, as currently defined, are not biologically relevant, yet tunas are still managed as single interbreeding populations within ocean basins, or large parts thereof. We used genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms to establish whether the distribution of neutral genetic diversity among tuna stocks supports the traditional assumption of panmixia. We found significant heterozygous deficits and genetic heterogeneity in albacore, bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin tunas at unprecedented small geographical and temporal scales in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). Differentiation occurred among locations within a single year and among years in the same location, suggesting the existence of tuna metapopulations within an ocean basin. Five main conclusions follow from our study: (i) the neutral genetic diversity in tuna populations in the WCPO is patchily and chaotically dis- tributed; (ii) the significant heterozygous deficits observed are most likely due to admixture and/or migration; (iii) the tuna spatial structure observed is compatible with metapopulation theory; (iv) the extremely small N e/N ratios obtained can be explained by mechanisms related to chaotic genetic patchiness; and (v) our results confirm recent studies suggesting complex biological, ecological and oceanographic processes shaping tunas’ population structure, and no panmixia in the Pacific Ocean. These unprecedented findings underscore the need to under- stand the drivers of chaotic genetic structure, and its potential consequences for management of a fishery that represents up to 8% of global marine capture fish products.
∗Speaker
312 Life history aspects and taxonomy of deep-sea chondrichthyans in the Southwestern Indian Ocean
Paul Clerkin ∗ 1, David Ebert 1
1 Pacific Shark Research Center (PSRC) – 8272 Moss Landing Rd, Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States
Chondrichthyans were collected and examined during two surveys (2012, 2014) of Southwest- ern Indian Ocean seamounts in order to: 1) survey the species in this region, 2) document and describe taxonomically the species encountered, and 3) to collect and assess life history charac- teristics of these species. Specimens were incidentally taken as bycatch during deep-sea trawling operations targeting Orange Rough (Hoplostethus atlanticus) and Alfonsino (Beryx decadacty- lus) from 46 sites along seamounts of the Madagascar Ridge and the Southwestern Indian Ocean Ridge at depths between 500m and 1,500m. Over 4,000 sharks were encountered comprising four orders, seven families, 14 genera and 31 species. To date, six new species (Bythaelurus bachi, B. naylori, Etmopterus alphus, and three Chimaera species) have been described, with several more potential new species currently under investigation. In addition, the information gath- ered from these surveys was crucial in clarifying the taxonomic status of several genera and species. Reproductive and maturity data including sex, length, maturity stage, oviducal gland development, egg width, and number of eggs were recorded and analyzed in JMP and MAT- LAB. Using a non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis in PRIMER, species abundance and diversity, are compared between sites and depth to investigate habitat use. The expeditions were an international collaboration between the Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Land- ing Marine Laboratories, Hollings Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston, Southern Indian Ocean Deepsea Fishers Association, Sealord Corporation, New Zealand, and the Mauritius Min- istry of Fisheries. This project was funded, in part, by NSF grant: DEB 1132229, Discovery Communications, and Save Our Seas Foundation.
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313 Long term stability of a protected coral trout population, has it reached the carrying capacity?
Michael Kingsford ∗ 1, April Hall 2
1 Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – Marine Biology, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia., Australia 2 Marine Biology, College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – Marine Biology, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Australia
Protection and strong compliance has a great impact on numbers of reef fishes and, this is true over a wide range of latitudes that include the tropics. The direction of change is also know to vary. There are examples of a rapid increases in the numbers and biomass of some fishes that then plateau after a few years. In contrast, at other locations numbers and biomass have continued to increase over many years. Here we compare the number and biomass of a predatory serranid (Plectropomus leopardus) in protected areas, unfished and partially unfished zones of the GBR. There were significant differences between zones where numbers and biomass were consistently higher at multiple sites in the protected areas; this comparison was not confounded by differences in habitat type. The reef at One Tree Island, has been protected for 39 years (1978). The numbers and biomass of fish at this reef were first estimated 16 years after MPA status initiation, these variables altered little over the subsequent 23 years. Further, despite One Tree having protection for almost two decades more than adjacent MPAs, no significant differences in number or biomass of fish were found among reefs within MPAs. P. leopardus has an agemax of 16 years, so multiple generations have been counted during the study. Total live coral and complex corals has remained between 30 and 50 % among years. We conclude that prolonged protection can allow some large predatory fishes to reach a reef’s carrying capacity.
∗Speaker
314 Mako shark movements and habitat use in the southwest Pacific Ocean
Malcolm Francis ∗† 1, Mahmood Shivji 2, Clinton Duffy 3, Paul Rogers 4, Michael Byrne 5, Brad Wetherbee 6, John Holdsworth 7, Scott Tindale 8, Warrick Lyon 1, Megan Meyers 9
1 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) – 310 Evans Bay Parade Wellington 6021, New Zealand 2 Nova Southeastern University (NSU) – Nova Southeastern University 8000 N Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL USA 33004, United States 3 Department of Conservation (DOC) – Private Bag 68908 Newton, Auckland 1145, New Zealand 4 South Australia Research and Development Institute (SARDI) – 2 Hamra Avenue West Beach, South Australia 5024, Australia 5 University of Missouri – School of Natural Resources University of Missouri 1150 Rollins Rd. Columbia, Missouri 65201, United States 6 University of Rhode Island (URI) – 9 East Alumni Rd, Kingston, RI 02881, United States 7 Blue Water Marine Research (BWMR) – PO Box 402081, Tutukaka, New Zealand 8 IGFA NZ – PO Box 278, Silverdale, Auckland 0944, New Zealand 9 University of Auckland (UA) – Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand
Shortfin mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) are common pelagic predators in the open ocean and coastal waters globally. They are frequently caught in tuna longline fisheries but the impact of fishing is largely unknown. Mako sharks are widely believed to be highly mobile migrators, but little is known about the way in which they use their habitat. Electronic tags are now shedding light on the horizontal and vertical movement patterns, and other behaviour of mako sharks. Tagging in New Zealand with both conventional plastic tags and satellite-transmitting tags has revealed that juvenile mako sharks are much more resident than previously realised, inhabiting coastal waters for periods of several months. There is a general movement to warmer waters north of New Zealand in winter, with larger sharks moving further. Some sharks have travelled as far as Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji and French Polynesia. Foraging occurs mostly in coastal waters over the continental shelf, and sharks tend to move rapidly and often in near- straight lines while in the open ocean. Most of their time is spent in the upper 100 m of the water column but deep dives during the day are common, with depths sometimes exceeding 600 m. The relatively small-scale movements of small juvenile mako sharks suggest that management of bycatch needs to be at a regional scale.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
315 Population Structure and Connectivity of Swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.) in the Pacific and Indian Oceans
Brad Smith ∗ 1, Lu Ching-Ping 2, Jaime Alvarado Bremer 2
1 Brigham Young University – Hawaii, United States 2 Texas AM University, Galveston – United States
Swordfish is a highly migratory epipelagic fish with a worldwide distribution in all oceanic waters from 45◦N to 45◦S with high commercial and ecological importance. Current population management recognizes at minimum North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian, and Pacific populations. While population structure in each of these areas is continually being reassessed and refined, intra- and interoceanic population structure and connectivity in the In- dian Ocean and Pacific Ocean is still largely unresolved. We sampled 891 swordfish collected in 16 localities across the Pacific as well as over 350 swordfish in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean to identify and characterize 26 informative SNPs and 2 SSR loci for Bayesian, principal coordinate(PCoA), and AMOVA analyses of population structure and connectivity. Analyses rejected the hypothesis of panmixia in the Pacific though delineation of intra-oceanic hetero- geneity by means of Bayesian analysis identified no clear geographic boundaries as seen in the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore preliminary evidence of interoceanic connectivity between the At- lantic and Indian Ocean suggests a unidirectional flow from the Indian Ocean into the South Atlantic.
∗Speaker
316 Project AIRSHIP: Spotting sharks and rays using blimp-mounted cameras for conservation and human safety
Kye Adams ∗† 1, Leah Gibbs 2, Martin Hing 1, Nathan Knott 3, Andy Davis 1
1 School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health [University of Wollongong] – Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australie, Australia 2 School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, Faculty of Social Science [University of Wollongong] – Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australie, Australia 3 Marine Ecosystems Unit, Department of Primary Industries – Huskisson, NSW, Australia, Australia
Managing shark-human interactions is a key social and environmental challenge that needs resolving if we are to maintain shark populations and ecosystem function. Shallow coastal marine environments such as estuaries and coastal embayments are known to provide nursery habitats for many shark and ray species. Repeated use of shallow nearshore environments for birth suggests a strategy to increase pup survival, however in industrialized countries these regions are increasingly impacted by pollution, development, and recreational use. These shallow nearshore areas are also areas where recreational activities such as swimming and surfing are concentrated. To augment movement data collected using acoustic receivers this study aimed to develop a novel active tracking approach. We developed and tested blimp-mounted cameras with the potential to continuously track the daily beach visitation and space-use of coastal shark and ray species. The blimp provides a means for assessing the shallow water space use and beach visitation rates of large marine animals, providing continuous 8-hour coverage of a 4-hectare area. A ”spotting” trial was conducted to determine the reliability of this method for tracking large bodied animals in different weather conditions and water depths. Mobile shark analogues were deployed daily at each of two depths. Footage from these trials was shown to lifeguards who were tasked with identifying whether shark analogues were present or absent, thereby establishing a spotting rate. During the field trials Lifeguard observers also logged animal sightings and recorded footage of the movement behaviour of numerous rays, baitfish schools and seals. This novel technique has direct relevance to scientists interested in monitoring the movement of large bodied marine animals and their relative abundance in shallow nearshore environments. The project also directly addresses a key management objective of helping to prevent unwanted shark-human interactions. Finally, outcomes from this research have specific relevance to ocean users, with the potential to provide safer swimming and surfing areas while conserving marine life.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
317 Protected areas preserve natural behaviour of a targeted predatory fish species on coral reefs
Brock Bergseth ∗† 1, Garry Russ 2, David Williamson 2, Ashley Frisch 2
1 Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies) – 1 James Cook Drive, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia 2 Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies) – 1 James Cook Drive, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Marine protected areas are increasingly being implemented to attain a variety of conserva- tion and fisheries management objectives. Although rarely considered, protection of targeted species within these areas may also conserve behaviours (e.g. boldness) that are often the first removed by human exploitation. Here we examine fish behaviour in fished, no-take, and no-entry management zones for a highly targeted predatory reef fish species (coral trout; Plectropomus leopardus) on coral reefs in two regions of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia. Using three behavioural metrics (flight-initiation distance, pre-flight behaviour, and escape trajecto- ries), we demonstrate how protected areas, particularly no-entry zones, can effectively conserve na´’ive or bold behavioural traits in fish populations. Flight-initiation distance was consistently highest in fished zones, but the effects of protection afforded by no-take and no-entry zones varied by study region. Flight-initiation distance was consistently higher for fish above the min- imum legal retention size limit, except in no-entry zones of the southern region. This indicates that no-entry zones may be maintaining near-natural, pre-exploitation behaviour, which could have considerable implications for the genetic and social structures of an ecologically important and highly valuable commercial species. Conservation and fisheries management would therefore benefit from an increased understanding of how fish behaviour can influence population struc- tures, and how these populations may be influenced by fishing and other human interactions.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
318 Public Safety Implications, Ecological Impacts and Sustainability of Shark Cage-Diving Ecotourism in Hawaii.
Carl Meyer ∗ 1
1 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) – 46-007 Lilipuna Road, United States
Shark cage-diving ecotourism has had a contentious history in Hawaii, but remains a thriving local industry despite public protests, arson attacks on vessels and legal battles. Controversy surrounding these activities is centered around three major concerns: (1) Threats to public safety, (2) Ecological impacts and (3) Cultural insensitivity, and has been fueled in part by a lack of empirical facts about these operations. We used a combination of log book records (number and types of sharks seen) and telemetry to characterize shark cage-diving operations off Haleiwa (Oahu, Hawaii) and evaluate their potential impacts. Species which very rarely bite humans (Carcharhinus galapagensis and C. plumbeus) accounted for 98% of sharks observed at cage- diving sites with potentially dangerous tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) seasonally present in low numbers (< 2% of sightings). Overall shark numbers at cage-diving sites were stable over time, but species composition has gradually shifted to favor C. galapagensis over smaller C. plumbeus. Seasonal cycles of abundance related to mating migrations were evident. Acoustically-tagged sharks showed high site-fidelity to cage-diving sites, with some individuals detected at these locations for up to 10 years. Tagged sharks also moved extensively around Oahu, occasionally visiting shallow inshore areas and ranging up to 90km across open ocean between islands. We found no evidence of increased risk of shark bites, or major ecological impacts due to cage-diving activities but the long-term sustainability of these activities remains unclear because the shark ecotourism industry in Hawaii is growing largely unregulated.
∗Speaker
319 Safe haven: a mark recapture study reveals fast growth rates and long-term residency patterns in a multi-species shark nursery
Ornella Weideli ∗† 1,2, Yannis Papastamatiou ∗
3, Serge Planes ∗
1
1 PSL Research University, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – 52 Avenue Paul Alduy 66860 Perpignan, France 2 Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) – Rue Philippe Plantamour 20 CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland 3 Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University (FIU) – 3000 Northeast 151st Street, Miami, FL 33181, USA, United States
Coastal nurseries are generally assumed to provide safety and in some cases abundant prey resources for juvenile sharks to grow. However, there can be high mortalities, individual weight loss and slow growth rates within nurseries. There may also be strong competition within multi-species nurseries, and combined these suggest nurseries may be harsh environments. Even small changes in biotic and abiotic conditions can cause very detrimental changes in juvenile mortality and therefore shark nurseries may not always provide the previously proclaimed safety and protection. We performed a 3 year mark-recapture study to quantify growth rates and patterns of dispersal within an oligotrophic multi-species nursery that is under consideration to receive protective status. Sicklefin lemon sharks, Negaprion acutidens and blacktip reef sharks, Carcharhinus melanopterus, use shallow areas of the remote and uninhabited St. Joseph atoll, Seychelles, as a nursery area. From November 2014 until April 2017, 302 and 333 juvenile N. acutidens and C. melanopterus were captured, measured and tagged. Juvenile N. acutidens ranged from 56.6 to 110.6 cm (mean ± S.E.; 66.5 ± 0.45 cm), while C. melanopterus measured 56.6 to 110.6 cm (66.5 ± 0.45 cm). Recaptured juveniles were at liberty from 90 days up to 2.5 years. Data from 62 N. acutidens revealed high and variable growth rates (mean ± S.E; 11.8 ± 1.02 cm year-1), while growth rate from 24 C. melanopterus were found to be much higher compared to previous studies from different nurseries (16.21 ± 1.21 cm year-1). All recapture locations were recorded in close proximity of the initial capture location with 13 – 3069 m and 49 – to 4416 m distance in N. acutidens and C. melanopterus, respectively. Fast growth rates coupled with frequent and multiple recaptures up to five times in 2.5 years, suggests two healthy coexisting shark populations in a possible prey abundant habitat. Mark-recapture studies are a powerful and low cost tool to demonstrate that some shark nurseries, if left untouched, can be a safe and resource-abundant habitat for the first years of a shark’s life.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
320 Saving Devils: The Global Mobulid Conservation Programme
Isabel Ender ∗ 1,2
1 The Manta Trust – Catemwood House, Corscombe, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 0NT, United Kingdom 2 James Cook University – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
Mobulid rays are amongst the most charismatic of marine creatures. However, a growing desire for their gill plates used within Asian Medicine has led to a rapid expansion of fisheries that target these rays on a global scale. Due to the additional pressure of bycatch mortality, and a life history strategy that ranks amongst the most conservative of all vertebrate animals, some populations in the Indo Pacific exhibit regional declines of over 80%. The Manta Trust Global Mobulid Conservation Programme (GMCP) was launched in 2014 to coordinate and carry out a strategic, long-term conservation plan for these rays. In its first three years, the programme has driven numerous advances in our understanding of mobulids, as well as several critical achievements that improved their conservation status. It has orchestrated the collection of data on mobulid fisheries and trade in twenty two countries, which was paramount to the successful listing of mobulids on the Convention for International Trade of Endangered Species and the Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species in 2014 and 2016, respec- tively.
The GMCP played a significant part in developing the IUCN Shark Specialist Group’s Global Conservation Strategy for Manta and Devil Rays. Its objectives are intricately linked to the strategy. A series of government workshops were organized in key mobulid fishing nations, in- cluding Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, to support the effective implementation of legislation and provide technical training for trade monitoring. The GMCP also drove research and outreach activities in communities that rely directly on mobulid fishing via its in-country affiliated projects. Through taking a multifaceted and collaborative approach, the GMCP is an example of turn- ing a ”paper” strategy into coordinated activities and effective conservation outcomes. I will present the GMCP’s underlying theory of change, discuss key findings from mobulid research, highlighting priority areas in the Indo Pacific, and explore the successes and challenges faced to date – insights that will be useful for scientists and managers working across various fields and species.
∗Speaker
321 Shark Search Indo-Pacific: documenting the diversity, status and significance of sharks and rays
Andrew Chin ∗ 1, Sarah Hylton 2, Yanni Smith 1, Lisa Stevenson 1, William White 3
1 Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture (CSTFA) – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia 2 University of New England (UNE) – Sulikowski Shark and Fish Research University of New England Biddeford, ME 04005, United States 3 CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CSIRO-MAR) – Castray Esplanade, Battery Point TAS 7004, Australia
The Indo-Pacific contains an important component of the world’s shark and ray diversity, however it is also where these fishes are under intense pressure from fishing, habitat loss, and emerging threats such as climate change. Unfortunately, relatively little research has been com- pleted on sharks and rays in the Indo-Pacific region, with even basic data on species occurrence and distribution absent for many countries and territories. Shark Search Indo-Pacific (SSIP) is a new project launched in 2017 that is building a scientifically robust, annotated checklist and status overview of sharks and rays for every country and territory in the Indo-Pacific. The project collaborates with in-country partners to locate and retrieve data, ensure local agencies and stakeholders are engaged, and to validate the information collected. The project team in- cludes taxonomic experts and social scientists who provide technical expertise and validation. The project also includes citizen scientists who provide photographs of sharks and ray from each country and territory to help populate and validate the checklist. A checklist and conserva- tion overview for the Solomon Islands has been completed and published, finding 56 species of sharks and rays, with contributions from citizen scientists expanding the range of the globally endangered dwarf sawfish Pristis clavata to the Solomon Islands. Checklists and conservation overviews for Fiji (76 species) and French Polynesia (47 species) are in draft form and are under- going review by in-country partners prior to submission to a journal. Some species records are likely to be questionable and in need of validation, highlighting the taxonomic challenges facing research on these fishes throughout the region. The checklists and status overviews are available online (www.sharksearch-indopacific.org) and will be periodically updated as new information becomes available. All SSIP publications are open access. It is envisaged that the checklist and status overviews, together with the project team and in-country partners, will provide the reference knowledge and community of practice to develop projects that support the sustainable management and sustainability of sharks and rays in each country throughout the region.
∗Speaker
322 Shark fins: high-value commodities or survival products?
Sara Busilacchi ∗ 1, James Butler 2, Joseph Posu 3, Michaela Cosijn 4, Ingrid Van Putten 5, Wayne Rochester 6
1 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation - Land and Water (CSIRO) – Australian Tropical Science and Innovation Precinct James Cook University James Cook Drive Townsville QLD 4811, Australia 2 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation- Land and Water (CSIRO - Land and Water) – GPO Box 2583,Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia 3 PNG National Fisheries Authority (PNG NFA) – PNG National Fisheries Authority, 11th Floor, Deloitte Tower, Douglas Street, Port Moresby, Capital District, Papua New Guinea 4 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation - Land and Water – 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, Brisbane, Australia 5 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation - Oceans and Atmosphere – CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Salamance Place, Hobart, Australia 6 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation - Oceans and Atmosphere, – GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia
Many remote regions that have until recently been inaccessible, now offer pristine and ex- ploitable resources to meet an ever-increasing demand from Asia. For remote coastal com- munities in developing countries, which lack basic infrastructures and refrigeration dry marine products, such as shark fins, are high-value trading commodities. Trade of these products is of- ten the only source of income for these remote communities. The unprecedented exploitation of previously pristine area can however jeopardise the long-term sustainability of natural resources that households have come to rely upon, impacting local well-being. Remote communities in the borderland region of the South Fly in Papua New Guinea epitomise the challenges faced by people in remote resource-rich area. As in other parts of the Indo-Pacific region, communities in the South Fly are nowadays engaged in new forms of illegal fishing and trading to meet the demand for high-value marine commodities, such as shark fins, fish maw (bladders) and bˆeche-de-mer. Shark finning, along with discard of fish meat after bladder removal, are common practices due to the lack of appropriate infrastructures including refrigeration facilities. Sharks species commonly caught are bull sharks, hammerhead sharks and reef sharks. IUCN-listed critically endangered or endangered species such as river sharks and narrow sawfish are among the caught species. Illegal trade of these species with Indonesian buyers is often the only cash- earning activity for these communities. Using participatory approaches, we explore intervention strategies which can direct fishers away from illegal trade and thus effectively ensure the long- term sustainability of these previously pristine socio-ecological systems and survive in the face of increasing global demand for natural resources.
∗Speaker
323 Sharks and rays in French Polynesia: A review of species diversity, status, life history, and fishing pressure assembled from diverse data sources
Lisa Stevenson ∗† 1, Andrew Chin‡ 2, William White 3
1 James Cook University (JCU) – 1 James Cook Dr, Townsville City QLD 4811, Australia 2 Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia 3 CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection (CSIRO) – CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection, GPO Box 1538, Hobart TAS 7018, Australia, Australia
In many of the world’s oceans including the Pacific, shark and ray populations are in decline due to over exploitation from fishing including, fisheries bycatch, shark finning and recreational fishing. Implementing conservation efforts has been difficult in Pacific Large Ocean Island States, as data on shark and ray life history parameters, status and biodiversity is limited. This study aimed to create a species checklist for the sharks and rays of French Polynesia, review fishing pressures on these species, and present a synthesis of their conservation and life history data. Due to the paucity of available data multiple sources were used including online and published scientific literature, fisheries data, citizen science data and grey literature. Forty-seven elas- mobranch species were documented in French Polynesia; 21 species are listed as Vulnerable or Endangered on the IUCN Red List: 10 in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and 11 in the Convention for Migratory Species. Shark bycatch and un-monitored subsistence fisheries appear to be the main pressures on these species. This study provides a systematic review of the species of sharks and rays present in French Polynesia, their conser- vation status, their life history data, their values in Polynesian culture, as well as catch and bycatch statistics. This study also demonstrates a process for creating a quality controlled, reliable and scientifically accurate species checklist.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
324 Sharks, Culture and Conservation: Recognizing the value of Indigenous knowledge and cultural dimensions of Sharks and Rays
Karin Gerhardt ∗† 1, Colin Simpfendorfer 1, Amy Diedrich 1, Erin Bohensky 2
1 Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia 2 CSIRO, Livelihoods and Adaptive Development (CSIRO) – CSIRO enquiries Private Bag 10 Clayton South Vic 3169 Australia, Australia
In shark research and management, as in many natural resource management fields, there remains an opportunity to better understand and appreciate Indigenous knowledge systems to enhance the completeness, value and relevance of available knowledge. Despite extensive evi- dence of the cultural significance of sharks and rays for many countries and coastal communities around the world, there is very little research that examines how the application or sharing of Indigenous knowledge could improve the scientific understanding, conservation and/or manage- ment of sharks and rays, and what processes should be in place for it to happen in a culturally appropriate manner. This talk discusses how a cultural mapping project which was designed in collaboration with a Traditional Owner group from Australia, records and maps the Indigenous knowledge regarding sharks and rays on their sea country. As well as documenting knowledge, the project sought to better understand how Traditional Owners want their knowledge to be recognised and applied in the science and management realm. Preliminary data from the case study suggests there are considerable differences in the types of knowledge held by Traditional Owners and scientists/managers, and that knowledge documented through this project may be able to: contribute to range extensions of species, describe previously unrecorded shark be- haviour, and articulate the significance of sharks and rays as Indigenous fisheries. The intricacies of developing a collaborative project (which includes two-way sharing outputs, Intellectual Prop- erty protection in data sharing agreements and community investment and ownership of project outcomes) will also be presented.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
325 Spatial and temporal distributions of coastal shark populations at the Galapagos Marine Reserve
David Acuna ∗† 1, Adam Smith 2, Pelayo Salinas-De-Le´on 3, Euan Harvey 4, Matthew Pawley 2, Marti Anderson 5
1 Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University – Massey University Albany Campus, Auckland, New Zealand 2 Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University (INMS) – Albany Campus Auckland, New Zealand 3 Charles Darwin Research Station – Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador 4 Curtin University – Perth, Australia 5 New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University (NZIAS) – Albany Campus Auckland, New Zealand
A better understanding of the patterns of distribution and abundance of sharks and their biological and environmental drivers is essential to develop and evaluate spatial management for conservation and fisheries management. Benthic and pelagic baited remote underwater stereo video systems (stereo-BRUVs) were used to describe spatial and seasonal patterns in assemblages of coastal sharks at the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR). From 629 stereo-BRUV deployments 877 sharks from 10 shark species were recorded over two seasons. The recorded coastal shark assemblage comprised both highly mobile semi-pelagic species with circumglobal distributions, as well as benthic species with more restricted distributions in tropical or temperate areas. Shark assemblages displayed a high spatial variability, likely in response to the high diversity of suitable habitats provided by the GMR. Shark occurrences in response to environmental and biological drivers differed among species according to their spatial mobility. Observations of semi-pelagic sharks were mostly influenced by geographical variables related to their exposure to open and deep waters, water temperature at surface and species richness of the associated assemblage, whereas the occurrence of benthic shark was related to the type of seabed cover. Ontogenic differences in habitat associations were found for Carcharhinus galapagensis and Sphyrna lewini, with juveniles of the former species being the most abundant and widely recorded across the coastal areas of the GMR. Some shark species displayed widespread distributions but ontogenic specificity across the coastal areas of the GMR (e.g., C. galapagensis, C. limbatus and Triaenodon obesus) while others appeared to be restricted in their spatial distribution by geographical features (e.g., S. lewini and Galeocerdo cuvier) or habitat type (e.g., Triakidae spp and Heterodontus quoyi). The highest diversity of sharks was found in the center-south of the archipelago, in areas of high habitat and fish diversity (islets and Floreana Island), while the northern oceanic islands (Darwin and Wolf) harboured the highest abundance of sharks. Identifying areas having greatest shark diversity and abundance, as well as those ones playing important ecological roles for some of the shark species, this study provides essential information
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
326 for the evaluation and management of the GMR for overall conservation of sharks.
327 The extinction risk status of New Zealand sharks, rays, and chimaeras
Brit Finucci ∗† 1, Clinton Duffy 2, Malcolm Francis 3, Claudine Gibson 4, Peter Kyne 5
1 Victoria University of Wellington – School of Biological Sciences Victoria University of Wellington PO Box 600 Wellington 6140, New Zealand 2 Department of Conservation – Carlaw Park 12-16 Nicholls Ln Parnell Auckland 1145, New Zealand 3 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) – 301 Evans Bay Parade Greta Point, Wellington, New Zealand 4 Auckland Zoo – Motions Rd, Auckland 1022, New Zealand 5 Charles Darwin University – Ellengowan Dr Casuarina NT 0810, Australia
The waters of New Zealand in the Southwest Pacific range from the subtropical Kermadec Islands to the polar Sub-Antarctic and are home to > 100 species of chondrichthyans (sharks, rays and chimaeras) across 31 families. Endemism is high, as is diversity in the deep-sea, with new species continuing to be described on a regular basis. A recent workshop reassessed the extinction risk status of chondrichthyans occurring in New Zealand by applying the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Categories and Criteria at the regional level. The last assessment for the majority of these species was conducted in 2003, and since then, a variety of management tools have been implemented to manage and conserve New Zealand chondrichthyans. Furthermore, new research has provided a better understanding of the life history and ecology of some species. Most species in New Zealand were classified as Least Concern (66%) or Data Deficient (32%). Several species with heightened threat classificiations have been identified, and research and management actions have been recommended. On a global context, New Zealand may be the only region in the world to have such a high percentage of Least Concern species. However, the high level of data deficiency remains a concern. Further research needs to address these data gaps in order to accurately assess the status of these species, particularly as many are bycatch of commercial fisheries. This project will contribute to the on-going global assessment of all chondrichthyan fishes ( ˜1 250 species) and will help guide future conservation and research efforts.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: brit.fi[email protected]
328 The life history of six pelagic sharks from Papua New Guinea
Brooke D’alberto ∗ 1, Michael Grant 1, Sushmita Mukherji 1, Leontine Baje 1,2, Jonathan Smart 1,3, Andrew Chin 1, William White 4,5, Colin Simpfendorfer 1
1 James Cook University (JCU) – 1 James Cook Drive, Douglas QLD Australia 4814, Australia 2 National Fisheries Authority (NFA) – The Tower, Douglas Street, Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea 3 South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) – 2 Hamra Avenue, West Beach, SA 5024, Australia, Australia 4 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) – 3–4 Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tas. 7004, Australia, Australia 5 Australian National Fish Collection (ANFC) – CSIRO National Research Collections Australia, Hobart, Tas. 7004, Australia, Australia
The National Fisheries Authority (NFA) of Papua New Guinea has identified a need to develop better fisheries management practices due to a lack of knowledge of the key species exploited. One particular group of interest was the pelagic sharks caught in longline fisheries, including oceanic whitetip (C archarhinus longimanus), silky (C. falciformis), blue (Prionace glauca), scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), big eyed thresher (Alopias superciliosus), and pelagic thresher (A. pelagicus) sharks. For the six species, samples were collected from the commercial longline vessels targeting sharks in the Bismark and Solomon Seas and from tuna longline vessels. Vertebrae were cleaned, dried, sectioned and band pairs counted. Back calcula- tion was employed to account for the low number of juveniles in the sample size of each species. A multi-model approach incorporating the von Bertalanffy, logistic, and Gompertz growth func- tions with a small sample size bias correction was used to estimate growth parameters. The estimates of length- and age-at-maturity were produced using a logistic regression model. Anal- ysis for P. glauca, S. lewini, A. superciliosus, and A. pelagicus are currently being conducted. Preliminary results for C. longimanus and C. falciformis reveal that these two species have a slower growth rate, later maturity and greater longevity than other conspecific populations. This suggests a higher susceptibility to fishing pressure and lower capacity to withstand exploitation in this region. Variation in life history parameters between regions highlights the need for region specific management and conservation for sharks.
∗Speaker
329 Understanding and quantifying shark depredation in a recreational fishery in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia
Jonathan Mitchell ∗† 1, Dianne Mclean 1, Shaun Collin 1, Stephen Taylor 2, Gary Jackson 2, Timothy Langlois 1
1 The University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Highway Crawley Western Australia 6009, Australia 2 Department of Fisheries, Government of Western Australia (DoF, WA) – Western Australia Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories, 39 Northside Drive, Hillarys, Western Australia 6025, Australia
Shark depredation, where a hooked fish is consumed by a shark before it can be retrieved to a fishing vessel, occurs in recreational fisheries worldwide. This causes extra mortality to target species, potential injury to sharks from ingested fishing gear, and can negatively impact the recreational fishing experience. This research sought to quantify the spatial occurrence and frequency of shark depredation in a recreational fishery within Ningaloo Marine Park and Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, as well as identifying shark species causing depredation. A large-scale boat ramp survey program recorded data from 248 recreational fishing vessels at Ningaloo Marine Park boat ramps and 155 vessels at Exmouth Gulf boat ramps, between July 2015 and May 2016, to collect quantitative data on shark depredation and variables potentially influencing it. The mean shark depredation rate was 13.65 ± 3.27% for demersal fishing and 11.80 ± 6.78% for trolling in Ningaloo Marine Park, compared to 11.48 ± 2.84% and 7.21 ± 8.38% in Exmouth Gulf. In Ningaloo Marine Park, 38.71% of fishing trips experienced at least one depredation event, compared to 41.94% for Exmouth Gulf. Generalised Additive Mixed Models quantified the effect of fishing methods and environmental factors on depredation rate, with results showing a non-linear effect of increasing fishing depth on depredation in Ningaloo Marine Park, and a peak in depredation at 60 m. Higher localised fishing effort led to increased depredation, while time of year also affected depredation rate. In Exmouth Gulf, cumulative spatial fishing pressure and decreasing latitude positively affected depredation rate, with the latter likely reflecting a change in benthic habitat throughout the Gulf. Collection of underwater video footage of depredation allowed identification of the shark species responsible, whilst also providing descriptive and quantitative data for depredation behaviour. Overall, this research is the first quantitative assessment of shark depredation in a recreational fishery in Australia. These data determined the extent to which environmental factors and fishing methods influenced the occurrence and spatial variation in depredation, which can ultimately be used to develop strategies for reducing depredation and the potential negative impacts it has on target fish, sharks and recreational fishers.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
330 What Are They Doing Down There: An Investigation of Multiple Paternity in a Deep-Sea Shark
Melissa Nehmens ∗† 1, Kevin Feldheim 2, David Ebert 1
1 Pacific Shark Research Center at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (PSRC at MLML) – 8272 Moss Landing Rd., Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States 2 The Field Museum, Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution – 1400 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
The Southern Lanternshark, Etmopterus granulosus, is a deep-sea shark commonly found throughout the southern oceans and frequently caught as bycatch in deep-sea fisheries. Outside of Australian and New Zealand waters little information is available on its reproductive biology, including multiple paternity. To date, few studies have been undertaken to determine whether multiple paternity occurs in deep-sea species such as E. granulosus. In this study, 18 litters of E. granulosus were opportunistically collected as bycatch along the Madagascar Ridge and Walter Shoal in the Southwestern Indian Ocean and examined for multiple paternity. Novel mi- crosatellite markers were developed to test for the presence and frequency of multiple paternity. Additionally, litter size and polyandry as they relate to female size were examined to determine if a relationship exists between these parameters. As a reproductive strategy, multiple paternity may greatly benefit the overall fitness of the population and individual females by increasing genetic diversity. Examination of the mating system in this common deep-sea species will im- prove our understanding of its life history, and may have important conservation and fisheries management implications.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
331 E1/ Diadromous fish of the Indo Pacific: Biogeography, ecology and conservation
332 Bullied bullies: Competition shifts dietary niches in Gobiomorphus cotidianus
Marine Richarson ∗ 1
1 University of Otago - Department of Zoology – PO Box 56 340 Great King St Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Intraspecific ecological niche variation has long been suspected of shaping population dy- namics, with potentially large effects at the ecosystem level. While recent efforts have uncovered mounting evidence of individual specialisation across the animal kingdom, few have focused on the effects of interspecific interactions on individual variation. The common bully (Gobiomor- phus cotidianus) is a small New Zealand native fish which exhibits moderate levels of individual specialisation despite a generalised diet at the population level. The introduced Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) is a competitor and size dependent predator of the species. Juvenile perch exhibit dietary niche overlap with bullies: while both species display different foraging strate- gies, they tend to prey on the same pool of pelagic and benthic invertebrates. We hypothesised that (1) competition with juvenile perch (TL< 150 mm) and with conspecifics induced consis- tent dietary shifts in individual bullies, and (2) that these effects were modulated depending on the nature of the competitor. We subjected individually marked common bullies to different competition levels in experimental mesocosms, with low competition treatments compared to treatments with elevated intraspecific or interspecific competition. Repeated diet measures were conducted over 14 weeks in order to assess individual dietary niches. Preliminary results indicate that intra- and interspecific competition have similar impacts on fitness (growth rate), but that the nature of competition seems to drive different types of shifts in individual dietary prefer- ences. These results confirm the importance of integrating individual variation when evaluating a population’s response to a competing species.
∗Speaker
333 Complex patterns of population connectivity in a New Zealand amphidromous galaxiid
Jason Augspurger 1, Matt Jarvis 1, Graham Wallis 1, Travis Ingram 1, Malcolm Reid 1, Gerry Closs ∗ 1
1 University of Otago – PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
Life-history requirements play a key role in determining species distributions and population structuring. Many studies evaluate the role of adult requirements when predicting population structure, but very few incorporate the role of early life-history, which is usually the most vul- nerable, and therefore limiting, phase of life-history. It is also the stage during which population connectivity most often occurs. A combination of genetic, otolith microchemical, and larval sam- pling approaches were used to explore long- and short-term patterns of population structuring in marine and land-locked (lake) populations of Galaxias brevipinnis. Landlocked populations of Galaxias brevipinnis were found to be genetically diverging from diadromous populations and each other, despite no obvious physical barriers to population connectivity and close proximity. On shorter timescales, catchment level meta-populations were formed within lake and coastal populations. Additional studies have indicated that larvae are strongly rheotaxic, potentially providing a behavioural mechanism responsible for both long-term divergence and short term meta-population structuring patterns seen here. These results suggest that management of G. brevipinnis must consider both long term patterns resulting in evolutionary divergence of non- diadromous populations, as well as the short term catchment-level isolation resulting in distinct ecological populations in both diadromous and non-diadromous populations.
∗Speaker
334 Conservation and management of New Zealand’s diadromous galaxias
Jane Goodman ∗ 1, David West 2, Gerard Closs 3, Travis Ingram 3
1 Department of Conservation and University of Otago – Monro State Building 186 Bridge Street Nelson 7010, New Zealand 2 Department of Conservation – Level 3 Grand Central 161 Cashel Street Christchurch 8011, New Zealand 3 University of Otago – Department of Zoology 340 Great King Street PO Box 56 Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
New Zealand has five species of diadromous galaxias. Four species are listed in the New Zealand Threat Classification System as threatened or at risk – shortjaw kokopu (Nationally Vulnerable), giant kokopu (Declining), koaro (Declining), inanga (Declining). The fifth species, banded kokopu is listed as not threatened. The juveniles of these species are harvested annually in New Zealand’s whitebait fishery which is managed by way of regulations by the Department of Conservation. There has been a decline in abundance of all the diadromous galaxias as well as a geographical contraction in their location. The decline is hard to attribute to any one factor especially given we don’t have any overall trend monitoring data, however extensive changes to waterways in- cluding, removal of forest, draining of wetlands, degradation of river estuaries, intensification of farmland, decreasing water quality, the introduction of exotic species and fishing pressure all to some extent impact on the species and cumulatively the effect has been significant.
In the past 30 to 40 years our understanding of these species has increased enormously, however there are still big gaps in our understanding, particularly in relation to larval habitat and food requirements, influences of the marine environment on population dynamics, location of spawn- ing habitats, and the genetic structure of populations or ‘stocks’ around the country.
The purpose of our research is to
To investigate how fisheries based on juvenile diadromous fish are managed internationally
To increase understanding of migratory galaxias dispersal, recruitment and distribution by in- vestigating genetic structure and otolith microchemistry
This presentation outlines the current status of New Zealand’s diadromous galaxias, how the whitebait fishery is managed; and presents our preliminary findings in relation to international fisheries management models for juvenile diadromous fish and the genetic structure of four of the five diadromous galaxias species around New Zealand.
∗Speaker
335 Diadromous migratory pattern of freshwater fish on Sado Island, northern Japan
Midori Iida ∗† 1, Satoshi Awata 2, Tamaki Oguro 3, Kotaro Shirai 4, Yoshito Mitsuo 5
1 Sado Marine Biological Station, Faculty of Science, Niigata University – Sado, Niigata 952-2135, Japan 2 Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University – Osaka 558-8585, Japan 3 Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University – Niigata, 950-2181, Japan 4 Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo – Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan 5 Center for Toki and Ecological Restoration, Niigata University – Sado, Niigata 952-0103, Japan
Freshwater fauna in the tropical oceanic islands is composed of amphidromous migratory fish, snails, and shrimps. Amphidromous organisms are also widely distributed in the temperate region including the northern remote islands. Environmental characteristics, such as water temperature in the temperate and subarctic regions differ from those in the tropics; therefore, the fauna and their life history might be different. However, life history and ecology of diadromous migratory organisms in the northern remote islands are scarcely known. Sado Island in the Sea of Japan has over 100 small rivers. Given its diverse environmental characteristics, it could be an ideal model to study ecology and life history of migratory organisms in the northern islands. In the present study, to understand migratory patterns of freshwater fish in the northern islands, fish from Sado Island were examined by otolith microchemistry analysis. A total of 50 specimens of gobies (genus Gymnogobius, Rhinogobius, Tridentiger, and Luciogobius), cottid (Cottus), and ayu (Plecoglossus) were collected from 12 rivers and the Sr:Ca ratio of their otoliths were determined using an electron probe microanalyser. Based on the data, they could be roughly categorised into three groups: (i) many individuals with an amphidromous migratory pattern with high Sr:Ca near the core and low ratio near the edges-two genera of gobies, Gymnogobius (n=8; G. opperiens, G. petschiliensis, and G. urotaenia) and Rhinogobius (n=14; R. nagoyae: formally known as R. sp. CB and R. mizunoi: R. sp. CO) and ayu (n=16, Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis). (ii) Some individuals show the pattern of re-entering the sea, in addition to their typical amphidromous migratory patterns: Tridentiger obscurus (n=2) and Luciogobius guttatus (n=3). (iii) Groups of freshwater or fresh/brackish water residents: genus Cottus (n=7), C. pollux LE (large-egg type), and C. hangiongensis. In addition to these three patterns, length of larval life in the sea and estimated moving speed from the sea to freshwater appeared to be individual-specific. These results indicate that many freshwater fish inhabiting Sado Island have amphidromous migratory patterns, although not uniform, perhaps due to terrain characteristics and short steep rivers on the island.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
336 Different population structures among amphidromous gobies result from different life histories
Ken Maeda ∗ 1, Midori Iida 2, Masashi Kondo 3, Chuya Shinzato 4, Ryo Koyanagi 1, Hau Duc Tran 5, Heok Hui Tan 6, Nori Satoh 1
1 Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) – 1919-1 Tancha, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan 2 Sado Marine Biological Station, Niigata University – 87 Tassha, Sado, Niigata 952-2135, Japan 3 Shimada Shosei Highschool – Shimada, Shizuoka 427-0034, Japan 4 Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo – Chiba 277-8564, Japan 5 Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE) – 136 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam 6 Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum – National University of Singapore, 2 Conservatory Drive, 117377, Singapore
Larvae of amphidromous gobies can be transported to distant habitats from their natal localities during the marine pelagic stage, but very little is known about mechanisms of larval dispersal. Using whole mitochondrial genome sequences, we compared population structures of Stiphodon multisquamus and Rhinogobius similis, which are syntopic in both Japan and Vietnam. Stiphodon multisquamus (n=65) lacks genetic structure within the area sampled, including Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan), central Vietnam, and Malaysia. This indicates the existence of gene flow throughout the range. Specimens of R. similis (n=135) were divided into two major clades composed of specimens from Vietnam (northern and central parts) and from the Ryukyu Archipelago (Okinawa and Iriomote islands), respectively. The results also suggest that the Vietnamese specimens do not form geographic subclades, while specimens from the two islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago belong to independent populations. Even though R. similis is the only widespread species in its genus, gene flow among remote populations seems to be very limited. To assess larval dispersal, which is thought to be the major factor regulating population structure, we compared life history traits between the subfamily Sicydiinae and the genus Rhinogobius. All sicydiine gobies, including S. multisquamus, are believed to be amphidromous. Their small and undeveloped newly hatched larvae stay near the water surface and do not swim against the flow. These larvae can be transported to remote habitats during their long pelagic larval phase (2–9 months). On the other hand, life histories of Rhinogobius species are highly variable, ranging from amphidromous to direct developing without a pelagic larval phase. Although eggs and larvae of R. similis are the smallest among Rhinogobius species studied, the larvae start feeding immediately after hatching and can swim against the flow. Amphidromous Rhinogobius larvae are considered to stay near river mouths during the pelagic larval phase (ca. one month). We conclude that dispersal strategies of amphidromous gobies vary markedly between taxa. Dispersal tendencies of sicydiine gobies may benefit them in tropical small island regions where small and unstable habitats are sparsely distributed, while the Rhinogobius strategy ensures survival within relatively stable continental habitats.
∗Speaker
337 Distribution and early life history of anguillid eel leptocephali in the tropical western Pacific and South Pacific Ocean
Mari Kuroki ∗ 1, Michael J. Miller 2, Eric Feunteun 3, Pierre Sasal 4, Tim Pickering 5, Yu-San Han 6, Noritaka Mochioka 7, Elisabeth Faliex 8, Anthony Acou 3, Aur´elieDessier 9, Robert Schabetsberger 10, Tatsuya Kawakami 1, Hiroaki Onda 11, Chintaka A. Hewavitarane 7, Shun Watanabe 2, Takatoshi Higuchi 2, Aya Takeuchi 2, Madoka Shimizu 2, Terumasa Taka 1, Takashi Yamakawa 1, Shingo Kimura 11, Katsumi Tsukamoto 2, Tsuguo Otake† 1
1 Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo – Bunkyo, Tokyo 1138657, Japan 2 College of Bioresource Science, Nihon University – Fujisawa, Kanagawa 2520880, Japan 3 UMR 7208 BOREA, MNHN-CNRS-UPMC-IRD-Unicaen–Station Marine de Dinard – Mus´eum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – 38 rue du Port Blanc, 35800 Dinard, France 4 USR3278 EPHE-CNRS-UPVD, Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – 98729, Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia 5 Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) – 3 Luke Street, Nabua, Suva, Fiji 6 College of Life Science, National Taiwan University – Taipei 106, Taiwan 7 Faculty of Agreculture, Kyushu University – Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan 8 UMR 5110 CNRS-UPVD - CEFREM – Universit´ede Perignan Via Domitia – 52 avenue Paul Alduy, 66860, Perpignan, France 9 Littoral Environnement et Soci´et´es(LIENSs), UMR 7266, CNRS – Universit´ede La Rochelle – 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17042 La Rochelle Cedex, France 10 Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg – Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria 11 Graduate School of Frontier Sciences/Atmosphere and Ocean Research, The University of Tokyo – Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan
Seven species of catadromous anguillid eels are present in the tropical western Pacific and South Pacific Ocean from New Guinea to French Polynesia, but little is known about their spawning areas and life histories. A research cruise lasting from July to October 2016 was conducted by the R/V Hakuho Maru to study the spawning and migration ecology of anguillid eels across the South Pacific. The survey sampled in a short transect of 155◦E line in the northeast of New Guinea and in five long transects of 5-25◦S line between 160◦E and 140◦W that mainly crossed the South Equatorial Current (SEC). This was the most extensive survey of the region, which has been sampled by the Danish Around the World Expedition in 1928-1930 and a few recent surveys. Nearly 4,000 leptocephali were collected at 171 stations using an Isaacs- Kidd Midwater Trawl, and 105 CTD casts were made. Based on morphometric observations and DNA barcoding, 29 anguillid leptocephali (7.8-46.8 mm) of six species that included Anguilla marmorata, A. bicolor, A. australis, A. reinhardtii, A. megastoma and A. obscura were collected,
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
338 but the larvae of the endemic New Zealand longfin eel A. dieffenbachii were not found. Most anguillid leptocephali were collected in the western transects from 155◦E to 175◦E, but only a few anguillids were found in the eastern transects at 155-140◦W. The age of leptocephali ranged from 16-120 days, according to their otolith daily rings, suggesting they were spawned from March to July 2016. Based on collection sites, westward drift within the SEC and the age and body size of small leptocephali, possible spawning locations were estimated from south of the Solomon Islands to northwest of Fiji for A. australis and A. reinhardtii (9.0-16.8 mm, 16-30 days) and northeast of American Samoa for A. marmorata (7.8 mm, 19 days). High salinity Subtropical Underwater at around 150 m depth and the low salinity surface Freshwater Pool were present in some likely spawning areas. The collections of anguillid leptocephali during the large-scale grid survey including both positive and negative data provided new information on distribution patterns and spawning seasons of the eel larvae in the South Pacific.
339 Evolution of Diadromy: ”Migratory Pendulum Theory”
Katsumi Tsukamoto ∗† 1, Shun Watanabe 2
1 Nihon University – Kameino 1866, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, 252-0880, Japan 2 Kindai University – 3327-204 Nakamachi, Nara 631-8505, Japan
A migration loop is a conceptual model of a migratory route that connects the reproduc- tive habitat and growth habitat of a species or population. The occurrence of residents (non- migrants) in species with multiple migratory patterns is important to consider when evaluating the origin and direction of migratory evolution. As migratory behavior is adaptive, evolutionary direction can be reversed between marine fishes and freshwater fishes. Diadromous fishes are only 1 % among the 30,000 species of teleosts and they appear to be momentary snapshots of evolu- tionary processes of migration patterns. The evolutionary origin of diadromy and the triggering mechanism of migratory behavior can be explained by the”Random Escapement Hypothesis”of migration starting as an escapement from the previous habitat with unfavorable environmen- tal/physiological conditions towards a new habitat in random directions. Diadromous fishes must overcome the barrier of salinity differences between sea and freshwater to evolve alterna- tions between marine and freshwater habitats. Diadromous fishes are divided into two groups in a conceptual model for fish migration evolution: freshwater spawning diadromy (anadromy and freshwater amphidromy) and seawater spawning diadromy (catadromy and seawater am- phidromy). Both seawater spawning diadromy and freshwater spawning diadromy must evolve through different pathways between seawater fish and freshwater fish, and there must be an evolutionary pathway that included both seawater spawning diadromy and freshwater spawning diadromy, so these two groups would be connected to each other in both evolutionary pathways. Salinity barriers are replaced with brackish water spawning diadromy as a transitional phase, and a new evolutionary model of diadromy ”Migratory Pendulum Theory” is proposed.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
340 Evolution of Freshwater Amphidromy: its Origin and Process
Shun Watanabe ∗ 1, Midori Iida 2, Katsumi Tsukamoto 3
1 Kindai University (Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture) – 3327-204 Nakamachi, Nara, 631-8505, Japan 2 Niigata University (Sado Marine Biological Station, Faculty of Science) – 87 Tassha, Sado, Niigata 952-2135, Japan 3 Nihon University (Department of Marine Science and Resources, College of Bioresource Sciences) – 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa, 252-0880, Japan
The most common form of diadromy on tropical islands and in many temperate regions is amphidromy, which is divided into two types, freshwater and marine amphidromy. Sicydiinae gobies in the tropics and Osmeriformes including ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis), galaxiids (Galaxiidae) and freshwater sculpins (Cottus) in temperate regions are well known freshwater amphidromous fishes and there are many biological and ecological studies about these groups. On tropical islands, all species of Sicydiinae have to spend their larval period in the ocean just after hatching, while ayu, sculpins and galaxiids in temperate regions have landlocked or fluvial forms of a species or genus that complete their life only in freshwater. Thus, different larval development and growth factors (i.e. short or long drainages, or differing levels of food availabil- ity in tropical and temperate habitats) appear to exist between tropical and temperate forms of freshwater amphidromy. Some latitudinal clines in characteristics such as trade-offs between egg size and fecundity, spawning season, and larval duration are found between sister groups or populations in phylogenetically closely related species of freshwater amphidromous fishes. The evolutionary histories of the amphidromous species such as Sicydiinae gobies, Osmeriformes, and the freshwater sculpins were recently revealed by molecular phylogenetic analysis and in- formation about their life history characteristics. The estimated evolutionary patterns were not consistent with the previous productivity hypotheses, which explained the evolutionary conse- quences and processes of the establishment of diadromous fishes by the differences in latitudinal productively between freshwater and the sea. In the productivity hypotheses, freshwater am- phidromous fishes appear from euryhaline wanderers that originated from freshwater species in temperate regions. However, in recent hypotheses, the ancestors of Sicydiinae gobies, Osmer- iformes and freshwater sculpins came from euryhaline wanderers that originated from marine species or came directly from marine species in the tropical and temperate areas. This sug- gests there is variation in the evolutionary origin and processes for freshwater amphidromous species. The freshwater amphidromous taxa such as Sicydiinae gobies, Osmeriformes, galaxiids and freshwater sculpins are polyphyletic groups with various origins, distributions, and evolu- tionary processes. Freshwater amphidromy is only a phenotype that appears in a moment of the evolutionary process of diadromy.
∗Speaker
341 Indo-Pacific clinging goby (Sicyopterus) mouth morphology: evolutionary point of view based on mitogenomic phylogeny.
Clara Lord ∗ 1, Laure Bellec 2, Agn`esDetta¨ı 3, C´elineBonillo 4, Philippe Keith 5
1 UMR Biologie des Organismes Aquatiques (UMR Borea 7208) – Mus´eumNational d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), Universit´ePierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) - Paris VI – 43, rue Cuvier, CP26, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France 2 Laboratoire Environnement Profond – Ifremer, Brest – Centre Bretagne - ZI de la Pointe du Diable - CS 10070 - 29280 Plouzan´e,France 3 Institut de Syst´ematique,Evolution, Biodiversit´e(UMR 7205 ISYEB) – Mus´eumNational d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – 57, rue Cuvier - 75231 - Paris cedex 05, France 4 UMS Outils et M´ethodes de la Syst´ematiqueInt´egrativeI (UMS 2700 OMSI) – Mus´eumNational d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – 43, rue Cuvier - 75231 Paris cedex 05, France 5 UMR Biologie des Organismes Aquatiques (UMR Borea 7208) – Mus´eumNational d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – 43, rue Cuvier, CP26, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France
Sicydiinae gobies have an amphidromous life cycle, where adults grow, feed and reproduce in rivers, while larvae have a marine dispersal phase. After the marine phase, larvae recruit back to rivers and colonise upstream habitats. Within the Sicydiinae subfamily, the Sicyopterus genus, one of the most diverse (26 species), is distributed in the tropical islands of the Indo-Pacific from the Western Indian Ocean to the Eastern Pacific one. One of the characters used to determine Sicyopterus species is the mouth morphology. The mouth is used as a secondary locomotor organ along with the pelvic sucker and is thus strongly related to the climbing ability of species and is of major importance for the upstream migration and the colonisation of insular freshwater systems. The mouth also has an important role in the feeding mechanism of these herbivorous species, which feed by scraping algal biofilm off rock surfaces. In this work we have established a molecular phylogeny of the genus based on the 13 protein coding genes of the mitochondrial genome. The evolution of the mouth morphology is discussed, in the light of this phylogeny, in terms of the adaptation of the Sicyopterus genus to life in tropical insular river systems.
∗Speaker
342 Legacy effects of marine larval development for a diadromous fish species
Mike Hickford ∗† 1, Eimear Egan 1, Mark Yungnickel 1, David Schiel 1
1 University of Canterbury (UC) – Private Bag 4800 Christchurch, New Zealand
Every spring, thousands of New Zealanders congregate near river mouths to try to catch their share of whitebait. Although some whitebaiters go home with many kilograms of fish, many catch only a cupful. Our research has shown that the number of whitebait that make up that cupful differs hugely around the country. Intensive spatial and temporal sampling of inward-migrating post-larvae (whitebait) of inanga (Galaxias maculatus) has shown significant differences in body size, age and growth rates between geographical regions. Whitebait caught in northern New Zealand are smaller, younger and faster-growing than those caught in southern regions. These patterns are consistent across the four month long whitebaiting season despite the marine environment that these larvae have developed in changing markedly during that time. Marine larval development facilitates dispersal in this diadromous species, but has legacy effects for adult growth, maturation and fecundity. Fecundity is closely associated with body length in fish species with allometric growth. Smaller post-larvae in northern regions will need compensatory adult growth to achieve the same level of fecundity as their southern counterparts. We will discuss these findings in the context of conservation biology and the potential for zonal fishery management.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
343 Phylogeography of Eleotris fusca (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Eleotridae) in the Indo-Pacific area reveals a cryptic species in the Indian Ocean
Marion Mennesson ∗ 1
1 Biologie des Organismes et Ecosyst`emesAquatiques (UMR BOREA 7208) – Mus´eumNational d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – 43 rue Cuvier, CP26 75005 Paris, France
Indo-Pacific insular freshwater systems are mainly dominated by amphidromous species. Eleotris fusca is a widespread one, its life cycle is characterised by a marine pelagic larval phase allowing the species to disperse in the ocean and then to recruit to remote island rivers. In the present study, the population structure of E. fusca over its Indo-Pacific distribution range (Western Indian Ocean to French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean) was evaluated. We analysed a sec- tion of mitochondrial COI of 557 individuals sampled from 28 islands to visualise the population structure. Haplotypes diversity was high (0.458 ≤ Hd ≤ 1) and nucleotide diversity was low (0.001 ≤ π ≤ 0.02), and two distinct genetic groups appeared, one in the Indian Ocean and the other in the Pacific Ocean (F ST mean = 0.901; 5.2% average divergence). Given these results, complete mitogenomes (mtDNA) were sequenced and combined with the nuclear Rhodopsin (Rh) gene. The two phylogenetic trees based on each analysis showed the same genetic pat- tern: two different groups belonging to the Indian and the Pacific oceans (6.6% and 1.6% of divergence for mtDNA and Rh gene respectively) which, supported species level differentiation. These analyses revealed the presence of two sister species confounded until present under the name of Eleotris fusca. One of them is cryptic and endemic of the Indian Ocean and the other one is the true E. fusca, which keeps, nevertheless, its status of widespread species.
Keywords: Eleotris, Indo-Pacific area, cryptic species, complete mitogenome, nuclear gene
∗Speaker
344 Spatial distribution, trophic ecology and growth of three tropical eel species (Anguilla marmorata, A. megastoma and A. obscura) living in sympatry in Gaua island (Vanuatu Archipelago)
Anthony Acou∗ 1, Cory Garot-Adrian 1, Alexandre Carpentier 2, Marion Mennesson 3, Christine Dupuy 4, Philippe Keith † 3, G´erardMarquet 5, Donna Kalfatak 6, Laure Virag 1, Eric Feunteun 1
1 Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – Mus´eeNational d’Histoire Naturelle - MNHN (France) – Station Marine de Dinard, 38 rue du port blanc 35800 Dinard, France 2 Universit´ede Rennes 1 – EA GTUBE, Universit´ede Rennes 1 – Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex,, France 3 Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – Mus´eeNational d’Histoire Naturelle - MNHN (France) – 43 rue Cuvier F-75231 Paris cedex, France 4 Littoral Environnement et Soci´et´esUMR 7266 (LIENs UMR7266) – Universit´ede La Rochelle – 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17042 La Rochelle Cedex 01, France 5 Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) – Mus´eeNational d’Histoire Naturelle - MNHN (France) – 57 rue Cuvier F-75231 Paris cedex, France 6 Department of Environment and Conservation – Private mail bag 063, Port Vila, Vanuatu
At least 4 species of anguillid eels are present in the western south Pacific: giant mottled eel A. marmorata, Polynesian long-finned eel A. megastoma, Australian long-finned eel A. rein- hardtii and Polynesian short-finned A. obscura. Their freshwater distribution overlap in the archipelago of Vanuatu but little is known about their life history, spatial organization and trophic ecology. A comprehensive sampling using electrofishing, snorkeling, hand nets or tradi- tional fishing tool with hook was conducted from 29th October to 5th November 2014 in Gaua Island (Banks Islands, Vanuatu) in order to describe species occurrence of eel species and col- lect information on their ecology and notably their diet. Using stable isotopic analysis, trophic networks were described in three contrasted habitats: (1) the volcanic Letas lake localized up- stream the 120 m high Siri Falls (standing waters > 10 m deep), (2) its outflowing Solomul river complex and tributaries (running waters, < 2 m deep) and (3) the Kaska creek, an in- dependent temporary stream with shallow (< 1 m) turbid waters closed to the sea. Based on molecular genetic analyses (CO1 barcoding), 4 species were detected among the 28 specimens collected. The dominant species was A. marmorata constituting 64.3% of the catches, then A. obscura and A. megastoma with 21.4% and 10.7% respectively. Unexpectedly, one specimen of A. interioris was collected in the Letas lake, which constitutes the first occurrence of the species in the Vanuatu Archipelago. A obscura was dominant in the Kaska Creek and A. megastoma
∗Corresponding author: [email protected] †Speaker
345 in Letas Lake, while A. marmorata was present in all habitats. The growth pattern estimated from otoliths was not very clear due to low samples but seems to depend on species rather than a site effect. Stable isotopic analysis confirmed that eel species, whatever the habitat, are top- predator. However, when they co-exist, eel species seems to share different preys, which suggest that resource partitioning may play a role in regulating the spatial organization of eel species in tropical river systems.
346 Spatio-temporal variability of leptocephali trophic networks in the South Pacific Ocean
Aur´elieDessier 1, Bastien Bourillon 1, Eric Feunteun ∗ 2, Anthony Acou 2, Alexandre Carpentier 3, Michael J. Miller 4, Mari Kuroki 5, Katsumi Tsukamoto 4, Tsuguo Otake 5, Christine Dupuy 6
1 LIttoral ENvironnement et Soci´et´es- UMR 7266 (LIENSs) – Universit´ede La Rochelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMR7266 – Bˆatiment ILE 2, rue Olympe de Gouges 17 000 La Rochelle, France 2 Biologie des Organismes et Ecosyst`emesAquatiques (BOREA) – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Universit´ePierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 : UM95, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMR7208 – 7, rue Cuvier, CP 32, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France 3 EA 7462 – Universit´ede Rennes I – EA 7462, Campus de Beaulieu, Bˆat25, Av. du G´en´eralLeclerc, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France 4 College of Bioresource Science, Nihon University – Fujisawa, Kanagawa 2520880, Japan 5 Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo – Bunkyo, Tokyo 1138657, Japan 6 LIttoral ENvironnement et Soci´et´es[La Rochelle] (LIENSs) – CNRS : UMR7266, Universit´ede La Rochelle – Bˆatiment Marie Curie Avenue Michel Cr´epeau 17 042 La Rochelle cx1 - Bˆatiment ILE 2, rue Olympe de Gouges 17 000 La Rochelle, France
Anguilliform eel larvae are ubiquitously distributed in the surface layers of intertropical oceans. The mystery of their diet is seemingly being progressively unveiled, although a number of materials are known to be consumed as particulate organic matter that include zooplankton fecal pellets, discarded appendicularian houses, or marine snow, along with the DNA barcoding signatures being found of many types of organisms. In the context of two research cruises con- ducted by the R/V Hakuho Maru in the South Pacific in 2013 (February, austral summer, 5 mil- lion km2) and 2016 (August to September, austral winter, 12 million km2), the trophic network of leptocephali was described using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Particulate organic matter (POM) was sampled using Niskin bottles at layers from the surface to the maximum fluorescence depth. Zooplankton (copepods, siphonophores, annelids etc.), and leptocephali from 5 families (Anguillidae, Congridae, Muraenidae, Nemichthyidae and Serrivomeridae) were collected using an Isaacs-Kidd Midwater Trawl. In 2016, additional sampling of micro-zooplankton was per- formed using a NORPAC net to target smaller zooplankton species. An unprecedented sampling effort covered 34 stations along 2 longitudinal transects (171◦E, 170◦W) between 7-30◦S in 2013 and 62 stations in 4 longitudinal transects (175◦E, 170◦W, 155◦W, 140◦W) between 5-25◦S in 2016. The sampling transects were set across 4 major currents of the region that are the South Equatorial Countercurrent, the Fiji Countercurrent, the South Equatorial Current and the South Pacific Subtropical Countercurrent. A strong latitudinal pattern of nitrogen isotope ratios (less obvious in carbon) were observed in most sampled zones in 2016 whereas a longitudinal effect was less pronounced. Based on leptocephali isotope ratios, three trophic networks (TN, north, intermediate and south) were highlighted in austral winter. The main variation within them
∗Speaker
347 was linked to nitrogen isotope ratios. A relative stability in carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios of POM was observed in these 3 TN. Temporally, nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios were more homogenous in austral summer than in austral winter with leptocephali trophic networks that were less distinct. These results are discussed in terms of hydrographic/meteorological contexts and previous information about leptocephali diets.
348 Spawning Areas and Larval Dispersal and Recruitment Strategies of Anguillid eels in the Indo-Pacific
Michael Miller ∗ 1, Katsumi Tsukamoto 1
1 Laboratory of Eel Science, Nihon University, Japan – 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa, 252-0880, Japan
After the Atlantic eel spawning areas were discovered in the Sargasso Sea, attention shifted to the Indo-Pacific where the other 17 species or subspecies of anguillid eels live, because their spawning areas were unknown. The Danish Round-the-World Expedition in 1928-1930 found an anguillid spawning area off West Sumatra, but where the other species spawn remained a mystery until the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, spawning area was discovered in the North Equatorial Current in 1991. In the years that followed, collections of small leptocephali revealed that the northern population of the widely distributed Giant Mottled eel, A. marmorata, and possibly A. luzonensis, spawn in or near the A. japonica spawning area, where eel eggs and spawning-condition adults were also collected recently. Surveys of the western South Pacific for leptocephali found evidence of offshore spawning by A. australis and A. reinhardtii and pop- up satellite-transmitting tagging studies of adult eels have pointed to possible spawning areas in the region. Tropical eels of A. borneensis and A. celebesensis were found to spawn locally in the Indonesian Seas, but the A. marmorata and A. bicolor bicolor living there appear to migrate out of the area to spawn. Understanding of where the 5 Indian Ocean anguillid species or subspecies spawn is limited and no clear evidence about where French Polynesia eels spawn has been obtained. Collectively, existing information indicates that multiple types of spawning locations and larval dispersal patterns must exist according to the relationships between species geographic ranges and the ocean currents to transport the larvae. Passive processes alone do not seem to explain the recruitment of larvae of some species to particular areas, but not to other nearby areas. Active swimming by late-stage larvae is implicated for species that must cross or detrain from strong boundary currents, and timing of metamorphosis factors are not sufficient to explain how some endemic species such as A. borneensis, A. luzonensis, and A. dieffenbachii can recruit to specific areas without using other behaviors as late-stage leptocephali or glass eels. Future research will reveal more about the remarkable migrations and recruitment mechanisms of Indo-Pacific anguillid eels.
∗Speaker
349 Temporal dynamics of the recruitment of three eel species in French Polynesia
Herehia Helme ∗ 1
1 Ecole Doctorale 472 : Syst`emesInt´egr´es,Environnement et Biodiversit´e(EPHE) (ED 472 SIEB) – Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – Ecole pratique des hautes ´etudesEcole doctorale 46 rue de Lille 75007 Paris, France
Eels still represent a great mystery with their diadromous catadromous life cycle; they breed at sea and larvae migrate to fresh waters to grow and spend their adult life. In French Polynesia, eels are emblematic both ecologically, as top predators in rivers, and culturally as, according to Polynesian legends, they represent the creation of life. There are three species known in French Polynesia: Anguilla marmorata the ”marbled eel”, A. megastoma, the”mountain eel” and A. obscura, the ”mud eel”. The present study is the first long-term follow-up (3 years) of the temporal dynamics of the recruitment of the three species in the valley Papenoo, the biggest of Tahiti island. The arrival of glass eels throughout the year was monitored; the species composition of the recruits and the state of the populations were assessed, enabling us to study the recruitment variation. This study also analysed environmental variables that may affect the recruitment. Our results revealed (i) a seasonal recruitment occurring during the new moons of the wet season from November to March with a peak between December and January, and (ii) that the three species arrive in the estuaries at the same period. This monitoring should be continued to improve our knowledge of the status of the populations of the three species found in French Polynesia. It should also be carried out over several rivers in order to compare the results.
∗Speaker
350 The leptocephalus larvae/marine snow food-web theory: pros, cons and uncertainties after 20 years of investigations in the Indo-Pacific.
Eric Feunteun ∗ 1,2, Michael Miller 3, Chistine Dupuy 4, Alexandre Carpentier 5, Anthony Acou 2,6, Mari Kuroki 7, Aur´elieDessier 4, Shun Watanabe 7, Jun Aoyama 7, Tsuguo Otake 7, Katsumi Tsukamoto 3
1 Biologie des Organismes et Ecosyst`emesAquatiques (BOREA) – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Universit´ePierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 : UM95, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMR7208 – 7, rue Cuvier, CP 32, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France 2 Mus´eumNational d’Histoire Naturelle - Centre de Recherche et d’Enseignement sur les Syst`emes Cˆotiers,Dinard, France (MNHN - CRESCO, Dinard, France) – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle - MNHN (FRANCE) – 38 rue du Port Blanc, 35800 Dinard, France 3 Laboratory of Eel Science, Nihon University, Japan – 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa, 252-0880, Japan 4 UMR - Liens, University of La Rochelle, France – UMR LienS - University of La Rochelle, France – Bat Ile, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges 17 000 La Rochelle, France 5 Universit´ede Rennes1 – Universit´ede Rennes 1 – MNHN-CRESC0, 38 rue du Port Blanc, 35800 Rennes, France 6 MNHN - Unit´eMixte de Service Patrimoine Naturel (UMS PatriNat) – Mus´eeNational d’Histoire Naturelle - MNHN (France) – MNHN - CRESCO, 38 rue du Port Blanc, 35800 Dinard, France 7 the University of Tokyo – 1-1-1, Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
Since the epic Danish around-the-world oceanographic cruise to collect leptocephali in 1938- 1939 led by Johannes Schmidt, the intertropical oceans have been known to host a high diversity and abundance of larval stages of anguilliform and elopomorph teleosts: the leptocephalus larvae. They all share striking morphological features: large eyes, a transparent laterally flattened- body with only a thin muscle-layer. Some species reach lengths of > 30 cm and ages of several months to > 1 year. Leptocephali are part of the micronekton that are mainly found in the ocean epipelagic layers. Despite these common features, little is known about their diet. Direct observations of thousands of specimens show that the majority of their guts are seemingly empty, but instead contain an apparent paste that could be consumed organic matter. Currently the leading hypothesis is that marine snow provides most of this organic matter paste. Marine Snow is formed by the agglomeration of a wide range of biologically produced and discarded materials that slowly sink while being processed and recycled to nutrients by a complex ecosystem of microorganisms and direct consumers. We examine the historical and unpublished findings of an unprecedented research effort resulting from 4 research cruises conducted in the Southwest Indian Ocean in 2006 and 2010 and the South Pacific Ocean in 2013 and 2016 that used d15N and d13C isotopic ratios and fatty acid signatures in leptocephali and particulate organic matter (POM). We compared those biochemical tracers obtained from hundreds of leptocephali from
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351 7 families to planktonic and micronektonic organisms and POM that contains marine snow. These results clearly show that all leptocephali seem to have a similar feeding ecology, which is at lower trophic levels than all micro-zooplankton, suggesting that they are part of the detrital food web. However, the findings using d15N and d13C ratios and fatty acid profiles that some taxa of leptocephali occupy different ranges of trophic positions in the lower food web, suggests there are mechanisms limiting competition for the same food sources or feeding depths. This identifies new research objectives to understand the role of soluble organic matter (i.e. TEPs) contained in the marine snow.
352 E2/ Cryptobenthic fishes: Ecology and evolution of the smallest marine vertebrates
353 A wonderful radiation of cryptobenthic clingfishes along Australia’s Southern Coast
Kevin Conway ∗ 1, Cragen King 2, Glenn Moore 3
1 Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas AM University – Rm 232, Wildlife, Fisheries Ecological Sciences Building (WFES), 2258 TAMU 534 John Kimbrough Blvd, College Station, Texas 77843-2258, United States 2 Marine Biology Interdisciplinary Program, Texas AM University – Rm 232, Wildlife, Fisheries Ecological Sciences Building (WFES), 2258 TAMU 534 John Kimbrough Blvd, College Station, Texas 77843-2258, United States 3 Western Australian Museum – Perth, Australia
Clingfishes of the family Gobiesocidae ( ˜165 species and 50 genera of largely uncertain re- lationships) are archetypal cryptobenthic fishes. Fifteen species of clingfishes are found in the shallow temperate marine waters along Australia’s Southern Coast, representing seven described and three undescribed genera. This Southern Australian clingfish fauna not only includes ”typ- ical” looking clingfishes (e.g., Aspasmogaster, Cochleoceps and Creocele) but also diminutive macroalgae and seagrass specialists (e.g., certain members of Cochleoceps, Parvicrepis and Posi- donichthys), commensal cleaners (Cochleoceps), and strange eel-like forms (Alabes). Preliminary phylogenetic analyses of a multi-locus data set for over 80 species and 40 genera of clingfishes have uncovered a large clade comprising a subset of Southern Australian taxa, including Al- abes, Cochleoceps, Parvicrepis, Posidonichthys, and the undescribed Genus A, B and C. Within this clade, Cochleoceps and Genus A are not recovered as monophyletic and the strange eel-like Alabes are recovered in a sister group relationship with the diminutive macroalgae specialists Parvicrepis and Genus B. The diversity of body shapes and sizes, habitat specializations and behaviours represented within this Southern Australian clade is unparalleled within the Gobieso- cidae. An overview of this diversity as well as potential morphological characters that provide evidence for this clade of quintessential cryptobenthic fishes will be provided.
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354 Coral-Gobies as a Model System for Understanding the Evolution and Maintenance of Sociality
Marian Wong ∗ 1, Martin Hing† 1, Selma Klanten 2, Mark Dowton 1
1 Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health [University of Wollongong] (UOW) – Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australie, Australia 2 University of Technology Sydney (UTS) – 15 Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia
The phenomenon of sociality, whereby independently reproducing individuals came together to form one cooperative unit, has posed an evolutionary conundrum to biologists over many decades. This is because those individuals, once capable of reproducing, gave up their repro- ductive rights in order to become part of a social group. Despite many excellent theoretical and empirical studies testing key concepts of social evolution theory, there is still debate re- garding the relative importance of various factors favouring sociality, suggesting that there may not be a general explanation. Here, we discuss two potential improvements in the study of sociality that could aid in the progress of this field. The first relates to the choice of model system which has largely been biased towards terrestrial animals in the literature. In contrast, recent consideration of other taxa, particularly marine taxa, is slowly revealing that expanding our perspective can enhance our understanding of these concepts and generate novel insights. The second improvement relates to the incorporation of a broader approach to testing concepts, by using different methodologies – namely observational, experimental and phylogenetic pro- tocols, to test predictions of key hypotheses. We illustrate how these two improvements have been enmeshed in one specific group of marine coral-reef fishes, the coral-dwelling gobies (genus Gobiodon). These species reside permanently within corals and exhibit a wide array of social systems, being either strictly pair-forming (asocial) or highly gregarious social groups (social). We develop a phylogeny on which we map i) an index of sociality and ii) ecological variables for each species to demonstrate the evolutionary progress of social evolution and whether they are related to ecological factors (and key hypothesis). We then propose experimental work on these coral-goby species to accompany the phylogenetic comparisons. Therefore, by combining investigations of under-studied coral reef taxa with multiple methodologies, we can provide a more holistic approach towards understanding social evolution in animals in general.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
355 Cryptobenthic fishes: the final frontier of vertebrate biodiversity on coral reefs
Simon Brandl ∗† 1, Christopher Goatley 2, Luke Tornabene 3, David Bellwood 4,5
1 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center – Edgewater, Maryland 21037, United States 2 University of New England – Armidale, NSW, 2350, Australia 3 University of Washington – 1122 NE Boat St, Box 355020 Seattle, WA 98195-5020, United States 4 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – College of Science Engineering James Cook University Townsville, QLD, Australia 4811, Australia 5 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Cryptobenthic reef fishes represent the most diverse and abundant vertebrates on coral reefs. Yet, due to their diminutive size and elusive nature, these fishes are frequently over- looked in assessments of coral reef fishes. We also lack a robust definition of what constitutes a cryptobenthic fish. This is concerning because the few papers that have investigated cryp- tobenthic fishes on coral reefs suggest that these animals are of considerable significance in coral reef trophodynamics and highly susceptible to environmental change. Here, we summa- rize our knowledge, to date, on cryptobenhtic reef fishes, and provide a detailed assessment of their ecology, evolution, and life-history. We provide the first quantitative definition of cryp- tobenthic reef fish families, revealing that a relatively clear threshold separates families for which more than 10% of species are smaller than five centimeters (Aploactinidae, Apogonidae, Blenniidae, Bythitidae, Callionymidae, Chaenopsidae, Creediidae, Dactyloscopidae, Gobiesoci- dae, Gobiidae, Grammatidae, Labrisomidae, Opistognathidae, Plesiopidae, Pseudochromidae, Syngnathidae and Tripterygiidae) from large reef fishes. We then show that cryptobenthic reef fish families are morphologically distinct from large reef fishes and that they differ markedly in several aspects of their life history. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these characteristics evolved separately on multiple occasions, including two of the most successful radiations within acanthomorph fishes, the Gobiidae and the Blennioidei and relatives (including the Blennioidei, Pseudochromidae, Opistognathidae, Plesiopidae, and Grammatidae). However, after reviewing the literature on cryptobenthic fishes, we caution that our current understanding of cryptoben- thic fish communities is almost uniformly poor, with the localities of targeted collections being both scarce and spatially highly clustered. In addition, it appears that many species of crypto- benthic fishes are as yet undiscovered, especially in remote geographic areas and depths beyond 40 meters. Cryptobenthic reef fishes appear to have diverged rapidly, with many species that are highly adapted to their local micro-environment. Because ongoing human-induced disturbances cause widespread environmental change, we argue that a more substantial and coordinated ef- fort is needed to understand and monitor cryptobenthic reef fish communities worldwide. To this end, we suggest the use of innovative, standardized techniques along with the initiation of open-access databases on the identity, distribution, and ecology of cryptobenthic fishes.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
356 Hidden in plain sight: high cryptobenthic fish diversity on soft sediment habitats in Southeast Asia
Maarten De Brauwer ∗† 1, Ben Saunders 1, Luke Gordon 1, Jean-Paul Hobbs 1, Jennifer Mcilwain 1, Euan Harvey 1
1 Curtin University – Perth, Australia
Cryptobenthic fish are a crucial part of marine fauna assemblages and play an important role in ecosystem trophodynamics. An increasingly large body of research exists on the highly diverse cryptobenthic assemblages on coral and rocky reefs. While these are highly important habitats, they cover only a small percentage of shallow water substrates in the Indo-Pacific region. Shallow water is dominated by soft sediment habitats, which despite their omnipresence, remain largely unstudied. It is frequently assumed that soft sediment communities are depauperate in terms of cryptobenthic fish fauna, but limited research has been done to test this theory. Recent research shows that dive tourism focused on cryptobenthic fauna on soft sediment sites is worth more than USD $150 million/year, yet little is known about the diversity or abundance of the species responsible for creating thousands of sustainable jobs through tourism. Using UVC and roving diver surveys, we assessed the abundance and diversity of cryptobenthic assemblages on 20 soft sediment sites across Indonesia and Philippines. Surveys were done at two depths (6m, 16m) across three locations (Dauin, Lembeh Strait, north Bali). Additional site-specific data was collected on benthic cover and grain size morphology. Results showed a higher than expected diversity (> 130 species, excluding gobies and blennies), with some sites rivalling the diversity found on coral reef sites on the GBR. Significant differences were found between locations and sites, but not for depth. Benthic cover and grain size morphology only explained limited variation ( ˜11%) in assemblage composition. This suggests that unmeasured or larger scale processes may be influencing the assemblage composition at these locations. Roving diver surveys found 32% more species than UVC transects, indicating that exclusively using UVC transects is insufficient to assess the diversity of cryptobenthic fishes. In light of their high ecological and economic value, the surprisingly high diversity combined with the low explanatory value of the habitat variables tested indicates that more research on soft sediment cryptobenthic fishes is urgently needed.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
357 Microhabitat association of cryptobenthic gobies (family Gobiidae) in the Central Red Sea
Emily Troyer ∗ 1, Michael Berumen 1
1 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Knowledge of biodiversity within an ecosystem is essential when trying to understand the function and importance of that ecosystem. A challenge when assessing biodiversity of reef habi- tats is cryptobenthic fishes, which encompass many groups that have close associations with the substrate. These fish can be behaviorally cryptic, by seeking refuge within the reef matrix, or visually cryptic, using cryptic coloration to match the surrounding habitat. These factors make visual surveys inadequate for sampling these fishes. One such group of cryptobenthic fishes are the gobies, family Gobiidae, which currently represent over 2000 species, although new species are continually being discovered. Gobies are often small (less than 5 cm), and many species will be associated with a very specific microhabitat type.Due to the understudied nature of the Red Sea, little is known about habitat preferences of gobies within the region. In order to determine the differences in goby community structure within the central Red Sea, fish were sampled at one reef using 1 m2 enclosed rotenone stations from three distinct microhabitats: hard coral, rubble, and sand. Following collection, specimens were photographed and sequenced using COI, to aid in species identification. Over 200 individuals were collected representing more than 30 species of goby. A rubble microhabitat was found to host the majority of collected fishes, followed by hard coral, then sand. These results provide essential baseline information about the ecology of understudied cryptobenthic fish which can be used in future large scale studies.
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358 Not just a flat face: the underappreciated role of blennies on coral reefs
Zoe Loffler ∗ 1, Andrew Hoey 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Herbivorous fishes are widely accepted as being key players in preventing and reversing shifts to macroalgal-dominance on coral reefs. Recent studies have highlighted that different fish species feed on adult macroalgae vs. the epilithic algal matrix. While it has been assumed that those species feeding on the EAM (i.e., acanthurids, siganids, and scarines) incidentally remove macroalgal propagules from the reef substratum when feeding, our understanding of the species that may remove macroalgal propagules is limited. To investigate which coral reef fishes remove Sargassum recruits from the benthos, we settled Sargassum propagules (Sargassum propagules to tiles with EAM only. Paired tiles and caged controls were transplanted to the reef flat and exposed to local herbivore assemblages for 3 days, and feeding on the tiles was monitored using stationary underwater video cameras. Analyses of the video footage revealed that of the four species of blenny and one species of pomacentrid that took a large number of bites on the tiles, only one species, Salarius fasciatus, took more bites on the tiles with a Sargassum/turf algae mixture than the tiles with only turf algae. Moreover, S. fasciatus took two-fold more bites on the Sargassum/turf tiles compared to the turf only tiles, whilst other fish species took 2-3 fold fewer bites on the Sargassum/turf tiles compared to the turf only tiles. Very little feeding by larger roving herbivorous fishes was recorded. These results suggest that Sargassum propagules may be avoided by certain small reef fishes and this mechanism may facilitate the expansion of macroalgal beds on coral reefs.
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359 Spatial patterns of cryptobenthic coral reef fishes in the Red Sea
Darren Coker ∗ 1, Joseph Dibattista 2, Tane Sinclair-Taylor 1, Michael Berumen 1
1 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 Curtin University – Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, PO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia, Australia
Understanding the ecology of coral reef ecosystems requires a fundamental knowledge of the distribution and abundance of their associated fishes. However, reef fish surveys are often limited to visually conspicuous species, thus excluding a significant proportion of the biodiversity. Given the potential for even the smallest fishes to play an important ecological role and the increasing disturbances to coral reefs globally, it is critical to increase our knowledge of all reef- associated groups. Our study is the first to systematically document cryptobenthic reef fishes at a community level within the Red Sea. A total of 238 species or operational-taxonomic-units (OTUs) from 35 families of reef fish were collected from sites in the central and southern Red Sea. Abundance and species richness increased by 60% and 30%, respectively, from the northern most site to the southern most site. Models revealed key coral groups, and changes in environmental parameters (Chl-a, SST, salinity) structured these patterns with higher levels of productivity and complex corals favoring abundance and richness. Community composition also differed among the regions, with proximity to shore within the central Red Sea further supporting the importance of reef rich habitat. Our study provides a baseline estimate of the cryptobenthic species in the Red Sea but also illustrates the issues with taxonomic resolution for this group and region; only 40% confidently identified to species level. To overcome these issues, we produced a voucher catalogue of all collected specimens, which includes paired high-resolution photographs and DNA sequences (i.e. COI barcoding gene) for all the identified OTUs. This catalogue will assist with future fish biodiversity studies within the Red Sea, connectivity studies (including fish from adjacent oceans and seas), in addition to the improving the ability to confidently identify new occurrence records.
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360 E3/ Fishes of Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems in the Indo-Pacific
361 Ecological determinants of depth ranges in a coral-obligate reef fish and depth patterns in habitat disturbance: Are deep reefs a refuge?
Chancey Macdonald ∗ 1,2, Tom Bridge 2,3, Geoffrey Jones 1,2
1 College of Marine and Aquaculture Science, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Australia 2 Australian Research Council, Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARC COE) – Townsville, Australia 3 Queensland Museum – Townsville, Australia
Declining coral abundance on many reefs globally is altering the composition of coral reef fish communities. Many reef fish species depend on live coral for a range of ecological processes, but coral specialists such as obligate coral feeders are among the most threatened. The most se- vere declines in coral abundance often occurs in shallower water, and deeper reefs may therefore provide a refuge for reef fish if they can provide suitable stable habitat in the face of shallow reef degradation. However, ecological factors influencing depth distributions, in coral reef fishes are currently poorly understood. Here, we analyse how larval settlement and adult distributions, resource use, territorial area, territorial behavior, diet, movement, and body condition of an obligate coral feeding butterflyfish species vary along a depth gradient from 0-40m. We further relate patterns in these behaviours to changes in the availability, nutritional quality and trophic position of food sources along the depth gradient and across two disturbance events. In doing so we demonstrate that whilst not a panacea, suitable deep-water habitat can provide a significant refuge from some disturbance events for an obligate coral feeding reef fish in a clear-water, low- latitude reef system. However, the health and abundance of primary habitat and food corals declined in deep and shallow water following a warm-water bleaching event. If populations be- come restricted to deep-water habitats, fish behaviour, body condition and reproductive energy allocation are likely to remain similar to those in current healthy reef systems, however the abundance and density of population contributors will likely decline.
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362 Mesophotic coral ecosystems are not a refuge for the shallow reef fauna
Luiz Rocha ∗ 1, Hudson Pinheiro 2, Yannis Papastamatiou 3, Richard Pyle 4, Pim Bongaerts 5, Bart Shepherd 6
1 California Academy of Sciences – San Francisco, CA, United States 2 California Academy of Sciences – 55 Music Concourse Dr, United States 3 Florida International University – Florida, United States 4 Bishop Museum – Hawaii, United States 5 University of Queensland – Queensland, Australia 6 California Academy of Sciences – San Francisco, United States
The deeper portions of coral reefs, collectively known as mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs; 30 - 150 m), have been widely hypothesized to provide refuge against natural and anthropogenic impacts that are destroying shallow reefs. The potential role as universal refuge is cited in the introduction of almost every paper about MCEs. This hypothesis rests on two assumptions: 1) that there is considerable overlap in species composition and subsequent connectivity be- tween shallow and deep populations; and 2) that deep reefs are generally less susceptible to anthropogenic and natural impacts. Both of these assumptions have recently been called into question, however due to the logistical complexity of surveying MCEs, only limited data have been available to test the generality this hypothesis at a community level. Here we show ev- idence contradicting the two main assumptions of the refuge hypothesis, based on data from 317 fish transects and 2,100 coral photographs obtained at two locations in the Pacific and two in the Atlantic. We conclude that MCEs are in as much need of protection as their shallow counterparts, and that shallow reef organisms won’t find a refuge in MCEs.
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363 Reef fish communities from shallow to lower mesophotic coral ecosystems in the heart of the Coral Triangle
Hudson Pinheiro ∗ 1, Bart Shepherd 1, Luiz Rocha 1
1 California Academy of Sciences (CAS) – GOLDEN GATE PARK 55 MUSIC CONCOURSE DRIVE SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 94118, United States
Philippines coral reefs are known for their extreme biodiversity, however, most information available comes from shallow reefs. To understand how the reef fish community changes from shallow to lower mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCE), we performed 115 underwater visual cen- suses between 3 and 150 m depth. A total of 41 families and 322 taxa were counted, with an average (SE) of 21.6 (0.9) species, 90.5 (6.1) fishes, and 6.2 (0.5) kg per 40 m2. Bray-Curtis sim- ilarity analysis showed assemblages structured by depth: shallow (3 to 30 m), upper MCE (30 to 60 m), mid MCE (60 to 90 m), and lower MCE (> 90 m). All characteristics of the commu- nity (richness, abundance, and biomass) decrease significantly with depth. However, despite the decrease in richness, beta diversity analyses indicate that the turnover of species among depth strata is more important than the nestedness component. The health of the studied communi- ties, based on trophic guild biomass and trash abundance, varied among sites. Broken fishing gear, such as fishing lines and longlines, were very abundant in some locations, while plastic bags and tires were common in others. Although some commercial species and sharks were spotted, evidence of illegal fishing activities, overfishing and habitat degradation are clear. To maintain the high biodiversity and sustainable fisheries in the center of the center of marine biodiversity, research and awareness are necessary to better understand and protected these unknown and diverse systems.
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364 Taking a deeper look: Quantifying the differences in fish assemblages between shallow and mesophotic temperate rocky reefs.
Joel Williams ∗† 1, Alan Jordan 1, David Harasti 1, Peter Davies 2, Neville Barrett 3
1 New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) – Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, Taylors Beach, New South Wales, 2316, Australia 2 New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage (NSW OEH) – PO Box A290, Sydney South, NSW, 1232, Australia 3 Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania (IMAS) – 20 Castray Esplanade, Battery Point, Tasmania, 7004, Australia
The spatial distribution of a species assemblage is often determined by habitat and climate. In the marine environment, depth can become an important factor as degrading light leads to changes in the biological habitat structure. To date, much of the focus of ecological fish re- search has been based on reefs in less than 40 m. Therefore, it is important that we attempt to understand the ecological role of mesophotic reefs. In this study we deployed baited remote underwater stereo video systems (stereo-BRUVS) on temperate reefs in two depth categories: shallow (20-40m) and mesophotic (80-120m), off Port Stephens, Australia. Sites were selected using data collected by multi-beam echo sounder (MBES) to ensure stereo-BRUVS were deployed on reef. MBES also provided rugosity, slope and relief data for each stereo-BRUVS deployment. The aims of this study are to 1) quantify the similarities/dissimilarities in the fish assemblages between shallow and mesophotic reefs, and 2) model the effects of environmental conditions and habitat structure on the spatial distribution of fishery targeted species. Multivariate anal- ysis indicates that there are significant differences in the fish assemblages between shallow and mesophotic reefs, primary driven by Ophthalmolepis lineolatus and Notolabrus gymnogenis only occurring on shallow reefs and schooling species of fish that were unique to each depth category; Atypichthys strigatus on shallow reefs and Centroberyx affinis on mesophotic reefs. While shal- low reefs had a greater species richness and abundance of fish when compared to mesophotic reefs, mesophotic reefs hosted the same species richness of fishery targeted species. Chrysophrys auratus and Nemodactylus douglassii are two highly targeted species in this region. While C. auratus was numerically more abundant on shallow reefs, mesophotic reefs provided habitat for larger fish. In comparison, N. douglassii were evenly distributed across all sites sampled. Generalized linear models revealed that depth and habitat type provided the most parsimonious model for predicting the distribution of C. auratus, while habitat type alone best predicted the distribution of N. douglassii. These results demonstrate the importance of mesophotic reefs to fishery targeted species and therefore have implications for informing the management of these
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
365 fishery resources on shelf rocky reefs.
366 E4/ Biology and Evolution of deep-sea fishes
367 A different way of seeing colour using multiple rod visual pigments in deep-sea fishes
Fabio Cortesi ∗† 1,2, Zuzana Musilov´a‡ 2,3, Michael Matschiner 2,4, Wayne Davies 5, Sara Stieb 1,2, Fanny De Busserolles 1,6, Martin Malmstrøm 4, Ole Tørresen 4, Jessica Mountford 5, Reinhold Hanel 7, Karen Carleton 8, Kjetill Jakobsen 4, Sissel Jentoft 4, Justin Marshall 1, Walter Salzburger§ 2
1 Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland – The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia 2 Zoological Institute, University of Basel – University of Basel, 4051 Basel, Switzerland 3 Department of Zoology, Charles University – Charles University, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic 4 Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo – University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway 5 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia – The University of Western Australia, Crawley, 6009, Australia 6 Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia 7 Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries – Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, 22767 Hamburg, Germany 8 Department of Biology, University of Maryland – University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States
Vertebrates see colour during the day using cone visual pigments (opsins) that are sensitive to different wavelengths of light. During dim-light conditions, such as at night or in the deep-sea, however, vertebrates are thought to be colour blind relying on a single rod opsin (rhodopsin) for vision. Using a large comparative approach comprising 100 teleost genomes and transcriptomes from 35 species, we show that the evolutionary history of opsin genes strongly correlates with the light environment fishes inhabit. In particular, while cone opsins thrived and their number expanded in shallow water fishes, many deep-sea fishes have lost (parts of) their cone opsin repertoires and thus, the ability to see colour as we know it. Surprisingly though, we found that four deep-sea fish lineages contain more than three rod opsins within their genomes. Rod opsin expansion occurred via independent gene duplication events and the repeated modification of all but one key spectral tuning site known across vertebrates. At the extreme end of the spectrum, within the Beryciformes, we found a species with a remarkable 38 rod opsins with peak spectral sensitivities (448 nm – 512 nm lmax) that cover the range of bioluminescent light emissions at depth (440 – 520 nm). Moreover, retinal transcriptomes including from two species belonging to a second multi-rod lineage, revealed the use of three or more differently tuned rod opsins in
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected] §Corresponding author: [email protected]
368 these fishes. Hence, a similar solution seems to have evolved multiple times to enable colour vision in the extremely light deprived environment of the deep-sea. Our results challenge the status quo of vertebrate colour vision both in the deep-sea and in general, and highlight the benefit of large comparative studies when investigating trait evolution.
369 A global biogeographic classification of the mesopelagic zone
Tracey Sutton ∗ 1, Malcolm Clark 2, Daniel Dunn 3, Patrick Halpin 3, Alex Rogers 4
1 Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University – Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center 8000 N. Ocean Dr. Dania Beach, FL 33004, United States 2 National Institute of Water Atmospheric Research (NIWA) – 301 Evans Bay Parade, Greta Point, Wellington, New Zealand 3 Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University – 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd, Beaufort, NC 28516, United States 4 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford – Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, United Kingdom
We have developed a global biogeographic classification of the mesopelagic zone to reflect the regional scales over which the ocean interior varies in terms of biodiversity and function. An integrated approach was necessary, as global gaps in information and variable sampling methods preclude strictly statistical approaches. A panel combining expertise in oceanography, geospatial mapping, and deep-sea biology convened to collate expert opinion on the distributional patterns of pelagic fauna relative to environmental proxies (temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen at mesopelagic depths). An iterative Delphi Method integrating additional biological and physical data was used to classify biogeographic ecoregions and to identify the location of ecoregion boundaries or inter-regions gradients. We define 33 global mesopelagic ecoregions. Of these, 20 are oceanic while 13 are ‘distant neritic.’ While each is driven by a complex of controlling factors, the putative primary driver of each ecoregion was identified. While work remains to be done to produce a comprehensive and robust mesopelagic biogeography (i.e., reflecting temporal variation), we believe that the classification set forth in this study will prove to be a useful and timely input to policy planning and management for conservation of deep-pelagic marine resources. In particular, it gives an indication of the spatial scale at which faunal communities are expected to be broadly similar in composition, and hence can inform application of ecosystem- based management approaches, marine spatial planning and the distribution and spacing of networks of representative protected areas.
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370 Distribution, population relationships and genetic diversity of Antimora spp. (Moridae, Gadiformes) in the world’s oceans
Alexei Orlov ∗ 1,2,3,4, Svetlana Orlova 1, Pavel Afanasiev 1, Ilya Gordeev 1,5
1 Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) – Moscow, Russia 2 National Research Tomsk State University (TSU) – Tomsk, Russia 3 A.N.Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IPEE RAS) – Moscow, Russia 4 Dagestan State University (DSU) – Makhachkala, Russia 5 Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) – Moscow, Russia
The genus Antimora (Moridae, Gadiformes) is represented by two species, Pacific flatnose A. microlepis and blue antimora A. rostrata. Both species are widely distributed mainly in deep temperate and cold waters: Pacific flatnose in the North Pacific and blue antimora in the rest part of the world’s oceans. Published data on their distributions are fragmented and scarce. Here we present a new data on distribution of Pacific flatnose within the entire range and that of blue antimora within southern part of species’ range. Previous genetic studies of Antimora spp. are scarce. We analyzed haplotypic composition of 12 samples using mtDNA gene CO1 as a genetic marker: A. rostrata (149 ind.) – Ross, Wedell, Amundsen, Scotia seas, Eastern Australia, Indian Ocean, Southwest Greenland, Flemish Cap; A. microlepis (95 ind.) – Emperor Seamounts, Alaska, British Columbia, Southeast Sakhalin. 93 haplotypes were found in all samples. Maximum diversity was characteristic for A. rostrata in Scotia Sea and Flemish Cap area and for A. microlepis off US and Canada West coast. In blue antimora samples, haplotypes H3 and H4 were most frequent. In Pacific flatnose samples, haplotypes H1, H2 and H13 were most frequently observed. Haplotypes H4 and H13 were com- mon for both species.
Attempt was made to evaluate population relationships based on results of comparative otolith shape analysis using samples of A. rostrata from the Northwestern Atlantic and Antarctic and A. microlepis from the Northwestern Pacific. Statistically significant differences were found in otolith shape between both species as well as between the Northwestern Atlantic and Antarctic A. rostrata samples.
Our results showed significant genetic differences (probably of subspecies level) not revealed previously. The center of A. rostrata origin is the North Atlantic, from where it widely settled in the world’s oceans. The origin of A. microlepis in the North Pacific is probably related to its isolation after Panama Channel closing and change of the system of currents. The increasing of number and length of its gill filaments may be a consequence of adaptation to existence in conditions of oxygen deficiency.
∗Speaker
371 This research was supported by the Russian Fund of Basic Research (grant 16-04-00516).
372 Estimates of divergence times in the two monotypic genera of the family Anoplomatidae based on mitochondrial DNA sequences
Svetlana Orlova ∗ 1, Dmitry Shcepetov 1, Nikolai Mugue 1, Anastasia Teterina 2, Hiroshi Senou 3, Aleksei Baitaliuk 4, Alexei Orlov† 1
1 Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) – 17, V. Krasnoselskaya, Moscow, 107140, Russia 2 A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Sciences (IPEE RAS) – http://www.sevin.ru/menues1/indexeng.html, Russia 3 Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History – 499 Iryuda, Odawara, Kanagawa 250-0031, Japan 4 Pacific Fisheries Research Center (TINRO-Center) – 4, Shevchenko Alley, Vladivostok, 690091, Russia
Here we propose two calibration scenarios of to date contemporary divergence of Anoplopo- matidae (skilfish Erilepis zonifer and sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria) for a dataset of two mtDNA loci (OI and D-loop). The first calibration scenario is based upon the only known fossil Anoplopo- matidae Eoscorpius primaevus dated to be 5-6 Mya old. The second calibration scenario was based on two mayor paleogeological events, Panama Strait closure and Bering Strait opening, with estimated Anoplopomatidae species divergence 3.5 Mya. Estimated evolution speeds in- dicate that COI evolves faster in the skilfish mitochondrial genome. There is also evidence of skilfish going through a bottleneck event limiting its genetic diversity in the relatively recent past, presumably in its sole refugium near Japan. Sablefish had two refugia on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The contemporary haplotype divergence was formed approximately 200-140 thousand years ago during an ice age in the Pliocene. This work was supported by the Russian Fund of Basic Research (grant No. 16-34-01038).
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
373 Functional biodiversity of New Zealand’s marine fishes across depth
Elisabeth Myers ∗ 1, Marti Anderson 1, David Eme 1, Libby Liggins 2, Clive Roberts 3, Euan Harvey 4
1 New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University (NZIAS) – Massey University Auckland (East Precinct) Albany Expressway (SH17) Albany 0632 New Zealand, New Zealand 2 Institute of Natural and Mathematical Science, Massey University (INMS) – Massey University Auckland (East Precinct) Albany Expressway (SH17) Albany 0632 New Zealand, New Zealand 3 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa – 169 Tory Street, Wellington, New Zealand, New Zealand 4 Curtin University – Kent Street, Bentley, Perth Western Australia. 6102, Australia
Changes in the composition of species assemblages have long been studied using taxonomic diversity alone. To better understand and predict ecological processes, ecosystem services and resilience, it is important to also study functional biodiversity. The deep sea is the largest habitat on earth and sustains many important fisheries around the globe. Decreases in light, temper- ature, and trophic resources, along with increases in pressure that occur with greater depth, renders the deep sea one of the most constraining environments for supporting life. However, little is known about how biodiversity, and especially functional biodiversity, changes along the depth gradient. This work aims to fill this gap by assessing how fish traits associated with the structure, locomotion, and feeding, reflect functional adaptations to the extreme environment of the deep sea. Fish community composition and functional trait measurements were obtained from unique stereo-baited remote underwater video (stereo-BRUV) footage of fishes in 7 loca- tions from subtropical to subantarctic New Zealand waters, spanning 21 degrees of latitude. The video footage is drawn from a structured replicated ecological sampling design including 7 depth strata (50m, 100m, 300m, 500m, 700m, 900m, and 1200m), with 149 fish accurately identified to species level. Trait measurements were taken from this stereo-video footage and direct measurements of preserved specimens held in museum collections. These trait measure- ments included several which capture the functional changes predicted to be important across the depth gradient for fishes (i.e. oral gape shape and position, eye size and position, body transversal shape, pectoral fin position, and caudal peduncle throttling). Univariate statisti- cal models suggest that there is a shift in most of the measured functional traits across depth and that the covariance among measured traits changes across depth strata. For example, eye size peaks at intermediate depths of 500-700m, potentially indicating a strategy maximising the paucity of light still present, whereas oral gape shape consistently increases and is largest in the deepest stratum (1200m), suggesting increased specialisation of feeding behaviour. I will present these results and our ongoing analyses exploring trait relationships of New Zealand fishes across the depth gradient using multivariate functional diversity measures.
∗Speaker
374 Intensive sampling of the Gulf of Mexico reveals a global hotspot of meso- and bathypelagic fish biodiversity
April Cook ∗† 1, Tracey Sutton 1, Jon Moore 2
1 Nova Southeastern University (NSU) – 8000 N. Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL 33004, United States 2 Florida Atlantic University (FAU) – 5353 Parkside Drive, Jupiter, FL 33458, United States
The paucity of, and subsequent need for, biological data from the meso- and bathypelagic zones was highlighted after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill originated at 1500 m depth and prior to 2011 there was no inventory of the Gulf of Mexico bathypelagial (> 1000 m depth ) and that of the mesopelagial (200-1000 m) was largely limited to the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Intensive sampling and analysis since that time has revealed an exceptionally speciose oceanic fish assemblage with endemic species. Here, we present results from two large-scale research programs investigating the ichthyofaunal structure and dynamics of the deep-pelagic Gulf of Mexico, from the surface to 1500 m depth. Both a 10-m2 multiple opening/closing net and a large high-speed rope trawl were used to cover the size spectrum of fishes from larvae to adults, with a total of 522 deployments (1,851 trawl samples). The two gear types collected different subsets of the faunal inventory most notably separated by life history stage, behavior, and/or overall rarity. These differences will be explored by comparing species abundance and length frequencies collected by each gear type. To date 794 fish species have been identified, of which180 are new records for the Gulf of Mexico, including one newly described and 20 putative undescribed species. This increases the total fish species number for the Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem by over 10%. Biodiversity measures, rarely quantified in the deep-pelagial, will be discussed. Despite intensive sampling, the species accumulation curve has not reached asymptote; additional species will likely be recorded with additional sampling.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
375 Monophyly and Phylogenetic Relationships of the Family Chiasmodontidae (Teleostei: Scombriformes)
Marcelo Melo ∗ 1
1 Instituto Oceanogr´afico,Universidade de S˜aoPaulo (IO-USP) – Departamento de Oceanografia Biol´ogica,Instituto Oceanogr´afico,Universidade de S˜aoPaulo, Pra¸cado Oceanogr´afico191, S˜ao Paulo-SP, Brazil 05508-120. [email protected], Brazil
Chiasmodontidae is a family of deep-sea fishes widely distributed in the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern oceans, and commonly referred as the swallowers because of its enlarged mouth and the gargantuous voracity. It is composed by four genera and 34 valid species: Chi- asmodon Johnson, with seven species; Dysalotus MacGilchrist, with three species; Kali Lloyd, with seven species; and Pseudoscopelus L´’utken, with 17 species. Despite the recent taxonomic reviews and species descriptions, very little attention has been given to test the monophyly of the family, to establish a hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships within the genera and diagnosis based on derived characters, even though four genera are extremely distinctive. For this work, representatives of 28 species of the four genera were used to obtain a phylogenetic hypothesis based on 161 characters of both internal and external morphology such as dentition, distribution of photophores and neuromasts, myology, osteology, and innervation. The analysis resulted in 12 equally parsimonious trees with 338 steps (CI = 0.704; RI = 0.911). The monophyly of the family was recovered and is supported by 24 synapomorphies. The family Chiasmodontidae is divided into two major clades, including two genera each. Clade 1 includes the mesopelagic species of the genera Chiasmodon and Pseudoscopelus, and agrees with the placement of My- ersiscus as a synonym of Pseudoscopelus. Clade 2 is composed by the bathypelagic species of Dysalotus and Kali and agrees with the placement of Dolichodon, Odontonema, Hemicy- clodon and Gargaropteron as synonyms of Kali. The monophyly of the four genera were well corroborated, with 15 synapomorphies supporting Chiasmodon; 12 synapomorphies supporting Pseudoscopelus; 16 synapomorphies supporting Dysalotus; and 15 synapomorphies supporting Kali.
∗Speaker
376 New records of the distribution of four grenadier fishes of the genus Macrourus (Gadiformes: Macrouridae) in the southeast Atlantic and west Indian Ocean sectors of the Southern Ocean based on genetic and morphological analyses of samples from the toothfish longline fishery
Peter Mcmillan ∗ 1, Ofer Gon 2, Rob Leslie 3, Tshoanelo Miya 4
1 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA) – NIWA, Private Bag 14901, Wellington, 6241, New Zealand, New Zealand 2 South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) – South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa, South Africa 3 Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries – Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, South Africa, South Africa 4 University of KwaZulu-Natal – University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, South Africa
The known distribution of Macrourus caml was extended to the southwest Indian Ocean in the vicinity of Prince Edward Island, the Lena Bank, and southwest of McDonald and Heard Islands. The Macrourus whitsoni specimens examined were all from the southeast Atlantic Ocean at about 69 S, close to the Antarctic continent (off Maud Land), consistent with a previous study which reported the species from 64–77 S. Macrourus holotrachys was recorded from north of Prince Edward Island, and the vicinity of the Lena Bank. The Macrourus carinatus specimens were all from the vicinity of Prince Edward Island, the type locality.
∗Speaker
377 Progress on the taxonomy and systematics of three Indo-Pacific fish genera
Ofer Gon ∗† 1, Makoto Okamoto 2, Robin Leslie 3, Gavin Gouws 1, Daniel Golani 4, Menachem Goren 5,6, Nir Stern 7
1 South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) – Private Bag 1015 Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa, South Africa 2 Marine Fisheries Research and Development Center Fisheries Research Agency (JAMARC) – 15F Queen’s Tower B, 2-3-3 Minatomirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 220-6115, Japan 3 Branch Fisheries, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) – Private Bag X2, Roggebaai 8012, South Africa 4 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior (HUJ) – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel 5 Tel Aviv University [Tel Aviv] – P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel 6 Department of Zoology – Tel Aviv University 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel, Israel 7 Department of Biology, National Institute of Oceanography – Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Tel Shikmona 8030, Haifa 31080, Israel
This presentation reports on research on species of three deeper water genera: 1. A taxonomic review of Epigonus in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is currently under way. Twelve species have been found. The finding of E. pectinifer in the southwest Indian Ocean extends its range to all three major oceans. It can be distinguished from other members of the genus in the WIO in having a slender tooth patch on the posterior part of the tongue. Two new species, from South Africa and Madagascar, have been discovered, both of the Epigonus constanciae species group. One new species differs from all other members of this group in having 4-5 small projections at lower jaw symphysis. The second is distinguished from the rest of its group by the presence of two spines on lower jaw symphysis; it differs from the first new species in having fewer pectoral fin rays and a different scale type.
2. The Catalogue of Fishes lists three valid Macruronus species. Of these M. maderensis and M. capensis have uncertain status. Macruronus capensis was described from a single specimen collected in 1950 in South Africa. Only a few specimens were captured since then, suggesting that this species is not established in South Africa. A comparative study using genetics and morphology found it to be identical to and therefore a junior synonym of M. novaezelandiae. 3. Three species of Champsodon, assumed to be Lessepsian migrants from the Red Sea, have been reported from the Eastern Mediterranean in recent years. Of these, the presence in the Red Sea of only one species has been confirmed. The difficulties in identifying species of this genus are discussed in the context of an ongoing study to resolve these issues using morphology and molecular genetics.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
378 The exceptional visual solution of the pearlsides (Sternoptychidae) to optimize vision in twilight conditions.
Fanny De Busserolles ∗† 1,2, Fabio Cortesi 1, Jon Vidar Helvik 3, Wayne Davies 4, Rachel Templin 1, Robert Sullivan 1, Craig Michell 2, Jessica Mountford 4, Shaun Collin 4, Xabier Irigoien 2,5, Stein Kaartvedt 2,6, Justin Marshall 1
1 Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland – St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia 2 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology – Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia 3 University of Bergen – Bergen 5020, Norway 4 University of Western Australia – Crawley, WA 6009, Australia 5 IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science; Bilbao – Spain 6 University of Oslo – Oslo, 0316, Norway
Most vertebrates have a duplex retina comprising two photoreceptor types, rods for dim- light (scotopic) vision, and cones for bright-light (photopic) and color vision. Deep-sea fishes, however, are only active in dim-light conditions hence, most species have lost their cones in favor of a simplex retina composed exclusively of rods. While pearlsides, Maurolicus spp., appear to possess such a pure rod retina, their behavior is at odd with this simplex visual system. Contrary to other deep-sea fishes, pearlsides are mostly active during dusk and dawn close to the surface, where light levels are intermediate (twilight or mesopic) and require the use of both rods and cone photoreceptors. To explore this paradox, we investigated the visual system of two species of pearlsides, Maurolicus muelleri from the Norwegian fjords and M. mucronatus from the Red Sea. Using a multidisciplinary approach including transcriptomics, in situ hybridization, in vitro regeneration, immunohistochemistry, retinal mapping and microscopy, this study shows that pearlsides have evolved an unconventional visual system to optimize visual performance in twilight conditions. Their previously categorized all-rod retina is in fact composed almost exclusively of transmuted cone photoreceptors. In other words, the pearlside does not possess the usual rods and/or cones, like most animals, but instead possess a third and more efficient type of photoreceptor that combines properties of both rods and cones. In more details, these transmuted cells combine the morphological characteristics of a rod photoreceptor with a cone opsin and a cone phototransduction cascade to form a unique photoreceptor type, a rod-like cone, specifically tuned to the light conditions of the pearlsides’ habitat (blue-shifted light at mesopic intensities). Combining properties of both rods and cones into a single cell type instead of possessing two photoreceptor types that do not function at their full potential under mesopic conditions, is the most efficient and economical solution to optimize visual performance in these conditions. This is the first report of photoreceptor transmutation mediating a cone-opsin-based visual system in teleost fishes. These results challenge the standing paradigm of the vertebrate
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
379 duplex retina and its evolution, and call for more comprehensive evaluations of visual systems in general.
380 F1/ Causes and consequences of change for macroalgae-associated fishes
381 Algal herbivory dynamics of fish across habitats in a shallow tropical seascape
Maria Eggertsen ∗ 1, Dinorah Chacin 2, Carolina ˚akerlund 1, Christina Halling 1, Amelia Buriyo 3, Charlotte Berkstr¨om 1,4,5
1 Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences (DEEP) – Stockholm University SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden 2 College of Marine Science, University of South Florida – 140 7th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701, United States 3 Botany Department, University of Dar es Salaam – University of Dar es Salaam P.O. BOX 35060, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Tanzania 4 Stockholm University (SU) – Stockholm University SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden 5 Department of Aquatic Resources, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences – Skolgatan 6, SE-742 42 OREGRUND,¨ Sweden
Consumer-producer dynamics are important forces in the marine environment, shaping ecosystems by structuring benthic communities and transferring energy to higher trophic levels. Within the tropical seascape, herbivorous fish are among the most important consumers, forming a heterogeneous community which is functionally diverse and often species-specific. Among the producers, algal communities play a prominent and highly dynamic role as different functional groups and species of algae sustain different species or life stages of consumers/herbivorous fish. Grazing pressure distribution across the shallow seascape and the responsible factors for ob- served patterns are complex processes which have mainly been studied in coral reef habitats in East Africa. Therefore, we adopt an across-habitat view and investigate grazing pressure on algal resources in three common habitats; coral reefs, seagrass- and macroalgal beds, by different functional groups of fish. Grazing pressure was investigated by 1) video-recorded experiments with tethered macroalgae, 2) recording of bite rates and feeding choice, and 3) inventories of feeding scars by excavating/scraping parrotfish. Herbivore surveys were performed in all three shallow-water habitats and fish communities were documented by underwater visual census (UVC). Herbivorous fish communities differed among habitats, and herbivores from all func- tional groups (browsers, grazers, scrapers, excavators) were generally most abundant on coral reefs. Macroalgal consumption was density-dependent, and grazing intensity (bites minute -1) was highest on coral reefs. Also, food choice was strongly dependent on available resources. Several herbivorous species within the same functional group was observed to consume algae, suggesting a high redundancy within reef habitats. Results illustrate how dynamic ecological processes can be, even over smaller scales (1-10 km) and the importance of including habitat, functional groups, and densities of both consumers and producers to better understand herbivory patterns in tropical seascapes.
∗Speaker
382 Edge effects on seaweed- and seagrass browsing within a tropical seascape
Charlotte Berkstr¨om ∗ 1,2, Carolina ˚akerlund 1, Maria Eggertsen 1, Dinorah Chacin 3, Amelia Buriyo 4, Christina Halling 1
1 Dept. of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University (DEEP) – Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden 2 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) – Department of Aquatic Resources Skolgatan 6 SE-742 42 OREGRUND¨ SWEDEN, Sweden 3 College of Marine Science [St Petersburg, FL] – University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA, United States 4 Botany Department, University of Dar es Salaam – University Road, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
With increasing anthropogenic pressure from eutrophication, dredging and CO2-emission, coastal ecosystems are subjected to habitat loss and fragmentation. Hence the understanding of seascape- and patch dynamics are urging. Previous studies have focused on how seascape at- tributes and edge effects influence species abundance and richness in seagrass meadows, and how species are distributed within and between patches. However, research on the effects of seascape variables and edge on seaweed patches is lacking. Furthermore, the effect of patch edges on important ecological functions such as herbivory and predation are non-existent. In the present study we therefore investigated browsing by fishes along edges and the interior parts of seaweed- and seagrass patches through a combination of tethering experiments, browsing estimations and visual census in Mafia Island, Tanzania. Biomass loss of tethered Sargassum aquifolium was higher in the centre of seaweed patches than along edges, although no differences were found in seagrass areas. On the contrary, there were higher number of bites on Thalassodendron ciliatum shoots along seagrass patch edges compared to the interior parts. The abundance and diversity of browsing herbivores was higher in seagrass patches than seaweed patches, although there was no difference between the interior and edge of patches in either habitat. Macrophyte cover (%) was significantly higher in the middle than along the edges of seaweed areas. However, there were no differences in mean canopy height. The opposite pattern was found in seagrass patches where there were no differences in shoot density between interior and edge of seagrass beds but shoots in the middle were significantly higher than shoots at the edges of seagrass patches. Our results suggest that both habitat type and seascape characteristics like patch edges can influ- ence important ecological functions such as herbivory. This information is crucial for proper management, especially with the alarming increase of habitat loss and fragmentation in shallow coastal areas worldwide.
∗Speaker
383 From food web to biotic interactions: positive effects of reef fishes in kelp habitats
Alejandro Perez Matus ∗ 1
1 Subtidal Ecology Laboratory and Marine Conservation Center, Estaci´onCostera de Investigaciones Marinas, Pontificia Universidad Cat´olicade Chile, Santiago, Chile – Alameda 340, Santiago de Chile, Chile
Understanding the processes that drive kelp forest communities is critical for management and conservation of these productive ecosystems. In temperate regions kelp provide important services (e.g, habitat, food) to a conspicuous number of species, including reef fishes. Mecha- nisms of how links between kelp and the associated reef fishes are structured are not yet fully understood and this becomes increasingly important, as most species are experiencing loss due to human influence and/or environmental disturbances. Here I present several lines of research, from meta-analysis, dietary reviews to field and laboratory experiments that reveals the impor- tance of reef fishes in kelp forest and rocky shore communities. The meta-analysis identified that kelps enhance species abundances and facilitate reef fishes sitting at high trophic levels. Moreover, the food web topological structure and modularity is represented by numerous reef fish associated species in which its absence (due to intense fishing) may destabilize the entire food web structure. The field-and lab based experiments demonstrate the importance of ma- rine protected areas for reef fish biomass and trophic fish diversity and the experimental work evidenced several positive links between the reef fishes and kelp species by a) trophic-and non- trophic control of major kelp grazers, b) provide nutrients that enhance kelp growth, and c) are important dispersal agents of kelp zoospores. Our results show that losses of reef fishes or kelps have their strongest effects via changes in the biotic interactions within the community. These shifts can have major consequences for the functioning of rocky reef ecosystems.
∗Speaker
384 Juvenile fish resources and nursery function of macroalgal beds in Hong Kong waters – a habitat-based study
Priscilla To-Yan Leung ∗† 1,2, Min Liu 3, Tak-Cheung Wai 1,2, Zoe Ho 1, Maggie Au 1, Chary Jia-Rui Gu 2, Meng Yan 1,2, Paul Kwan-Sing Lam‡ 1,2,4
1 State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong – Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China 2 Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute – Shenzhen, China, China 3 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Science, Xiamen University – Fujian, China, China 4 Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong – Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China
Understanding the juvenile fish habitats, their contributions to adult recruits, and identifying nursery hot spots are fundamental to management and conservation of marine resources. Littoral vegetated habitats, such as macroalgal bed, seagrass bed and mangrove mudflat are generally believed as important nurseries. In Hong Kong, the complex and biologically diverse coastline supports the existence of these habitats. In particular, the Sargassum beds are signature seasonal algal habitat found along the exposed and semi-exposed shores of Hong Kong, mainly at eastern and southern waters. However, little is known about the association of this macroalgal habitat with local juvenile fish resources. Therefore, we aimed to study the species diversity, abundance, the spatial, vegetation-seasonal and habitat- patterns of the assemblages of juvenile fishes that associated with the local Sargassum habitat; and to identify potential biodiversity hot spots for focused conservation and management. Forty-two study sites have been surveyed, covering the littoral areas in the north-eastern, eastern and southern waters of Hong Kong. Samplings were performed using purse seining complemented with cage trapping, and were conducted seasonally during the off season of Sargassum bed (non-peak season i.e., July to October 2016) and during the Sargassum growing season (peak season i.e., January to May 2017). DNA barcoding analysis using COI gene was employed to identify species from early juvenile stage. Our current results showed that at least 169 species (47 families) of juvenile fish were collected from the littoral habitats. The overall species number, abundance and biomass were higher in the peak season. Furthermore, the highest mean number of species (per site and per sampling) was reported in Sargassum bed, followed by rocky reef and mangrove mudflat. In terms of mean biomass and abundance, records from Sargassum bed and rocky reef were comparable, and were higher than those reported in mangrove mudflat. Upon the project completion, we anticipate to further
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: priscilla ty [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
385 demonstrate the seasonal, spatial and habitat-based pattern and to evaluate the role of the Sargassum habitat as an important nursery ground for juvenile fishes in Hong Kong.
386 Living on the edge - grazing activity along macrophyte patches
Carolina ˚akerlund ∗ 1, Maria Eggertsen 1, Dinorah Chacin 2, Amelia Buriyo 3, Christina Halling 1, Charlotte Berkstr¨om 1,4
1 Dept. of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University (DEEP) – Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden 2 College of Marine Science [St Petersburg, FL] – University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA, United States 3 Botany Department, University of Dar es Salaam – University Road, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 4 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) – Department of Aquatic Resources Skolgatan 6 SE-742 42 OREGRUND¨ SWEDEN, Sweden
Distribution of species within the seascape is not random, but rather a function of different seascape attributes. Such seascape characteristics include proximity to adjacent habitats, patch size and within-patch location. Habitat edges alter physical conditions, resource distribution, and interactions between species, and are known to influence species diversity, abundance and distribution in terrestrial systems. However, little is known about the effects of habitat edges in aquatic systems, particularly in macrophyte habitats such as seaweed- and seagrass beds. In this study, we therefore examine the effect of patch edges on the grazing activity of two common herbivorous fish species, Ctenochaetus striatus and Scarus ghobban in Mafia Island, Tanzania. Behavioural observations were conducted on 12-15 fish of each species in interior and edges of patches in 6 sites (3 seaweed and 3 seagrass) resulting in a total of 312 fish observations. Fish abundances and habitat characteristics such as % habitat cover, macrophyte height and shoot density were estimated by visual census. Results showed higher individual feeding rates (bites minute -1) in seagrass compared to seaweed areas. Also, bite rates for both C. striatus and S. ghobban were higher along patch edges compared to interior parts. In addition, abundances of the two studied herbivores were higher along edges than in the centre of patches and a higher number of larger individuals were feeding along the edges compared to the interior of patches. The results suggest that grazing by herbivorous fish is a heterogeneous process, not only affected by habitat type, but also by characteristics of the habitat and that patch edges appear to play a critical role in determining rates of herbivory in tropical seascapes.
∗Speaker
387 Macroalgae habitat complexity underpins tropical fish biodiversity, replenishment and productivity
Christopher Fulton ∗† 1, Charlotte Berkstr¨om 2, Shaun Wilson 3
1 The Australian National University – Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT, Australia 2 Stockholm University – Department of Ecology, Environment Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 3 Department of Parks Wildlife WA – Marine Science Program, Department of Parks Wildlife, Kensington WA, Australia
Macroalgae have been cast in a negative light in tropical ecosystems, where they can pose a threat to coral reef biodiversity. However, canopy-forming macroalgae can provide a high complexity habitat for a diverse and productive fish fauna that complement and connect with adjacent tropical habitats such as coral reefs and seagrass beds. We collate evidence from across the Indo-Pacific to examine the structure and function of tropical macroalgae-associated fish communities, the potential for macroalgae to provide fish nursery habitats, and the consequences of macroalgae canopy habitat loss for tropical fish and fisheries. In identifying a number of local and global threats, we highlight priorities for future research that will support the conservation and management of these macroalgae-associated communities as key components of tropical ecosystems.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
388 Macroalgal identity drives rates of herbivory and the structure of fish assemblages within a tropical East African seascape
Dinorah Chacin ∗† 1, Christopher Stallings 2, Maria Eggertsen 3, Carolina ˚akerlund 3, Yessenia Rojas 3, Christina Halling 3, Charlotte Berkstr¨om 3
1 University of South Florida (USF) – 830 1st St SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, United States 2 University of South Florida (USF) – 830 1st St SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, United States 3 Stockholm University (SU) – SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Algal beds can enhance productivity and provide habitat to numerous organisms. The presence of algae may play important roles within seascapes, but anthropogenic activities may disrupt their natural functional roles. For example, seascapes could be altered due to introduc- tions of non-native algae, which can become invasive, grow faster or be less palatable compared to native algae, resulting in changes in the rates of herbivory and structure of fish assemblages. Furthermore, it remains unclear how herbivory and fish assemblages can vary between native and introduced algae within the tropical seascape. To address this paucity, we conducted a fully orthogonal field experiment in Mafia Island, Tanzania. Specifically, we measured the rates of herbivory on both native Sargassum spp. and non-native Eucheuma denticulatum in natural macroalgal beds/areas and open-water macroalgal farms of E. denticulatum and at different distances from each habitat. Preliminary results indicate Sargassum spp. was grazed more than E. denticulatum in both native and farmed algal habitats. Furthermore, both species were con- sumed at higher rates in farmed habitats. At each experimental site, we also conducted visual surveys to quantify fish assemblages in each habitat. Abundance of fishes was similar among macroalgal habitats and species richness was higher in native algal habitats. However, herbivory and fish assemblage patterns were not consistent across distances from the habitats. Results highlight the importance of macroalgal identity in playing a role in ecological processes such as herbivory in tropical seascapes.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
389 Spatially varying influence of canopy height on the functional role of seaweed and seagrass beds as nursery habitats
Linda Eggertsen ∗ 1,2
1 Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Science, Stockholm University (DEEP, Stockholm University) – Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden, Sweden 2 Reef Systems Ecology and Conservation Lab, University Federal Fluminense (LECAR) – Niter´oi24020141,Brazil, Brazil
Structurally complex habitats in coastal shallow waters serve as nurseries for several species of reef fish, some of which move to different habitats as adults, contributing to nutrient and energy transfer between habitats. Seaweed and seagrass beds constitute important nursery habitats, but few studies have examined them together to assess the common habitat charac- teristics that structure associated fish assemblages along seascape gradients. In doing so, we aim to identify key habitat variables for juvenile fish communities between two different habitat types with similar ecological function. The importance of within-patch and seascape variables for structuring fish assemblages in seaweed and seagrass beds from two different biogeographical domains are discussed. In the southwest Atlantic, fish assemblages were surveyed in shallow seascape along coastal reef areas, in Halodule wrightii seagrass and Sargassum-dominated beds. Seagrass beds contained low abundance and species richness of fish, while seaweed beds con- tained significantly more juveniles than seagrass and reef habitats, including several species that are found in reef habitats as adults. Short-canopy seagrass beds were located very close to reefs in the southwest Atlantic, potentially resulting in reduced quality as refuge from predation. In both regions, seaweed canopy height was one of the most important variables explaining juvenile fish abundances, a pattern not always observed in seagrass beds. These differences might be ex- plained by the importance of canopy height being relative and dependent on the location within the seascape. We suggest that a taller canopy closer to reefs and on reefs, where predation usu- ally is high, provides potentially better shelter when compared to macrophyte beds away from reefs. Anthropogenic stressors and climate change could impact canopy height by trampling, anchoring, changed water quality and upwelling patterns, affecting the ecological function of macrophyte beds. Our work suggests that the extent of that influence could vary with distance to reefs. This may be of critical importance to juvenile reef fish in seaweed beds, especially in locations where alternative complex shallow water habitats are rare or absent.
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390 Structural connectivity and local habitat quality shape fish community structure across a patchy tropical seascape
Joshua Van Lier ∗† 1, Shaun Wilson 2,3, Lucy Wenger 1, Martial Depczynski 4, Christopher Fulton 1
1 The Australian National University – Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT, Australia 2 Department of Parks Wildlife WA – Marine Science Program, Department of Parks Wildlife, Kensington WA, Australia 3 Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia (UWA) – Crawley, WA, Australia 4 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Perth) – Australian Institute of Marine Science The UWA Oceans Institute (M096) 35 Stirling Hwy Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia, Australia
Multi-scale approaches are necessary to detect the multiple processes that shape patterns of community structure across dynamic seascapes. Recent work on coral reefs and seagrass beds have found that seascape-scale (e.g., connectivity to other habitats), patch-scale (e.g., patch size) and local-scale (e.g., habitat condition) variables may all combine to influence fish community structure. Using observational and manipulative approaches, we explore how fish communities associated with tropical seaweed-dominated meadows may vary according to local habitat condition (microhabitat structure) and seascape context within the World Heritage Ningaloo Marine Park. Best-subsets model selection revealed both seascape position relative to other patch habitats, and local-scale habitat quality were key predictors of fish community structure in taxonomic, ontogenetic and functional terms. Despite the paradigm established in Insular Biogeography Theory, we did not find patch size to be important; rather, local habitat conditions of soft and hard complexity may be the key factors in shaping patterns of alpha diversity and functional composition in these seaweed-associated tropical fish communities. Our results suggest that spatial management and conservation approaches could be effective for sustaining a regional pool of seaweed-associated fish diversity by taking into account the key metrics of local habitat quality and position when deciding on size and placement of zones in a given area of concern.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
391 The best of a bad situation: invasive kelp acts as partial functional replacement for native kelp for fishes on degraded urban reefs
Luke Barrett ∗ 1, Steve Swearer 1, Tim Dempster 1
1 School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne (UniMelb) – Parkville Campus Victoria, Australia 3010, Australia
The impacts of environmental change on animal populations depend on how individuals respond to novel or degraded habitats, with those that make adaptive habitat selection choices able to maximise their fitness in altered landscapes. In Port Phillip Bay, a large temperate embayment in southern Australia, urban impacts and urchin grazing on rocky reefs have driven a decline in the native kelp Ecklonia radiata. The invasive kelp Undaria pinnatifida has taken advantage of this vacant niche, and now provides a seasonal canopy on otherwise barren reefs. We assessed the value of this new habitat for endemic macroalgae-associated fishes by combin- ing laboratory habitat choice experiments, field surveys and proxy fitness metrics. In captivity, clinids (Heteroclinus perspicillatus) and labrids (Neoodax balteatus) preferred Undaria to barren habitat, and did not distinguish between Undaria and Ecklonia. Similarly, surveys of barren reefs with and without seasonal Undaria growth revealed significantly higher fish species richness and total abundance in Undaria habitats (albeit lower than in remnant Ecklonia beds). Clinids and labrids were absent from barren sites without Undaria growth. We resurveyed a subset of sites outside the Undaria growing season, and found that fish communities had converged in the absence of Undaria. Proxy fitness metrics (stomach contents, body condition index, hepatoso- matic index, gonadosomatic index, and fecundity) in macroalgae-associated fish collected from Undaria and Ecklonia patches did not differ significantly. Together, our findings indicate that Undaria is likely to function as a partial replacement for lost native kelps on degraded reefs.
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392 The importance of tropical seaweed beds as fish habitats in the Western Indian Ocean
Stina Tano ∗ 1, Maria Eggertsen 1, Sofia Wikstr¨om 1, Charlotte Berkstr¨om 1, Amelia Buriyo 2, Christina Halling 1
1 Stockholm University (SU) – Stockholm University SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden 2 University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) – P.O. Box 35091 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Vegetated habitats in the tropical seascape are commonly recognised to act as foraging grounds and nurseries for a number of fishes. While seaweed beds are common in many tropical areas, their ecological importance is poorly understood, especially in comparison to other vege- tated habitats. In East Africa seagrasses and mangroves are known to be important nurseries and foraging grounds for a number of fish species, while the ecological function of seaweed beds as fish habitat previously remained unexamined. Although long term data on seaweed beds is scarce in the region, there are indications that ecological changes are occurring within seaweed beds in Tanzania, and that seaweed assemblages have decreased over the last decades, which illustrates the urgency of investigating the ecological functions of seaweed beds in East Africa. We investigated the role of East African seaweed beds as fish habitat, by comparing the fish and invertebrate assemblages with that of nearby seagrass meadows. Visual census belt transects were used to assess fish assemblages in seaweed beds and seagrass meadows, and quantitative samples of vegetation were used to establish the epifaunal assemblages. The results showed that the abundance of juvenile fishes was higher in seaweed beds than in sea- grass meadows, also when looking specifically at juvenile coral reef fish and juveniles of species important to fisheries. The abundance of other age classes and the total abundance of fish was similar between habitats. Further, the abundance and biomass of mobile epifauna were higher in seaweed beds, as was the abundance of invertivorous fishes. These results indicate that seaweed beds act as important juvenile habitats and feeding grounds for several fish species in the West- ern Indian Ocean. The high abundance of juveniles of importance to fisheries and juvenile coral reef fish particularly indicate the importance of seaweed beds for local fisheries as well as the recruitment of coral reef fish. These results, combined with the indications that seaweed beds are undergoing changes in composition and distribution, highlights the need to further study the ecological role of seaweed beds as well as the potential reasons for the ongoing changes in seaweed abundance and distribution.
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393 The influence of ENSO and seaweed habitat on patterns of fish recruitment
Shaun Wilson ∗ 1, Martial Depczynski 2, Thomas Holmes 1, Mae Noble 3, Ben Radford 2, Paul Tinkler 4, Christopher Fulton 3
1 Department of Parks Wildlife – Western Australia, Australia 2 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) – Crawley WA, Australia 3 Australian National University (ANU) – Canberra, ACT, Australia 4 Deakin University – Warrnambool, Vic, Australia
Tropical macroalgal fields are increasingly recognised as important nurseries for many fish, including the tropical emperors (Lethrinus spp), which are often targeted by fishers. There is however, considerable spatial and seasonal variation in the structure of macroalgal fields that may affect their suitability as fish nurseries. Moreover, the annual supply of recruits is highly variable and may be influenced by climate driven oceanic currents. We found that the annual supply of lethrind recruits (< 5cm) was positively correlated with variation in the Southern Oscillation Index (r2 =0.9), La Ni˜naconditions associated with higher recruitment. Local rates of recruitment were however poor predictors of older juvenile abundance (5-15cm), which were more closely associated with structural characteristics of macroalgae (density, canopy height, canopy cover) and/or predator biomass. Large scale climate and oceanic processes therefore have a strong influence on the supply of lethrinid recruits, however distribution and persistence of juveniles is more closely related to the structure of local macroalgal patches.
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394 F2/ Climate change and high CO2 effects on fishes: Moving from individual to community level effects
395 A trade-off between behavioral and physiological performance could limit adaptation to the combined effects of warming and ocean acidification in a reef fish
Taryn Laubenstein ∗ 1, Jodie Rummer 1, Mark Mccormick 2, Philip Munday 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville City, QLD, 4814, Australia
While many studies have examined the effects that warming and ocean acidification could have on phenotypic traits of marine organism at the population level, few have considered re- lationships that could exist between traits at the individual level. In particular, a negative relationship between the performances of different phenotypic traits could weaken selection on either one of them, thereby limiting a population’s ability to adapt to climate change. Further- more, the nature of the relationship between different phenotypic traits may differ when multiple stressors are present, further complicating efforts to predict the impacts of climate change and the potential for adaptation. Elevated temperature and carbon dioxide levels projected for the end of the century have been shown to have variable, but often negative effects on reef fish behavior and physiology. Yet, whether there is a trade-off between behavioral and physiolog- ical performance in either warmer or more acidic conditions is unknown. Here, we tested the relationship between behavioral and physiological responses of juvenile damselfish to elevated temperature and carbon dioxide in a full factorial design. The behavioral trait was response to chemical alarm cue and the physiological trait was aerobic scope. Behavioral response to chemical alarm cue was negatively affected by elevated carbon dioxide, but not temperature. Conversely, aerobic scope was significantly diminished by elevated temperature, but not carbon dioxide. There was no relationship between the behavioral and physiological traits in the control and single-stressor treatments. However, there was a statistically significant negative relation- ship between the traits in the combined elevated temperature and CO2 treatment. Our results show that trade-offs in performance between behavioral and physiological traits may only be ev- ident when multiple climate change stressors are considered. This trade-off between behavioral and physiological performance could impede selection for improved performance of either trait in future climate change conditions.
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396 An interplay between plasticity, epigenetics, and parental phenotype determines impacts of ocean acidification on a reef fish
Celia Schunter ∗ 1, Megan Welch ∗
2, G¨oranNilsson ∗
3, Jodie Rummer ∗
4, Philip Munday ∗
4, Timothy Ravasi ∗
1
1 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology ( – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Ibn Al Haytham Bldg., Room 4216-WS12 Thuwal, 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, Australia 3 University of Oslo – Section for Physiology and Cell Biology, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo NO-0316, Norway, Norway 4 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, Australia
The impacts of ocean acidification will depend on the ability of marine organisms to tolerate, acclimate, and eventually adapt to changes in ocean chemistry. Here we use a unique transgener- ational experiment to determine the molecular response of a coral reef fish to short-term, devel- opmental, and transgenerational exposure to elevated CO2 and to test how these responses may be influenced by variations in tolerance to elevated CO2 exhibited by the parental phenotype. Within-generational responses in gene expression to end of century predicted CO2 levels indicate that a self-amplifying circle in GABAergic neurotransmission is triggered, explaining previously reported neurological and behavioural impairments. Furthermore, epigenetic regulator genes ex- hibited a within-generation specific response with some divergence due to parental phenotype. Importantly, we find a recovery pattern for the majority of within-generation responses following exposure of parents to high CO2 conditions. Our result show that both parental variation in
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397 tolerance and cross-generation exposure to elevated CO2 are crucial factors in determining the response of reef fish to changing ocean chemistry.
398 Anxious about ocean acidification? Elevated carbon dioxide produces varied responses on fish anxiety-like behaviour in different species
Trevor Hamilton ∗ 1, Martin Tresguerres 2, Colin Brauner 3, David Kline 2, Garfield Kwan 2, Michelle Ou 4
1 MacEwan University – 10700-104 Ave NW Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 2 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD – La Jolla, California, United States 3 University of British Columbia – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 4 University of British Columbia – Vancouver, Canada
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are on the rise and may double within the next cen- tury. These increased CO2 levels on the sea surface and below can decrease pH and cause ocean acidification. A similar process can also occur in freshwater systems, and therefore, aquatic acid- ification has the potential to impact all fish populations on the planet. To date, many studies have shown a CO2-induced change in a variety of behaviours including an impairment of olfac- tory ability, learning, lateralization, and predator detection and some of these have been tied to alteration of neuronal GABA-A receptor functioning. Since activity of the GABAA receptor is related to anxiety-like behaviour in many organisms, including fish, we have tested the impact of elevated CO2 on different fish species using a variety of tests. Rockfish (Stegastes diploproa) show increased anxiety with a light/dark test, whereas juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in freshwater show decreased anxiety with a novel approach test. Californian black- smiths (Chromis punctipinnis) and Caribbean bicolor damselfish (Stegastes partitus) further complicate matters, showing no change in anxiety-like behaviour with the light/dark test (and group shoaling in blacksmiths) after elevated CO2 exposure.
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399 Are all tropical fishes that occur in Japanese temperate reefs tropical vagrants?
Yohei Nakamura ∗† 1, Kento Tose 1
1 Kochi University – 200 Monobe, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan
Most tropical fishes have a pelagic larval stage that allows for a passive transport and settle- ment of larvae to areas well outside the breeding range of adult populations. Majority of tropical fishes occurring in the temperate reefs of Japan are believed to have been transported, during their pelagic larval stage, from southern subtropical regions (e.g., the Ryukyu Islands) by the Kuroshio Current and subsequently die during winter. These types of fishes are often termed as ”tropical vagrants.” However, recent field studies have suggested that more tropical/subtropical species have adapted and established breeding adult populations in the temperate reefs of west- ern Japan than were previously known. The present study aims to examine the current status of the occurrence and reproduction of tropical fishes in ocean warming hotspots of the temperate reefs in Japan (two sites in Kochi and one in Wakayama, 33◦N) where the water tempera- ture during winter has rapidly increased approximately 1.0◦C since the 1980s. We investigated the relative abundance, seasonal size distribution, and presence/absence of breeding activity of tropical pomacentrid and apogonid fishes in three temperate reefs of Japan by combining data from a 2-year underwater visual survey and published information. Water temperature season- ally varied at each site, ranging from 15◦C –16◦C to 28.5◦C. We confirmed the occurrence of 52 pomacentrid and 34 apogonid species, and breeding activity was confirmed for 19 and 16 species, respectively. The richness and abundance of species confirmed for breeding activity were higher at the warmer site that was adjacent to the Kuroshio Current. Some species that exhibited breeding activity were widespread tropical fishes (e.g., Amphiprion clarkii, Pomacen- trus coelestis, and Apogon notatus) and probably established breeding populations irrespective of the recent global warming. Sea water temperature during winter around the study sites will continue to rise, increasing by > 2◦C by the end of the century; therefore, our results are highly relevant and represent the first step in elucidating the potential range extension of tropical fishes into the temperate reefs in response to climate change.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
400 Boosted food web productivity through ocean acidification collapses under warming
Silvan Goldenberg ∗ 1, Ivan Nagelkerken 1, Camilo Ferreira 1, Hadayet Ullah 1, Sean Connell 1
1 University of Adelaide – Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia, Australia
Future climate is forecast to drive bottom-up (resource driven) and top-down (consumer driven) change to food web dynamics and community structure. Yet, our predictive under- standing of these changes is hampered by an over-reliance on simplified laboratory systems centred on single trophic levels. Using a large mesocosm experiment, we reveal how future ocean acidification and warming modify trophic linkages across a three-level food web: that is, primary (algae), secondary (herbivorous invertebrates) and tertiary (predatory fish) producers. Both elevated CO2 and elevated temperature boosted primary production. Under elevated CO2, the enhanced bottom-up forcing propagated through all trophic levels. Elevated temperature, however, negated the benefits of elevated CO2 by stalling secondary production. This imbalance caused secondary producer populations to decline as elevated temperature drove predators to consume their prey more rapidly in the face of higher metabolic demand. Our findings demon- strate how anthropogenic CO2 can function as a resource that boosts productivity throughout food webs, and how warming can reverse this effect by acting as a stressor to trophic interac- tions. Understanding the shifting balance between the propagation of resource enrichment and its consumption across trophic levels provides a predictive understanding of future dynamics of stability and collapse in food webs and fisheries production.
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401 Boundary current drives synchronous growth of marine fishes across tropical and temperate latitudes
Joyce Ong ∗ 1,2,3, Adam Rountrey 4, Bryan Black 5, Hoang Minh Nguyen 5, Peter Coulson 6, Stephen Newman 7, Corey Wakefield 7, Jessica Meeuwig 1, Mark Meekan 3
1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia – 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia 2 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University – 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA, United States 3 Australian Institute of Marine Science – Australian Institute of Marine Science The UWA Oceans Institute (M096) 35 Stirling Hwy Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia, Australia 4 Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan – 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079, USA, United States 5 Marine Science Institute, University of Texas – 750 Channel View Dr Port Aransas, TX 78373, United States 6 Centre for Fish Fisheries Research, Murdoch University (CFFR) – Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research School of Biological Sciences Murdoch University Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia 7 Western Australia Department of Fisheries – North Beach, Western Australia, Australia
Entrainment of growth patterns of multiple species to single climatic drivers can lower ecosys- tem resilience and increase the risk of species extinction during stressful climatic events. How- ever, predictions of the effects of climate change on the productivity and dynamics of marine fishes are hampered by a lack of historical data on growth patterns. We use otolith biochronolo- gies to show that the strength of a boundary current, modulated by the El Ni˜no-Southern Oscillation, accounted for almost half of the shared variance in annual growth patterns of five of six species of tropical and temperate marine fishes across 23◦ of latitude (3000 km) in Western Australia. Stronger flow during La Ni˜nayears drove increased growth of five species, whereas weaker flow during El Ni˜noyears reduced growth. Our work is the first to link the growth pat- terns of multiple fishes with a single oceanographic/climate phenomenon at large spatial scales and across multiple climate zones, habitat types, trophic levels and depth ranges. Extreme La Ni˜naand El Ni˜noevents are predicted to occur more frequently in the future and these are likely to have implications for these vulnerable ecosystems, such as a limited capacity of the marine taxa to recover from stressful climatic events.
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402 CO2-induced freshwater and seawater acidification affects early growth, metabolism, olfaction and behavior in juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha).
Colin Brauner ∗ 1, Michelle Ou 1, Trevor Hamilton 2
1 University of British Columbia (UBC) – Department of Zoology, 6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4, Canada 2 MacEwan University – Department of Psychology, 6-366, City Centre Campus 10700 - 104 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5J 4S2, Canada
Ocean acidification due to elevated atmospheric CO2 levels has been shown to negatively affect many marine species and is predicted to cause widespread changes to marine ecosystems. Elevations in atmospheric CO2 will also induce acidification of freshwater which has received far less attention but could have significant impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater fish represent 40% of all fishes and salmon, which rear and spawn in freshwater, are of immense ecosystem, economical and cultural importance. In this study, we investigate the effects of CO2- induced aquatic acidification throughout freshwater development and following early seawater entry in developing pink salmon, the most abundant species of Pacific salmon. Projected future increases in CO2 level resulted in a significant dose dependent reduction in growth, yolk to tissue conversion efficiency, and maximal metabolic rate and resulted in significant alterations in olfactory responses, behavior and anxiety at a critical and sensitive life-stage; the time they would be leaving freshwater and entering seawater for their extended marine migration.
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403 Climate change drives marine food web collapse through altered trophic flows and cyanobacterial proliferation
Hadayet Ullah ∗† 1, Ivan Nagelkerken 1, Silvan Goldenberg 1, Damien Fordham 2
1 Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide – SA 5005, Australia 2 The Environment Institute School of Biological Sciences The University of Adelaide – SA 5005, Australia
Global warming and ocean acidification are forecast to exert significant impacts on marine ecosystems worldwide. However, most of these projections are based on ecological proxies or simple experiments on single-species or lower food web levels. How energy fluxes are likely to change in marine food webs in response to future climates remains unclear, hampering forecasts of ecosystem functioning. Using a sophisticated mesocosm experiment, we model energy flows through a species-rich multi-level food web, with live habitats, natural abiotic variability. We show that the combined stress of acidification and warming reduced energy flows from the first trophic level (primary producers and detritus) to the second (herbivores) and from the second to the third trophic level (carnivores). Warming in isolation also reduced the energy flow from herbivores to carnivores, the efficiency of energy transfer from primary producers and detritus to herbivores and detritivores and the living biomass of detritivores, herbivores and carnivores. Whilst warming and acidification jointly boosted primary producer biomass through an expansion of cyanobacteria; this biomass was converted to detritus rather than to biomass at higher trophic levels - that is, production was constrained to the base of the food web. In contrast, ocean acidification affected the food web positively by enhancing trophic flow from detritus and primary producers to herbivores, and by increasing biomass of carnivores. Our results show how climate change can enable food web collapse through a shift to more detritus- based systems, potentially exacerbating the occurrence of hypoxic zones and marine ecosystems with reduced diversity and productivity.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
404 Contribution of nuclear applications to better understand the effects of climate change and high CO2 on fishes
Marc Metian ∗ 1, Simon Pouil 1, Fran¸coisOberh¨ansli 1, David Lecchini 2, Peter Swarzenski 1
1 International Atomic Energy Agency – Environment Laboratories (IAEA) – 4a Quai Antoine Ier - 98000, Monaco 2 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
It has been predicted that fishes will increasingly face more local to global threats, such as chemical pollution, ocean acidification and temperature increase. Research investigating the effects of these stressors on fishes has been primarily focused on single stressors. There is a trend nowadays to broaden the scope from simple experiments to more complex studies; this is particularly true for global stressors (climate-driven changes) since there are many complex biogeochemical interactions that have to be better resolved and still many uncertainties of their synergistic effects. Although it is not always easy to do so, microcosms still have an important role to play in advancing this research: experimental studies can guide models, facilitating interpretations of mesocosm approaches and field studies. An experimental approach (i.e., controlled aquaria) presents unique advantages for such investigation, as it allows careful and systematic under- standing of the complex effects of stressors on fishes.
Nuclear techniques offer a unique perspective to advance how we can study these interactions and effects on fishes, while at the same time providing valuable keys to assess potential effects from local to global threats. The use of radiotracers offers many advantages in comparison to classical approaches. Among them, it constitutes to be a unique tool to understand the fate of contaminants on fish in a changing environment or help identifying some physiological reac- tions to counteract stressors. Current methodological developments are made to allow studying multi-stressors effects on fish at different organizational levels (from the cells to the individuals). This talk presents a summary on how nuclear techniques advance our knowledge of the effects of multiples stressors on fishes, especially in the context of the future changing environment and will be illustrated through a series of experiments.
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405 Diel CO2 cycles reduce severity of behavioural abnormalities in coral reef fish under ocean acidification
Michael Jarrold ∗† 1,2, Craig Humphrey 3, Mark Mccormick 2, Philip Munday 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Queensland, Australia 3 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Townsville) – Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville 4810, Queensland, Australia, Australia
Elevated CO2 levels associated with ocean acidification (OA) have been shown to consistently alter behavioural responses in coral reef fish. However, all studies to-date have used stable pCO2 treatments, not considering the substantial diel pCO2 cycles that occur on shallow reef habitats. Here, we reared juvenile damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus, and clownfish, Amphiprion percula, under a series of stable and diel cycling pCO2 treatments in two experiments. In experiment one, fish were reared at 500, 1000, 1000 ± 300 and 1000 ± 500 µatm CO2 to firstly determine if the magnitude of diel pCO2 cycles influenced the effect of elevated CO2 levels on behaviour. In experiment two, fish were reared at 400, 750, 750 ± 300, 1000 and 1000 ± 300 µatm CO2 to determine how diel pCO2 cycles may affect the onset of behavioural abnormalities. As expected, lateralization of A. polyacanthus and response to predator cue of Am. percula were negatively affected in fish reared at stable, elevated pCO2 in both experiments. However, diel pCO2 fluctuations alleviated the negative effects of OA on behaviour, although, the extent of alleviation was dependent on the magnitude of fluctuation, mean pCO2 level experienced and the behavioural trait. Importantly, in experiment two, behavioral abnormalities that were present in fish reared at 750 µatm CO2 were absent in fish reared at 750 ± 300 µatm CO2. Overall we show that diel pCO2 fluctuations can substantially reduce the severity of behavioural abnormalities caused by elevated CO2. Thus, past studies may have over-estimated the impacts of OA on the behavioural performance of coral reef fishes. Furthermore, our results suggest that diel pCO2 cycles will delay the onset of behavioural abnormalities in natural populations.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
406 El Ni˜nodrives habitat filtering and widespread disease in the Galapagos marine fish assemblage
Robert Lamb ∗ 1, Franz Smith 1, Anaide Aued 2, Jenifer Suarez 3, Jon Witman 4
1 Brown University – Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. 80 Waterman St., Providence, RI 02912, United States 2 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Florianopolis, SC, Brazil 3 Parque Nacional Galapagos – Avenida Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Ecuador 4 Brown University – Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. 80 Waterman St., Providence, RI, United States
El Ni˜noevents decrease marine productivity and increase temperature in the Tropical East- ern Pacific, but the impact this has on whole reef fish communities is unclear. We documented changes in the diversity and abundance of Galapagos reef fishes during the extreme 2015-2016 El Ni˜noand subsequent La Ni˜na.We asked whether functional traits such as trophic category and body size are effective predictors of response of this highly endemic fish assemblage to ENSO state. We monitored 12 sites every 6 months between 2013 and 2017. Visual censuses were car- ried out at 15m and 6m, and stationary cameras were deployed for 1hr observations. We tested for the effects of a 2.5-4 ◦C positive sea surface temperature anomaly that lasted 6 months dur- ing El Ni˜no,followed by a 1-2 ◦C negative anomaly during La Ni˜na.Filtering occurred based on trophic category and biogeographic province of origin. El Ni˜nocaused planktivorous species to decrease by almost an order of magnitude, whereas the La Ni˜naevent showed a surprising rescue effect for many populations within 12-18 months. Species originating from the cold Peruvian re- gion tended to decrease in abundance during El Ni˜no,whereas species from the warm Indopacific region increased in abundance. Sites with sustained upwelling of cold water were more stable overall, and many species showed the capacity to shoal with fluctuating thermoclines, lending support to thermal refugia along both vertical (depth) and horizontal (sites) axes. A novel dis- ease was also discovered at the height of El Ni˜no:infected fish showed discoloration of the skin, loss of scales and epithelial deterioration, distressed swimming, lethargy, increased opercular ventilation rates, and aggressive solicitation of cleaner fish. Bacteria of the genus Pantoea were isolated from lesions of several individuals. Sixteen infected species were recorded on several islands, with the highest prevalence rates exceeding 50%. Planktivore and cold-adapted species declines and the presence of deteriorating skin disease in several taxa present an alarming effect of El Ni˜no,but the resumption of upwelling during the subsequent La Ni˜naperiod may be a mechanism for resilience to climate change for this diverse and productive fish assemblage.
∗Speaker
407 Farming converts CO2 emissions into population growth by boosting crop production
Camilo Ferreira ∗† 1, Ivan Nagelkerken 1, Silvan Goldenberg 1, Sean Connell 1
1 University of Adelaide – Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia, Australia
Farming is employed by both humans and animals to enhance crop yields, allowing popula- tion sizes to increase beyond the natural carrying capacity of the environment. Whilst popula- tions of many species are forecast to collapse due to the effects of future climate, some species may capitalize on environmental change by actively farming their environment. Here we use volcanic CO2 vents as a natural analogue of future ocean acidification to investigate how marine herbivores enhance their crop yields via a synergistic effect between CO2 enrichment and removal of weeds by farming. Farming enhances crop biomass under current day conditions. Under CO2 enrichment, however, this effect of farming was boosted by productivity (faster turnover) rather than biomass (greater standing stock). By taking advantage of resource enrichment, crops were grown within smaller territories, allowing for more densely packed populations. We reveal that farming can capitalize on CO2 enriched production of crops to increase the carrying capacity of farms so that populations can densify under an otherwise stressful environment due to climate change.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
408 Geographic distributions and assemblages of Labrids along the south west coast of Western Australian over the past decade
Jack Parker ∗† 1, Euan Harvey 1, Ben Saunders 1, Scott Bennett 1
1 Curtin University – Perth, Australia
This research sought to evaluate and compare the Labridae assemblages in the temperate and sub-tropical marine community’s along the south-west of Western Australia. Survey data was collected in 2006 and again in 2015 using diver operated stereo-video (DOV) transects, targeting 4m to 12m shallow complex rocky reefs and focused on the Labridae family which includes Scarine Labrids and Wrasse. The study comprised seven regions along the Western Australian Coastline from Geraldton to Esperance and covered almost 2000km of coastline. Through a comparison of the Labridae assemblage from the two data collections it was determined that at every one of the 7 regions, the Labridae assemblage had changed significantly. While the change in the Labridae assemblage was larger in the northern warmer marine environments, there were still significant changes in the temperate, cooler water assemblages. Other notable trends along the coast were the increase in warmer temperate labrids and the appearance and increase in abundance of labrids in the 2015 locations that were not recorded in 2006. While most labrids have increased in numbers, three temperate species were seen to decline. These changes in the assemblage could be attributed to several environmental changes. Since the 2006 data survey, there was a large marine heat wave disturbance event in 2011 and the canopy forming alga in the northern coastal areas have also been reduced due to this event and have not recovered since. Sea surface temperatures have also increased at each region. The observed changes in the data, 4 years after the large heat wave in 2011, the lack of recovery along the south-west coast, the increased sea surface temperature rise and the significant changes in Labridae assemblages over the entire survey area indicate a permanent phase shift in Labridae communities. There has been reported changes to the cooler temperate waters of Albany, Bremer Bay and Esperance, however, the results gathered in 2015 continued ocean warming and the predicted increase in frequency of large marine disturbance events suggest that changes may be occurring on the south coast and may follow the environmental trends of the warmer sub-tropical waters of Western Australia.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
409 Impact of ocean acidification on the early development and C-start escape behaviour of marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma)
Xiaojie Wang ∗ 1, Yi Chen 1, Lulu Song 1, Jiakun Song† 1
1 Shanghai Ocean University – 181 Mailbox, 999 Hucheng Ring Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, China
Ocean acidification is predicted to affect a wide diversity of marine organisms. However, only a few studies have reported on the effects of ocean acidification on marine fish. We investi- gated the impact of ocean acidification on the embryonic development and the escape behavior (Mauthner cell: ”C-start”) of newly hatched larvae of the marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma). Newly fertilized eggs of medaka were reared in seawater at three different partial pressures of carbon dioxide (pCO2): control at 450 µatm, moderate at 1160 µatm, and high at 1783 µatm. Hatching rates, embryonic duration, and larval malformation rates were compared and were not significantly different among the three treatments. In the high pCO2 group, however, the yolks of larvae were significantly smaller than in the control group, and the newly hatched larvae were significantly longer than the larvae hatched in the control and moderate pCO2 groups. In both moderate and high pCO2 treatment groups, eye defects and abnormal development of the brain were obvious in larvae. In moderate pCO2 group, the eye distance decreased significantly. No significantly negative growth effects were observed when marine medaka were exposed to levels of pCO2 that are predicted to occur over the next 100 to 200 years. Normal larvae of medaka readily produced C-start escape behavior to mechanosensory stimuli; however, at moderate and high pCO2, the probability of C-start was significantly lower than those of the control group. Therefore, the sensory integration needed for the C-start escape behavior appears to be vulnera- ble to ocean acidification. Altered behavior in marine larval fish, particularly behaviors involved in escape from predation, could have potentially far-reaching, negative implications for marine ecosystems at the levels of CO2 projected for the future.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
410 Integrating molecules and fossils reveal multiple diversification shifts in marine fishes during the Cenozoic
Dahiana Arcila ∗ 1, James Tyler ∗
2
1 The George Washington University (GWU) – 2023 G St NW, United States 2 National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (Smithsonian) – MRC 121, Washington, D.C. 20013, United States
Integrative evolutionary analyses based upon fossil and extant species provide a powerful approach for understanding past diversification events and for assessing the tempo of evolution across the Tree of Life. Here, we demonstrate the importance of integrating fossil and extant species for inferring patterns of lineage diversification that would otherwise be masked in analyses that examine only one source of evidence. We infer the phylogeny and macroevolutionary history of the Tetraodontiformes (triggerfishes, pufferfishes, and allies), a group with one of the most complete fossil records among fishes. Our analyses combined molecular and morphological data, based on an expanded matrix that adds newly-coded fossil species and character states. Beyond resolving the relationships and divergence times of tetraodontiforms with confidence, our diversification analyses detect a major mass-extinction event during the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), followed by a marked increase in speciation rates. This period is of particular interest because it provides an equivalent for climate change due to antropogenetic CO2 emissions that resulted in a rapid acidification of oceans and an increase in the bottom-water temperature. The PETM is linked to the mass extinction of the deep sea benthic foraminifera fauna, changes in species composition of marine plankton, and extensive biogeographic and trophic shifts of terrestrial vertebrate faunas. However, little is known about how this period shaped diversity in marine fishes. When taking into account non-homogeneous models, our analyses also detect a rapid lineage diversification increase in one of the groups (tetraodontoids) during the middle Miocene, which is considered a key period in the evolution of reef fishes associated with trophic changes and ecological opportunity. In summary, our analyses show distinct diversification dynamics estimated from phylogenies and the fossil record, suggesting that different episodes shaped the evolution of tetraodontiforms since the late Cretaceous.
∗Speaker
411 Irreversible behavioural impairment of fish starts early: embryonic exposure to ocean acidification
Almendra Rodriguez-Dominguez ∗† 1, Sean Connell 1, Clement Baziret 2, Ivan Nagelkerken 1
1 University of Adelaide – Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia, Australia 2 Institut M´editerran´eend’Oc´eanologie(MIO) – Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement : UMRD235, AixMarseilleUniversite´ : UM110, Institutderecherchepourledeveloppement´ [IRD]: UMR235 : UMRD235, UniversitedeT´ oulon : UMR7294, CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique : UMR7294 − −M.I.O.InstitutMediterran´ eend´ 0OceanologieCampusdeLuminyCase´ 90113288MARSEILLEcedex09, F rance
Increasing levels of CO2 in the oceans will expose marine organisms to changing and novel environmental conditions. Long-term species responses to ocean acidification will depend on their sensitivity during particular life stages, with some stages more sensitive than others. Here we tested for the differential sensitivity of fish to ocean acidification between their egg and early juvenile stage and their potential to be reversed. We exposed fertilized eggs to control and elevated CO2 levels and upon hatching translocated offspring to both treatments in a reciprocal design. Fish activity behaviour in each of the four treatments was evaluated after 4, 8 and 12 weeks. We show that activity levels of juveniles that were raised as eggs under ambient CO2 conditions were similar, irrespective of whether the juveniles were exposed to elevated CO2 or not, and this pattern did not change over time. In contrast, activity levels of juveniles that were raised as eggs under elevated CO2 conditions were lower than those raised as eggs under ambient conditions. Translocating juveniles that were raised as eggs under elevated CO2 back to control conditions did not reverse this reduced behavioural response. Mirroring activity levels, hiding showed the inverse response to the four treatments. Our results suggest that juveniles of our focal species are resistant to elevated CO2 level when exposed during the post-hatching stage, but experience irreversible impairment to their behavioural responses when exposed during their egg stage. Our findings highlight the importance of evaluating fish sensitivities to global change stressors during different life stages, and indicate that sensitivity during the often-overlooked egg stage is critical with long-lasting impairment of important behaviours that are linked to population persistence.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
412 Is pH compensation the root of all evil?
Martin Grosell ∗ 1, Rachael Heuer 1
1 RSMAS – University of Miami, United States
Fish examined to date effectively compensate for high ambient CO2 levels to protect pH in extracellular as well as intracellular fluids. Although fish may attempt to adjust the acid- base balance disturbance arising from exposure to elevated ambient CO2 by ventilatory adjust- ments, transport of protons and/or HCO3- contribute most to the preservation of pH. In the Gulf Toadfish (Opsanus beta), HCO3- uptake rather than proton extrusion allows for elevated plasma HCO3- levels at climate change relevant CO2 levels. While this compensatory response protects pH-sensitive functions, it also results in a second steady state of elevated partial pres- sure of CO2 and HCO3-. Changes in HCO3- concentrations in extra and intracellular fluids are hypothesized to alter the function of the GABA-A receptor and explain the behavioral effects frequently observed in CO2 exposed fish. Increased otolith growth reported from several CO2 exposed species is also predicted to be attributed to the CO2 compensatory response, as ele- vated extracellular CO2 and HCO3- likely provide substrate for CaCO3 deposition in otoliths. Recent measurements of metabolic rates of isolated tissue revealed an elevated metabolic cost in the intestine of the marine Gulf Toadfish following CO2 expsosure. The elevated metabolic demand of the intestinal epithelium is likely due to increased influx of Na+ and HCO3- via the basolateral transporter NBC1, demanding increased activity of Na+/K+-ATPase to maintain low intracellular Na+. Such elevated metabolic demands on the intestinal tissue may explain reports of prolonged specific dynamic action (SDA) in postprandial Atlantic cod. Although elevated tissue metabolic rate of the intestine, and likely also the gill, arise from CO2 exposure, the relative contribution of these processes to resting or standard metabolic rates are minor and insufficient to explain reduced aerobic scope reported from some species. Interestingly, the elevated production of metabolic CO2 in the intestine translates to elevated intestinal HCO3- secretion, which may lead to higher production and excretion rates of CaCO3 and thus greater piscine contribution to oceanic inorganic carbonate production. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation grants to MG and RH.
∗Speaker
413 Is there a global signature of biological change in marine hotspots?
John Morrongiello ∗† 1, Bryan Black 2
1 School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne – Building 147 Parkville Campus 3010, Australia 2 Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin – Port Aransas, Texas, United States
The world’s oceans are changing at an unprecedented rate due to climate change. In turn, a growing number of studies have identified the signature of oceanic warming in marine life through shifts in species distributions, abundances, and phenology. But not all the world’s oceans are warming at the same rate: it is likely that the degree of biological sensitivity to environmental change is dependent on the rate of change itself. A recent study by Hobday and Pecl (2014) identified ˜24 areas globally where the rate of warming is 90% faster than the rest of the oceans. Termed ‘global marine hotspots’, it is expected that there will be an intensification of biological response (either positive or negative) within these areas compared to neighbouring waters. Here, we present a global analysis, centred on the Pacific Ocean, of long-term trends in biological response to ocean warming inside and outside marine hotspots. We focus on the rich, annually- resolved data available in the long-term biochronologies developed from marine organism hard parts (e.g. otoliths, shells, coral). Growth is a particularly sensitive metric to environmental change because it can vary across an individual’s lifetime, as opposed to measures of abundance or distribution which are properties of populations or species. Analysis of hard parts structures allows for the development of biological time series that extend long before other monitoring or observation took place, allowing for unparalleled insight into how marine organisms have responded to past environmental change. Using our database of 60+ annually resolved growth times series (20-100 years in length), we show that 77% of time series inside hotspots show significant directional change, compared to just 49% outside hotspots. Interestingly, we did not detect any difference in the rate of change between areas. Our results suggest that rapid warming inside hotspots does indeed induce growth rate change in more exposed species, but that once initiated this change is not necessarily more extreme than observed in areas experiencing ‘normal’ warming.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
414 Molecular mechanisms underpinning intraspecific variation in response to short-term and developmental thermal stress
Heather Veilleux ∗ 1, Taewoo Ryu 2, Jennifer Donelson 3, Timothy Ravasi 4, Philip Munday 3
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia, Australia 2 APEC Climate Center – Busan 48058, South Korea, South Korea 3 James Cook University (JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia 4 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Integrative Systems Biology Lab Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences Engineering Division of Applied Mathematics and Computer Sciences King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal 23955-6900 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
Oceans are warming at unprecedented rates, causing great concern for the survival of many marine species. Low latitude populations may be especially susceptible to future warming as many are currently living near the limits of their thermal tolerance. As not all species will be able to move to cooler waters or have the capacity to adapt through natural selection, the ability to plastically alter physiological, molecular, or biochemical characteristics to better suit a warming environment will be critical for species persistence. Two populations of the tropical reef fish Acanthochromis polyacanthus from different latitudes have a similar negative response to short-term temperature increases as adults but have different capacities for plasticity of aer- obic performance if exposed to warmer conditions from early development. To understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning this variation, we sequenced the transcriptomes of A. poly- acanthus from Heron and Palm Island reefs in the southern and middle regions of Great Barrier Reef, respectively. First, as extreme thermal anomalies are predicted to increase in frequency over the next century due to climate change, we evaluated the transcriptomic responses in both populations following short-term thermal stress. Fish from the cooler Heron reef differentially expressed > 2x as many genes relative to controls when compared to the warmer Palm pop- ulation. This suggests that the Palm population has already reached the maximum level of expression of many genes as these fish are living closer to their thermal maximum. In addition, the genes affected following short-term stress were generally distinct between populations (11% shared). Second, we assessed the genes associated with developmental plasticity and found that the Heron population had > 4x more differentially expressed relative to controls compared to Palm fish, with even fewer genes shared between populations (1% shared). These findings sug- gest that the two populations regulate vastly different suites of genes to cope with increased temperatures throughout life. Finally, we found 76 genes involved in developmental thermal
∗Speaker
415 plasticity in Heron Island A. polyacanthus. This research is the first to assess the transcriptomic mechanisms underpinning population-level differences in the capacity for coping with extreme thermal anomalies and developmental thermal plasticity in a vertebrate.
416 Spawning Aggregations Act as a Bottleneck Influencing Climate Change Impacts on a Critically Endangered Reef Fish
Rebecca Asch∗ 1, Brad Erisman † 2
1 Eastern Carolina University – East Carolina University, Department of Biology, Greenville NC 27858, United States 2 University of Texas at Austin – Marine Science Institute, Univ of Texas at Austin 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX 78373, United States
The influence of climate change on specific life history stages has rarely been examined but may determine the overall response of species. Specifically, spawning fish often have narrower thermal tolerances than other life stages, which may constrain how species will respond to ocean warming and related changes in environmental conditions. Coral reef fishes that migrate long distances to specific sites during specific times of the year to reproduce within large spawning aggregations may be particularly vulnerable to climate change, as migrants are adapted to adjust their behavior with annual changes in ocean conditions, and warming may change the timing of migrations and the utilization of certain areas for reproduction. We evaluated this hypothesis by combining empirical data with earth system and ecological niche models to project shifts in the spawning distribution and phenology of Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) under the RCP 8.5 climate change scenario. Based on a historical climatology, our model projections coincided with the observed phenology and distribution of Nassau grouper aggregations and were best explained by sea surface temperature (SST), SST gradients, and geostrophic currents. By 2100, spawning aggregations experienced declines in habitat suitability, a northward shift in distribution, and a contracted spawning season. The thermal niche breadth of spawners was narrower than non-spawning adults, which translated to larger, more rapid shifts in the distribution of spawning aggregations compared to adults. Our results suggest that spawning activity of Nassau Grouper may decline in response to climate change regardless of conservation measures. Changes in the phenology and distribution of spawning aggregations would impact the value of existing marine reserves and seasonal closures. A preliminary analysis involving the application of our methods to other species of groupers and snappers from the Indo-Pacific and Western Atlantic indicate that responses to climate change may vary based on both phylogenetic history and regional environmental conditions, both of which seem to influence plasticity of spawning behavior in relation to warming. Our results suggest that climate change models for migratory reef fishes should consider multiple life history stages to account for bottlenecks due to spawning behavior.
∗Corresponding author: [email protected] †Speaker
417 Species Interactions Drive Fish Biodiversity Loss in a High-CO2 World
Ivan Nagelkerken ∗† 1, Silvan Goldenberg 2, Camilo Ferreira 2, Bayden Russell 3, Sean Connell 2
1 Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide – SA 5005, Australia 2 The University of Adelaide – Adelaide SA 5005, Australia 3 The Swire Institute of Marine Science – Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong SAR China
Accelerating climate change is eroding the function and stability of ecosystems by weak- ening the interactions among species that stabilise biological communities against change. A key challenge to forecasting the future of ecosystems centres on how to extrapolate results from short-term, single-species studies to community-level responses that are mediated by key mech- anisms such as competition, resource availability (bottom-up control) and predation (top-down control). We used CO2 vents as potential analogues of ocean acidification combined with in situ experiments, to test current predictions of fish biodiversity loss and community change due to elevated CO2, and to elucidate the potential mechanisms that drive such change. We show that high risk-taking behaviour and competitive strength, combined with resource enrichment and collapse of predator populations, fostered already common species enabling them to double their populations under acidified conditions. However, the release of these competitive dominants from predator control led to suppression of less common and subordinate competitors that did not benefit from resource en- richment and reduced predation. As a result, local biodiversity was lost and novel fish community compositions were created under elevated CO2. Our study identi- fies the species interactions most affected by ocean acidification, revealing potential sources of natural selection. We also reveal how diminished predator abundances can have cascading effects on local species diversity, mediated by complex species interactions. Reduced overfishing of predators could therefore act as a key action to stall diversity loss and ecosystem change in a high CO2 world.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
418 The Balancing Act in Future Acidic Oceans: Protection of pH During Elevated CO2 Exposure Leads to Tradeoffs and Downstream Consequences in Marine Fish
Rachael Heuer ∗ 1, Megan Welch 2, Jodie Rummer 2, Rebecca Zlatkin 1, Philip Munday 2, Martin Grosell 1
1 University of Miami – 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, United States 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University – James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, Australia
Marine fish are exceptional acid-base regulators, and often survive CO2 exposures 5-25 times higher than what is predicted under climate change estimates. While protecting pH, it is now believed that sustained elevation of internal pCO2 and HCO3- following compensation for CO2 leads to a variety of sub-lethal impairments. Under this unifying hypothesis, we examined con- sequences and potential tradeoffs associated with compensation for CO2 in two different, but important physiological processes in marine fish: osmoregulation and neurosensory responses. In the first set of experiments, the Gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta) was used to test whether or not increased plasma HCO3- and pCO2 following CO2 compensation would stimulate intestinal HCO3- secretion through existing osmoregulatory pathways. HCO3- secretion rates of isolated intestinal tissue from CO2-acclimated toadfish revealed that elevated CO2 stimulated HCO3- loss that was counterproductive to whole-animal acid-base balance. This CO2-stimulated HCO3- loss also incurred a tissue metabolic cost that could increase baseline metabolic demand. Com- pensation for a CO2-acidosis is also thought to underlie sensory/behavioural disruptions in CO2- exposed fish reported in > 50 studies. Changes in extracellular and intracellular HCO3- and Cl- following CO2 compensation are thought to attenuate or reverse the movement of these ions through the primary receptor (GABAA) responsible for nervous system inhibitory responses. Despite growing evidence of GABAA receptor involvement in CO2 behavioural disruptions, few behavioural studies have measured acid-base parameters. The aim of the second study was to di- rectly measure brain/plasma acid-base parameters in a species that also showed a CO2-induced behavioural disturbance, the spiny damselfish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus). Damselfish ex- posed to elevated CO2 showed significant increases in plasma and brain HCO3-, a response that was associated with a significant reduction in alarm cue avoidance behaviour. Detailed study of the GABAA receptor response across levels of organization is imperative in better under- standing CO2-induced behavioral impairments. Preliminary data on potential model organisms ideal for this work will be discussed. Together, metabolic costs associated with ion movement and behavioural impairments linked to altered neuronal ion gradients add to a growing body of evidence that suggests CO2 compensation following near-future ocean acidification may protect pH in marine fish, but comes at physiological costs.
∗Speaker
419 The Impact of Change Climate on Nearshore Coral Reef Fisheries in American Samoa
Domingo Ochavillo ∗ 1
1 Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources-American Samoa (DMWR-AS) – PO Box 3730, Pago Pago, American Samoa
We assessed the impact of climate variability on the catch rates of gleaning, thrownet and rod and reel coral reef fisheries in American Samoa from 1987 to 2016. This period covered the 3 strongest El Nino and 2 strongest La Nina events since 1950. The focus of this study are nearshore fisheries that are potentially impacted by sea level and sea surface temperature changes associated with climate change. We analyzed over 700 fishing events for each fishery throughout this period with the variables: year, Multivariate El Nino Index (MEI), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and rainfall, sea surface temper- ature (SST), sealevel, chl a, and wave energy anomalies. We used Generalized Linear Model (GLM) analyses for the impact of year, MEI and MEI-PDO interaction. The results indicate significant and variable impact of MEI and MEI-PDO interaction on different fish species and invertebrate species. There are indications that ENSO and PDO events led to declines in catch rates most probably due to the impact of falling sea levels, increased sea surface temperatures and intensity of wave energy on the catchability of target species. These analyses provide a framework to assess the biological and socio-economic impacts of climate variability for various fisheries in American Samoa.
∗Speaker
420 Trophic transfer of essential elements in the clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris in the context of ocean acidification
Hugo Jacob ∗ 1, Simon Pouil 2, David Lecchini 1, Marc Metian† 2, Peter Swarsenski 2
1 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 2 Environment Laboratories (IAEA) – 4 Quai Antoine Ier - 98000, Monaco
Little information exists on the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on the digestive and post- digestive processes in marine fish. Here, we investigated OA impacts (∆ pH = 0.5) on the trophic transfer of select trace elements in the clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris using radiotracer techniques. Assimilation efficiencies of three essential elements (Co, Mn and Zn) as well as their other short-term and long-term kinetic parameters in juvenile clownfish were not affected by this experimental pH change. In complement, their stomach pH during digestion were not affected by the variation in seawater pH. Such observations suggest that OA impacts do not affect element assimilation in these fish. This apparent pCO2 tolerance may imply that clownfish have the ability to self-regulate pH shifts in their digestive tract, or that they can metabolically accommodate such shifts. Such results are important to accurately assess future OA impacts on diverse marine biota, as such impacts are highly species specific, complex, and may be modulated by species-specific metabolic processes.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
421 Warming has a greater effect than ocean acidification on the early life history development and swimming performance of a coastal pelagic fish, Seriola lalandi
Philip Munday ∗ 1, Bridie Allan 1, David Mcqueen 2, Simon Nicol 3, Darren Parsons 4, Steve Pether 2, Stephen Pope 2, Alvin Setiawan 2, Neville Smith 5, Sue-Ann Watson 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia 2 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) – Northland Marine Research Centre, Ruakaka 0116, New Zealand 3 Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) – University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia 4 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) – Newmarket, Auckland 1149, New Zealand 5 Pacific Community (SPC) – Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems, Oceanic Fisheries Programme, Ecosystem Monitoring and Analysis, BP D5, 98848 Noumea, New Caledonia
Coupled ocean-biochemical-population dynamics models are used to predict the global and regional-scale effects of climate change on the distribution and abundance of large pelagic fishes important to commercial and artisanal fisheries. These models need to be parameterized with relevant information about the effects of environmental change on individual performance and fitness. To date, population dynamics models have not been able to incorporate the potential effects of ocean acidification because of insufficient data on the impacts of elevated CO2 on large pelagic fishes. Here, we tested the effects of predicted future warming and acidification on the early life history development and swimming performance of a coastal pelagic fish, the yellowtail kingfish Seriola lalandi. Fish were reared from freshly spawned eggs to 21 days post- hatch in a fully cross-factored experiment at 21◦C and 25◦C and 500 µatm and 1000 µatm CO2, consistent with current-day conditions and climate change projections. We measured growth, development, survivorship and two key aspects of swimming performance in juvenile pelagic fishes: (1) their maximum sustained swimming speed (U-crit) and (2) the kinematics of the burst-swimming response to a startle stimulus. Resting and maximum metabolic rates and a range of behavioural traits were also measured. High temperature had an overwhelming effect on early life history growth, development and survival in juvenile yellowtail kingfish. Temperature was also the primary driver of swimming performance, although some effects of high CO2 on swimming were observed. Our results suggest that the relative effect of ocean acidification on yellowtail kingfish are likely to be small compared with existing variation and predicted changes in temperature throughout their geographic range.
∗Speaker
422 F3/ Phenotypic plasticity and adaptation to anthropogenic environmental changes
423 Differential impacts of climate-driven expansion of dead-zones on the vertical ecology of top oceanic predators
Rui Rosa ∗† 1, Marisa Vedor 2,3, Ana Couto 4,3, David Sims 5,6, Nuno Queiroz 3
1 Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Lisbon (MARE) – Laborat´orioMar´ıtimoda Guia, Avenida Nossa Sra do Cabo 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal 2 Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Lisbon (MARE) – Av. Nossa Senhora do Cabo, 939 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal 3 CIBIO/InBIO, Universidade do Porto, (CIBIO/InBIO) – Campus Agr´ariode Vair˜ao,4485-661 Vair˜ao, Portugal 4 Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Lisbon (MARE) (MARE) – Av. Nossa Senhora do Cabo, 939 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal 5 Marine Biological Association (MBA) – The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK., United Kingdom 6 Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton – University Road Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) consist of a low oxygen layer of water at the mesopelagic realm (also know of ”hypoxic dead-zone”) and are associated with the large primary production at the surface ocean and enhanced mesopelagic decomposition. While several studies have documented an ongoing expansion of OMZs, primarily through shoaling closer to the surface, climate model predictions suggest a continuation of this trend in the future. As OMZs shoal, acute oxygen gradients act to compress the habitat of high oxygen demand pelagic predators (e.g. mako and blue sharks in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic - ETA) against the layer of hypoxic water. In general, at the ETA-OMZ, surface occupancy (0 – 250 m) was 27% higher, while space-use of deeper depths (> 600 m) by blue sharks was ˜95% less when compared to areas outside the OMZ. A future (+ 50 years) vertical habitat compression of between ˜30 to ˜50 m for OMZ waters is also expected. Unexpected hypoxia tolerant species (e.g. jumbo squids in the Eastern Tropical Pacific) are also influenced by the OMZ expansion because of differences in prey and predator availability near the normoxic surface. Preliminary data also shows that in the fishing areas with OMZ, fishing effort is higher inside the OMZ when compared to waters outside. Also, fishing intensity is always highest inside OMZ waters when compared to normoxia, thus suggesting longliners spent less time searching for target shark species in the OMZ. Clearly, information regarding the influence of midwater oxygen on habitatuse patterns and distribution of commercially important species should be considered for effective management. Without such behavioural and physiological data, it will be difficult to further assess present impacts and future risks from pelagic fisheries.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
424 From desert to sea: mechanisms Arabian killifish use to acclimate to high salinities in the Red Sea
Lucrezia C. Bonzi ∗ 1,2, Alison Monroe 1,2, Jodie L. Rummer 3, Michael L. Berumen 2, Celia Schunter† 1, Timothy Ravasi‡ 1
1 KAUST Environmental Epigenetic Program (KEEP) – KAUST Environmental Epigenetic Program, Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) – Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
The Arabian killifish, Aphanius dispar, is a euryhaline fish able to tolerate a wide range of salinities, from freshwater to ˜175 ppt salt water. This cyprinodontid inhabits inland and coastal waters of the Arabian Peninsula with Saudi Arabian populations living in desert ponds (0.7 – 2 ppt), as well as in coastal lagoons of the highly saline Red Sea (41 – 44 ppt). In a recent genetic population study, we found that Red Sea killifish populations are flushed from desert ponds out to the sea during flash floods. With this in mind, we now investigate the remarkable ability of A. dispar to rapidly acclimate to different salinities. Fish are collected from a Saudi Arabian desert pond and a Red Sea coastal lagoon and maintained for at least 6 months before exposure in aquaria at 1.5 and 42 ppt, respectively. Desert pond fish are then transferred from 1.5 ppt to 42 ppt, and gills are sampled pre-transfer (0h), and at 6h, 24h, 3 days, 7 days and 3 weeks post-transfer. Collected gill samples are morphologically analysed using scanning electron microscopy, as well as used for RNA extractions. No mortality was recorded throughout the 3-week exposure and no differences in gill filament morphology were detected across sampling intervals nor between desert pond and Red Sea killifish populations. So, we use RNA-sequencing to sequence the gill transcriptomes and then analyse changes in gene expression over the acclimation timeline. The aim of the analysis is to elucidate the molecular pathways allowing Aphanius dispar to occupy such diverse saline habitats without needing to remodel gills. These findings will provide insights into the mechanisms that allow killifish to thrive in some of the most extreme habitats on earth.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
425 Global patterns of intraspecific life-history variation reveal hierarchical importance of environmental drivers in widespread coral-reef fishes
Brett Taylor ∗ 1, Maia Kapur 2, Michael Berumen 3, Edward Demartini 4, Andrew Hoey 5, Stephen Newman 6, Mark Priest 7, Tane Sinclair-Taylor 3, Tuikolongahau Halafihi 8, J. Choat 5
1 Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaii (JIMAR) – 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176 Honolulu, Hawaii 96818, United States 2 Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) – 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176 Honolulu, Hawaii 96818, United States 3 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Thuwal, Saudi Arabia 4 Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) – Kaneohe, Hawaii, United States 5 James Cook University – Townsville, Queensland, Australia 6 Western Australia Department of Fisheries – North Beach, Western Australia, Australia 7 University of Queensland – St Lucia, Queensland, Australia 8 Ministry of Agriculture and Food – Nuku’alofa, PO Box 871, Tonga
Metabolic rate in ectotherms is largely dependent on the interaction between ambient tem- perature and body size; hence, there are predictable demographic trends within species that arise along latitudinal gradients across broad spatial scales, whereby largest body size and greatest life span are often achieved with decreasing temperature at higher latitudes. The past decade of coral reef fish research has highlighted many examples, however, of substantial variation in life-history traits at various spatial scales that are not correlated with temperature, but rather demonstrate the importance of factors such as density-dependent competition, predation, habi- tat variability, reef geomorphology, anthropogenic fishing pressure and primary productivity. To understand the impacts of these factors collectively, we examined life-history variation across the entire range of the bullethead parrotfish (Chlorurus sordidus [Red Sea – Indian Ocean] and C. spilurus [Pacific]). Otolith-derived length-at-age profiles of populations from over 30 loca- tions spanning from the Northern Red Sea to French Polynesia provided estimates of growth rate, lifespan, length at sex change, and asymptotic length, and constituted the most extensive investigation of intraspecific life-history variation in any coral reef fish to date. Our research demonstrates that while temperature and productivity gradients strongly influence life history, our ability to identify other drivers of variation are constrained by the observed spatial scale, which pervades as the underlying context from which significance can be assessed.
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426 Impacts of anthropogenic noise on fish: individual effects, population consequences and mitigation
Andrew Radford ∗ 1, Sophie Nedelec 2, Harry Harding 1, Timothy Gordon 2, Ricardo Beldade 3, Isabelle Cˆot´e 4, David Lecchini 5, Mark Mccormick 6, Mark Meekan 7, Suzanne Mills 3,8, Stephen Simpson 2
1 University of Bristol – School of Biological Sciences, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, United Kingdom 2 University of Exeter – Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom 3 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ [EPHE], CNRS : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia, France 4 Simon Fraser University – Earth to Ocean Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada 5 Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – PSL Research University, EPHE-CNRS-UPVD, USR3278 CRIOBE Laboratoire d’Excellence ”CORAIL”, BP 1013, Papetoai, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia 6 James Cook University – Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia 7 Australian Institute of Marine Science – Australian Institute of Marine Science, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia 8 Laboratoire d’Excellence “Corail” – Univ de Perpignan Via Domitia – 58 avenue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan, France
Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have changed the soundscape of many aquatic ecosystems, both increasing the amount of acoustic energy and generating sounds that are different from those arising from natural sources. International legislation recognises the need to assess and manage the biological impacts of this anthropogenic noise. Over the last 8 years, we have considered how a range of man-made noise sources (including shipping, mo- torboats, pile-driving and seismic gun arrays) might affect a variety of fish species. Our initial experiments were conducted in aquaria using playbacks to consider short-term effects of single noise exposures; a logistically simple approach allowing tight control of conditions. We have subsequently developed our research programme using coral reef fish in the Indo-Pacific region as model species. Extensive previous research has provided a detailed knowledge about the life- history of such species, the calm, clear waters around coral reefs allow detailed and replicated observations, and there is the possibility for experimental manipulations in natural conditions. As such, we have been able to conduct tests using real-world noise sources that provide greater ecological and acoustic validity, as well as moving the field forward in three main ways. First, by considering how repeated or chronic exposure to noise – the more usual situation experienced by animals – leads to changes in responses. Second, by testing fitness impacts directly, rather
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427 than extrapolating from short-term behavioural or physiological responses. Third, by examin- ing intra-population variation in effects arising from both intrinsic (e.g. body condition) and extrinsic (e.g. prior exposure) factors. Our ongoing goal is to provide strong conclusions to in- form policy makers and managers, as well as working with industry to test potential mitigation measures that may lessen the impacts of this global pollutant on fish populations.
428 It takes three to tango: global warming puts clownfish future in hot water
Suzanne Mills ∗ 1, Agathe Blandin 1, Rory O’donnell 2, Ricardo Beldade 1
1 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) – BP 1013, Moorea, French Polynesia 2 Ulster University – Coleraine, Ireland
Organisms can behaviourally, physiologically and morphologically adjust to environmental variation via integrative hormonal mechanisms, ultimately allowing animals to cope with envi- ronmental change. The stress response to environmental and social changes commonly promotes survival at the expense of reproduction. However, despite climate change impacts on population declines and diversity loss, few studies have attributed hormonal stress responses, or their regu- latory effects, to climate change in the wild. Here, we report hormonal and fitness responses of individual wild fish to a recent large-scale sea warming event that caused widespread bleaching on coral reefs. This 14-month monitoring study shows a strong correlation between anemone bleaching (zooxanthellae loss), anemonefish stress response and reproductive hormones that de- creased fecundity by 73%. These findings suggest that hormone stress responses play a crucial role in changes to population demography following climate change and plasticity in hormonal responsiveness may be a key mechanism enabling individual acclimation to climate change.
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429 Latitudinal variation in behavioural patterns and social group structure of coral reef fishes
Paloma Matis ∗† 1, Andrew Hoey 2, Rebecca Fox 1, David Booth 1
1 University of Technology Sydney (UTS) – PO Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Ocean warming is driving rapid poleward expansion of tropical marine organisms, partic- ularly in areas surrounding poleward flowing ocean currents. Each summer during spawning season, the East Australian Current transports fish larvae from tropical to temperate locations. Many knowledge gaps remain on how tropical fishes behave on high-latitude reefs and how this affects their ability to adapt to these novel environments. Such information is crucial to under- standing which species are likely or unlikely to shift, as well as how these animals may impact na- tive species and ecosystem dynamics. This study investigates how the behavioural time budgets, feeding patterns and movement of three common tropical fishes (Chaetodon auriga, Abudefduf sexfasciatus and Pomacentrus coelestis) found across a latitudinal gradient on the east coast of Australia, spanning from the Great Barrier Reef (23◦30’30”S) to Sydney (33◦4806S). Species behavioural time budgets and social group structure varied both among latitudes and among species. A key finding of this study was the novel social group interactions observed at the higher latitudes but not at the tropical location. At the subtropical and temperate locations C. auriga, A. sexfasciatus and P. coelestis formed heterospecific groups with other tropical and temperate species. Individuals of all species moved greater distances in the 3 min observation period at tropical and subtropical reefs compared to temperate locations. The intake rate of food by C. auriga was higher at the tropical reef locations compared to the subtropical and tem- perate reefs. Differences in species behaviour among locations further highlight the constraints associated with high latitude reef environments (e.g. temperature, resource availability, preda- tion and competition). These results give us greater insight into the ability of species to cope or adapt through modifications in their behaviour that may ultimately influence their distribution under climate change and potential impacts to native species.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
430 Moderate rate of temperature increase leads to transgenerational differences in metabolic pathways in a coral reef fish
Moises Bernal ∗ 1, Jennifer Donelson 2, Heather Veilleux 2, Taewoo Ryu 3, Philip Munday 2, Timothy Ravasi 1
1 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Integrative Systems Biology Lab Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences Engineering Division of Applied Mathematics and Computer Sciences King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal 23955-6900 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 James Cook University (JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia 3 APEC Climate Center (APEC) – 12 Centum 7-ro Haeundae-gu Busan 48058 Korea, South Korea
Anthropogenic activities are leading to an increase in sea surface temperatures at an un- precedented rate. Thermal increments can have considerable impact on poikilotherm organisms, such as coral reef fishes, as their life cycle is heavily influenced by environmental conditions. Hence, it is imperative to understand how species react to thermal stress, and elucidate poten- tial mechanisms of acclimation to future conditions. In this study, the metabolic response of the spiny chromis, Acanthochromis polyacanthus, to transgenerational temperature increase was an- alyzed. We report a significant increase in hepatosomatic index for individuals exposed to 31.5C since development, regardless of which temperature their parents were exposed to. The resting metabolic rate of transgenerational treatments exposed at elevated temperatures was very simi- lar to the control, while higher rates were observed for individuals exposed at development. The assays of gene expression for developmental treatments showed that temperature increase led to upregulation of pathways related with carbohydrate metabolism and mitochondrial activity when compared to control and transgenerational individuals. Overall, these results suggest that in terms of metabolism, transgenerational individuals are better suited to withstand elevated temperatures. However, individuals exposed to gradual increase across generations also have the capacity to compensate their metabolism at elevated temperatures, as evidenced by their respiration rates. Our findings indicate the onset of thermal acclimation depends on the temper- ature at which parents are exposed to, as well as the developmental stage at which individuals are subject to thermal stress.
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431 Molecular basis of sex-dependent heritability of CO2 tolerance in a coral reef fish
Alison Monroe ∗† 1,2, Megan Welch 3, Celia Schunter 2, Michael Berumen 1, Philip Munday 4, Timothy Ravasi 2
1 Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) – Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 KAUST Environmental Epigenetic Program (KEEP) – KAUST Environmental Epigenetic Program, Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University Townsville, Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia 4 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
In order to maintain their performance, marine organisms will need to adapt to projected future ocean acidification caused by the uptake of additional CO2 from the atmosphere. Im- pairment in crucial predator response behaviors have been shown to be one important impact of increased CO2 on reef fishes. However, individual variation in behavior and brain transcriptional program were demonstrated for Acanthochromis polyacanthus, with some fish displaying more tolerance to elevated CO2 than others. A signature of this variation in behavioral tolerance of adults is also present in the molecular phenotype of their offspring. However, little is known about the influence of maternal and paternal components on the behavioral tolerance to high CO2 of the next generation. To investigate maternal and paternal components of CO2 tolerance in A. polyacanthus we crossed CO2 tolerant fathers with CO2 sensitive mothers and CO2 tol- erant mothers with CO2 sensitive fathers. We then reared their offspring at ambient CO2 (414 matm) for 6 weeks or acutely exposed them to elevated CO2 (754 matm) at 6 weeks of age. To investigate the effects of parental behavior on the molecular phenotype of the offspring 68 brain transcriptomes were sequenced, mapped to a reference genome, and differential gene expression was analyzed. Individual variation and heritability of paternal tolerance to acute exposure to high CO2 suggest that A. polyacanthus may have some capacity to adapt to rising CO2 levels in the ocean. Our analysis elucidates the molecular pathways that may enable this process in reef fish.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
432 Neurobiological-induced breakdown of cleaning mutualisms under ocean warming and acidification
Jose Ricardo Paula ∗† 1, Tiago Repolho 1, Maria Rita Pegado 1, Per Ove Thornqvist 2, Catarina Santos 1, Regina Bispo 3, Philip Munday 4, Svante Winberg 2, Rui Rosa 1
1 Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Lisbon (MARE) – Laborat´orioMar´ıtimoda Guia, Avenida Nossa Sra do Cabo 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal 2 Department of Neuroscience, Physiology Unit, Biomedical Centre (BMC), Uppsala University (BMC) – Biomedical Centre (BMC), Uppsala University, Box 593, Uppsala SE-75124, Sweden, Sweden 3 Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA - Instituto Universit´arito(ISPA) – ISPA – Instituto Universit´ario,Rua Jardim do Tabaco, 34, 1149-041 Lisbon, Portugal 4 James Cook University (JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Cleaning mutualisms are drivers of fish abundance and diversity on coral reefs. Most reef fishes engage in cooperative interactions with cleaners, where they benefit from ectoparasite reduction and ultimately stress relief. Furthermore, such interactions elicit beneficial effects on clients’ ecophysiology, with cascading effects on community diversity and abundance. However, the potential effects of ocean warming and acidification on these charismatic associations are unknown. We exposed cleaner wrasses Labroides dimidiatus and their clients Naso elegans to chronic conditions of ocean warming (+3C) and acidification (980 uatm pCO2). Here we show that after 45 days of acclimation there was a significant decrease in fish cleaning motivation and in the quality of the interactions between cleaner and client. At the neurobiological level, in cleaner wrasses, dopamine and serotonin concentration were only affected by ocean acidifi- cation but their activity increased under both ocean warming and acidification. In client fish, dopamine concentration decreased with temperature and serotonin with CO2 while dopamine activity increased with ocean acidification. Changes to cleaner behaviour under ocean warm- ing and acidification were correlated to altered neurotransmitter concentrations and activity at the individual level. We propose that elevated CO2 interacts with: i) dopamine, impairing the cleaners’ ability to negotiate and ii) serotonin, modulating motivation for interaction; while iii) temperature affected mostly enzymatic activity. Our results suggest that cleaning mutualisms that are important for maintaining local community structure on coral reefs will be degraded by future ocean conditions, through effects on brain monoamine systems.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
433 Neurogenomic mechanisms of behavioural plasticity in fish: a conceptual framework illustrated by the ecological modulation of reproductive behavior in a blenny
Rui Oliveira ∗ 1,2, Sara Cardoso 1,2
1 ISPA - Instituto Universitario (ISPA) – Rua Jardim Tabaco 34, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal 2 Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciˆencia[Oeiras] (IGC) – Apartado 14 P-2781-901 Oeiras, Portugal
Phenotypic plasticity allows animals to respond to environmental change within their life span and can be seen as an adaptive trait that is under positive selection when changes in the environment outpace the rate of genetic evolutionary change. Behavior tends to be more plastic than other phenotypic traits (e.g. morphology), hence playing a major role in the adaptation to rapidly changing environments. Thus, the study of behavioral plasticity and its underlying mechanisms should provide relevant insights into the mechanisms available to animals faced with acute anthropogenic environmental changes. Here, we propose a conceptual framework for understanding the neuromolecular mechanisms of behavioral plasticity. According to this framework, specific behaviors (e.g. mating) rely on the activity of a specific neural network, and behavioral plasticity can be achieved either by rewiring or by biochemically switching nodes of this network in response to perceived environmental cues. Therefore, at the molecular level, behavioral plasticity depends on the environmental regulation of gene expression, and different patterns of plasticity (based on inter- vs. intra-individual occurrence, time scale and reversibil- ity) should rely on different physiological, neural and genomic mechanisms. This concept will be illustrated using data from our lab on ecological modulation of mating behavior paralleled by changes in brain and gonad gene expression in a blenniid fish. In this case study a rocky-shore fish colonized sandy coastal lagoons after the introduction of hard substrates by clam culturists. In lagoon populations nest sites are hence very scarce and the competition for nest sites led to the evolution of sex-role reversal in courtship behavior (i.e. males that establish nests never leave them to court and females became the courting sex) and the occurrence of alternative reproductive tactics among males (i.e. sneaker males that mimic females). Interestingly the brain transcriptome better reflects the behavioral plasticity between populations rather than sex differences within each population.
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434 The epigenetic landscape of transgenerational acclimation of a reef fish to ocean warming
Taewoo Ryu 1,2, Heather Veilleux 3, Jennifer Donelson 3,4, Philip Munday 3, Timothy Ravasi ∗ 1
1 KAUST Environmental Epigenetic Program (KEEP), Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (KAUST) – Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia 2 APEC Climate Center – Busan 48058, South Korea 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 4 School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney – PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia
Epigenetic inheritance is a potential mechanism by which the environment experienced in one generation can influence the performance of future generations in the same environment. Rapid climate change threatens the survival of many organisms; however, recent studies show that some species can adjust to climate related stress when both parents and their offspring experience the same environmental change. In my talk, I will discuss our latest research that by mean of an integrative genomics analysis, identified molecular pathways responsible for transgenerational acclimation to rising ocean temperatures of the coral reef fish Acanthochromis polyacanthus and shown that selective genomic-wide DNA methylation serves as a central epigenetic inheritance mechanism mediating transgenerational acclimation to climate change.
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435 Timing is everything: developmental plasticity to ocean warming in a coral reef fish
Rachel Spinks ∗† 1, Jennifer Donelson 1, Timothy Ravasi 2, Philip Munday 1
1 James Cook University (JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Integrative Systems Biology Lab Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences Engineering Division of Applied Mathematics and Computer Sciences King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal 23955-6900 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
Ocean temperatures are rising with potential consequences for marine fish populations if they fail to adjust to this new environment. Tropical fishes may be especially sensitive to ocean warming because they may already be living at or near their upper thermal limits. Detrimen- tal effects of projected future warming on the behaviour, physiology, and morphology of adult reef fishes have been observed. However, new research is showing that exposure to increased sea temperature through early development can result in partial or full compensation of the detrimental effects of warming. In this study, we tested if differences in the timing of exposure to higher temperature during early development influences developmental thermal plasticity in the spiny damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus. Newly hatched offspring from wild-caught pairs of A. polyacanthus were reared for 15 weeks at the average summer sea temperature for the collection location (present-day control) and in four treatments where they were exposed to a higher temperature (+2◦C) for the first 3, 7, or 30 days post hatching, or for the entire 15 weeks of the experiment. We compared growth, critical thermal maximum, burst-swimming responses, and patterns of sex determination between the control and the four elevated temper- ature treatments. Our results suggest that exposure to elevated sea temperature for either a few days post hatching, or a full month post hatching, can induce beneficial developmental plasticity for some traits; however, exposure for an intermediate period of time does not induce beneficial developmental plasticity. These results demonstrate that the timing of high temperature expo- sure is critical to the induction of developmental thermal plasticity in a coral reef fish. This has important implications for understanding how the increasing frequency of summer thermal anomalies, such as those recently experienced by the Great Barrier Reef, will affect the ability of reef fish to respond to rising ocean temperatures.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
436 Warming over three generations in a coral reef fish: how does temperature change across generations affect plasticity?
Jennifer Donelson ∗ 1, Giverny Rodgers 2
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University – Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia, Australia 2 James Cook University – Angus Smith Drive, Australia
Predicting the impacts of environmental change to biological systems relies on an under- standing of the ability for species to acclimate to the projected environmental change through phenotypic plasticity. Determining the effects of projected warming on individual performance is made more complex by the potential for environmental conditions experienced in previous and current generations to independently affect phenotypic responses to environmental temper- atures. We used a model coral reef fish to investigate the influence of thermal conditions on performance when warming was experienced by the current, parent or grandparent generation. We found that more gradual warming over generations resulted in greater plasticity allowing developmental plasticity to occur on top of transgenerational plasticity. We also found that the thermal conditions in which reproduction occurred interacted with thermal history to effect the phenotype of offspring produced.
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437 You can’t always get what you want: behavioural plasticity as a way for mobile coral reef fishes to buffer the effects of rising ocean temperatures?
Rebecca Fox ∗† 1, Jennifer Donelson 2, Patrick Monarca 1, Andrew Hoey 2, Neil Metcalfe 3
1 University of Technology Sydney (UTS) – PO Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 3 University of Glasgow – Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK, United Kingdom
Being able to forecast the impact of global warming on reef fish populations relies on an understanding of particular species’ sensitivity to environmental temperature. In most research to date, this has been achieved by examining physiological responses to temperature within a laboratory setting and then comparing measured thermal optima to existing thermal ranges. But what temperatures do these fish actually experience on a daily and seasonal basis in the wild? And do they attempt to buffer themselves from extremes of temperature variation within their environment using behavioural plasticity? The question of whether tropical fish use be- havioural thermoregulation has been understudied, partly due to the observational difficulties associated with aquatic environments. However, advancements in biotelemetry technology are now allowing for some of these difficulties to be overcome. Here we report on a field-based approach we have been using to explore whether coral reef fishes use behaviour to modify their exposure to variations in ocean temperatures. Using real-time measurements of animal body temperature and constructed null distributions of a hypothetical thermoconforming control, as well as laboratory measures of thermal preference and metabolic performance under different thermal regimes, we examine: (1) the variability of body temperatures experienced by wild individuals of the tropical marine rabbitfish Siganus doliatus (Siganidae); (2) how closely tem- perature distributions of field-active individuals match the species’ laboratory-expressed thermal preference, (3) to what extent these animals might be using thermoregulatory behaviours to op- timise their body temperature relative to a thermoconformer and, (4) what the physiological costs of thermoconformation might be. With this approach we hope to determine the sensitiv- ity of functionally-important reef fish species to temperature increases, thereby improving our ability to model the impacts of climate change on reef ecosystem functioning and fisheries.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
438 F4/ Conservation physiology of Indo-Pacific fishes: Facing problems and finding solutions
439 A Protocol for Identifying Suitable Biomarkers to Assess Fish Health: a Systematic Review
Frederieke Kroon ∗† 1, Claire Streten 2, Simon Harries 2
1 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) – PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville, Qld 4810, Australia 2 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) – Arafura Timor Research Facility, Brinkin, Northern Territory, Australia
Biomarkers have been used extensively to provide the connection between external levels of contaminant exposure, internal levels of tissue contamination, and early adverse effects in organisms. Here, we present a three-step protocol for identifying suitable biomarkers to assess fish health in coastal and marine ecosystems, using Gladstone Harbour (Australia) as a case study. Prior to applying our protocol, clear working definitions for biomarkers were developed to ensure consistency with the global literature on fish health assessment. First, contaminants of concern were identified based on the presence of point and diffuse sources of pollution and avail- able monitoring data for the ecosystem of interest. Second, suitable fish species were identified using fisheries dependent and independent data, and prioritised based on potential pathways of exposure to the contaminants of concern. Finally, a systematic and critical literature review was conducted on the use of biomarkers to assess the health of fish exposed to the contaminants of concern. We present clear working definitions for bioaccumulation markers, biomarkers of expo- sure, biomarkers of effect and biomarkers of susceptibility. Based on emission and concentration information, seven metals were identified as contaminants of concern for Gladstone Harbour. Twenty out of 232 fish species were abundant enough to be potentially suitable for biomarker studies; five of these were prioritised based on potential pathways of exposure and susceptibil- ity to metals. The literature search on biomarkers yielded 5,035 articles, of which 151met the inclusion criteria. Based on our review, the most suitable biomarkers include bioaccumulation markers, biomarkers of exposure (CYP1A, EROD, SOD, LPOX, HSP, MT, DNA strand breaks, micronuclei, apoptosis), and biomarkers of effect (histopathology, TAG:ST). Our protocol out- lines a clear pathway to identify suitable biomarkers to assess fish health in coastal and marine ecosystems, which can be applied to biomarker studies in aquatic ecosystems around the world.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
440 Dead tired: physiological exhaustion in neonatal reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus and Negaprion acutidens) in nursery areas
Ian Bouyoucos ∗ 1, Ornella Weideli 2, Colin Simpfendorfer 3, Serge Planes 2, Jodie Rummer 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 3 Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University (JCU) – Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
While nursery areas can offer protection from predators for juvenile sharks, such shallow, coastal areas can also be thermally extreme environments, and expose sharks to exhaustive challenges in the form of interactions with fishing gear. The purpose of this study was to un- derstand the vulnerability of newborn sharks to an exhaustive challenge encountered in their shallow, coastal nursery areas. Our objectives were to characterize the nature and magnitude of the physiological stress response after an exhaustive challenge and to quantify the influence of environmental temperatures on this stress response. To accomplish this, we collected newborn blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and lemon sharks (Negaprion acutidens) in nursery areas around the island of Moorea, French Polynesia. Individuals were exposed to an ex- haustive challenge in situ (gill-net capture and air exposure) across a narrow, albeit ecologically- relevant range of temperatures (27.9-30.8 ◦C) during parturition months (October–December 2016). Point-of-care blood analyzers were used to quantify stress biomarkers upon capture and three hours into recovery. Data were compared with baseline values determined for sharks that were maintained and tested under controlled laboratory conditions. Additionally, oxygen consumption rates were measured for both species in the laboratory as a proxy for standard metabolic rates. We found that N. acutidens had higher standard metabolic rates, circulated blood glucose faster, and experienced a larger decrease in blood pH following the exhaustive challenge when compared to C. melanopterus. For both species, recovery times exceeded three hours, suggesting that the sharks would be unable to sustain successive exhaustive challenges. In addition, N. acutidens experienced higher delayed mortality (25%) than C. melanopterus (6%). However, temperature had a minimal influence on stress biomarkers for either species, which suggests that newborns are not sensitive to the range of temperatures they encounter during the months immediately following parturition. This research highlights a period of vul- nerability that newborn sharks may face after an exhaustive challenge in shallow, coastal areas.
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441 Research aimed at determining factors that influence vulnerability of newborn sharks to phys- iological impairments will be critical for identifying at-risk populations and nursery areas that need protection under current and predicted end-of-century environmental conditions.
442 How physiology can support the management and conservation of coral reef fishes
Bj¨ornIlling ∗ 1, Jodie Rummer 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
Understanding the physiological responses of coral reef fishes to handling or environmental stress can support a mechanistic understanding of the processes governing individual organismal performance. In fact, physiological measurements can help to reveal potential cause-and-effect relationships and enable physiologists to advise conservation management by upscaling results from cellular and individual organismal levels to coral reef fish population levels. Here, we highlight studies that include physiological measurements of coral reef fishes and those that give advice for their conservation. A literature search using combined physiological, conservation and coral reef fish key words resulted in roughly 1900 studies, of which only 99 matched predefined requirements. We observed that, over the last 20 years, the combination of physiological and conservation aspects in studies on coral reef fishes has received increased attention. Most of the selected studies made their physiological observations at the whole organism level and used their findings to give conservation advice on population dynamics, habitat use or the potential effects of climate change. The precision of the recommendations differed greatly and, not surprisingly, was least concrete when studies examined the effects of projected climate change scenarios. While still unparalleled to the amount and extent of research on temperate fishes, more and more physiological studies on coral reef fishes are including conservation aspects. Yet, there is still a lack of concrete advice for conservation managers, with only very few published examples of physiological findings leading to improved management practices. By showing studies that covered both aspects, we hope to stimulate future research and highlight the opportunities that physiology offers for evidence-based and better, adaptive management strategies for the conser- vation of coral reef fishes. We conclude with a call to action to foster better knowledge exchange between natural scientists and conservation managers to translate physiological findings more effectively.
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443 Marine protected areas provide species with physiological resilience to the impacts of climate change
Murray Duncan ∗† 1, Nicola James 2, Amanda Bates 3, Warren Potts 1
1 Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Rhodes University – Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6139, RSA, South Africa 2 South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity – South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity, Somerset Street, Grahamstown, 6139, RSA, South Africa 3 National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton – National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK, United Kingdom
Marine protected areas (MPA) are championed as a fisheries management tool to miti- gate the effects of climate change on fishes, however little is known regarding the underlying mechanisms of how this may occur. To explore these mechanisms we compared the thermal physiology of a resident South African reef fish species; Chrysoblephus laticeps, between two areas with identical temperature profiles but variable levels of exploitation; the longstanding (53 years) Tsitsikamma National Park (TNP) and the Port Elizabeth linefishery (PE). We used intermittent flow respirometery to gather metabolic data across an ecologically relevant temper- ature gradient and develop aerobic scope curves (an indicator of the energy available for fitness related processes at various temperatures). Results showed that the TNP population had a lower standard metabolic rate, higher maximum metabolic rate and hence higher overall aerobic scope compared to the PE population. TNP populations also harboured more physiological variabil- ity than the PE population. A higher aerobic scope provides an individual with a physiological advantage which appears to be is selected against in the PE linefishery but proliferated within the TNP probably due to higher levels of competition. Within the TNP C. laticeps’ metabolic process will be less compromised should temperatures exceed optimal ranges resulting in better capability for adaption to adverse conditions. This study provides some of the first evidence of how MPA’s may reduce species’ sensitivity to climate change and suggests that they are important reservoirs of physiological resilience to the impacts of climate change.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
444 Mechanistic understanding of climate driven range shifts: using thermal tolerances of rock lobster to predict future range shifts
Samantha Twiname 1, Quinn Fitzgibbon 1, Alistair Hobday 2, Chris Carter 1, Gretta Pecl ∗ 1,3
1 Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) – Private Bag 49 Hobart TAS 7001, Australia 2 CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CSIRO-MAR) – Private bag n5 Wembley WA 6913, Australia 3 Centre for Marine Socioecology (CMS) – Private Bag 49, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia
Ocean warming is aecting marine species worldwide, with one of the most observed changes being alterations to species geographical distributions. Understanding what drives these range shifts is key to predicting what may happen with future warming. This study takes a mechanistic approach to understanding climate-driven range shifts, looking at the aerobic metabolism and escape responses of spiny rock lobster and how they may change un- der dierent temperature scenarios. These measures give insights into aerobic performance, a key component of organismal energy budgets, as well as the performance of escape re- sponses, which are critical for survival. We examined the aerobic and escape performance of the puerulus and juvenile stages of Jasus edwardsii, a common Tasmanian species of spiny rock lobster, and Sagmariasus verreauxi, a species of spiny rock lobster extending its range into and further south in Tasmania, Australia. The puerulus stage of the spiny rock lobster life cycle is an important transitional stage between the larval and juvenile stages, and un- derstanding how ocean warming may aect their aerobic and swimming capacity allows us to better predict future scenarios of population dynamics. Jasus edwardsii individuals of both life stages were tested at 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26C, and S. verreauxi individuals were tested at 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30C. Intermittent ow respirometry was used to determine aerobic scope (AS), excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and recovery times. Escape velocities were determined from high speed stereo-video footage. The comparison between the performance measures of the two species indicates that S. verreauxi have higher thermal tolerances than J. edwardsii, and this may facilitate further expansion of this range-shifting species into Tasmanian waters with future ocean warming.
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445 Physiology meets conservation: Challenges, success stories, and future directions in the Indo-Pacific
Jodie Rummer ∗ 1, Steven Cooke 2
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia 2 Carleton University – Institute of Environmental Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6 Canada, Canada
Conservation Physiology is an emerging discipline that helps to coordinate the mechanistic research that links animals and their environment to the applied outcomes that result in policy and evidence-based practice. Indeed, physiological measurements – which can be considered in the broadest context including overall function and development, specific mechanisms, and en- ergetics, through to fitness – can identify ”cause-and-effect” relationships. Such information can enable physiologists to advise conservation and management by up-scaling results from cellular and organismal levels to population and even ecosystem levels. Historically, however, conserva- tion physiology has focused largely on ”problems”. Here we give key examples of problems that Indo-Pacific fishes have faced or are currently facing. But then, we highlight the evidence-based solutions that have been proposed or are already being implemented – in other words, where conservation physiology has successfully been put into action. Specifically, we will focus on how environmental conditions and human disturbances influence Indo-Pacific fish species and populations. We will also emphasize studies investigating the physiology of biological invasions, disease, and biotic interactions induced by environmental change and human activity. Perhaps most importantly, we will also focus on the key elements of these integrated case studies where conservation physiology has helped to solve problems that Indo-Pacific fishes and ecosystems are facing so that we can move forward. Our aim is to highlight the value of the discipline both to fish physiologists and conservation practitioners and demonstrate how physiological research can help to identify and mitigate threats that Indo-Pacific fishes are facing now and into the future. Ultimately, this type of research and the evidence-based decisions that can lead to policy and legislation can support the protection or recovery of imperilled populations, restore degraded habitats, and manage natural resources as sustainably as possible.
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446 The responses of fish embryos to boat noise and finding solutions to underwater noise pollution.
Sofia Jain-Schlaepfer ∗† 1,2, Eric Fakan 1, Stephen Simpson 3, Jodie Rummer 2, Mark Mccormick 1,2
1 College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – James Cooke University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 2 ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia 3 University of Exeter – St Luke´sCampus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, United Kingdom
Human generated noise is changing natural underwater soundscapes worldwide. The most pervasive source of underwater anthropogenic noise is from motor-powered boats, which are increasing in numbers dramatically throughout the world’s waterways. Many aspects of fish biology, including physiology, predator evasion and navigation, have been found to be detrimen- tally affected by boat noise. However, few studies have examined the effects of noise at the embryonic life stage. In this study, we use a novel setup to monitor embryo heart rates in the field, allowing us to examine the effects of real boat noise in the fish’s natural environment. We found that embryo heart rate, a measure of a stress response, increased in the presence of recreational boats. Additionally, we examined the differential effects of two different engine types with different soundscapes, and found 2-stroke outboard-powered boats had more than twice the effect on embryo heart rate than did boats powered by a 4-stroke engine, showing an increase in mean heart rate of 1.9% and 4.6%, respectively. Knowing the effects that particular engine types have on marine organisms through their sound emissions provides an important tool to reef managers for the mitigation of noise pollution.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: sofi[email protected]
447 G1/ Moving Forward by Looking Back: The Use of Time Series and Monitoring Data in Fish Ecology
448 Are fish statistically informative indicators for long-term monitoring of coral reef disturbances?
Simon Van Wynsberge ∗ 1, Antoine Gilbert 2, Nicolas Guillemot 3, Tom Heintz 2, Laura Tremblay-Boyer 4
1 UMR Entropie Institut de Recherche pour le d´eveloppement, Universit´ede La R´eunion,CNRS – Centre IRD de Tahiti, BP529, 98713 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia 2 GINGER SOPRONER – Noum´ea,New Caledonia 3 Dexen ltd – Noumea, New Caledonia 4 Pacific Community (SPC) – Noumea, New Caledonia
Extensive and long term biological field surveys are paramount to environmental sciences, especially regarding highly variable assemblages such as reef fishes, yet they are costly and time consuming. Identifying informative indicators of anthropogenic disturbances is thus a priority to optimize sampling and ensure sustainable monitoring implementations on the long term. We used 480 candidate indicators by combining metrics measured from fishes assemblages (all fishes, families, and functional groups) surveyed yearly from 2006 to 2012 in the vicinity of an ongoing mining project in the Voh-Kon´e-Pouembout lagoon, New Caledonia. Power analyses were performed to identify a subset of indicators which would best discriminate temporal changes resulting from a simulated chronic anthropogenic impact. For comparison, similar analyses were applied to descriptors of reef habitats and macro-invertebrate assemblages. Only 7% of tested indicators which involved fishes were likely to detect anthropogenic impacts with sufficient power (> 0.80). Fishes generally exerted lower statistical power than habitat metrics because of higher natural variability and lower occurrence. Similarly, indicators based on the whole assemblage or on functional groups provided higher power than indicators based on families, underlining the interest of functional approaches in fish ecology and disturbance detection. Nevertheless, a number of families of common sedentary fishes also performed well in detecting changes: Pomacentridae, Labridae and Chaetodontidae. Interestingly, these families did not provide high power in all geomorphological strata, suggesting that the ability of indicators in detecting anthropogenic impacts was closely linked to reef geomorphology. This work provides a first operational step toward identifying statistically relevant indicators of chronic anthropogenic disturbances in New Caledonia’s coral reefs, which could be transposed to similar tropical reef ecosystems where little information is available regarding the responses of ecological metrics to anthropogenic disturbances.
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449 Discovery of abundant fish otoliths in fossil coral reefs greatly extends monitoring of coral reef fishes
Aaron O’dea ∗ 1, Brigida De Gracia 1, Chien-Hsiang Lin 1,2, Michele Pierotti 1, Orangel Aguilera 1,3
1 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) – Balboa, Ancon, Panama 2 National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium – 2 Houwan Road, Checheng, Pingtung, 944, Taiwan, R.O.C., Taiwan 3 Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) – Niter´oi-RJ,Brazil
The fossil record of corals, covering the last 10 thousand years or so, has been critical in helping reconstruct coral reef baselines, reveal drivers of variation and change, and provide guidelines for coral reef conservation. Unlike corals, however, fishes have always been believed to be absent from these records, greatly limiting our ability to explore variation in reef fish communities over time. We discover that, on the contrary, fish otoliths can be exceptionally well-preserved and abundant components of fossil reef assemblages and can be identified to a level with ecological value. We first show that diverse fish otolith assemblages from modern reef sediments faithfully (with some important caveats) represent the driving ecological signal of the living reef fish community, thereby providing an alternative to destructive fish ecological survey techniques. Excavation of > 100kg of fossil reef sediment from several mid-Holocene ( ˜8ka) reefs yielded more than 8000 fossil reef fish otoliths representing 38 families. Analysis of these assemblages reveals how the taxonomic and functional structure of reef fish communities have changed since the arrival of humans with possible application for reef fish conservation. We discuss the limitations and potentials of the approach to assist in conservation efforts and explore ecological processes in coral reef fishes.
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450 Ecological monitoring reveals the threat to coral reef fishes from climate-driven increases in cyclone intensity
Alistair Cheal ∗ 1, Aaron Macneil 1, Michael Emslie 1, Hugh Sweatman 1
1 Australian Institute of Marine Science – PMB No.3, Townsville MC, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, AUSTRALIA, Australia
Ocean warming under climate change threatens coral reefs directly, through fatal heat stress to corals and indirectly, by boosting the energy of cyclones that cause destruction of hard corals and loss of associated organisms. Reef fishes are particularly susceptible to coral losses, because many are highly dependent on hard corals for food, shelter or successful recruitment. Cyclone intensity is predicted to increase globally, causing more frequent occurrences of the most destructive cyclones, but the consequences for corals and associated fishes are unclear. Here, we assess this threat using unusually long-term and extensive monitoring data from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Coral losses on the outer GBR were small, localised and offset by gains on undisturbed reefs for more than a decade, despite numerous cyclones and periods of record heat stress, until three unusually intense cyclones over five years drove coral cover to record lows over > 1500km. Ecological damage was particularly severe in the central-southern region where 68% of coral cover was destroyed over > 1,000 km. This forced record declines in the abundance and species richness of associated fish communities with an unusually high number of local extirpations. Abundances of 61% of fish species, common prior to the cyclones, declined; their losses averaging 52% and exceeding 95% for some species. Abundances of smaller bodied and coral-dependent damselfishes (Pomacentridae) and butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) were most affected, but larger species, including a commercially important serranid, also suffered significant losses. Four years later, recovery of average coral cover was relatively slow and there were further declines in fish species richness and abundance. Only large herbivorous fishes, as a group, were relatively unaffected throughout. Modelling published predictions of increasing cyclone intensity under climate change revealed that such ecologically destructive cyclone sequences as we documented will occur within time-frames of coral recovery by mid- to late century. This, along with predicted increases in occurrences of mass coral mortality from heat stress, suggests that reefs will increasingly struggle between disturbances to regain the full complexity of coral habitat and suite of fishes they once supported, with potentially severe consequences for dependent societies.
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451 Environmental DNA metabarcoding of marine coastal fish reflects long-term monitoring data based on underwater visual census
Reiji Masuda ∗ 1, Hiroaki Murakami 1, Mizuki Ogata 1, Tetsuya Sado 2, Masaki Miya 2
1 Maizuru Fisheries Research Station, Kyoto University – Maizuru, Kyoto 625-0086, Japan 2 Natural History Museum and Institute – Chiba 260-8682, Japan
Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is an emerging technology that captures DNA of organisms present in water, amplifies them by PCR, determines sequence using a next- generation sequencer and identifies species by DNA sequence reference. The goal of the present study was to compare the results of eDNA metabarcoding with that of long-term underwater visual census data to assess the efficacy of the former. Visual census has been conducted for over 15, 5 and 6 years at two sites along the Sea of Japan (Maizuru: 35◦29’N, 135◦22’E; Takahama: 35◦32’N, 135◦30’E) and one along the Pacific Ocean (Moune: 38◦54’N, 141◦38’E), respectively, in Japan. Six 1-L water specimens were collected from each of the sites in September 2016, fil- tered, and DNA was extracted. DNA extractions from the samples of each location were mixed and metabarcoding was conducted using the MiFish universal primer. Similarity between fish assemblages determined by eDNA and that of visual census was inspected by Bray–Curtis index with non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS). In addition, fish assemblage characteristics were compared by average values of species-specific center of distribution (COD) in the northern hemisphere appearing in each fish assemblage. The nMDS analysis revealed that fish assem- blages determined by eDNA corresponded better with the long-term visual census data rather than visual census data collected on the day when water specimens were collected. Moreover, COD of eDNA-determined fish assemblage coincided well with that of long-term monitoring by visual census. The present study suggests that high sensitivity as well as high spatiotemporal detectability of eDNA metabarcoding makes it equivalent to a long-term monitoring of fish as- semblages. Improvement of sequence reference data will further broaden the applicability of this revolutionizing technology.
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452 Herbivorous fish as drivers of the resilience of a Polynesian coral reef.
Aliz´eeMartin 1, Charlotte Moritz 1, Gilles Siu ∗ 1, Ren´eGalzin 1
1 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
Anthropogenic pressures on Nature are increasing and have an impact on the climate. They induce more frequent and stronger disturbances on ecosystems. Long-term data series are in- creasingly needed to understand and evaluate the proportions of such changes. Coral reefs, one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth thus most impacted, support millions of people and activities worldwide. They have to face increasing human activities such as fisheries or tourism but also natural disturbances such as cyclones or predators outbreaks (e.g. Acanthaster planci). In this study we describe the ability of the coral reefs of Moorea, a volcanic island of French Polynesia, to recover after two main declines. Data collected in Tiahura (North coast of Moorea) on the fringing, barrier reef and outer slope show a coral cover drop to 8% in 1979 followed by a 5% in 2006, both mainly due to Acanthaster planci outbreaks and cyclones. Fish were counted by underwater visual census in corridors transect and substrates were identified using the point intercept transect method. This 35-year-old database allows us to study the resilience of coral reefs coupled with the hosted fish assemblage.
Our results show that shifts in coral composition were associated with long-term cascading effects on fish assemblages. When coral cover dropped below 10%, the density of most fish trophic group sharply decreased. On the outer slope species responses varied: some tended to disappear for a while before reappearing, others showed a peak in abundance, and yet others evolved linearly over time. Then the two main shifts in substrate composition induced changes in herbivorous fish assemblages. After the first shift Acanthuridae were largely dominating the herbivorous population while after the second shift they have significantly decreased to the profit of Scarinae. Our studies highlight coral reefs as highly dynamic systems and different functional groups show different temporal trajectories. Historical contingency may potentially be an important but largely underestimated factor explaining the contemporary structure of reef fish assemblages and suggests that temporal stability in their structure and function should not necessarily be the target of management strategies that aim at increasing or maintaining coral reef resilience.
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453 Long-term changes of the coral reef community in the WAKATOBI marine national park, south-east Sulawesi, Indonesia
Adam Gouraguine ∗ 1, Olga Re˜nones 2, Hilmar Hinz 3, David Smith 1, Joan Moranta 2
1 University of Essex – Wivenhoe Park Colchester CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom 2 Instituto Espa˜nolde Oceanograf´ıa(IEO) – Muelle de Poniente, s/n, Apartado de Correos 291, 07015 Palma de Mallorca, Spain 3 Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avan¸cats(IMEDEA) – Carrer de Miquel Marqu`es, 21, 07190 Esporles, Mallorca, Spain
The short-term effect of the coral degradation on the fish community has been investigated in a number of studies, however to date, only a handful have used long-term monitoring data to assess the impact of coral degradation on the associated coral reef fish communities. In this study, we used an 11 yearlong reef monitoring data set from the previously, in terms of the coral reef community, undocumented area of the Tukang Besi archipelago in Indonesia. We initially described the reef fish community present, and subsequently investigated its evolution over time as a result of the change in coral cover. Over the entire monitoring period, a total of 269 887 individual fishes were counted, belonging to 219 different species and 38 families. The fish abundance demonstrated a strong downward trend resulting in 83.2% decrease in mean fish abundance from the start in 2002 to the end of the monitoring period in 2012. Overall, the mean species richness declined by 46.9%, with regular increases and decreases throughout the study period. A decline of 63.1% in hard coral was evidenced, from the initial cover of 45.8% in 2002 to a low of 14% in 2012. Despite the overall fish community decline, we identified a number of species which increased in abundance, in addition to those which remained relatively unaffected throughout, indicating possible species-specific dependency on the habitat. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the long-term changes in the coral cover and the associated fish community for this area.
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454 Longterm response of herbivores to a large-scale reduction in live coral cover; implications for reef resiliency
Andrew Brooks ∗ 1, R.j. Schmitt 2, Sally Holbrook 2, Thomas Adam 1, Mark Steele 3, Jesse Tootell 3
1 Marine Science Institute, University of California – Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States 2 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California – Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States 3 Department of Biology, California State University – Northridge, CA 91330, United States
The coral reefs surrounding the island of Moorea, French Polynesia experienced an order of magnitude decline in the cover of live coral on an island-wide scale following the 2007 outbreak of the crown-of-thorns seastar. We report here on the population and individual level responses exhibited by the herbivorous fish community, with an emphasis on parrotfishes, to the decline in live coral cover and the subsequent increase in the cover of algal turf and macroalgae. Biomass of herbivorous fishes increased four-fold immediately following observed increases in turf and macroalgae and remained so for several years. This response was due not only to increases in the overall abundance of herbivorous fishes, especially parrotfishes, but also to increases in the average individual body size of herbivores. Examination of otoliths taken from parrotfishes indicates that individual growth rates of parrotfishes increased significantly during the period of increased algal abundance immediately following the crown-of-thorns outbreak. Throughout the five years following the end of the crown-of-thorns out period, herbivorous fishes were able to maintain the cover of algae on the forereef surrounding Moorea at levels low enough to allow recolonization of the reef by stony corals. Only recently have the abundances and biomass of herbivorous fishes declined to levels observed in the period immediately preceding the crown- of-thorns outbreak. These declines are coincident in time with the return of the reef to high levels of live coral cover. Our work demonstrates the ability of the herbivorous fish community described from Moorea to quickly respond to large-scale disturbances that result in significant losses of live coral and highlight the importance of these species to maintaining a high degree of reef resiliency.
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455 Status and trends of reef fishes of the Pacific
Charlotte Moritz ∗ 1, Jason Vii 1, Serge Planes 1
1 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) supports the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) by preparing regional assessment reports. These reports provide a scientific foundation for the identification of status and trends of coral reef ecosystems, which are used in their conservation and management. In this context, a meta-analysis of coral reef fish data was conducted at the Pacific scale. Fish data belonging to 18 countries or territories were collated from different institutes, universities, governments, NGOs, and private companies. Analysis on 11330 fish surveys spanning 34 years revealed diverging trends in fish biomass of the main trophic groups. Herbivore, corallivore, and planktivore biomass declined significantly over the past decades, while that of carnivores increased. No significant trend was however detected for the total fish biomass, which remained relatively stable over the years, but which was not homogeneous over the region. Inhabited and uninhabited islands also showed different patterns. Whether the observed patterns of fish biomass are related to island use by humans (fishing, pollution) or to external factors (global change) is still to be determined. We advocate that more efforts should be raised via the GCRMN to monitor regions were data is still scarce and to collect wide-scale consistent information on fishing and other anthropogenic pressures in the Pacific islands.
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456 What can long term monitoring of reef-associated fishes tell us about the drivers of their abundance and dynamics?
Russell Schmitt ∗ 1, Sally Holbrook 1
1 University of California Santa Barbara – Marine Science Institute and Dept of Ecology, Evolution Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California 93106 USA, United States
A long standing issue in marine ecology has been to understand the contributions of the var- ious processes that shape the abundance and dynamics of reef fishes, which almost always have demographically open local populations. Although few empirical frameworks have been applied to any particular fish population to compare the effects of density-dependence relative to larval supply and density-independent loss, there is general agreement that the abundance and dy- namics of most populations mostly fall somewhere between the extremes of entirely recruitment limited and entirely set by the carrying capacity of the environment. This is supported by a meta-analysis of experimental studies that revealed that density dependent mortality was perva- sive among species of reef fishes, and that the population effect of density dependence depended on the input of fish recruits. With this general model in mind, we mined a 23 year long time series dataset for two reef-associated species of fish at Moorea, French Polynesia, to infer the major drivers of abundance and dynamics. Our analyses for the Threespot Dascyllus (Dascyllus trimaculatus) revealed that high temporal variation in settlement was almost completely damp- ened by density-dependent mortality at the juvenile stage, and that the abundance of adults in time and space tracked variation in the abundance of their juvenile habitat. By contrast, the abundance of the Orangefin Anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysopterus) was set almost entirely by an exceptionally low supply of larvae. Thus time series data revealed that in the same system, the population dynamics of closely-related, co-occurring species fell at the opposite ends of the continuum.
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457 H1/ Management of coral reef’ social-ecological systems
458 A Biocultural Approach to Developing Indicators for Natural Resource Management
Eleanor Sterling ∗† 1, Joachim Claudet 2, Erin Betley 1, Sophie Caillon 3, Georgina Cullman 1, Rachel Dacks 4, Chris Filardi 1, Nadav Gazit 1, Joe Mccarter 1, Pua’ala Pascua 5, Amanda Sigouin 1, Tamara Ticktin 6, Stacy Jupiter 7
1 Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History (CBC-AMNH) – Central Park West at 79th St New York, NY 10024, United States 2 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 3 Centre National de Recherche Scientifique – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS – CEFE UMR 5175, 34293, Montpellier, France 4 Department of Biology, University of Hawaii at Mnoa, – Honolulu, HI 96822, United States 5 Department of Natural Resource and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii at Mnoa, – Honolulu, HI 96822, United States 6 Department of Botany, University of Hawaii at Mnoa, – Honolulu, HI 96822, United States 7 Wildlife Conservation Society, Melanesia Program – 11 Ma’afu Street, Suva, Fiji, Fiji
Successful management of coastal fisheries hinges on effective monitoring and evaluation. We need to understand the impact of management efforts on the health and vitality of fisheries and the communities who depend on them. In the Pacific, communities typically have close links to fisheries, and governance of inshore fisheries relies on extensive cultural linkages to resources that are often managed under customary governance systems. Indicators developed without reference to these linkages can be problematic. We are exploring methods - which we call biocultural approaches - for developing indicators that better reflect local cultural contexts, needs, and desires. A biocultural approach to developing indicators builds on local knowledges, practices, beliefs to address the inextricable link between people and their environment. The approaches seek to develop indicators that are culturally grounded, take a systems perspective by focusing on the feedbacks and relationships between people and place, and feed into local decision-making processes. In this talk, we present a suite of indicators developed using biocultural approaches and compare and contrast with indicators developed through other approaches. In principle, these indicators 1) capture signals of ecological depletion (e.g., tipping point thresholds, catch per unit effort, changes in dietary diversity), 2) seek to understand the processes leading to ecological depletion through understanding feedbacks between social-cultural and biological elements, and 3) are designed by local people to capture elements that they deem most important. We identify several challenges in developing and implementing these indicators, including their ability to communicate complexity given the inherent multidimensional nature of the relationships and
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
459 feedbacks they measure. We provide recommendations for how indicators can be developed to better inform integrated management of seascapes and result in more effective and equitable conservation outcomes.
460 A collaborative approach to integrate science into traditional management of coral reefs in Navakavu, Fiji
Leo Dutra ∗ 1,2, Asakaia Balawa 3, Manuela Taboada 1,4, Adi Levu 5, Marta Ferreira 1, Kelly Brown 1, Namrata Chand 1, Semiti Lovo 1, Krystelle Lavaki 1, George Naboutuiloma 1, Kimberley Samson 1, Rufino Varea 1, Jameel Thompson 1, Ilva Sporne 1, Davi Candido 6, Katie Motson 7, Ingrid Van Putten 8, Alifereti Tawake 3, Etika Sokowaqanilotu 3, Jeremy Hills 9
1 The University of the South Pacific, Faculty of Science, Technology and the Environment, School of Marine Studies (USP - FSTE/SMS) – School of Marine Studies, FSTE The University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Road — Suva, Fiji 2 CSIRO Oceans Atmosphere (CSIRO OA) – Queensland BioSciences Precinct (QBP), 306 Carmody Rd, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia 3 Fiji Locally Mananged Marine Area Network (FLMMA) – 3 Ma’au Street, Suva, Fiji 4 School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology (School of Design, QUT) – School of Design — Creative Industries Faculty — Queensland University of Technology Gardens Point, D Block, Level 3, Room D313 — 2 George Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia 5 Transcend Oceania - Facilitation community engagement – Lot 1, Naseakula road, Labasa, Fiji 6 Federal University of Santa Catarina, Laborat´oriode ambientes recifais – Florian´opolis, Brazil 7 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University – Townsville, Australia 8 CSIRO Oceans Atmosphere (CSIRO OA) – Castray Esplanade, Battery Point, Tasmania 7004, Australia 9 The University of the South Pacific, Faculty of Science, Technology and the Environment, Institute of Marine Resources (USP - FSTE/IMR) – Institute of Marine Resources, FSTE The University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Road — Suva, Fiji
Coral reefs are critical for securing food resources and generating income in Fiji. However, reef ecosystems and the people they support are currently at risk from multiple threats, such as poor land-use practices, overfishing, pollution, destruction of habitats for development, and adverse climate change effects. Understanding how socio-ecological reef systems (SES) func- tion and respond to threats is critical. This paper describes a community-led approach that links science and traditional practices to support management decisions in Navakavu, a SES located 15km west of Suva (capital of Fiji). The approach involves (a) understanding links be- tween reefs and people, (b) measuring sedimentation/pollution on the reefs, (c) understanding governance structures to effectively support decisions, and (d) using design-thinking to com- municate research findings in a way that is meaningful to local communities and their leaders. Preliminary results indicate healthy corals but overfished reefs (despite improvements since the establishment of no-take area > 10 years ago), with low sedimentation rates during survey period (04/2016-06/2017), and plastic in sediments, water column and fish guts. Interestingly,
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461 pipefish (Corythoichthys intestinalis) abundance is relatively high as well as the proportion of pregnant to non-pregnant males, indicating the area is potentially a breeding/nursery ground. Seagrasses have substantially expanded in the last 10 years probably due to nutrient enrichment. These results were presented at community workshops where villagers could steer the research program, identify community needs, discuss and co-design management actions and communi- cation material. Our approach has supported management by providing reef information which helped reprioritise actions such as the need to stop poaching and to manage garbage disposal. Also, there was a revival of women’s groups–as part of the traditional governance structure. The women initiated action to manage plastic waste by producing crafts through upcycling and sewing techniques workshopped as part of the project. Research results were also used to request more frequent council garbage collection and initiated internal discussions about establishing a local reef-tourism venture. By linking science and traditional practices, our approach helps build socio-ecological resilience by reinforcing local identities and fitting conservation measures into everyday life and activities that have been used in Fiji for generations.
462 Are coral reefs full of multi-coloured fish? Impact of an awareness campaign on the representations of coral reefs by children
Pascale Chabanet ∗† 1, Catherine Sabinot ∗
2, Lola Mass´e ∗
3, Zola Tsipy Tantely ∗
4, Rakamaly Madi Moussa ∗
1, Antoine Riou ∗
1, Jocelyne Ferraris ∗
5, Georgeta Stoica ∗
5
1 Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement (IRD) – CS 41095, 97495 Sainte-Clotilde cedex, R´eunion 2 Institut de recherche pour le D´eveloppement (IRD) – BPA5 98848 Noum´eaCedex, New Caledonia 3 R´eserve Naturelle Marine de La R´eunion(RNMR) – 39 rue du Lagon, 97434 La Saline-les-Bains, R´eunion 4 Institut Halieutique et des Sciences Marines (IH-SM) – Universit´ede Toliara, 42 Avenue de France, Tul´ear,Madagascar 5 Institut de recherche pour le D´eveloppement (IRD) – UMR ENTROPIE – 52 avenue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan, France
Coral reefs contribute to the food security and economic development of over 500 million coral reef coastline inhabitants in the world, including many developing countries. They are complex ecosystems that are facing major threats due to a variety of anthropogenic and natural factors such as climate change, pollution, overfishing, destructive overfishing practices and coastal de- velopment. In order to respond to these pressures, multi-level decision-making is required based on solid knowledge of coral reefs’ socio-ecological systems, and on heightened awareness among stakeholders of the need to build adaptive management solutions. In this context interdisci- plinary research in social and natural sciences, combined with an awareness campaign, has been
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
463 carried out in three French overseas territories (Reunion Island, Mayotte and New Caledonia) and in mainland France (Eastern Pyrenees), focusing on elementary schools in different social and cultural contexts (urban, rural and coastal). The aim of the research program is to study children’s perceptions and representations of coral reefs through drawings and assess the impact of the environmental awareness campaign before and after using the coral reef teaching toolbox MARECO. Research methodology was based on an interdisciplinary approach in ecology, eth- noecology, anthropology, and biostatistics, including the use of MARECO, which is composed of three educational games focusing on the importance and vulnerability of coral reef ecosystems and their management. More than 1,300 drawings have been realized by children in order to analyse how they perceived coral reefs in relation to their own experiences and knowledge. Here we illustrate this interdisciplinary approach and compare children’s representations of coral reefs in different cultural and environmental contexts. After analysis of drawings and interviews with the children, we assess the impact of the environmental awareness campaign and observe that there are relevant differences in coral reef representations before and after the use of MARECO, particularly regarding knowledge of the ”multi-coloured” biodiversity. The results point out the performance of MARECO as a playful tool to transfer scientific knowledge to the general public (in particular children), and beyond, to managers and multi-level decision-makers.
464 Citizen Science: using spot pattern technology to identify the threatened common seadragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus in the Sydney region.
Selma Klanten ∗ 1, Kristine O’keeffe 2, John Turnbull 3, David Booth 1
1 School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) – PO Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia 2 Underwater Research Group, NSW Sydney (URG) – The URG of NSW PO Box A630, Sydney South NSW 1235, Australia 3 Underwater Research Group, NSW Sydney (URG) – The URG of NSW PO Box A630, Sydney South NSW 1235, Australia
The common seadragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (Family Syngnathidae), an endemic species, has an important role in the public perception and citizens are taking initiative by actively sur- veying these iconic species by observing, recording and identifying individuals for their conserva- tion. The ecology of the threatened common seadragon is poorly understood, and a non-invasive method of tracking individuals is required. We tested a body flank spot and pattern identifica- tion protocol to track individuals, using underwater in situ photography and the I3S software program (http://www.reijns.com/i3s/). For several seadragons, we were able to confirm past sightings at locations by examining old photos, thus building a record of longevity. One such individual called ‘David’ was recorded over 6 years and moved approx. 700-800 m. We recorded health (e.g. missing appendage) and the frequency, amount and health of eggs carried by the male during the breeding season. This technique shows great promise as a tool for citizen scientists to help fill the knowledge gap in seadragon ecology and conservation.
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465 Comparative approach of hybrid governance in Polynesian’s coral reef social-ecological systems
Pauline Fabre ∗† 1, Alexander Mawyer 2, Joachim Claudet 3, Tamatoa Bambridge 3
1 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l´environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes : USR3278, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France 2 Center For Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai’i at Manoa (CPIS-UHM) – 1890 East-West Road, Moore 212 Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822, United States 3 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
Local and traditional knowledge in Polynesian region can play a key-role during the design and the implementation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). However, it requires acceptation and integration inside conventional practices driven by a scientized and bureaucratic administra- tive model for marine systems and resources. In the era of global change, ” hybrid ” governance of MPAs, mixing traditional knowledge and actors with more conventional guidance may be able to affect conservation program, in a culturally sensitive fashion that increase compliance and subsequent conservation effects. This presentation will compare two cases of hybrid inter- actions in French Polynesia and Hawaii and explore the social-ecological dynamics of coastal communities who are working on and implementing marine resource co-management perspec- tives that feature traditional, local and scientific dimensions in order to regulate the intensity of modern threats. The first study case will deal with the rahui in the Tahiti Peninsula, a customary political institution to forbid land or sea resource access, but which is readapting nowdays into an institution for conservation biodiversity, cultural legitimacy and resilience to climate change. The second pragmatic approach will highlight the case of the community-based subsitence fishing areas (CBSFAs) in Maui Nui, a legislation for the purpose of reaffirming cus- tomary fishing practices of native Hawaiian communities. Importantly, this oral presentation suggests this comparative hybrid marine resource governance approach as an issue for build- ing resilience and assessing continually collective bargaining among the plurality of norms and engaged stakeholders.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
466 Coral reef conservation on the largest Brazilian MPA - Linking hybrid governance and social-ecological resilience
Pedro Pereira ∗† 1,2, Barbara Pinheiro 2, Clemente Coelho-Jr. 3, Karine Magalhaes 4, Coralina Souza 1, Eduardo Almeida 1, Jose Santos 1, Iran Normande 1
1 Costa dos Corais Protected Area (APACC) – Tamandare, Brazil 2 Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) – Oceanography Department – Recife, Brazil 3 Instituto de CiˆenciasBiol´ogicasda Universidade de Pernambuco (UPE) – Recife, Brazil 4 Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE) – Recife, Brazil
Coral reefs are one of the most important ecosystems on earth; however extremely threatened by multiple local and global impacts such as disorderly tourism, sedimentation, overfishing and global warming. Therefore, in order to achieve real conservation outcomes of such ecosystems multiple stakeholders must be involved. ”Costa dos Corais” marine protected area (MPA) is the largest Brazilian MPA including one of the most important reefs complex on the whole South Atlantic Ocean with around 120 Km of coast line, 413 thousand hectares and twelve munici- palities encompassed. Hence, a big challenge for coral reefs conservation and a huge number of economic, ecological and social conflicts. Despite this problematic scenario, conservation at this MPA has been extremely successful in the last years been a global example for reef ecosystems conservation and specifically regarding MPA zoning process and management plan implemen- tation. The zoning process led by the MPA management team has involving a large number of NGOs, private partnerships, universities, local community members and fishermen. For in- stance, a recent series of training courses promoted by local NGOs has demonstrated how hybrid governance and social-ecological resilience could be efficient in determining priority zoning areas. During the workshops, priority areas for tourism, fishing and relevant ecological sites have been mapped under locals support and knowledge. Therefore, this information was transferred for decision makers and together with scientific community detailed field surveys were conducted in the area in order to match information from local community members with field data. Af- ter that relevant match, zoning implementation of more than ten reef areas encompass visiting areas (only for tourism), fishing areas (only for registered local fishermen’s) and no-take areas. In conclusion, all the collected info such coral/fish diversity and abundance, reef complexity, preferred touristic areas, preferred fishing areas; allowed decision makers to select the sites for each activity together with constant involvement with a network of relevant stakeholders. Sys- tematic biodiversity monitoring is planned to occur before and after zoning, in order to evaluate the effectives of the zones and their results for conservation.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
467 Disciplining Hybrid Governance: Assessing Disciplinary Interference in Biocultural Indicators for Socio-Ecological Resilience
Alexander Mawyer ∗ 1
1 Center For Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai’i at Manoa (CPIS-UHM) – 1890 East-West Road, Moore 212 Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822, United States
Successful implementation of contemporary and future-oriented hybrid governance will rest upon clear, shared understandings of dynamic, coupled biocultural systems. However, attempts to establish broadly applicable consistent methodologies for assessing high-salience biocultural indicators may become entangled in complex ”interference” effects from the disciplinary back- grounds of primary investigators, analysts, or agents of governance. Disconnection or tension between alternative percepts, concepts, or analytical interpretation of primary field data may not always result from the contemporary ”chaos of the disciplines” in a profoundly interdisci- plinary or multi-disciplinary space. Subtle, foundational differences in orientation or disciplinary stance on methodological or analytical concerns or even on the ontology of the very thing under investigation may also require energetic attention. Grounded in the research of one biocultural indicators working group with deep investments across social and natural sciences, coastal and marine ecologies, and small and large scale insular contexts, this paper queries the extent and character of disciplinary interference effects in the context of biocultural indicators, assessment, and hybrid governance. It provisionally identifies areas where cross-cutting or potentially con- founding differences in epistemological, ontological or interpretive stance may require significant sensitivity. Reflecting on patterns of coding differences for biocultural elements and indicators, and interpretive discussion surrounding implementation, it asks how disciplinary stances may have material implications for assessing or implementing mixed-governance protocols on the ground or at sea as they are or are not coupled around issues of resilience.
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468 How MMSY promotes sustainability in coral ecosystem facing environmental chocks
Adrien Lagarde ∗ 1
1 Groupe de Recherche en Economie Th´eoriqueet Appliqu´ee (GREThA) – Universit´eMontesquieu - Bordeaux 4, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMR5113 – Avenue L´eonDuguit 33608 PESSAC, France
The small-scale fisheries in many Pacific islands are facing numerous challenges related to biodiversity conservation, economic sustainability and food security. In particular, shocks such as cots’ outbreaks, cyclones or El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) question the sustainability of these fisheries and the underlying marine ecosystems. In that regard the case of Moorea’s island in French Polynesia is a challenging example where coral - algae interactions play a major role. To deal with such issues, this paper provides a spatially explicit, dynamic and ecosystem model along with several bio-economic fishing scenarios at the Horizon 2050 for the Moorea coastal fishery. The ecosystem model is calibrated using CRIOBE data over the period 2005-2016. The ecological and economic performances of different fishing scenarios including the Status Quo, the Closure and the Multi-species Maximum Sustainable Yield (MMSY) strategies are compared. Through an uncertainty entailed by environmental shocks, the first results suggest that MMSY fishing strategy could provide a relevant bio-economic balance.
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469 Linking terrestrial causes of disturbances to coral reef health: socio-ecological modeling of Kenting National Park (Taiwan) in the context of climate change.
Lauriane Ribas-Deulofeu ∗† 1,2,3, Pierre-Alexandre Chˆateau 3, Vianney Denis 4, Chun-Hung Lee 5, Yun-Ju Chen 6, Pei-Jie Meng 7,8, Yu-Wen Chiu 9, Yang Chi Chang 10, Chaolun Allen Chen‡ 2,3,4
1 Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) – Taipei 106, Taiwan 2 Taiwan International Graduate Program-Biodiversity, Academia Sinica (TIGP Biodiv) – Nangang, Taipei 115, Taiwan 3 Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica (BRCAS) – Nangang, Taipei 115, Taiwan 4 Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University (IONTU) – Taipei 106, Taiwan 5 Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) – Hualien 974, Taiwan 6 Department of Applied Economics, National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) – Taichung 402, Taiwan 7 Institute of Marine Biology, National Dong-Hwa University (NDHU) – Checheng, Pingtung 944, Taiwan 8 National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (NMMBA) – Pingtung 944, Taiwan 9 Centre for Research in Water Science and Technology, National Cheng-Kong University (NCKU) – Tainan 701, Taiwan 10 Departement of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University (MAEV) – Kaoshiung 804, Taiwan
Located in Southern Taiwan, Kenting National Park (KNP) was created in 1985 to enforce conservation of terrestrial and marine diversity. Despite implementation of MPAs, many reefs within KNP are now severely degraded under increasing natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Conciliating growing socioeconomic demands with ecological conservation represents a challenge to durably sustain coral reefs. Here, we developed a transdisciplinary approach from socio- ecological surveys to ecosystem modeling to identify keys levers and their potential impact on the overall state of the coral reefs in KNP. Initial assessment of benthic and fish communities was based on > 100 sampling locations through KNP on a three-year period. Additional ecological surveys were seasonally performed at 11 reefs in 2016-2017 to specifically assess impacts of punctual disturbances such as typhoons and bleaching events. State and response of communities was related to water quality surveys including watershed in order to identify potential entrance source of land-based pollution. Eventually, stakeholders were interviewed to determine modality and acceptability of management strategies which were model using Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) and eventually analyze the overall dynamic of the system. At the scale of the all KNP, benthic communities are dominated by turf and macro-algae while hard corals are dominated by stress
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
470 tolerant species. Fish communities are dominated by small size individuals and characterized by low biomass of sessile invertivorous and piscivorous, typical from reefs with high fishery catch. Water quality surveys reveal localized nutrient or sedimentation inputs from land. Stakeholders show strong support for reinforcements of marine police, the establishment of capacity control regulations, and favor establishment of reef conservation funds by setting park entrance fees. Future work will integrate those results together in different climate change scenarios. It will highlight key levers to prioritize in management strategy for building resilient reefs and insure source of income for local stakeholders.
471 Operationalizing Ecological Adaptive Capacity to assess Impacts, Resilience, and Action for Coral Reefs in the Face of Global Environmental Change
Adrien Comte ∗ 1, Linwood Pendleton 1,2
1 Universit´ede Brest, Ifremer, CNRS, UMR6308 AMURE, IUEM, Plouzan´e,France – AMURE : UMR6308, Universit´ede Brest, Ifremer, CNRS, IUEM – UMR 6308 AMURE IUEM Rue Dumont d’Urville 29 280 Plouzan´e- France, France 2 Duke University – Duke University Box 90291 Durham, NC 27708, United States
Coral reefs, already under pressure from local threats (e.g. overfishing, coastal pollution), are one of the socio-ecological systems most vulnerable to global environmental change. Scien- tific indicator-based assessments have been developed to understand changes in socio-ecological systems and guide decision-makers and managers and to monitor and evaluate progress towards environmental management under change. The diversity of the human and ecological states of coral reefs requires a diverse set of tools and management strategies to best handle the increasing intensity of threats posed by climate change and ocean acidification in specific environmental contexts. Therefore, we propose to continue the integration of resilience and vulnerability frame- works that started with Turner (2010) and Engle (2011). We propose the concept of ”ecological adaptive capacity (EAC)” that defines the maximum potential ecological state of a reef in the ab- sence of local environmental stress. Identifying the EAC of a reef helps to prioritize the potential for improved (i) resilience, (ii) recovery, (iii) ability to avoid losses of ecosystem services (which can require human adaption). To go from theoretical thinking towards operational assessments of EAC and integration of vulnerability and resilience thinking, we attempt to formalize the relationships between the components identified by these two fields. We use participative ap- proaches to incorporate local ecological knowledge to help quantify EAC in the context of French Polynesia. The goal of these participative approaches is to engage communities that depend on coral reefs to assess resilience and vulnerability and help public policy plan for adaptation.
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472 H2/ The status and opportunities of marine wildlife tourism
473 A global review of elasmobranch tourism activities, risks and management approaches
Teleah Healy ∗† 1, Andrew Chin 1
1 Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia
Elasmobranch tourism is a highly popularized and rapidly expanding global industry. While this sector may provide community and conservation benefits, it also presents potential risks to focal species and humans. Development of a standardised management strategy that identifies and reduces the risks involved is required to ensure operators are acting accordingly and that potential benefits are maximised. To achieve this, global elasmobranch tourism locations, species and activities, together with information on industry activities, management, and effects were retrieved from extensive Internet and literature research. A total of 42 countries and 49 species of elasmobranch were identified in a wide range of tourist activites. A typology was created to identify the most common activity types undertaken, which were: diving (38%), snorkeling (29%), provisioning (25%), and cage diving (8%). From the information gathered, together with identification of potential hazards, a standardised management strategy was developed using a risk assessment approach. When applied to each activity type, the management strategy was able to reduce risk in each instance. Considering that 32% of the 156 industry activities investigated in this study lacked any form of regulation or management requirements, the management tools developed herein can provide benefits for a range of operators and their associated elasmobranch species. With the elasmobranch tourism industry likely to continue expanding, it is important that appropriate management and regulatory frameworks are in place so that marine wildlife tourism can continue to be an effective conservation tool.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
474 Assessing the dietary effects of white shark cage-diving on target and non-target species using fatty acid profiling
Lauren Meyer ∗† 1, Heidi Pethybridge 2, Peter Nichols 3, Crystal Beckman 4, Barry Bruce 3, Charlie Huveneers 1
1 Flinders University – Sturt Rd, Bedford Park SA 5042, Australia 2 CSIRO – Castray Esplanade, Battery Point TAS 7004, Australia 3 CSIRO – Castray Esplanade Battery Point Tas 7004 Australia, Australia 4 South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) – Hartley Grove, Urrbrae SA 5064, Australia
The Neptune Islands Group Marine Park is home to Australia’s largest aggregation of adult white sharks (Carcharadon carcharias) and the nation’s only white shark cage-diving industry. Here, tourism practices use tuna bait and minced fish (chum/berley) to attract white sharks to within view of the diving cages. However the dietary effects of marine species interacting with the cage-diving industry remain unexplored. Employing fatty acid (FA) profiling of muscle biopsies, commonly used to reveal the trophic interactions between marine organisms, we determined the relative diet profiles for 96 white sharks across periods of residency at the Neptune Islands. The resulting FA profiles showed large variability, and no discernable difference with time spent at the islands. Conversely, FA profiles of silver trevally (Pseudocaranx georgianus), which are observed often feeding on the bait and berley, revealed significant differences between individuals caught at the Neptune Islands (n=70) and where cage-diving does not occur (n=35). Despite a lack of diet shift in the target white sharks, the industry’s effect may be most pronounced on non-target species. These results indicate that the effects of marine wildlife tourism extend beyond the focal species of interest, which is critical information for management regimes that aim to minimise anthropogenic changes from wildlife tourism.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: lauren.meyer@flinders.edu.au
475 Dive tourists’ demand for shark conservation: A travel cost and contingent behavior study
Johanna Zimmerhackel ∗ 1, Mark Meekan 2, Abbie Rogers 1, David Pannell 1, Marit Kragt 1
1 School of Agriculture and Environment, University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Highway Perth WA 6009 Australia, Australia 2 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Perth) – Australian Institute of Marine Science The UWA Oceans Institute (M096) 35 Stirling Hwy Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia, Australia
Diving with sharks is a fast-growing component of the global tourism industry and is par- ticularly common in small island nations of the tropics. However, loss of reef sharks through over-fishing is a key threat to the benefits that these industries provide. Here, we used surveys to examine the economic consequences to the shark diving industry in the Maldives of manage- ment that either protects or fails to protect sharks. We found that increasing shark populations could enhance dive trip demand by up to 15% and raise consumer surplus of the industry by USD 97 million annually. Associated annual economic benefits for the increase in demand could be > USD 3 million. Conversely, a decline in shark abundance, dive tourists observing illegal fishing and/or a lack of dive operator engagement in shark conservation could lower dive trip demand by up to 56% and could reduce the consumer surplus of dive tourists by USD 353 million per year, creating economic losses of more than USD 11 million annually. These results high- light the dependence of economic returns from the shark diving industry in the Maldives on the appropriate management of shark populations. They make a powerful political and economic argument for the creation and enforcement of management regimes that ensure the conservation of sharks and importantly, show that this could increase returns to the industry that might be re-invested to support such initiatives.
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476 Fact or fiction? Influences of fish-feeding activities on fishes and reefs– an application of eco-tourism in coral reefs
Colin Wen ∗ 1, Wei-Chen Tung 1, Anyo Chao 1, Ching-Wei Wang 1
1 Tunghai University – LS024 Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, No.1727, Sec.4, Taiwan Boulevard, Xitun District, Taichung 40704, Taiwan, Taiwan
Intensive tourism activities in nature reserves and national parks may disturb wildlife, one such activity is feeding wildlife. Feeding wild animals have been known to alter their natural behavior and change prey-predator interactions as well as animal-human interactions. It has been believed that fed-fish would change their natural behaviour, lose caution for predators and shift their diet after provisioning. For example, herbivores might change their diet from algae to fish-food and leading to reduced algae consumption and thus higher algal growth. However, very limited studies have documented the above consequences from fish-feeding activities. In this study, we measured the diver-awareness of fishes and their feeding behaviour in popular provisioning sites of Kenting and Green Island, Taiwan. We also compared the coral and algae coverage in the provisioning sites and nearby reefs to evaluate the possible impact from fish- feeding on the benthos communities. We found less than quarter of the fish species were attracted by fish-feeding, and flight initial distance of fed-fish was shorter than that of unfed fish. It suggesting reduced awareness of divers, and maybe predators. For common herbivorous fish – Acanthurus nigrofuscus and Scarus schlegeli, did not change their biting frequency on algae after being fed. We did not find the significant differences in algae coverage between the provisioning sites and nearby reefs. We verified that while fed-fishes display reduced awareness of divers, no consequent benthos change was found. We suggested that fish-feeding when conducted within regulations and well-examined fish-food could provide animal-human interactions and therefore increase the possible protection areas for the marine ecosystem.
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477 Site fidelity of tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier in a feeding site for ecotourism purpose off Tahiti (French Polynesia - East Pacific)
Eric Clua ∗ 1,2, Michel Begue† 2
1 Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE)) – BP 1013, Moorea, 98729 Polyn´esieFran¸cais,French Polynesia 2 USR3278 (CRIOBE) – PApetoai Moorea French Polynesia, French Polynesia
Shark artificial provisioning started to be implemented in French Polynesia around the mid- 80s to compensate the degradation of coral reef landscapes due to hurricane and COTs threats. The lemon shark and the grey ref shark were mainly involved in the process that developped in Moorea island, while tiger shark feeding operations started off Tahiti in 2012 in a site called ”Vall´eeblanche”. A basic monitoring was implemented from the begining that intensified in 2014 with a more acurate methodology in terms of photo-identification and photogrammetry. Since 2011, an average of five diving operators implement two dives per day several days a week, using fish discards and tuna heads in iron cages for attracting the sharks. On the feeding spot, blacktip shark, grey reef shark and Lemon shark are daily observed, in large schools ofr the two first species and several individuals for the former one. Between April 2012 and June 2017, a total of 53 different individuals of tiger shark were documented, composed of only three males and 50 females. Some young animals have a total length < 2-m while the larger one is 4.3-m TL, and the average size between 3.0 to 3.5-m TL. From 2016 to 2017, tiger shark were observed in 87% of the monitoring dives making this diving site one of the most reliable around the world for observing tiger shark. In terms of site fidelity and based on > 300 observations, two animals account for > 100 sightings, six > 50 sightings, 11 > 20 sightings and 17 were seen only once. It is quite common to observe at the same time two individuals on the same day, and up to five together. Ongoing analysis should allow us to present data on individual and collective residency patterns, seasonal trends as well as potential associations between animals. From a statistical point of view, the provisioning process seems to have a strong effect on few animals (mainly females) as the great majority of animals are scarsely seen. A tagging programme should be implemented in order to better assess the spatial attractiveness of the feeding on this specific species.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
478 To feed or not to feed? Artificial feeding affects coral reef fish functions (Aitutaki, Cook Islands)
Natalie Prinz ∗† 1,2, Sebastian Ferse 2, Richard Story 3, Stephen Lyon 4, Sonia Bejarano 2
1 University of Bremen – Bibliothekstraße 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany 2 Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) – Leibniz-Zentrum f¨urMarine Tropenforschung GmbH, Fahrenheitstr. 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany 3 Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) – Moss Rd, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands 4 Pacific Island Conservation Initiative (PICI) – Ara Tapu, Ngatangiia, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Feeding wild animals is a regular habit in ecotourism worldwide, with poorly known con- sequences for ecosystem function. We synthesise for the first time 1) how effective is artificial feeding at attracting reef fishes, 2) which feeding guilds are most attracted, and 3) how are nat- ural levels of corallivory and grazing-detritivory affected. Data were collected in sites where fish are regularly fed bread by snorkelers, and adjacent control sites, where bread was only provided for this study, within the Aitutaki lagoon (Cook Islands). The fish community was censused and feeding rates (bread versus natural food) of two model species (Chaetodon auriga, Ctenochaetus striatus) were quantified. 24% of all species observed across sites were effectively attracted by bread. Fish biomass was significantly higher in feeding than control sites. Taxonomic richness decreased during bread feeding, compared to one hour before and after across sites. Carni- vores and omnivores dominated the community, suggesting concentrated predation pressure. The effect of artificial feeding on natural foraging rates varied between species. C.auriga fed significantly more on bread in feeding sites versus control sites, C.striatus fed less on the ben- thos during feeding events, suggesting an effect on foraging behaviour. Stakeholder interviews revealed that natives favour artificial feeding to improve tourist satisfaction, whereas tourists appreciate snorkeling regardless of artificial feeding. Finding ways for humans to appreciate wildlife closely while causing minimal disruptions is crucial to balance awareness raising and conservation. Future research on fish metabolism and cascading effects on the reef benthos may reveal further negative impacts of artificial feeding.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
479 H3/ Ciguatera fish poisoning in the Indo-Pacific region
480 Applicability of the fluorescent Receptor Binding Assay (RBAf) to the detection of Ciguatoxins in Pacific reef fish.
Taiana Darius ∗† 1, Taina Revel 1, J´erˆomeViallon 1, Jennifer Mccall 2, Ransom Hardison 3, William Holland 3, Patricia Tester 4, Wayne Litaker 3, Mireille Chinain 1
1 Institut Louis Malard´e- UMR 241 EIO, Laboratoire des Micro-algues Toxiques – PO Box 30, 98713 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia 2 Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, – 5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane, Wilmington, North Carolina 28409 USA, United States 3 National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Center for Coastal Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research (CCFHR) (CCFHR (NOAA)) – 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA, United States 4 Ocean Tester, LLC – 381 Gillikin Road, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516, United States
Seafood is a source of both basic nutrition and significant income for many communities in the Pacific region. Unfortunately, many cases of Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) occur every year after eating seafood, including fishes but also marine invertebrates, that have bio-accumulated lipid-soluble ciguatoxins (CTXs) produced by microalgae in the genus Gambierdiscus. Some of the challenges for CTX detection and analysis in seafood are low concentrations (µg/kg) of toxin present that are sufficient to pose a health threat to consumers, toxin integration in complex fish tissue matrix, and the diversity of potential CTX congeners found within a single sample. The fluorescent Receptor Binding Assay (RBAf) is known for its ability to detect brevetoxin standards as well as Pacific CTXs (P-CTX-3C) and was recently applied to detect CTXs in Caribbean fishes.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the RBAf to detect P-CTXs in several in vitro cultures of Gambierdiscus samples as well as in herbivorous and carnivorous fishes collected in different islands of French Polynesia. In addition to the cooking step which is required prior to the extraction step to avoid potential interference of native fluorescence in fish samples with signal to noise ratios of the RBAf, the advantage of a freeze-drying pretreatment was also tested. As fish can represent an extremely complex sample matrix, the impacts of two different chemical extraction protocols and matrix effects have also been explored. Quantifica- tion of P-CTXs in Gambierdiscus and fishes samples by RBAf were similar with toxicity data obtained using the radioactive RBA (RBAr) and/or the Cell Based Assay on neuroblastoma (CBA-N2a). These first results highlights the potential usefulness of the RBAf as a monitoring tool to detect P-CTXs in contaminated algae and Pacific reef fish for Pacific Island Countries and Territories communities known to be highly affected by CFP.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
481 Application of Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) devices for an improved Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) risk assessment
M´elanieRou´e 1, H´el`eneTaiana Darius ∗ 2, J´erˆomeViallon 2, Andr´eUng 2, Cl´emenceGatti 2, D. Tim Harwood 3, Mireille Chinain 2
1 Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement (UMR 241 EIO) (IRD) – PO Box 529, 98713 Papeete - Tahiti, French Polynesia 2 Institut Louis Malard´e, Laboratory of Toxic Microalgae (UMR 241 EIO) (ILM) – PO Box 30, 98713 Papeete - Tahiti, French Polynesia 3 Cawthron Institute – Private Bag 2, Nelson, 7010, New Zealand
Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a food-borne illness caused by the consumption of trop- ical coral reef fish contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTXs), polyether neurotoxins produced by dinoflagellates in the Gambierdiscus genus. Toxic fish appear in perfect freshness, furthermore, CTXs are odorless, tasteless and generally undetectable by any simple chemical test, making it very difficult for consumers to determine if a fish is safe for consumption or not. Since most surveillance programs currently rely on the survey of Gambierdiscus cell densities and species composition, supplementary toxin-based methods allowing the time- and spatially integrated sampling of toxins in ciguateric environments are needed for a more reliable assessment and management of the risks associated with Gambierdiscus proliferation, and to better help local populations to manage CFP risk. Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) technol- ogy use porous synthetic resins capable of adsorbing toxins directly from the water column. The present study aimed at evaluating the ability of these passive monitoring devices to retain Gambierdiscus toxins. Field trials involving the deployment of SPATT filters were conducted in two French Polynesian locations at high (Nuku Hiva) vs. low to moderate (Kaukura) risk of ciguatera. CTXs could be detected in SPATT bags extracts from Nuku Hiva, as assessed by the mouse neuroblastoma cell-based assay (CBA-N2a) and liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry analyses (LC-MS/MS). Furthermore, despite the non detection of maitotoxin (MTX), LC-MS/MS analyses showed that two other compounds also produced by Gambierdis- cus species were retained on SPATT bags, i.e. iso-P-CTX-3B/C and a putative MTX analogue, named MTX-3. This study, the first to demonstrate the suitability of SPATT technology for the in situ monitoring of Gambierdiscus toxins, highlights the potential application of this tool for routine ciguatera risk assessment and management programs.
∗Speaker
482 Ciguatera fish poisoning in the South Pacific: implementation of a regional surveillance network (CIGUA-WATCH PROJECT)
Cl´emenceGatti ∗† 1, Nicolas Ponzo 2, Bruno Jouvin 3, Mireille Chinain 1
1 Institut Louis Malard´e(ILM) – BP30, Papeete 98713, Tahiti, French Polynesia 2 Geonesia – BP 380 462, 98718 Tamanu, Tahiti, French Polynesia 3 Pae Tae Pae Uta (PTPU) – BP 1746, 98713, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP), considered the most prevalent ichtyosarchotoxism related to the consumption of reef fish, represents a major threat for South Pacific populations, given their high dependence on marine resources. The gap of knowledge on the ecophysiology of Gambierdiscus responsible for ciguatoxins (CTXs) production and the lack of a rapid/inexpensive field-detection test, along with the constant evo- lution of ciguatoxic areas, represent a major obstacle for risk assessment, health prevention and local economy sustainability.
Since 2007, French Polynesia has implemented a CFP epidemiological surveillance network, relying on reports by public health medical staff on each CFP case seen in consultation in med- ical structures. This surveillance program is co-managed by Institut Louis Malard´e,a local research institution, and the Public Health Directorate of French Polynesia.
For 10 years, data were collected on paper forms, manually filled in, transmitted by fax or postal mail and stored on a local database. Since 2015, an online CFP declaration system was developed in order to improve and facilitate CFP declaration among medical professionals and general public. This online tool is related to an online database and a real-time CFP risk map, available online in free access 24/24h. This map allows following the evolution of poisoning events, by providing information about date, areas and fish product responsible for human poi- soning.
To date, very few countries dispose of a CFP monitoring system and are not able to quan- tify CFP events or clearly identify toxic species and areas.
The aim of CIGUA-WATCH project is to develop and adapt the existing surveillance tools implemented in French Polynesia for use by New Caledonia, Cook Islands and Wallis & Futuna authorities. In fine, CIGUA-WATCH aspires at building a common database, for improved standardization
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
483 of CFP data collection and data-sharing, and a more reliable risk management of ciguatera at a regional level.
484 Ciguatoxic dinoflagellate densities and the effects of algal biomass and species composition in a Pacific coral reef
Amy Briggs ∗† 1, Craig Osenberg 1
1 Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia (UGA) – 140 E Green St, Athens, GA, USA 30602, United States
Coral reefs around the world experience disturbances such as bleaching events, overfishing, and nutrification, which often facilitate the growth and proliferation of fleshy macroalgae. This macroalgae can host toxic epiphytes such as the dinoflagellates Gambierdiscus, Ostreopsis, and Prorocentrum spp., which have been implicated in ciguatera finfish poisoning (CFP) in people. Previous work has shown that densities of these dinoflagellates vary across different macroalgal hosts. Because macroalgal biomass and species composition can shift on reefs after disturbances, understanding how these factors influence ciguatoxic dinoflagellates is important for anticipat- ing how changing reef communities may affect the incidence of CFP. To investigate whether macroalgal biomass and species composition affect local densities of ciguatoxic dinoflagellates, I conducted a study in Mo’orea, French Polynesia. I tested the hypotheses that: 1) ciguatoxic dinoflagellates have higher densities in patches of certain macroalgal species, 2) these associa- tions vary across dinoflagellate genera, 3) dinoflagellate densities are higher in larger patches of macroalgae; and 4) dinoflagellate densities are greater in multi-species algal patches. I deployed screen collection devices in either algae-free patches, in monospecific patches of Sargassum paci- ficum, Turbinaria hornata, Dictyota bartayresiana, and Amansia rhodantha, or in mixed patches of these species. I sampled five patch sizes for each algal type and quantified densities of Gam- bierdiscus, Ostreopsis, and Prorocentrum in each patch. I also quantified dinoflagellate densities on six macroalgal species collected directly from the reef. I will present my results as well as my plans to explore the spatial scales at which macroalgae affect ciguatoxic dinoflagellates on reefs.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
485 Distribution and diversity of Gambierdiscus spp. and associated levels of ciguatoxins in herbivorous fish from a ciguatera-endemic area in the Cook Islands
Kirsty Smith ∗ 1, Lesley Rhodes 1, Arjun Verma 2, Belinda Curley 3, Gurjeet Kohli 4, Anna Liza Kretzschmar 2, Tim Harwood 1, Sam Murray 1, Teina Rongo 5, Taiana Darius 6, J´erˆomeViallon 6, Mireille Chinain 6, Shauna Murray 2
1 Cawthron Institute (Cawthron) – 98 Halifax St East, Private Bag 2, Nelson, New Zealand 2 Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney – PO Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007, Australia 3 Fisheries Research, Department of Primary Industries – Locked Bag 1, Nelson Bay NSW 2315, Australia 4 Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang Technological University – 60 Nanyang Dr, Singapore 5 Climate Change Cook Islands, Office of the Prime Minister – Private Bag, Avarua, Rarotonga,, Cook Islands 6 Institut Louis Malard´e(ILM) – BP30, 98713, Papeete Tahiti, French Polynesia
Rarotonga (southern Cook Islands) has had the highest reported incidences of ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) globally over the last four decades, although in recent years there has been a sharp decline in reported cases according to hospital records. Reasons for this decrease are unknown but international research has linked CFP with decadal climate oscillations, cyclone frequency and salinity levels. Additionally, small-island nations experiencing extensive CFP may undergo dietary shifts away from reef fish, consequently lowering the number of poisoning events albeit with associated health, economic, and cultural impacts. Alternatively, cases of CFP often go unreported to health professionals. Accurate identification of Gambierdiscus species and knowledge of their associated toxicity in food sources is essential for determining the current risk of CFP in Rarotonga. The aim of this study was to determine the taxonomy and toxicity of Gambierdiscus spp. and the associated levels of CTXs in the next direct trophic level – herbivorous fish. Dinoflagellates were collected from six sites and species were identified via high-throughput sequencing (metabarcoding). Gambierdiscus cells were isolated and cultures established to determine the toxicity of different strains. At each site territorial herbivorous fish (Ctenochaetus striatus) were collected and analysed for CTXs using both a cell-based assay and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. A range of fish species were also collected from the southern side of the island for toxin analyses. Multiple Gambierdiscus species were present at all sites, including two previously undescribed species (G. cheloniae and G. honu) and the known CTX producer, G. polynesiensis. Samples with the highest number of sequence reads identified as G. polynesiensis were from the south east side of the island. More than 90% of the C. striatus
∗Speaker
486 samples contained the dinoflagellate CTX analogue CTX-3b and the highest concentrations were found in fish from the southern side of Rarotonga. Most of the other fish species collected also contained CTXs. Despite the decrease in reported cases of CFP in Rarotonga in recent years, Gambierdiscus species and fish contaminated with CTXs were ubiquitous at all sites around the island. Currently, CTXs in food sources may still pose a health risk to residents of Rarotonga.
487 Distributions and toxin production of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa spp. in the Kingdom of Tonga
Phoebe Argyle ∗ 1,2, Lesley Rhodes 1, Tim Harwood 1, Tuikolongahau Halafihi 3, Kirsty Smith 1, Sam Murray 1, Islay Marsden 2
1 Cawthron Institute (Cawthron) – 98 Halifax St East, Private Bag 2, Nelson, New Zealand 2 University of Canterbury – Private Bag 4800 Christchurch 8140, New Zealand 3 Ministry of Fisheries – Vuna Road Sopu Tongatapu, Tonga
Ciguatera poisoning, an illness caused by bioaccumulation of microalgae toxins, has been observed for many decades in nations around the Pacific. This is the first study of the causative genera, Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa, in the Kingdom of Tonga. Ciguatera has been reported in Tonga for many decades but no research has yet been done into the ecology of the causative microalgae. Data were collected at multiple sites around Tongatapu, Ha’apai and Vava’u Is- land groups in collaboration with the Tongan Department of Fisheries. Ecological surveys were conducted to characterise the different habitats within the site (seagrass, macrophyte, or coral dominant).In addition, water quality measures were taken. To assess the diversity and distribu- tion of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa, microalgae samples were collected from macroalgae and via settlement on artificial substrates. Initial results show both Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa were detected at all sites around Tongatapu using DNA amplification and genus-specific qPCR meth- ods. Further species-specific assays showed multiple Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa species present within sites. Toxin production of clonal cultures established from live isolates was assessed us- ing LC-MS/MS, with 3 species represented. Consistent with prior research, the G. australes isolate produced maitotoxin and maitotoxin-3, with the G. honu and G. pacificus isolates pro- ducing only maitotoxin-3. This research has shown these toxic algae to be more prevalent than anticipated and provides a benchmark for further studies of benthic toxic microalgae in Tonga.
∗Speaker
488 Effects of ciguatoxins accumulation in fish
Mireille Chinain ∗† 1, Cl´emenceGatti 1, Marie-Yasmine Dechraoui Bottein 2, Taiana Darius 1
1 Institut Louis Malard´e(ILM) – BP30, 98713, Papeete Tahiti, French Polynesia 2 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – 4a quai Antoine 1er 98000 Monaco, Monaco
Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP), the most common non-bacterial seafood intoxication glob- ally, results from the consumption of fish contaminated by lipid soluble toxins known as cigua- toxins (CTXs). Analysis conducted in the context of human intoxication incidents or field surveys from CFP hotspots show that wild fish can accumulate very high concentrations levels of CTXs (> 10 ng P-CTX-3C equiv. g-1 of flesh). In French Polynesia, four families of reef fish are primarily implicated in CFP poisoning cases, namely the Scaridae, Acanthuridae, Serranidae, and Lut- janidae, which account for 50% of the 3,618 poisoning cases reported in 2007-2017. However, the existence of spatial differences in fish toxicity within a given species combined with the fact that fish size is not a reliable proxy for toxicity, explain the slow progress currently achieved towards a more reliable management and prevention of CFP risk.
It is well established that algal CTXs undergo biotransformation in fish organisms (oxidative metabolism) as they pass through the marine food chain, leading to more oxidized (and more toxic) forms of CTXs. Still, a popular notion about ciguatera is that ciguatoxic fish in the field do not appear to be harmed by CTXs accumulated (even at high doses) in their tissue, nor can be identified by appearance or behavior. In this presentation, we will review past and recent published data providing evidence that CTXs do have detrimental effects on fish, such as be- havioral abnormalities, skin color variation, histological alterations, developmental toxicity, etc., some of which have given rise to folk tests largely used among many Pacific island communities to detect toxic fish. Such observations open promising research prospects aiming at the identification of potential ciguatera disease markers (transcriptomic signatures) in fish following experimental exposure to ecologically relevant doses of CTXs. Practical examples of this research will be presented further in this session.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
489 Experimental evidence of ciguatoxin continued bioaccumulation in an herbivorous coral reef fish
Rachel Clausing 1, Barbara Losen 1, Fran¸coisOberhaensli 2, Taiana Darius 3, Manoella Sibat 4, Philipp Hess 5, Mireille Chinain 3, Marie-Yasmine Dechraoui Bottein ∗ 1
1 Environment Laboratories (IAEA) – 4a Quai Antoine Ier 98000 Monaco, Monaco 2 Radioecology Laboratory - International Atomic Energy Agency (REL - IAEA) – 4a, Quai Antoine 1er - Principality Of Monaco, Monaco 3 Institut Louis Malard´e(ILM) – BP30, 98713, Papeete Tahiti, French Polynesia 4 Laboratoire Phycotoxines (PHYC) – Institut Fran¸caisde Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la MER - IFREMER, Institut Fran¸caisde Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) – Rue de l’Ile d’Yeu - BP 21105 - 44311 Nantes Cedex 03, France 5 Institut Fran¸caisde Recherche pour lExploitation´ de la Mer - Nantes (IFREMER Nantes) – Universit´e de Nantes, Universit´ede Nantes – Rue de l´Ile dYeu´ - BP 21105 - 44311 Nantes Cedex 03, France
Ciguatoxins (CTXs) produced by dinoflagellates of the genera Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa, are potent lipophyllic neurotoxins responsible of ciguatera poisoning in human. To study CTX trophic transfer we developed an ecologically relevant experimental model of dietary exposure in fish to highly toxic Gambierdiscus polynesiensis. Naso fish were fed a gel-food preparation embedded with the CTX producing cells five days per week for 16 weeks. Measurement of CTX levels in muscle tissue of the exposed fish showed accumulation of CTXs over time and although tissue concentrations appeared to stabilize after 8 weeks, total tissue burden continued to increase linearly as the fish grew. The apparent saturation in concentrations of accumulated toxin in muscle is explained by a pronounced somatic growth dilution (fish biomass increased by roughly 400% in 16 weeks). Toxin consumption caused no obvious intoxication over the 16 weeks period. The observed toxin concentrations, rate of accumulation, and absence of behavioral signs of intoxication are consistent with findings on herbivorous fish in the wild and indicate this labora- tory dietary exposure accurately reflects field conditions and may be useful to develop predictive models of tissue-specific CTX accumulation for human risk assessment.
∗Speaker
490 Identification of Poisonous Fish in Various I Qoliqoli and its Treatment in Fiji
Nanise Tuqiri ∗† 1
1 Ministry of Fisheries, Fiji (MoFi) – P.O Box 3165, Ministry of Fisheries, Lami Station, Suva, Fiji
Fijians are closely associated with the ocean as a major source of food, livelihood and cul- tural resources. Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) is a foodborne illness that exists and occurs in the maritime areas that depend on fish as their major source of protein. The Ministry of Fisheries (MoFi) in Fiji has been collecting qualitative information on ciguatera and related marine biotoxin food poisoning in the I Qoliqoli since 2010 through a structured interview ques- tions prepared by the Pacific Community. The questions are aggregated with the MoFi socio economic survey form on I Qoliqoli fisheries resources survey. Results showed that of 214 of the I Qoliqoli surveyed, 17 have confirmed the frequent occurrence of CFP in their respective customary fishing grounds. A total of 41 species of fish belonging to 22 genera under 21 fam- ilies were identified by locals to have been associated with a biotoxin. The usual symptoms are headaches, muscular and join pain, body ache, tingling in extremities, nausea leading to vomiting and severe diarrhoea. Fijians rely on traditional herbal medicine as treatment for fish poisoning. The common local remedies used by the locals are Cocos nucifera (niu), Pandanceae (vadra), Scaevola taccada (vevedu), Pometia pinnata (dawa), Morinda citrifolia (kura), Ery- thinia speciosa (drala), Musa uranoscopus (soa), and Drymispermum subcordatum (matiyavi). The traditional practises of identifying toxic fish include exposing the fish to flies, feeding the viscera of the fish to cats and dogs, cook the fish with a silver coin (if the colour of the silver turns to black, then the fish has a toxin), boil the fish with coconut flesh (if white flesh turns to black, then the fish has a toxin). The occurrence of fish poisoning is often associated with the Eunice viridis (Balolo) season which occurs in the warmer months from October to November. The locals have also noticed the increase in the number of fish poisoning cases as compared to the past especially the increase in severe cases that leads to death. It appears that CFP is still regarded as low priority because communities rely on traditional knowledge and traditional medicine for its management and treatments.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
491 LC-MS analysis of ciguatoxins from Variola louti collected off the Japanese Waters
Naomasa Oshiro ∗† 1, Hiroya Nagasawa 1,2, Mio Nishimura 3, Kuniyoshi Kyoko 1, Toshiaki Tanigawa 4, Yoshiko Sugita-Konishi 2, Katsunori Tachihara 5, Hiroshi Asakura 1, Takeshi Yasumoto 6
1 National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS, Japan) – 1-18-1 Kamiyoga, Setagaya, Tokyo 158-8501, Japan 2 Department of Food and Life Science, Azabu University – 1-17-71 Fuchinobe, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5201, Japan 3 Graduate School of Science, University of the Ryukyus – 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan 4 Bonins a Pirates – Kiyose, Ogasawara, Tokyo 100-2101, Japan 5 Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus – 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan 6 Tama Laboratory, Japan Food Research Laboratories – 6-11-10 Nagayama, Tama, Tokyo 206-0025, Japan
We analyzed ciguatoxins (CTXs) in fish specimens of Variola louti collected off the Japanese Waters. Standard mix solution of CTXs used for LC-MS/MS was prepared from natural re- sources such as toxic fish specimens and dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus toxicus. And also, the reference materials, Ciguatoxin-1B and Ciguatoxin-3C provided by Japan Food Research Lab- oratory were used for quantitative analysis. CTX1B congeners including CTX1B, 54-epi-52-deoxy-CTX1B and 52-deoxyCTX1B were de- tected from most of the specimens collected off Okinawa and Amami where recognized as CFP endemic area. The levels of CTX congeners were less than LOD in the all specimens obtained from Ogasawara (Bonin). According to interview to residents of the Chichijima a largest island in the Ogasawara, there has been no experience of CFP within the island. LC-MS/MS analyses were also carried out on the samples prepared from several parts of the head and body. Within these samples, the extraocular muscles contained CTXS in two to three times higher concentrations than the other parts of muscles. The profiles of the CTX1B congeners were identical within the individual specimens.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
492 Managing the risk of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning in temperate Australia
Michaela E. Larsson ∗† 1, Martina Doblin 1
1 University of Technology Sydney (UTS) – P.O. Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales, Australia, 2007, Australia
Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) is a human illness caused by the consumption of seafood contaminated with ciguatoxins. CFP has been a problem in tropical Australia for some time, however more recently, there were several outbreaks linked to fish caught in cooler waters, prompting renewed concern. Ciguatoxins are produced by some species from the epibenthic microalgal genus Gambierdiscus. Species from this genus are typically found in tropical environ- ments though in recent years, populations have been documented in more temperate locations. In this study, we used a taxonomic, toxicological and ecological approach to assess the poten- tial of Gambierdiscus to extend its range in eastern Australia and evaluate what this means for managing the risk of human exposure to CFP in more temperate waters. Four species of Gambierdiscus (G. cf. pacificus, G. cf. silvae, G. carpenteri and G. lapillus) were identified from the tropical Great Barrier Reef region of Australia and only G. carpenteri was found at a temperate location. Interestingly, toxin profiling indicated differences between the tropical and temperate populations. Fitness curves across environmental gradients of temperature, salinity and irradiance suggest the distribution of Gambierdiscus is not limited by these abiotic factors, so the current and future species distribution is likely to be determined by other factors. Rafting on detached macrophyte fragments, transported south with the East Australian Current was found to be the likely natural long distance dispersal mechanism aiding extension of the distri- bution into more temperate locations, and successful colonisation was found to only require a single pulse of very few cells.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
493 The risk of ciguatera fish poisoning to New Zealand and its territorial waters and a molecular approach to monitoring
Lesley Rhodes ∗ 1, Kirsty Smith 1, Tim Harwood 1, Sam Murray 1, Rex Munday 2
1 Cawthron Institute (Cawthron) – 98 Halifax St East, Private Bag 2, Nelson, New Zealand 2 AgResearch (AgResearch) – Ruakura Research Centre, 10 Bisley Road, Private Bag 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand
Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) in humans is caused by the consumption of fish contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTXs), which are produced by species of the epiphytic dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus. With rising sea temperatures, it is expected that Gambierdiscus, which is preva- lent in the tropical south west Pacific region, will become established in mainland New Zealand. In recent years Gambierdiscus and CTX-contaminated fish have also been expanding into other more temperate waters (for example, New South Wales, Australia), which adds another factor to the CFP risk. Both traditional methods (microscopy and cell counts) and molecular techniques (qPCR, high-throughput sequencing) are being used to determine the potential risk of CFP occurring in New Zealand. CTXs and maitotoxins produced by Gambierdiscus isolates are be- ing characterised by chemical tests (LC-MS/MS) under development at the Cawthron Institute. The toxicity of Gambierdiscus extracts is also being determined and preliminary results suggest that currently uncharacterised toxin compounds are being produced by some Gambierdiscus species.
∗Speaker
494 Towards a transcriptomic signature of long-term CTX exposure in naso brevirostris
Gregory Nuel ∗ 1, Franck Letourneur 2, Jean-Philippe Jais 3, Fr´ed´eric Tores 3, Marie-Yasmine Dechraoui Bottein 4, Rachel Clausing 4, Andrea Rau 5, Florence Jaffrezic 5
1 Laboratoire de Probabilit´eet Mod`elesAl´eatoires(LPMA) – Universit´ePierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) - Paris VI, CNRS : UMR7599 – 4 place Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France 2 INSERM – Centre de Recherche Inserm – HˆopitalCochin, France 3 Universit´eParis Descartes – Universit´eParis Descartes - Paris 5, Universit´eParis Descartes - Paris 5 – HˆopitalNecker, France 4 Environment Laboratories (IAEA) – 4a Quai Antoine Ier 98000 Monaco, Monaco 5 INRA – Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA) – Jouy-en-Josas, France
The transcriptomic response to ciguatoxins (CTX) exposure has already been studied in murine models and zebrafish embryos. Although the results obtained were quite interesting, these experiments have two important limitations: 1) the considered species do not naturally occur in ciguatera endemic zones; 2) short-term exposure is certainly quite different from what fish experience in the reef. The main objective of our project is to overcome these two limitations by considering long-term feeding exposure in naso brevirostris, a common fish species that is often found with CTX in French Polynesia and is also often used as a food source by the local population. This challenging project has two important scientific and technical obstacles: 1) keeping naso brevirostris alive in a controlled environment (fish tanks) in order to observe toxin effects on fish after feeding them with ecologically relevant doses of CTXs; 2) performing RNA extraction and high-throughput sequencing of the transcriptomic response in various organs for a fish whose closest published transcriptome is the fugu. The first obstacle has been successfully tackled by our IAEA partners in Monaco, whose results will be presented elsewhere. We focus here on the second obstacle.
In our experiment, gill biopsies were obtained from three different fish and immediately conserved in RNAlater (Qiagen). Total RNA was extracted using the RNeasy mini kit and TissueLyzer (Qiagen) following manufacturer recommendations. Quality control realized on a Bioanalyzer 2100 (Agilent) shows RIN values above 7 for two of them and of 5.8 for the third. 600 ng of total RNA were used for each NGS library preparation using the Truseq mRNA kit (Illumina) and paired-end sequenced of libraries was performed with a Nextseq 500. 320 million high quality 75bp reads were obtained for the three samples. Transcriptome assembly and rough annota- tion were performed using the Trinity software suite, a powerful bioinformatic tool based on de Bruijn graphs. Quantitative measurements and QC were consistent with the quality of the RNA samples.
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495 Conclusion: there are no longer any obstacles for proceeding with our transcriptomic analysis of long-term CTX exposure.
496 Understanding the complexities associated with the chemical analysis of ciguatoxins
Sam Murray ∗† 1, Tim Harwood 1, Taiana Darius 2, J´erˆomeViallon 2, Lesley Rhodes 1, Kirsty Smith 1, Rex Munday 3, Mireille Chinain 2
1 Cawthron Institute (Cawthron) – 98 Halifax St East, Private Bag 2, Nelson, New Zealand 2 Institut Louis Malard´e- UMR 241 EIO, Laboratoire des Micro-algues Toxiques – PO Box 30, 98713 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia 3 AgResearch (AgResearch) – Ruakura Research Centre, 10 Bisley Road, Private Bag 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand
Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a major food safety concern that is prevalent around the tropical and sub-tropical islands of the South Pacific Ocean. CFP affects many indigenous populations that inhabit the islands as these communities are intrinsically linked to the reef systems for sustenance and trade. Algae of the epibenthic dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus produces ciguatoxins, which are bioaccumulated and biotransformed up the food web to the higher trophic level fish species often targeted by fisherman. While an array of toxins are produced by these micro-algae, ciguatoxins are thought to be responsible for causing ciguatera. Greater understanding of ciguatoxin production, bioaccumulation and distribution is needed to better manage ciguatera hotspots. In response, there has been an increase in global research activities into ciguatera. One focus area is on improved methods of analysis for ciguatoxins in fish and micro-algae. A variety of techniques currently exist, including in-vitro cell-based assays and chemical analytical methods. Method development and improvements have been severely hindered by the lack of confirmed ciguatoxic fish material and of calibrated reference standards for accurate quantitation. These issues, coupled with extremely complex sample matries and the ultra-sensitivity required, makes the analysis of fish for ciguatoxins extremely challenging. Some improvements have been made to sample preparation protocols and have included various delipidation, liquid-liquid partitioning and solid phase extraction steps. This has resulted in sample preparation methods that involve multiple steps rendering the overall process cumbersome and time-consuming that ultimately results in poor recovery of the ciguatoxins. This presentation will be focused on the chemical analysis of ciguatoxins in fish and micro-algae, outlines where we have identified the current challenges associated with sample extraction and LC-MS/MS analysis, and the key improvements required for trace level quantitation.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
497 I1/ Women in Marine Sciences in the Indo-Pacific
498 A Climate for Change
Gretta Pecl ∗ 1,2
1 Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) – Private Bag 49 Hobart TAS 7001, Australia 2 Centre for Marine Socioecology (CMS) – Private Bag 49, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia
Over the years, my research has shifted from examining specific biological and ecological pro- cesses toward seeking a more integrated and interdisciplinary socio-ecological understanding of natural systems. The questions that inspire and drive me have also changed, becoming broader in nature and more human-focussed. I have also become more interested in the way we collec- tively conduct science and how to facilitate science being a more inclusive endeavour. In terms of my research, this interest manifests via the development and application of citizen science ap- proaches for engagement and monitoring, and in constructing international networks to address scientific questions I believe are important. Inquisitiveness about the way we conduct science has also led to long-standing interest in equity and diversity in science, in actively supporting diverse and flexible career pathways, and in encouraging peer, institute, and community-level discussions about these topics. Whilst women and other minorities are well represented at early career stages, numbers still plummet at professorial levels and there is no simple, quick fix, one-size-fits-all solution to this problem. Although policy change is ultimately required, there are constructive approaches that we can all take to raise the profile of these challenges, support our peers, and improve our local networks. Here, I briefly highlight some challenges of my own chequered career, concentrating on the strategies I think have helped ensure gainful employment (...... most of the time), and on how the support I have been grateful to receive has ultimately helped me have a successful career path. The transition from post-doc to mid-career scientist is a particularly treacherous one for many scientists, and so some aspects I discuss may be relevant regardless of gender. Marine science can be a hyper-competitive and stressful career, but it can also be an amazing journey where we can play a role in discovering the unknown, exploring the world, working with amazing people, and applying scientific knowledge to improve circum- stances and outcomes of natural systems. Openly sharing the twists and turns of our various career paths and providing opportunities to discuss successful strategies can only help improve retention of our talented scientists and increase diversity in science.
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499 Bridging science and art: The importance of visually interpreting and communicating science
Sofia Jain-Schlaepfer ∗ 1,2, Mark Mccormick 1,2, Jodie Rummer 1
1 ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia 2 College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – James Cooke University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
I am a PhD candidate in Marine Biology, but I am also a visual artist. My background in both scientific research and visual arts defines how I see the world and has lead me to noticing a critical issue plaguing science today and potential solutions. The issue is the lack of effective communication between the scientific community and the greater public, policymakers, and reg- ulators, but also within the scientific community, as interdisciplinary research and collaboration become more and more important. Science communication is a growing field, and there are many innovative scientist coming up with effective and creative ways to reach target audiences. But, I would suggest that visual representation is an underused and highly effective tool that sci- entists should consider. Humans are highly visual. Studies suggest that 90% of the information processed by the brain is visual, and visual representations are processed by the brain 600,000 times faster than text alone. Studies have also demonstrated that information represented in symbols or graphics is retained longer than information from text alone. Just as advertisers make use of visual media, I would suggest that if we want our science incorporated into policy, valued by the public, and noticed by peers, we need to add visual representation to our toolkit and start collaborating with designers and artists.
∗Speaker
500 Encouraging Women Scientists to Support Marine Research in Indonesia
Ni Kadek Dita Cahyani ∗ 1,2,3
1 Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center, Bali, Indonesia – Jalan Raya Sesetan Gang Markisa No. 6, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia 2 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA – 610 Charles E. Young Dr. East, Los Angeles, California, 90095, United States 3 Yayasan Biodiversitas Indonesia (Bionesia), Bali – Jalan Sulatri, Gang XII, No. 4, Denpasar Timur, Bali, 80237, Indonesia
Ni Kadek Dita Cahyani is originally from Bali, Indonesia. She is interested in marine biodi- versity research and currently conducting research to measuring genetic diversity of marine life in Indonesia using ARMS (Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure) method. Cahyani believes that research in marine biodiversity in Indonesia is important due to Indonesia’s significant as the center of marine biodiversity. Furthermore, anthropogenic stress, global warming, and overfishing have been threatening this mega biodiversity which requisite more research and bio- diversity assessment to support conservation and policy-making. The challenge for Indonesian marine research is not only the small number of paper published by Indonesian scientist but also the lack of expertise from Indonesian scientist, particularly in the molecular genetic study. As a marine researcher, also a woman and a mother, Cahyani wants to encourage more young scientist especially women to promote Indonesian marine research. At present, there are many women scientist from Indonesia, and they have been giving an enormous contribution to marine research in Indonesia. Notwithstanding, they should be acknowledged in a broader scale by actively engage in international collaboration and share their ideas through conference, seminar and publishing scientific papers in a global scale. By participating in this conference, Cahyani wants to share her experience of being a women scientist from Indonesia. She aspires to meet the leading scientist from around the world and open the opportunity for future research col- laboration and educational program in marine science in Indonesia.
∗Speaker
501 Field surveys, research, and outreach activities for public awareness of the conservation of diadromous fishes
Mari Kuroki ∗ 1
1 Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo – Bunkyo, Tokyo 1138657, Japan
My research career started during a western North Pacific R/V Hakuho Maru cruise in the summer of 2002 to study the Japanese eel spawning area by seeking for tiny eel larvae called leptocephali. I have now joined 18 research cruises onboard Japanese, Indonesian and German research vessels in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and North and South Pacific to study the larval migration patterns and early life-histories of anguillid eels. As a result, I proposed a ”Migration Expansion Hypothesis” about the evolution of the large-scale, thousands-of-kilometer migrations of temperate eels from the small-scale, tens-to-hundreds of kilometer migrations of tropical eels. After my University of Tokyo PhD, I studied salmon life-history and transgenerational otolith marking at the University of Washington, USA, and then I got an assistant professor job at the University of Tokyo Museum. Beside my own work on fish ecology, the Museum’s mission was for communication of scientific knowledge about research frontiers to the public through attractive and innovative methods. We organized an eel exhibition at the University Museum that displayed eel-related items such as museum specimens of all anguillid eel species, eel fishing gear, eel art, research-cruise movies, and historical materials. Special exhibitions were living leptocephali, glass eels climbing up a small fish-ladder, and a silver eel in a swim tunnel. After this exhibition, some contents were packaged and transferred to other museums in Japan, Taiwan and France as mobile exhibitions. I also made lectures at the museum or a public aquarium for educating children up to high school age and their parents about eels and the declining eel resources crisis, which allowed them to touch scientific specimens and communicate with scientists. A public eel symposium is held every year on the special July ”eel day”, and we wrote and edited English books entitled ”Eels on the Move” (2012) and ”Eels and Humans” (2013) that included eel biology, cultural, and social aspects of eels in different countries. I also published a children’s picture book ”An Eel’s Great Voyage” (2014). Such outreach activities are intended to inspire people’s interest in eels, eel conservation, and sustainable use of eel resources.
∗Speaker
502 From cows to marine fishes: discovering anglerfishes, engaging with Indigenous communities, and becoming a leader to female students in STEM
Rachel Arnold ∗ 1
1 Northwest Indian College (NWIC) – 2522 Kwina Road, Northwest Indian College, United States
As a first-generation college student from a small dairy farm in Wisconsin, I received my B.S. in Biology at a university where faculty fostered my passion for ichthyology and took a personal interest in my success. As I became more confident of myself as a female in the sciences, I decided to continue my education and pursue teaching and research. I entered my graduate career at the University of Washington where I studied the evolutionary biology and life history of anglerfishes (Order Lophiiformes). This work took me overseas for the first time, to Australia and then to Indonesia, Saba Island, Japan, and Ghana. Always interested in culture and food, I forged many friendships with the local people and learned knowledge from them that helped me find the elusive anglerfishes. After I received my Ph.D. in 2014, I became research faculty at Northwest Indian College (NWIC) in Washington state. My many, and sometimes hilarious, experiences resulting from being a first-generation college student, and my solo trips overseas that relied heavily on local peoples, especially in the Indo-Pacific, shaped my desire to work with Indigenous students, many of whom are also female and first-generation college students. My primary goal today is to bring research experiences to Indigenous students that are meaningful to them and their tribal communities. These experiences have helped my students think about the long-term health of their resources in the face of global change and given them the skills to become leaders in their communities.
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503 From the tropics to the subantarctic islands: using stereo-baited remote underwater video systems to understand fish ecology and functional diversity
Elisabeth Myers ∗ 1
1 New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University (NZIAS) – Massey University Auckland (East Precinct) Albany Expressway (SH17) Albany 0632 New Zealand, New Zealand
I am a 27-year-old M¯aoriwoman from a small coastal town on the northeast coast of New Zealand, called Tutukaka. Tutukaka is adjacent to the world renowned Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve, where I have spent a lot of time both growing up as a child, and working at for a marine-based tourism company as an adult. I have also worked as a marine biologist for a dive company on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, a marine research assistant at two Western Australian universities, and as an intern within the ichthyology department of the National New Zealand Museum. I completed my undergraduate and honours degrees in marine science at the University of Western Australia, with a semester exchange at James Cook University in Townsville. My work and focus of study have always been on fish ecology, and this has taken me to places such as the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, Ningaloo Reef (Western Australia), Fiji, and the Subantarctic Snares, Auckland and Campbell islands of New Zealand. My honours project used stereo-Baited Remote Underwater Video (stereo-BRUV) systems to study fine-scale patterns in the diel composition of a temperate reef fish assemblage in Western Australia. Currently, I am one year into a PhD at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, looking at how the functional biodiversity of New Zealand’s marine fishes changes with depth and latitude, supervised by Professor Marti Anderson. I will touch on results from these projects and discuss some of my work with fish in remote places around Australia and New Zealand.
∗Speaker
504 Gendered differences in authorship patterns in tropical fish biology
Cynthia Riginos ∗ 1
1 University of Queensland (UQ) – School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Peer-reviewed publications are the primary currency of scientific reputation. With growing awareness that career experiences can differ by gender, quantitative examinations of key career attributes have the potential to reveal systematic disparities and prompt further investigation and discussion. Here, I use publication records from Web of Science and Google Scholar to explore whether author profiles differ by gender within the field of tropical fish biology. The following questions are addressed: How wide is the discrepancy in gender balance among co- authors on typical papers? Are women more likely to be first, second, middle, or last authors? Does publishing longevity differ by gender? Are citations per paper affected by either the number of co-authors or the gender balance of co-authors? How have these patterns changed over time? Finally, I propose that we consider a new metric (the G index) as a measure of gender balance both for evaluating papers and individual career average records of co-authorship.
∗Speaker
505 Home is where the shark is
Ornella Weideli ∗ 1,2
1 PSL Research University, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE (CRIOBE) – Universit´ede Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : USR3278 – 52 Avenue Paul Alduy 66860 Perpignan, France 2 Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) – Rue Philippe Plantamour 20 CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Seychelles, French Polynesia, USA, Bahamas, Mexico, Costa Rica, Fiji, France, Taiwan... The list of countries I’ve been fortunate to study and work with sharks is long and highly versatile. In some of the countries, like the Seychelles, USA, and French Polynesia, I’ve been living up to six months, which allowed me to get to know the environment, the culture and the people I was working with. In other countries, like Costa Rica and Mexico, I’ve only stayed for a week, which required a very fast and straightforward adaption to a new team, a place and the working schedules. To be able to adapt and to feel home wherever I am, is to me one of the most exciting and rewarding feeling that requires a large amount of respect, open-mindedness and tolerance. The world is a fast changing place and the ocean needs now, more than ever, globally-thinking, determined, communicative and passionate women that love the challenge and are able to work in different places to benefit from our globalized world and to reach bigger and more significant aims. With this presentation, I hope to inspire other young female scientists to go out of the comfort zone, start a new project, or a new collaboration. The opportunities and potential international collaborations are numerous, we only need to try hard, be persistent and go for it. The result will be worth it, even if it might mean to learn a new language, a new scientific method, or simply to leave home.
∗Speaker
506 Marine science: a life of adventure?
Emily Fobert ∗† 1
1 University of Melbourne – Melbourne, Australia
I discovered my fascination with the marine environment almost accidentally, as an under- graduate journalism student in landlocked Ottawa, Canada, when a friend convinced me to join her on a coral reef ecology field course in Cuba. I was easily convinced, because it sounded like an adventure. At the age of 22, I was a first-time visitor to the underwater world The field course opened my eyes to a new-found passion for research and exploration, and changed the direction of my life entirely. After completing two undergraduate degrees and a M.Sc. in Canada, I migrated to the ocean for a Ph.D. in marine ecology at the University of Melbourne, Australia, where I refined my passion to encompass larval fish ecology. My interests now fall at the intersection of environmental change and individual variability of marine organisms, primar- ily fishes. As I have seen first-hand how quickly human impacts can irrevocably change a marine ecosystem, I am driven to understand how anthropogenic stressors can impact the behaviour, fitness, and survival of marine fishes, in the hopes of reducing our footprint in the oceans. My current research is on the emerging topic of light pollution in the marine environment, and is focused on the impacts of artificial light at night on reef fish behaviour and fitness. I have continued to chase adventure at every opportunity, and my research has taken me throughout Europe, Australia, Indonesia and French Polynesia. With the current scientific landscape in Australia and around the world, being adventurous and a risk-taker in research is not always easy or supported. However, now, more than ever, we need to keep exploring and discovering.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
507 Marine taxonomist: My Dream, My Journey
Yonela Sithole ∗ 1,2
1 South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) – Private Bag 1015 Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa, South Africa 2 Rhodes University (RU) – Drosty Rd, Grahamstown, 6134, South Africa
I am a black female of 28 years, born and raised in one of the villages in the Eastern part of South Africa. After finishing secondary school I enrolled in a Bachelor of Science majoring in Botany and Zoology. During my final year of study I was accepted for the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) Winter School Programme. As I spent my childhood surrounded by rivers and dams and having been to a disadvantaged university, I was fascinated by collecting fish specimens in estuaries and from the sea for the first time in my life and identifying them was a bonus. It is at this stage where I realised that I want to identify species in future. Unfortunately, after obtaining my undergraduate degree, I could not proceed to post-graduate studies due to financial constraints. After a year of trying to find a job, I was accepted by SAIAB as an intern in Marine Systematics Research. This internship was a stepping stone toward my dream of identifying species as I was working closely with experts in this field. After the internship, I enrolled for an Honours and then a Masters Degree in Ichthyology and Fisheries Science under the supervision of SAIAB marine scientists. For both of my degrees I was investigating the taxonomy of marine fishes using morphology and genetics. I am currently doing an internship at SAIAB but I’m looking forward to starting my PhD in marine taxonomy in 2018.
∗Speaker
508 Ocean-locked: How a girl from the heartland became a marine biologist in the heart of the Pacific
Lillian Tuttle ∗ 1
1 University of Hawai’i at Mnoa (UHM) – 2500 Campus Road Honolulu, HI 96822, United States
I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawai’i at M¯anoa,and received my PhD in Zoology with a minor in Statistics from Oregon State University. I work in the fields of behavioral ecology, community ecology, invasion biology, and conservation. My love for the ocean motivates my personal and professional life, but I was born and raised on a rural farm in land-locked Kentucky. After becoming scuba-certified in a freshwater-filled rock quarry, I could hardly imagine a life spent too long above water. I attended a small liberal arts college and spent my summers as a coastal intern studying fish-parasite ecology. Upon graduating, I was a Fulbright Advanced Student in southern France where I studied immunological ecology of fishes, and was a primary school teacher in rural Kenya. I was fortunate enough to receive a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to begin my PhD. My dissertation investigated how the invasive Indo-Pacific red lionfish (Pterois volitans) affects and is affected by members of a native interaction web of parasites, cleaner fish, and fish hosts on Atlantic coral reefs. My research revealed mechanisms by which lionfish may be successful in their invaded range, including low infection rates and an ability to learn quickly. My goal is to better understand and mitigate human-caused disturbances on coral reefs by studying changes in animal behavior. I also aim to integrate traditional ecological knowledge and modern ecological theory to better manage fisheries that are culturally important to Hawai’i and the greater Pacific region.
∗Speaker
509 Oc´eane,when the name fits the job
Oc´eaneSalles ∗ 1
1 Laboratoire Evolution´ Diversit´eBiologique (EDB) – CNRS : UMR5174 – Universit´ePaul Sabatier Toulouse, France
My connection with the sea started before I was born, my parents named me Oc´eane.My first field work was in my early 6 months in Gruissan beach, where I drank my first cup of sea. Few years later, my father introduced me to fishing and scuba diving. I rapidly realized that there is a whole world under the sea just waiting to be explored and preserved from the inevitable environmental changes. I have made every effort to turn my passion into my professional career. I recently received a PhD from the Practical School of High Studies that focused on whether reef fish populations have the evolutionary potential to adapt to inevitable environmental changes. To answer to this critical question, I worked on 10-year genetic survey of the orange clownfish population at Kimbe Island (Papua New Guinea). Building upon a unique multi-generational pedigree, I used a quantitative genetic approach to measure the heritable variation of fitness, which is the only reliable measure of adaptive potential available in the wild. This approach revealed the low (< 1%) but significant heritability of local fitness (the contribution of an individual to the local replenishment of the population). These results imply that the orange clownfish population has little genetic potential for adaptive evolution by selection. However, genetic variation for fitness is not the only heritable source of adaptive potential. Non-genetic sources of transgenerational inheritances (e.g., ecological niche transmission, epigenetic, social interactions) also exist in nature. I am now in post-doctoral position, working on the non- genetic inheritances of fitness variation. I contributed to the development of a practical guide based on simulated data of mermaids to distinguish genetic and non-genetic causes of phenotypic similarity. I tested this approach on the Kimbe Island orange clownfish population to evaluate alternative sources of adaptive potential in the wild. In parallel to my researches, I am strongly involved in science outreach to share my experiences and my knowledge with children in order to ensure the protection of marine life for future.
∗Speaker
510 Researching the role of marine parks on the Great Barrier Reef: a career overview
April Hall ∗† 1
1 College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University (JCU) – James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Australia
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is an area of outstanding beauty and biology diversity, yet it faces a myriad of human induced threats that have been highlighted more than ever in recent times. My research focusses on the ecological impacts of fisheries on the GBR, and particularly on the use of no-take marine parks zoning as a conservation tool. After completing my undergraduate degree at Griffith University on the Gold Coast, my love of coral reefs then led me to Townsville, where I earned my honours degree and PhD at James Cook University (JCU). My PhD research examined the importance of no-take marine parks in protecting predatory fishes. My passion for marine parks research also led me to Fiji, where I worked with the Society for Conservation Biology examining locally managed marine parks. In January 2017 I welcomed my beautiful daughter into the world, and soon after was awarded an Advance Queensland Early Career Research Fellowship. My ongoing research in this post-doctoral position focusses on the value of partially protected areas (conservation parks) on the GBR in contributing to biodiversity protection. As a young mother, and an early career research scientist, I look forward to connecting with other female scientists during IPFC in the women in marine sciences session. I would take great benefit from engaging with experienced women who are leaders in their field, as well as fellow female early career researchers.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
511 The journey of a latina woman across the Pacific
Maria Del Mar Palacios ∗ 1,2
1 James Cook University – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville QLD 4811, Australia 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, 4811 QLD, Australia
My journey begins in Colombia. I was born in a family of SCUBA diver enthusiasts, which named me Maria del Mar (Mary of the Sea) and raised me inbetween dive tanks and flippers. Not surprisingly, for my 15th birthday I exchanged a pink dress and a latin fiesta celebration for a wetsuit and a diving summer camp. There, I got to see the magic of coral reef fish and fervently decided to study them for the rest of my life. Despite the limitations of being a woman in science in a third-world country, I was determined to get a Marine Biology degree and delve into the complex world of reef fish communities. At the end of 2012, I received PhD scholarships from the Colombian and the Australian governments to study reef fish behaviour and trophic cascades in the Great Barrier Reef. Not thinking twice, I packed my bags and crossed the Pacific. Here, I greatly advanced my professional and personal skills, but more importantly I was inspired by the many women leading cutting-edge research and kicking-ass in the name of science. Now, 15 years after deciding to be a marine biologist, I feel more driven to become a successful researcher and a role model for next generation of women scientist in Colombia.
∗Speaker
512 Today’s women in marine science: diverse leaders, passionate and dynamic communicators
Jodie Rummer ∗ 1
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
My research – identifying and understanding the mechanisms that fish, including sharks and rays, use to acclimate and adapt to environmental stressors – fascinates me and is critically important in the face of large-scale global change. Yet my responsibilities as a scientist go far beyond my experiments. I have come to realize the importance of my visibility and leadership as a successful female marine scientist and communicating my research to the wider scientific community and general public. I believe, ”If you can see it, you can become it.” Women and other minorities are well represented at postgraduate and post-doctoral levels in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, but numbers decline dramatically in academic positions above that. Policy change is needed to fix this problem, and I work to influence that process. I also advocate for women and other minorities in STEM to achieve leadership roles, expand professional networks, and build community locally and internationally. However, efforts toward gender balance and diversity in STEM must start earlier than university. As a visible role model, leader, and science communicator, I can help break down stereotypes and provide a new voice and face for science that encourages long-lasting careers in STEM. Recruiting, supporting, and retaining diversity in STEM leads to happier scientists and better science, which benefits everyone. I also believe that ”Science is for everyone.” I describe my research program as ”athletes in a changing world” - but my athletes are fish. I have found this to be a fun way to connect my research to the general public. And while I publish my findings in high-impact journals and present at conferences, I also prioritize workshops, outreach, and communicating to the public through media releases, interviews, websites, and social media, so that my voice is heard. Cleverly communicating research findings, reaching large, diverse audiences, and conveying passion when I discuss, for example, how climate change will affect ocean health, has perhaps never been more important than it is today.
∗Speaker
513 What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
Isabel Ender ∗ 1,2
1 The Manta Trust – Catemwood House, Corscombe, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 0NT, United Kingdom 2 James Cook University – 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
I grew up on a beach in Senegal, Africa, with my first memories of falling asleep to the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. It was the most beautiful and soothing sound and I am convinced that my love for the ocean began right there. Yet it took me a couple of fun detours in my life until I did a scuba-diving course and re-discovered my passion. I quit my corporate job in the UK and began work as communications officer for the Save Our Seas Foundation. Whilst my M.Sc. in Marketing was ideal for this work, a curiosity emerged within me to better understand the marine science. In 2011, I received a scholarship to complete a second M.Sc. degree in Marine Biology at James Cook University. Driven by a desire to use both my scientific and management expertise for conservation, once graduated I secured a contract with The Nature Conservancy Indonesia. My first publication describes the cetacean diversity in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, highlighting the need to protect their migratory corridors and habitats from oil exploration. From cetaceans I moved to flat sharks, and in 2014 took on the exciting role as Head of Conservation Strategy for the Manta Trust. As part of a team led by the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, I helped to develop a global conser- vation strategy for devil and manta rays, which was published in 2017. This was an incredible learning experience, based on which we created the Manta Trust Global Mobulid Conservation Programme (GMCP) that I coordinate. To date, the GMCP has orchestrated the data collection of mobulid fisheries and trade from twenty-two countries. This was paramount to the successful listing of mobulids on the Conven- tion for the Conservation of Migratory Species and the Convention for International Trade of Endangered Species in 2014 and 2016, respectively. I have worked with governments and com- munities across the Indo-Pacific to support the effective implementation of legislation. Finally, I have become part of a collaborative project with WWF and Project AWARE to develop a Best Practice Guide for shark and ray tourism, which we released in 2017.
∗Speaker
514 White privilege and haole guilt: The advantages and pitfalls of fitting the best-worst stereotype in science
Giulia Anderson ∗ 1
1 University of the South Pacific (USP) – University of the South Pacific Laucala Bay Dr. Suva, Fiji Islands, Fiji
Postcolonial societies across the Pacific vary in their adherence to racial hierarchy and their conservation of indigenous culture. Accordingly, the scientific community within each nation receives professional women differently. Most also consider Caucasian and indigenous women separately. As a white woman raised by a marine biologist in the Pacific (Hawai‘i, the Cook Islands, and Fiji), I have observed numerous systems of interaction between race, gender, socioe- conomic status, and science. In all situations, I enjoy a unique position with access to minority equality efforts, and to white privilege. This is evident in my itinerant childhood, my American education, my return to the Pacific, and my jump from sea cucumber aquaculture to tuna genet- ics during graduate studies. Appreciating the social constructs that enable my career is pivotal to identifying local systematic failures that perpetuate gender and race inequality. Specifically, racial hierarchy perpetuates assumptions of Caucasian professional and educational superior- ity, which applies to women as well as men. Furthermore, local gender protocols are applied inequitably to Caucasian and indigenous women, allowing white women to act un-customarily dominant without direct repercussions. The associated increase in control of data collection results in higher quality and more efficient research. The same uneven social pressure provides white women greater personal freedom to pursue a home life that prioritizes a scientific career, while their peers are often expected to uphold traditional family roles, in addition to professional demands. I wish to draw awareness to these social constructs, and encourage each woman to consciously decide if the system will continue without reform.
∗Speaker
515 Women in Marine Sciences Shirleen Bala Fiji Islands
Shirleen Bala ∗ 1
1 Institute of Marine Resources, University of the South Pacific (USP) – Laucala Campus, Fiji Islands, Fiji
My passion for marine science started when I went for a secondary school biology field trip to a sand bank. I was amazed by all the invertebrates, macro-algae and damsel fish that were on the reef flat. Thus I took marine science degree at USP, and went on to work for the Fiji government’s aquaculture section for four years after which I joined USP as a hatchery techni- cian. While working, I also did part time studies to finish my post-graduate diploma in marine science. In 2007, I got a French Government Scholarship under their Coral Reef Initiative for the South Pacific (CRISP) project. My master’s degree was on capture, culture and release on post larval reef fish in Fiji and I also got an opportunity to learn otolith analysis at IRD New Caledonia, which was funded by the Fiji French Embassy. After studies I joined USP’s Institute of Marine Resources as a Research staff and am still working there now. Under my current occupation I work on various research projects, such as seaweed aquaculture, fisheries inventory surveys, training and workshops. In terms of experience in the Indo-Pacific region, I have travelled to countries such Tonga, Marshall Islands and Vanuatu for workshops and/or research work. Studying and working in this field can be challenging, especially due to the unpredictable nature of the marine environment and we sometimes we have to endure extreme conditions such as cold, heavy rain, rough seas and heat. Juggling between family commitment and work travel can also be challenging, however having support from family makes it easier. The beautiful marine environment, while sandy beaches and snorkeling is what makes me stay involved in marine science. And some of the challenges I see for women in marine science is getting funding for research work or further studies keeping in mind our family/cultural com- mitment. IPFC will also give me an opportunity to learn more about the some of the research being done in the region. It is a great platform for women to express themselves openly and together over come challenges in future.
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516 I2/ Systematic, Taxonomy, Biology, and Ecology of marine and freshwater fishes
517 A Possible Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem Avatar: the Moorea case (IDEA)
Jean-Pierre Barriot ∗ 1,2, Neil Davies 3, BenoˆıtStoll 1, S´ebastienChabrier 1,2, Alban Gabillon 1
1 G´eopˆoledu Pacifique Sud, University of French Polynesia (GePaSUD) – Outumaoro Campus, BP 6570, 98702 Faa’a, Tahiti, French Polynesia 2 Geodesy Observatory of Tahiti, University of French Polynesia (OGT) – Outumaro Campus, BP 6570, 98702 Faa’a, Tahiti, French Polynesia 3 Gump Research Station, University of California, Berkeley (GUMP Station) – Maharepa, Moorea Island, BP 244 - 98728, French Polynesia
High-throughput data collection techniques and largescale (cloud) computing are transform- ing our understanding of ecosystems at all scales by allowing the integration of multimodal data such as physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, fishing, economics and other social sciences in a common computational framework. We focus in this paper on a large scale data assimilation and prediction backbone based on Deep Stacking Networks (DSN) in the frame of the IDEA (Island Digital Ecosystem Avatars) project (Moorea Island), based on the sudivision of the is- land in watersheds and lagoon units. We also describe several kinds of raw data that can train and constrain such an ecosystem avatar model, as well as second level data such as ecological or physical indexes / indicators.
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518 A new family and genus proposed for an undescribed Japanese species of the suborder Zoarcoidei
Gento Shinohara ∗ 1, Munehiro Takami 2
1 Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science (NSMT) – 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0005, Japan 2 School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University – 3-20-1 Orido, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424-8610, Japan
The taxonomic status of Andriashevia sp. (sensu Hatooka and Nakabo, 2013 in Fishes of Japan with pictorial keys to the species) is problematic. The species was first reported in 2009 as a new member of the eelpout genus Andriashevia by Japanese biologists in an improper scientific journal according to ICZN guidelines. The authors included many errors in their de- scription, which was based on 3 specimens captured from deep waters of Sagami Bay, Japan, and incorrectly assigned their new species to Andriashevia due to their inadequate knowledge of the group. We have subsequently collected more than 10 specimens of the species from not only Sagami Bay but also Tokyo and Suruga bays. Our morphological research has revealed that the species has 77-82 spines and 4-6 soft rays in anal fin. These characters indicate that the species is not a member of the family Zoarcidae. Although similar numbers of spines occur in the anal fin of the graveldiver (Scytalina cerdale, Scytalinidae) among the zoarcoids, the unde- scribed species has soft rays in the dorsal and anal fins that are absent in the latter. In addition, several osteological characters differ between the species and S. cerdale. These features indicate that the new species deserves placement in a new family and genus. We also report additional characters (e.g., cartilaginous scales on posterior half of body) that are unique for the family and comment on its behavior observed in an aquarium.
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519 Addressing common criticisms of studies of sexual selection on females using a natural population of live-bearing fish.
Michael Izumiyama ∗ 1, Satoshi Awata 2, Karen Crow† 1
1 San Francisco State University (SFSU) – 1600 Holloway Ave San Francisco, CA 94132, United States 2 Osaka City University (OCU) – 3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
Sexual selection is one of the primary forces driving evolution and has been a subject of intense interest in evolutionary biology. Historically, studies of sexual selection have focused on males, while sexual selection on females has received relatively little attention. This may be due to the fact that sexual selection on females is difficult to detect, owing primarily to two confounding factors: 1) The number of sires (fathers) may be an underestimate of the number of mates, and 2) it is difficult to distinguish between a fecundity trait (e.g. body size) and sexual selection on females. Surfperches (Embiotocidae) are a unique family of fish that provide us with a system that allows us to overcome the criticisms that have so far plagued studies of female sexual selection. Embiotocids have internal fertilization, prolonged gestation, and live birth. Multiple paternity and sperm storage have also been observed in multiple species of surfperches. We, therefore, utilized microsatellites to determine the minimum number of mates in surfperch ovaries throughout the mating season and compared the mean number of mates to the mean number of sires in a brood, thereby directly addressing the first criticism. To address the second criticism, we assigned parentage to broods across females of similar sizes and compared the variation in brood size to determine if an increased number of mates correlates to an increase in fitness (brood size). To our knowledge, this is the first study to address the two most common criticisms attributed to studies of sexual selection on females and will provide insight into the evolution of sexual selection on females, a subject that has been historically difficult to address.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
520 An undescribed species of the genus Pherallodichthys (Gobiesocidae) from southern Japan
Kyoji Fujiwara ∗ 1, Hiroaki Hayashi 2, Hiroyuki Motomura 3
1 The Graduate School of Fisheries, Kagoshima University – 4-50-20 Shimoarata, Kagoshima 890-0056, Japan 2 Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History – 499 Iryuda, Odawara, Kanagawa 250-0031, Japan 3 The Kagoshima University Museum – 1–21–30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890–0065, Japan
The monotypic genus Pherallodichthys Shiogaki and Dotsu, 1983 (type species: P. meshi- maensis Shiogaki and Dotsu, 1983) is characterized by the following combination of characters: three gill arches; gill membrane attached to isthmus; disc double; single row of incisors in each jaw; teeth with rounded tips at symphysis in upper jaw; teeth short and compressed with pos- teriorly hooked tips in sides of upper jaw; mouth small and inferior; two lacrimal and two preopercular canal pores; and no mandibular canal pore. Examination of a large number of specimens currently considered as P. meshimaensis (type locality: Meshima, Danjo Islands, Nagasaki) revealed that it contains two species, P. meshimaensis and Pherallodichthys sp. The anal-fin origin of Pherallodichthys sp. is located more posterior than that of P. meshimaensis: posterior margin of disc and anterior margin of disc region C to anal-fin origin 35.0–39.3% SL and 46.7–50.2% SL, respectively, in Pherallodichthys sp. (vs. 26.9–32.2% and 39.0–45.5%, re- spectively, in P. meshimaensis). Although the snout becomes more pointed with growth in both species, Pherallodichthys sp. possesses more strongly pointed snout, compared with that of P. meshimaensis at the same size. Pherallodichthys meshimaensis is known from the Izu Islands, Kochi, and the East China Sea (Nagasaki and Uji Islands), Japan, whereas Pherallodichthys sp. is recorded from the Ryukyu Islands and Kochi, Japan.
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521 Assessing functional diversity and food web architecture on central Pacific coral reefs with a compound-specific carbon stable isotope approach
Simon Thorrold ∗ 1, Kelton Mcmahon 2, Michael Berumen 3
1 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – 86 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States 2 University of Rhode Island (URI) – Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narrangansett, RI, USA, United States 3 Reef Ecology Lab, Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – KAUST Thuwal KSA, Saudi Arabia
Coral reefs support spectacularly productive and diverse communities in tropical and sub- tropical waters throughout the world’s oceans. Debate continues, however, on the degree to which reef biomass is supported by water column or benthic primary production and recy- cled detrital carbon. We coupled analyses of stable carbon isotopes in essential amino acids with Bayesian mixing models to quantify carbon flow from pelagic primary producers, benthic macroalgae and autotrophic symbionts in corals, along with detrital carbon, to coral reef fishes across several feeding guilds and trophic positions, including gray reef and black tip reef sharks, on reefs in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in the central tropical Pacific. Excel- lent separation in multivariate isotope space among end-members at the base of the food web allowed us to quantify the relative proportion of carbon produced by each of the end-members that is assimilated by focal reef species. Low local human impacts on the study reefs provided the opportunity to examine carbon flux in fully functioning reef food webs, thereby providing an important baseline for examining human impacts in food webs on stressed reefs in more populated regions in the tropics. The study reefs are located along a significant gradient in dissolved N concentrations, allowing us to test if end-member proportions vary as a function of pelagic primary productivity levels. We found that reef food webs in PIPA are highly structured, with surprisingly high functional diversity within our focal feeding guilds. For instance, stable isotope results revealed almost complete separation, and therefore little dietary overlap, among five co-occurring species of Lutjanus on multiple PIPA reefs. Water column productivity con- tributed significantly to gray reef shark biomass at northern but not southern reefs, suggesting a behavioral response to changing prey availability. Alternatively, blacktip reef sharks relied on detrital carbon and carbon fixed by coral symbionts across all PIPA reefs. Our work provide unique visualizations food web architecture on PIPA reefs and the roles that diverse carbon sources may play in the structure, function and resilience of coral reef ecosystems.
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522 Cryptical sex change as a mating tactic in a coral dwelling polygynous damselfish Dascyllus reticulatus
Rei Sakanoue ∗† 1, Yoichi Sakai 1
1 Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University – kagamiyama 1-4-4, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan
The reticulated dascyllus, Dascyllus reticulatus widely occurs on coral reefs of the Indo- Pacific, and is known as a protogynous hermaphrodite (females changing sex to males) through gonad histology of sampling specimens and rearing experiments inducing sex change. How- ever, it has never been revealed how females functionally demonstrate protogynous sexuality in natural conditions. We conducted underwater observations to survey sex change patterns and life-history pathways of D. reticulatus on reefs of Kuchinoerabu-jima Island, southern Japan (30◦28N, 131◦11E) from 2013 to 2017. In each mating group, the largest individuals were al- ways male, while smaller ones were mostly females but including some small males. When large males disappeared, large females often took over the group by sex change with exhibiting male- specific courtship displays with other smaller females. Similar group takeover has often been reported in various protogynous fishes having a socially controlled sexuality. However, this was not the only way in case of D. reticulatus. Some small females were confirmed to cryptically conduct gonadal sex change without exhibiting any male-type sexual behaviors in the group where dominant males or larger females were still present. The 1:1 sex ratio of D. reticulatus population that is unusual in the protogynous fish may be due to often occurrences of the cryptic small males. The damselfish dwells in branching corals, and the shelter-rich habitat conditions potentially interrupt dominant males by strict social control of the sex change of all cohabitants. We predict that cryptic sex changers may gain the probability of the group takeover in future by obtaining faster growth and/or survival advantages.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
523 DNA barcoding of the family Sparidae along the coast of China and revelation of cryptic diversity in the Indo-West Pacific oceans based on COI and 16S rRNA genes
Liu Jing ∗† 1,2, Wu Xiewu 3, Xiao Yong-Shuang 2, Zhang Han-Ran 3, Niu Su-Fang 3
1 Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences – 7 Nanhai Road, QIngdao, Shandong, China 2 Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China – Nanhai Road 7, QIngdao, Shandong, China 3 College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, PR China – Guangdong Province, Zhanjiang city, Hu Guangyan East, China
Fishes of the family Sparidae are of considerable economic importance in marine fishery and aquaculture in China, and the species diversity of this group is considered relatively high. However, the accurate species identification and delimitation of the sparids in China remain unaddressed. In this study, we used mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S) genes to conduct DNA barcoding and species delimitation in eleven species of the family Sparidae from the coastal waters of China. Based on the Kimura-2 parame- ter (K2P) genetic distances, the mean intraspecific/interspecific variation for COI and 16S were calculated as 0.004/0.152 and 0.002/0.072, respectively. All the conspecific individuals formed monophyletic clusters in neighbour-joining (NJ) trees of both markers. An obvious barcoding gap was detectedfor each species, and a common genetic threshold of 1.3% sequence divergence was defined for species delimitation in both markers. Although the sequence variation of 16S was generally lower than that of COI, the results indicated that the species within Sparidae could be effectively and accurately identified and delimited by COI as well as 16S. Thus, we propose thatthe COI gene serve as the standard DNA barcode for sparid fishes, and that the 16S gene could also be an ideal candidate barcode. Moreover, each of the six sparid species (Argy- ropsspinifer, Rhabdosargussarba, Dentexhypselosomus, Acanthopagrus latus, Acanthopagrusaus- tralisand Acanthopagrusberda) showed high intraspecific divergence (> 1.3% genetic threshold) with the remarkable geographic lineages in the Indo-West Pacific oceans. This high divergence supported that unrecognized cryptic species were in this group of fishes. The cryptic diversity revealed in the present study might be primarily attributed to the allopatric divergences caused by the long-term geographic isolation between the Indian and West Pacific oceans or between the opposite sides of the Indian Ocean. The results further suggest that a revision of the taxo- nomic status of these species is required, followed by development of a biodiversity conservation strategy.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
524 Enhancing FishNet2 through FishBase-OBIS Collaboration
Nelson Rios ∗ 1, Henry Bart 1, Nicolas Baily 2, Darren Ficklin 3, Jason Knouft 4
1 Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute (TUBRI) – 3705 Main St., Bldg A3, Belle Chasse, LA 70037, United States 2 FishBase Information and Research Group – Los Ba˜nos,Laguna, Philippines 3 Department of Geography, Indiana University – 701 E Kirkwood Avenue, SB 120, Bloomington, IN-47405, United States 4 Department of Biology, Saint Louis University – 3507 Laclede Ave., St. Louis, MO 63103, United States
FishNet2 is an online, fish-themed search portal which aggregates and indexes data from approximately 4 million lots from the holding of over 70 ichthyological research collections around the world. The portal provides query capabilities across geographic, spatial, institutional and temporal indices. A recent collaborative georeferencing project funded by the National Science Foundation worked to determine spatial coordinates for approximately 1.3 million records within the network lacking latitude and longitude. An ongoing effort known as HydroClim is working to provide monthly streamflow and water temperature predictions for stream sections in all major watersheds across the United States and Canada from 1950-2099 and integrate these data into the FishNet2 network. FishNet2 is in the early stages of a new collaboration involving FishBase and the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) to assume the data-hosting function for ichthyological collections currently in FishBase and to provide fish specimen occurrence records to OBIS. This presentation will provide an overview of all of FishNet2’s capabilities and ongoing activities, with particular emphasis and examples of data and capabilities from the Indo-Pacific region.
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525 Fish Barcode of Life in Argentina
Juan Diaz De Astarloa ∗ 1
1 Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (IIMyC-UNMdP-CONICET) – Casilla de Correo 1260, Correo Central, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Argentina has an area of c.a. 2,8 M km2 and the largest continental shelf in the world, with nearly one million km 2. The fish fauna, both freshwater and marine, comprises about 1000 species. In addition, about 150 species occur in the Argentine Antarctic Peninsula. Since 2006 the active participation of Argentina in the Global Fishbol campaign began. Several Research cruises have been carried out, building a large fish collection throughout the Argentine Sea including coastal waters, the continental shelf and slope. Between 2011 and 2014 Antarc- tic cruises have been added and since 2010 we began sampling in inland waters performing 18 fieldwork trips in 160 different sites. So far, the fish and tissue collection comprise almost 5000 specimens and about 520 species, representing c.a. 47% of the fish species reported for Argentina. Extraction and amplification were performed in two International Barcode of Life reference Lab- oratories in Argentina. Sequencing was performed in Advanced Analysis Center’s Genomics Fa- cility and in the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding (University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada). The Barcode Index Number (BIN) was used to estimate the number of species directly from the barcode records and congruence of these estimates with the distance based and character based approaches were evaluated. The barcodes generated were used to increase the BOLD reference library and to test the im- mensely valuable tool of Barcoding for specific discrimination Argentinean fish. As a result several publications including description of new species and global studies of Barcoding appli- cation to marine and freshwater fishes have been produced.
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526 Fish assemblage structures and environmental conditions in small tidal creeks and tide pools in a mangrove estuary
Kusuto Nanjo ∗ 1, Hiroyoshi Kohno 2, Yoshiro Watanabe 3, Mitsuhiko Sano 4
1 National Fisheries University (NFU) – 2-7-1 Nagata-Honmachi, Shimonoseki 759-6595, Japan., Japan 2 Okinawa Regional Research Center Tokai University (ORRC) – 870-277 Uehara, Taketomi-cho, Yaeyama-gun, Okinawa 907-1541, Japan, Japan 3 Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo (AORI) – 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan, Japan 4 Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo (UT) – 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan, Japan
Intertidal mangrove areas often support large numbers of fish species and individuals com- pared to nearby open mud- or sand-flats. It has been considered that most fishes use mangrove areas at high tide and move to adjacent subtidal habitats at low tides. However, shallow tidal creeks and pools often remain at low tide in mangrove estuaries. Though tidal creeks and pools may provide essential low-tide habitats for small resident fishes such as gobies, fish assem- blages in such microhabitats have little been examined in detail. The present study investigated fish assemblage structures and environmental factors at small tidal creeks and pools within mangrove forests and bare sand-flats in the Urauchi River mangrove estuary, Iriomote Island, southern Japan. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were also analysed to assess the contri- butions of primary producers (i.e. mangrove leaf litter, phytoplankton and microphytobenthos) as food sources for fishes in such microhabitats. A total of 5,285 individual fishes, most of small gobioids, comprising 48 species (12 families) were collected by quantitative sampling. Five small-sized gobiids (i.e. Pandaka lidwilli, Pseudogobius javanicus, Acentrogobius janthinopterus, Favonigobius reichei and Yongeichthys criniger) were dominant. The fish assemblage structures differed significantly among the microhabitats, the mangrove tidal creeks/pools, supporting a more diverse and abundant fish fauna with different species compositions compared with the sandy tidal creeks/pools. A canonical correspondence analysis showed that fishes occurring in the mangrove tidal creeks/pools were positively correlated to mangrove root density and the amount of sediment organic matter, but fishes in the sandy tidal creeks/pools correlated to sed- iment particle sizes. Isotope analyses indicated that fishes in the mangrove tidal creeks/pools depend mainly upon mangrove litter and phytoplankton as food sources, whereas fishes in sandy tidal creeks/pools on microphytobenthos. These results suggested that small tidal creeks and pools function as important microhabitats for small fishes at low tide, and that physical con- ditions such as mangrove root density and sediment characteristics, as well as available food sources, are significant factors determining fish distribution patterns in tidal creeks and pools.
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527 Food web structure analysis of riverine fish community in middle stream of the Ano River, central Japan
Taiga Yodo ∗ 1, Itaru Watanabe 1
1 Mie University – Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University 1577 Kurima-Machiya, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan
Stable isotope (SI) analysis has become popular in the food web study in recent years. Commonly, carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) SI ratios are the indicators of carbon source (producer) and trophic level of each consumer in the food web, respectively. It is well known that food web of river ecosystems are complex and there are many food web studies about upper streams but little is known about middle streams. Furthermore, many omnivorous fishes inhabit simpatrically in middle streams of Japan and their resource partitioning is interesting. Then, we analyzed food web structure of a fish community in middle stream of a small river (ca. 24 km in length) in central Japan. From April 2015 to February 2016, litters, attached algae, filamentous algae, aquatic inverte- brates, and drifting invertebrates were collected at every 2 month and fishes were collected at 3 month intervals. SI ratios of these samples were analyzed by mass spectrometer according to the conventional method. Because the amount of drifting invertebrates was insufficient for the analysis, we estimate the SI signatures from litter’s value. We collected 13 species of fishes belonging to 6 families (Petromyzontidae, Anguillidae, Cyprinidae, Cobitidae, Amblycipitidae, and Gobiidae). Two of these species were carnivorous and another was detritivorous, and the others were omnivorous. In the results of producers, SI signatures of attached algae and filamentous algae were overlapped but showed much higher than litters. In the fishes, unexpectedly, carnivores (Anguilla japonica and Liobagrus reinii) did not show high δ15N suitable for their trophic level. While, detritivorous Letheteron sp. showed particularly low δ13C and δ15N. In omnivorous fishes, Carrasius sp. and Misgurnus anguillicaudatus were assumed that they temporarily visited this area. Among other omnivores and carnivorous Li- obagrus reinii, benthic fishes have higher δ13C and lower δ15N than water-column fishes. These results suggested that SI signatures of fishes in this area are driven not by the degree of carnivory but by the degree of terrestrial invertebrate contribution which derived by their life type.
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528 Freshwater Fishes of China: species diversity, distribution and conservation
Yahui Zhao ∗ 1, Yingchun Xing 2
1 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) – No.1-5 Beichen Xilu Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China 2 Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (CAFS) – Beijing, China
China has exceptional riverine fish diversity and endemism. Chinese freshwater fish fauna is comprised of 1,362 native species, attributed to 303 genera, 47 families, and 17 orders; the majority of species belong to Cypriniformes and Cyprinidae. Of 878 species endemic to China, 161 of 197 threatened species are endemic, with most classified as ‘endangered’ (84 species) or ‘vulnerable’ (68). Species endemism and the number of threatened species correlate positively with species richness. River basin area and length have no direct bearing on either species richness or endemism. The Pearl River was identified as the most species-rich system. It also has the most endemic and threatened fish species. China’s vast size, variable geography, and climate influence patterns in species diversity and endemism. Its freshwater fish fauna is rich and largely endemic and a significant number of these endemic species are threatened. Dam construction, water pollution, overfishing and invasive species pose threats to native biodiversity. National assessment of threatened species is urgently needed. The Yangtze, Yellow and Pearl Rivers require prioritized national protection. Environmental effects of development require serious consideration and, potentially, proactive conservation efforts and mitigation. Development on international rivers needs to consider environmental policies of all countries owning spans of the systems, particularly the wishes and concerns of nations with lower spans of a system.
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529 How many fishes are there in the NZ region and how many can be identified? Recent figures may be 700 species short
Clive Roberts ∗ 1, Andrew Stewart 2, Carl Struthers 3, Jeremy Barker 3, Salme Kortet 3
1 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa – 169 Tory Street, Wellington, New Zealand, New Zealand 2 Andrew Stewart – Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand 3 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa – Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ, New Zealand
Two years ago, all known fishes contained within the outer boundary of the New Zealand EEZ could be accurately identified using the comprehensive four-volume guidebook The Fishes of NZ, published in Nov 2015. In this work, a total of 1262 fish species were keyed, diagnosed and illustrated, but already the published fish fauna has increased to 1289 species, with another 105 species identified just outside the boundary of the EEZ. Fish species new to the fauna are being discovered at a near exponential rate averaging over 10 species/year, with about half new to science. So how many fishes are there in the NZ region? Best estimates indicate that about 40% of the New Zealand fish fauna has yet to be discovered and described. Currently, there is little sign of a decrease in the high rate of discovery, and if this rate continues throughout the twenty-first century, documentation of another 700 fish species is likely. With continued resourcing and active taxonomic research, the diversity of New Zealand fishes may exceed 2000 species by 2100. The implications of our incomplete knowledge of the New Zealand fish faunal diversity is presented.
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530 Integrative research on body nutrition and population density of Chinese marine fishes
Wenhua Xiong ∗ 1
1 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOZ, CAS) – 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China
The life of marine fishes is closely related to many external factors such as food and geog- raphy. Nutritional status is a comprehensive manifestation of the interaction between the body and the habitat. It reflects the ability of fish to meet current and future nutritional needs and is essential for the survival and reproduction of fish. The nutritional status of the assessment is the basis of fish farming, fish population assessment, seedling conservation, prevention and monitoring of disease transmission. By using five nutritional indices (muscle protein concentra- tion, fat content, relative fatness, cleaned carcass index and food content in digestive tract), we investigated body condition of Larimichthys crocea and Larimichthys polyactis, which are en- demic to the coast of the Western Pacific, and mostly distributed along the eastern China coast. In addition, morphological, anatomy, physiology, analytical chemistry and animal ecology were combined to evaluate the nutrient composition and analyze factors that affect nutritional value of these two fishes. The analysis suggested a significant positive correlation between nutritional condition and food abundance, but not significant with population density. Nutrient composi- tion of Larimichthys crocea and Larimichthys polyactis in the East China Sea was better than that in the Bohai Sea. Our findings highlight that food, climate and environment could be the main drivers to the development and adaptation of fishes. This research has been applied in Fisheries and Aquaculture. Correctly assessing the nutritional status of fish is a prerequisite for predicting breeder survival, survival, productivity and estimated nutrient capacity, as well as the basis of fish farming management.
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531 Latitudinal variation in life history traits of Meuschenia scaber (Monacanthidae)
Valerio Visconti ∗† 1, Elizabeth Trip 2, Marc Griffiths 3, Kendall Clements 4
1 University of Auckland – 3a Symonds Street, Thomas North, 1010 Auckland, New Zealand 2 Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) – 322 Hardy St, Private Bag 19, Nelson 7042, New Zealand, New Zealand 3 Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) – PO Box 2526 Wellington, New Zealand 4 University of Auckland – School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand, New Zealand
Species of the family Monacanthidae are found in both temperate and tropical waters, and support growing fisheries in both the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic. In general, monacanthids are characterised by a relatively short lifespan and indeterminate growth patterns, but the life history parameters of most species are poorly understood. Additional interest in studying monacanthid life history traits arises from two aspects of their biology: (1) they represent a major geo- graphically constrained diversification in southern Australia, with over 20 species occurring in temperate reef and seagrass habitats, while over 32 genera occur in Australian waters as a whole, and (2) monacanthids feed selectively on benthic reef biota, and some species have profound ef- fects on this assemblage by removing significant biomass of sponges, ascidians and bryozoans from reef surfaces at intermediate depths. The present study describes geographical variation in life history traits of the leatherjacket Meuschenia scaber, a common Australasian monacanthid. Age-based information was derived from sagittal otolith analysis of 2020 individuals collected between July 2014 and March 2016 in three different regions of New Zealand (Hauraki Gulf, Tasman Bay and Pegasus Bay). Meuschenia scaber displayed significant difference in the growth rate (rVBGF) between sexes and among regions. Spawning occurred from the late austral win- ter to early summer (August–December), and histological analysis of ovaries revealed that M. scaber is an indeterminate serial spawning gonochorist. Sex ratios did not differ much from the expected 1:1 ratio, but varied slightly with depth. This study also revealed that growth in M. scaber is deterministic with limited somatic growth after 4-5 years of life. Meuschenia scaber is the longest-living monacanthid species described so far and possibly the oldest documented for the entire Suborder Balistoidei. Despite the perception that ageing monacanthids is prob- lematical due to difficulties in handling such fragile, small and unusually shaped otoliths and detecting the periodicity of ring deposition, our study provides a clear example of how otoliths of fishes from high-latitude reef systems are suitable for age-based demography studies.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
532 Metapopulation as ”Ichthyological Conservation Unit” for freshwater fishes
Kazumi Hosoya ∗ 1
1 Kindai University (Kindai Univ.) – Nakamachi 3327-204, Nara, Japan
The recognition of conservation unit for the populations is a prerequisite to promote the effective measure to protect the wild endangered species. The idea of ”Metapopulation” sensu Hanski and Gilpin (1997) well matches the conservation unit for freshwater fishes, particularly for the species occurring in the lower reaches of river. It is characterized by spatial structure with hierarchy, viz., Metapopulation, Sub-metapopulation, and Local population. The Metapopula- tion (MP) keeps local endemism by housing the total genomes of a Mendelian group as genetic pool, while the definition about Sub-metapopulation(SMP) is vague, then it should be ignored as far as fish conservation is concerned. As Metapopulation is rigidly confined to a water system by some barriers such as mountains, sea and desert, it is always isolated from another one. This condition results in preserving a monophyletic group like ”Evolutionarily Significant Unit”. Local population(LP) in my sense supposing the non-diadromous freshwater fishes, may be char- acterized as follows.
1. Every habitat type is different depending LP, as such as ponds, pools, irrigation ditches, canals and so on.
2. Population dynamics are independent by LP, and the individuals of each LP doesn’t syn- chronously fluctuate every year in number.
3. Gene frequency is unique depending LP.
4. LPs in neighbor are located a short way off.
5. Vacant habitat is also needed.
As fishes have to migrate to another site only via water throughout life history, the network to link every LP is very important for them. Because the local populations function as genetic drawers within a MP, whose components often interbreed in a spawning ground with each other through network when rivers seasonally overflow as stressed in ”the Flood Pulse Concept” by Junk et al (1989). The system of LP genetically contributes both to diversification of risks to extinction like ”Managing Unit”, and to enhancement of total genetic diversity within a MP. Overall, I propose here, Metapopulation as ”Ichthyological Conservation Unit” for freshwater fishes.
∗Speaker
533 Molecular evidence of several marine fish hybridization cases in the Indo-Pacific region
Song He ∗ 1, Michael Berumen 1
1 Reef Ecology Lab, Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – KAUST Thuwal KSA, Saudi Arabia
Hybridization can be defined as the interbreeding of individuals from two distinct popula- tions/species or groups of populations/species (Harrison and Larson 2014). To date, more than 81 species of tropical coral reef fish in Indian-pacific region have been reported to hybridize in nature, spanning multiple families including the Chaetodontidae, Pomacanthidae, and Labridae (Montanari et al. 2016). Here we present genetic evidence for hybridization cases within the genus Dascyllus, Amphiprion, and Plectropomus. The hybrid individuals represent an exception to the otherwise species-specific haplotypes generated by diagnostic nuclear markers, supporting their cross-breeding identities. These confirmations were supported by subsequent microsatellite analyses and morphological traits. Additionally, mitochondrial DNA revealed the direction of maternal contribution for each of the cases. This talk will focus on the process required to resolve the taxonomic validity of hybrid individuals as illustrated in several case studies. The ecological explanations of these hybridization cases were further explored by combining field observations with molecular evidence. Specifically, the occurrence of the Dascyllus aruanus x D. reticulatus hybrid on the Great Barrier Reef may be an indication of the declining ecosystem health and habitat loss that has escalated in this region in recent years. A similar explanation may be responsible for a recently discovered putative hybridization event between damselfishes within the Red Sea. If habitat loss and species abundances continue to decline, we may expect to see an increasing number of hybridization events in years to come. Confirmation of hybridiza- tion events and identification of nuclear diagnostic markers as tools to study the hybridization process make valuable contributions to our understanding of the role hybridization plays in the evolutionary process and biodiversity in general.
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534 Naturally occurring hybrids of coral reef butterflyfishes have similar fitness compared to parental species
Stefano Montanari ∗† 1, Jean-Paul Hobbs 2, Morgan Pratchett 3, Line Bay 4, Lynne Van Herwerden 5,6
1 AIMS@JCU, Australian Institute of Marine Science, College of Science and Engineering – James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, QLD, Australia 2 Curtin University of Technology [PERTH] – GPO Box U1987 Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia 3 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies – James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, QLD, Australia 4 Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS Townsville) – Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Townsville 4810, Queensland, Australia, Australia 5 James Cook University of North Queensland – Townsville, QLD, Australia 6 Centre for Comparative Genomics, James Cook University of North Queensland – Townsville, QLD, Australia
Hybridisation can produce evolutionary novelty by increasing fitness and adaptive capac- ity. Heterosis, or hybrid vigour, has been documented in many plant and animal taxa, and is a notable consequence of hybridisation that has been exploited for decades in agriculture and aquaculture. On the contrary, loss of fitness in naturally occurring hybrid taxa has been ob- served in many cases. This can have negative consequences for the parental species involved (wasted reproductive effort), and has raised concerns for species conservation. This study eval- uates the relative fitness of previously documented butterflyfish hybrids of the genus Chaetodon from the Indo-Pacific suture zone at Christmas Island. Histological examination confirmed the reproductive viability of Chaetodon hybrids. Examination of liver lipid content showed that hy- brid body condition was not significantly different from parent species body condition. Lastly, size at age data revealed no difference in growth rates and asymptotic length between hybrids and parent species. Based on the traits measured in this study, naturally occurring hybrids of Chaetodon butterflyfishes have similar fitness to their parental species, and are unlikely to supplant parental species under current environmental conditions at the suture zone. However, given sufficient fitness and on going genetic exchange between the respective parental species, hybrids are likely to persist within the suture zone.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
535 Paleo-Drainage Basin Connectivity Predicts Evolutionary Relationships Across Three Southeast Asian Biodiversity Hotspots
Mark De Bruyn ∗ 1, Lukas R¨uber 2, Bj¨ornStelbrink 3, Nathan Lovejoy 4, Sebastien Lavou´e 5, Heok Hui Tan 6, Thomas Von Rintelen 3, Robert Hall 7, Gary Carvalho 8
1 The University of Sydney – School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney NSW 2006, Australia 2 Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern (NMBE) – Bernastrasse, Bern, Switzerland 3 Museum f¨urNaturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, Berlin 10115, Germany 4 University of Toronto – 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, ON M1C1A4, Canada 5 Natural History Museum – Cromwell Road, London, United Kingdom 6 Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum – National University of Singapore, Singapore 7 Southeast Asia Research Group – Royal Holloway University, London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom 8 Bangor University – Deiniol Rd, Bangor LL57 2UW, United Kingdom
Understanding factors driving diversity across biodiversity hotspots is critical for formulat- ing conservation priorities in the face of ongoing and escalating environmental deterioration. While biodiversity hotspots encompass a small fraction of Earth’s land surface, more than half the world’s plants and two-thirds of terrestrial vertebrate species are endemic to these hotspots. Tropical Southeast (SE) Asia displays extraordinary species richness, encompassing four biodiversity hotspots, though disentangling multiple potential drivers of species richness is confounded by the region’s dynamic geological and climatic history. Here, we use multilo- cus molecular genetic data from dense multispecies sampling of freshwater fishes across three biodiversity hotspots, to test the effect of Quaternary climate change and resulting drainage rearrangements on aquatic faunal diversification. While Cenozoic geological processes have clearly shaped evolutionary history in SE Asian halfbeak fishes, we show that paleo-drainage re-arrangements resulting from Quaternary climate change played a significant role in the spa- tiotemporal evolution of lowland aquatic taxa, and provide priorities for conservation efforts.
∗Speaker
536 Phylogeography of the ‘Barbus’ paludinosus species complex across Indian Ocean drainages and endorheic rivers of East Africa
Henry Bart ∗ 1, Dorothy Nyingi 2, Ray Schmidt 1
1 Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute (TUBRI) – 3705 Main Street, Bldg 3, Wild Boar Road, Belle Chasse, Louisiana, United States 2 National Museums of Kenya (NMK) – Nairobi National Museum, Nairobi, Kenya
A study of phylogeorgraphy of populations of the straightfin barb, ‘Barbus’ paludinosus, from Indian Ocean drainage basins and endorheic rivers of East Africa revealed an interesting pattern of genetic divergence, involving two cases in which populations on opposite eastern and western sides of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania form clades with low intra-clade divergences. The two clades themselves are highly divergent, suggesting a long divergence time. One of these clades is sister to a large clade of closely-related populations from Kenya’s major eastern rivers (Athi and northern Ewaso Nyiro) and a minor endorheic river in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Morphological differences between specimens from the divergent clades are slight, and involved characters (a pigmented lateral strips and basicaudal spot) that others have described as ecomorphic. We present molecular and morphological evidence that Kenyan and northern Tanzanian populations of ‘B.’ paludinosus form at least four species, all of which are genetically distinct from populations of ‘B.’ paludinosus from South Africa. We compare morphological variation of Kenyan populations to syntypes of ‘B.’ paludinosus Peters 1852 from Mozambique.
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537 Preliminary study on the species, distribution, and abundance of freshwater eels, genus Anguilla inhabiting rivers in Samoa
Shozo Yamamoto ∗ 1,2, Faamanatuga Itagia Taelega 1, Hitoshi Imai 2, Rilloy Leaana 1, Unity Roebeck 1, Taulapapa Lillian 1, Sesilia Luamanuvae 1, Ulusapeti Tiitii 1
1 Fisheries Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries – Apia 1878, Samoa 2 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – Apia 1625, Samoa
Three types of freshwater eels are found in the rivers of Samoa and are locally called Yellow, Spot, and Black eels. Few studies have been conducted on the eel species inhabiting rivers in Samoa yet. The species, distribution, abundance and feeding habits of eels were studied. The eels were identified using morphological characteristics. Yellow eel was confirmed as Anguilla megastoma, Spot eel as A. marmorata, and Black eel as A. obscura, respectively. Local names represent the characteristics of each species. The presence of three eel species in Samoa is consistent with Ege (1939). The Abundance of eels (number of eels) was surveyed in 6 major rivers and at the Afulilo dam located in the upper basin. The number of eels was estimated by counting eels frantically jumping out from their shelters by using an electric current as a stimulant (electrofishing). The surveys were conducted in the range of 100m to 700m in the river basins. More than 400 eels were recorded in these surveys, and 11 silver eels were sampled. They were considered as A. megastoma and A. marmorata from the mottle and color of their skins. Eel density (number of eels/100m in river basin) was estimated to be 2 to 17 individuals, the mean was 7.8 individuals, and varied depending on each river and its basin. Eel density was higher in large rivers where the water always flows and in deeper sites with many shelters, and was lower in shallow rivers where the water decreases in the dry season and in the sites with high fishing pressure. The density seems to be influenced by the size and structure of rivers, amount of food organisms, and fishery pressure. No eels could be captured in the Afulilo dam. Distribution and stomach contents were examined using eels sampled by spear fishing at Leafe River with high eel density. A. megastoma was found in the upper and fed on nothing. A. marmorata had priority in the middle and fed on Machrobrachium sp. A. obscura was found only in the lower and fed on small shrimps and crabs.
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538 Relationship between otolith Sr/Ca ratio and salinity in western mosquitofish by aquarium experiment
Mariko Takashima ∗ 1, Yodo Taiga† 1, Motoi Yoshioka 1
1 Mie University – Graduate School of Bioresourse, Mie University, 1577, Kurima Machiyacho, Tsu-shi, Mie, 514-8507, Japan
Recently, otolith Sr/Ca ratio analysis has been a common method to reconstruct the environ- mental histories of various species such as diadromous fish. The western mosquitofish Gambusia affinis is a freshwater fish native to North America. They were introduced into numerous coun- tries and have been recognized as one of the most serious invasive alien species. G. affinis is well known for having a salinity tolerance and they often enter or inhabit brackish water areas. We studied the relationship between otolith Sr/Ca ratio and the salinity of mixed seawater and river water by aquarium experiment to test availability for reconstruction of environmental history in G. affinis. Eight fish were marked at the beginning of the experiment by alizarin complexone (ALC) solution and reared in a 7 L aquarium tank under controlled light condition (15L: 9D) and water temperature (24◦C). The rearing water was initially freshwater (0) and exchanged to 5 higher salinity in stages, up to 25 every 7 days. Otolith Sr/Ca ratio was then analyzed from the core to external edge by electron probe microanalyzer. The exterior part of otolith from the ALC mark was regularly divided into 6 with each treatment (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25). The result was that the otolith Sr/Ca ratio of G. affinis was increased by seawater concentration of up to 10. There were significant differences between 0 and all other treatments except for 5. Similarly, significant differences were observed between 5 and other treatments of higher concentrations. However, other combinations (i.e. among treatments higher than 10) were not significant. We suggest that the otolith Sr/Ca ratio can be used as a predictor of freshwater (0) and almost freshwater (5), but it cannot differentiate between brackish water and seawater (if higher than 10) in their environmental history. When applying otolith Sr/Ca ratio analysis in the wild population of G. affinis, it is necessary to consider this restriction.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
539 Sex change, mating system, and effect of population density in reef fish
Tetsuo Kuwamura ∗ 1, Tomoki Sunobe 2, Yoichi Sakai 3
1 School of International Liberal Studies, Chukyo University – 101-2 Yagoto-honmachi, Nagoya 466-8666, Japan 2 Tateyama Station, Field Science Center, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology – 670 Banda, Tateyama 294-0308, Japan 3 Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University – 1-4-4 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan
Hermaphroditism is known from approximately 10% of fish families; we have found evidence in at least 400 species. The evolution of sex change in fish has successfully been explained by the size-advantage model. The model predicts that the direction of sex change in a species is determined by its mating system: protandry (male-to-female sex change) by random mating, protogyny (female to male) by large males’ polygyny, etc. Within a species, however, mat- ing system may change according to population density. Here, we review the relation between density, mating system, and sex change in two families of coral reef fish, Labridae (wrass) and Pomacentridae (damselfish), whose spawning behavior and mating system have been ob- served considerably in the field. Polygyny and protogyny have been reported in many species of Labridae, but in high-density populations, primary males (gonochorists) become predominant. The primary males perform group spawning when small, while large (primary or secondary) territorial males conduct pair spawning. In haremic labrids, facultative monogamy occurs in low-density condition, and widowed males will change back to female when they meet with larger males. In Pomacentridae, monogamous and protandrous anemonefish Amphiprion spp. seldom change sex in high-density populations, because widowed males can move to another sea anemone to acquire a larger mate. Similarly, polygynous and protogynous damselfish Dascyllus aruanus rarely change sex in high-density populations where females can choose mate by moving between corals. In its low-density condition, recent field experiments confirmed that widowed males change back to female, as in the haremic labrids. Among the remaining fish families, only Sparidae incudes all types of the three sexual patterns, i.e., gonochoristic, protandrous, and protogynous species, as in Pomacentridae. Many sparid species are important for commercial fishing, but field observations on spawning behavior have seldom been conducted due to their large body size and large home range, and therefore mating systems are almost unknown. How- ever, we can estimate the relation between sexual patterns and population density in Sparidae by applying the findings of the review of Labridae and Pomacentridae.
∗Speaker
540 Species composition and assemblages of ichthyoplankton during summer in the East China Sea
Han-Yang Lin ∗† 1, Mei-Yun Chiu 2, Yu-Ming Shih 2, I-Shiung Chen 3, Ming-An Lee 4, Kwang-Tsao Shao 2
1 Institute of Marine Science, The University of Auckland – R390 B302, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland Central, Auckland, New Zealand 2 Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica – 128 Academia Road, Section 2, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan 3 Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University – No.2, Beining Rd., Jhongjheng District, Keelung City, Taiwan 4 Department of Environmental Biology and Fisheries Science, National Taiwan Ocean University – No.2, Beining Rd., Jhongjheng District, Keelung City, Taiwan
The East China Sea (ECS) is one of the most important fish spawning and nursery grounds in the north Pacific. Summer is an important spawning season for many fishes in this region, but large-scale and molecular identification studies on ichthyoplankton during this season are few. In this study, we sampled 8,933 fish eggs and 12,161 fish larvae from 25 stations during the summer of 2009. Using DNA barcoding, these fish eggs and larvae were identified and classified into 45 and 124 taxa, respectively. Inshore stations of our survey area were categorized into Changjiang Diluted Water influenced area as having the hydrographic features of low sea surface temperature (SST), salinity (SSS) and high chlorophyll a (SSC) contents, whereas the continental shelf and offshore stations under the influence of the Kuroshio Current displayed the opposite results by using principal component analysis (PCA). Ichthyoplankton was more abundant at the inshore stations than the offshore stations, but species diversity was lower at the former locations. Species compositions of both fish eggs and fish larvae at the 25 stations were categorized into three different assemblages based on a non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis. Combining the assemblage patterns of ichthyoplankton with the results of the PCA and satellite images of SST and SSC showed that the assemblage patterns of fish eggs were correlated with water mass, while those of the fish larvae were not.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
541 Strict pair-bond and stable territories of the vagabond butterflyfish, Chaetodon vagabundus performing spawning migration
Azusa Endo ∗† 1, Yoichi Sakai 1
1 Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University – 1-4-4 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima City Hiroshima, 739-8528, Japan
Chaetodontidae is known for a family including many monogamous species as maintaining the same heterosexual pairs for a considerable duration without showing parental care. Hence, butterflyfishes have a lot of attentions to study mechanisms of the monogamy. However, only a few limited species has been studied in nature regardless of the wide species diversity. In order to approach mechanisms of monogamy, we have been studying social structure of Chaetodon vagabundus on reefs of Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan. The butterflyfishes foraged in heterosex- ual pairs during daytime. Each pair defended feeding territories against conspecifics on the reef flat, and spent most of the daytime for foraging with closer proximity each other. Males tended to spend more time for territorial defense than females in the daytime. At dusk, pairs moved to their own sleeping sites located on reef edges mostly close to their feeding territories. Each sleep- ing site was exclusively used by a pair. Pairs including females developing swollen abdomens showed migrations to spawning site ca. 1.5 km away from their feeding territories at dusk. The migration timing was not synchronized among pairs. The pairs always returned to the same territories on the next morning. No pair changes or no territory losses occurred in spite of the behavioral habits conducting an overnight long-way trip for mating. These results indicate that pair formation directly facilitate cooperative behaviors in the context of the defense of feeding territories and safe sleeping sites in conspecifically dense habitats. Moreover, unpredictability of maturation timing in females and considerable costs in the migration are also assumed to promote continuously strict mate guards in males. We suggest that the costly reproduction form would be an important key for understanding of the monogamy in C. vagabundus.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
542 Subsea petrochemical infrastructure is influencing the abundance and diversity of fish in northern Australia
Todd Bond ∗ 1, Dianne Mclean† 1, Julian Partridge‡ 1
1 The University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Highway Crawley Western Australia 6009, Australia
Subsea infrastructure is widespread throughout many of the World’s territorial seas and much of this is made up of a myriad of pipelines used for the petrochemical industry. The resource rich North West Shelf in Western Australia is no exception, with thousands of kilometers of pipeline linking offshore oil and gas extraction with processing facilities. Increasingly, offshore infrastructure is reaching the end of its productive life and faces decommissioning. Despite this extensive array of infrastructure and the looming schedule of retirement, little is known about the influence this infrastructure has on marine ecosystems. Here, we utilise historical ROV inspection footage from Industry and new stereo-BRUV footage recorded on a pipeline on the North West Shelf. This footage is used to understand how fish are interacting with these structures and their marine growth, and compares it to the fish assemblage in the surrounding areas. Important commercial fish species have higher abundance on the pipeline than in the surrounding areas and interact with the pipeline at different times of the day. Habitat type, habitat structural complexity and the presence, and height of pipeline spans vary greatly, but are important features contributing to the abundance and diversity of fish. Additionally, fish assemblage composition, habitat coverage and pipeline spanning change over time. Our results begin to understand if, what and why fish are interacting with subsea pipelines on the North West Shelf and the importance of subsea pipelines as habitat forming structure in a relatively shapeless fishing ground. This knowledge forms the basis for discussing the decommissioning of pipelines in northern Australia and alternative options to full removal.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected] ‡Corresponding author: [email protected]
543 Taxonomic and ecological studies on Abudefduf caudobimaculatus and Abudefduf vaigiensis (Perciformes: Pomacentridae)
Kunto Wibowo ∗ 1,2, Minoru Toda 3, Shigeru Harazaki 4, Hiroyuki Motomura 5
1 Graduate School of Fisheries, Kagoshima University – 4–50–20 Shimoarata, Kagoshima 890–0056, Japan 2 Research Center for Oceanography, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (RCO-LIPI) – Jl. Pasir Putih I, Ancol Timur, Jakarta 14430, Indonesia 3 Okinawa Churashima Foundation – 888 Ishikawa, Motobu, Okinawa 905–0206, Japan 4 Yakushima Diving Service “Mori to Umi” – 2473–294 Miyanoura, Yakushima, Kumage, Kagoshima 891–4205, Japan 5 The Kagoshima University Museum – 1–21–30 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890–0065, Japan
Abudefduf caudobimaculatus Okada and Ikeda 1939, having long been regarded as a junior synonym of Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy and Gaimard 1825), is herein regarded as a valid species on the basis of examination of the holotype and 77 additional specimens. Abudefduf caudobi- maculatus can be distinguished from A. vaigiensis in having 11–13 (modally 12) dorsal-fin soft rays, 4 scale rows above the lateral line, 2 scale rows between the middle of the spinous portion of the dorsal-fin base and lateral line, 3–4 (4) scale rows on the cheek, scales always present on the anteroventral region of the head, eleventh and last dorsal-fin spines and pectoral-fin length 15.5–18.4%, 17.1–20.6%, and 33.5–39.9 of SL respectively, two black spots on the caudal-fin base, anteriormost bar descending to behind the pectoral-fin base, 0–1 tubed lateral-line scales on the fourth vertical bar, and third to eleventh (usually fifth) dorsal-fin soft ray base at the anterior margin of the fourth vertical bar. Synonymies of A. vaigiensis are discussed and Glyphisodon rahti Cuvier and Valenciennes 1830 (part), Chaetodon tyrwhitti Bennett 1830, and Abudefduf quinquilineatus von Bonde 1934 are herein regarded as junior synonyms of A. vaigiensis. In term of the reproduction behavior, each population of A. caudobimaculatus and A. vaigiensis was observed in the rocky reefs, northern Yaku-shima island, southern Kyushu, Japan. Although male nest guarding was found in both species, A. caudobimaculatus deposits their eggs at the underside of rocks or crevices while A. vaigiensis attaches their eggs on the vertical wall of rocks or dead corals.
∗Speaker
544 Taxonomic revision of shallow-water tonguefishes (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae: Symphurus) from marine waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific
Thomas Munroe ∗ 1, Mao-Ying Lee ∗
2
1 National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (NSL) – National Systematics Laboratory, NMFS/NOAA/OST, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States 2 Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University – Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, Taiwan
Members of the cynoglossid genus Symphurus (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae) occur worldwide in temperate and tropical marine waters ranging from the shoreline to about 1500 m. Many species of Symphurus occur in shallow waters of the New World, but species of this genus are rarely reported from shallow waters in the tropical Indo-West Pacific. Only five species of shallow-water Symphurus have been recorded previously from this region, including S. microrhynchus (Weber, 1913); S. holothuriae Chabanaud, 1948; S. monostigmus Munroe, 2006; S. leucochilus Lee et al. 2014; and S. longirostris Lee et al. 2016. Recent collecting efforts have yielded many more specimens of this genus from marine waters off Japan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Based on their size and morphological features, these specimens were tentatively identified as S. microhynchus because of their overall similarities. However, following more detailed comparisons of specimens from these different areas, minor differences in meristic, morphometric and coloration features were apparent among specimens from each of the different localities. Data from molecular analysis of specimens from Taiwan and Vietnam also supported the conclusion that different species occur in these areas. Using combined evidence from morphological and molecular analyses, specimens previously identified as S. microrhynchus are now recognized as different species. In fact, results of the present study indicate that five undescribed species, all with allopatric distributions, are represented among specimens taken off Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Papua New Guinea. This study focuses on characters to distinguish these new species from each other and from congeners. At least two additional undescribed species, known from a few specimens collected in the eastern Indian Ocean and in the Central Pacific Ocean, are awaiting description until additional material is collected. In discovering the cryptic diversity present among these small-sized tonguefishes, a significant contribution has been made to understanding the biodiversity of shallow-water species of the genus Symphurus inhabiting the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
∗Speaker
545 The importance of habitat connectivity and structure on fish biodiversity and assemblages within Samoan mangroves
Joseph Percival ∗† 1, Kiran Liversage 2, Narumasa Tsutsumida 1, Rebecca Stirnemann 3, Schannel Van Dijken 4, Edouard Lavergne 1
1 Kyoto University – Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan 2 University of Tartu – Ulikooli¨ 18, 50090 TARTU, Estonia 3 Australian National University – Canberra ACT 0200, Australia, Australia 4 Conservation International – Vailima, Apia, Samoa
Mangroves are important sources of biodiversity and play a critical role in supporting the various life-history stages of many estuarine and marine fish species. Effective management and protection of mangroves are necessary to ensure that these benefits are maintained. It is well known that heterogeneity in seascape structure, such as patch area, diversity, and proximity to other habitats, has important influences on marine fauna; however studies with respect to fish communities within mangroves, especially in the South Pacific, are lacking. In order to facilitate the conservation of, and management decisions about mangroves, it is essential that practitioners and researchers understand how the spatial structure of mangroves in the larger seascape context influences the fish communities that inhabit them. The main objective of this research was to quantify the contribution of mangrove patch dynamics and habitat connectivity towards the assemblage structure and diversity of fishes within Samoan mangroves. A total of ten estuarine and non-estuarine mangroves were studied across Samoa using fish surveys and remote sensing of large-scale habitat structure. Fish populations were surveyed using underwater visual census and casting nets. Fishes were taxonomically identified, and their fork length and geographical location were recorded. Mangrove forest structure was observed by satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle sensors to describe mangrove patch area and density, canopy structure, tidal influence, and distance to neighboring habitats (for instance coral reefs, seagrass beds, and freshwater environments). Ordination methods, diversity measures, multivariate species- assemblage analysis, and applied hierarchical models were then employed for analyses. Important preliminary findings suggest that fish abundance and diversity within mangroves tend to be positively correlated with mangrove patch area, but negatively correlated with proximity to coral reefs. Distinct assemblage clusters were found based on ordination and multivariate analyses, and these can be explained by mangrove structure, and potential connectivity with nearby coral reef habitat. The results of this study give insight into the relationship between seascape structure and the diversity of fishes within Samoan mangroves and highlight important features that are useful for the management and protection of these important ecosystems.
∗Speaker †Corresponding author: [email protected]
546 Three-dimensional structure, sand particle distribution and building simulation of the ‘mystery circle’ constructed by a pufferfish Torquigener albomaculosus (Tetraodontidae)
Hiroshi Kawase ∗ 1, Ryo Mizuuchi 2, Hirofumi Shin 3, Yuki Kitajima 4, Koh Hosoda 3, Masahiro Shimizu 3, Daisuke Iwai 4, Shigeru Kondo 5
1 Coastal Branch of Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba – 123 Yoshio, Katsuura, Chiba 299-5242, Japan 2 Symbiotic Network Design Laboratory, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University – 1-5 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan 3 Adaptive Robotics Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University – 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan 4 Pattern Measurement Group, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University – 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan 5 Laboratory of Pattern formation, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University – 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
Torquigener albomaculosus males (ca. 100 mm SL) construct a ‘mystery circle’, a nest site surrounded by radially aligned peaks and valleys of approximately two meters in diameter, for reproduction on sandy seabed. The males mate with females on the nest and care for eggs until hatching. Here, we report the answer to the most basic question, ‘How do the pufferfish males construct such a precise geometric pattern?’, together with three-dimensional structure and sand particle distribution of the‘mystery circle’. A three-dimensional structure model of ‘mystery circle’ was built by a photogrammetric range imaging technique, ‘Structure from Motion’ (SfM). The 3-D model created a vertical- and cross-sectional structure of the ‘mystery circle’. Hereby, accurate height of peaks and valleys from seabed, length of outer and inner radius were revealed. Frequent distribution of sand particles of the ‘mystery circle’ differed between two observational sites. On the other hand, most frequently distributed sand particles extracted from valleys and sent to the nest area did not differ between the two sites. Computer simulation suggested that radially aligned peaks and valleys were necessarily formed in following conditions: 1) puffers can recognize the central area; 2) puffers randomly push sand aside from the outside towards the center to make peaks and valleys; 3) puffers do not destroy previously made peaks of more than a certain height. Furthermore, irregular patterns that appear in the central area before mating were also formed by the same algorithm.
∗Speaker
547 Tidal pool fish diversity of Jeju Island, Korea
Hyuck Joon Kwun ∗ 1, Jinsoon Park 1, Hye Seon Kim 1, Ju-Hee Kim 1, Hyo-Seon Park 1
1 National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea (MABIK) – 75, 101 Jangsan-ro, Janghang-eup, Seocheon-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea
The species diversity of tidal pool fish on the coasts of Jeju Island was investigated by sampling relatively large tidal pools (n=7, 28.3–326.9 in area) in four regions. All 77 species (including two unidentified species) of fishes from 60 genera and 33 families known to occur in tidal pools are recorded. The families with the highest numbers of species are Gobiidae (11), Pomacentridae (eight), Blenniidae (six), and Labridae (five). Seongsan (eastern coast) exhibited the most diverse composition with 55 species, whereas Oedo (northern coast) had the least with 31 species. Twenty-one species occur all around the island and 27 species are registered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. The species richness of Jeju Island is high and these data will contribute to the conservation of fish diversity on the coast of Jeju Island.
∗Speaker
548 Author Index
Baitaliuk, Aleksei, 343 (DIPnet), Diversity of the Indo-Pacific Network, Baje, Leontine, 299 80 Baker, Ron, 117 Ozkundakci,¨ Deniz, 246 Bala, Shirleen, 486 Akerlund,˚ Carolina, 352, 353, 357, 359 Balawa, Asakaia, 431 Aase, Johnny, 125 Ballesta, Laurent, 280 Abesamis, Rene, 133, 231 Bambridge, Tamatoa, 436 Acou, Anthony, 308, 315, 317, 321 Bannikov, Alexander, 108 Acuna, David, 296 Barker, Jeremy, 87, 500 Adam, Thomas, 425 Barmintseva, Anna,5,8 Adams, Kye, 287 Barreto, Helena, 105 Adams, Mark, 50 Barrett, Luke, 362 Afanasiev, Pavel, 341 Barrett, Neville, 335 Afonso, Pedro, 271 Barriot, Jean-Pierre, 488 Aguilera, Orangel, 420 Bart, Henry, 495, 507 Aguirre, David, 70 Barton, Diane, 22 AKAGAWA, Izumi, 186 Bartossek, Rita, 19, 21 Al Hameli, Shamsa, 253 Bates, Amanda, 414 Al-Mourabit, Ali, 153 Bax, Nicholas, 257 ALAMA, Ulysses, 76 Bay, Line, 505 Alcala, Angel, 231 Baziret, Clement, 382 Alfaro, Michael, 26, 103 Beckett, Hermione,4, 13, 16 Allan, Bridie, 392 Beckman, Crystal, 445 Allen, Gerry, 50 Beger, Maria, 80, 128, 217 Allgeier, Jacob, 162 BEGUE, Michel, 448 Almany, Glenn, 225, 234 Bejarano, Sonia, 119, 131, 159, 449 Almeida, Eduardo, 437 Beldade, Ricardo, 199, 200, 205, 227, 242, 397, Alvarado Bremer, Jaime, 286 399 Anderson, Giulia, 282, 485 Bellec, Laure, 312 Anderson, Marti, 87, 296, 344 Bellwood, David, 74, 118, 135, 155, 165, 175– Andref¨ouet,Serge, 234 177, 326 Andrews, Kim, 90 Bemis, Katherine, 57 Antunes, Agostinho, 31 Bemis, William, 57 Aoyama, Jun, 321 Bender, Mariana, 89 Appleyard, Sharon, 276 Bennett, Michael B., 271 ARCILA, DAHIANA, 381 Bennett, Scott, 379 Arcila, Dahiana, 20 Bergseth, Brock, 288 Argyle, Phoebe, 458 Berkstr¨om,Charlotte, 352, 353, 357–359, 363 Arnold, Rachel, 473 Bernal, Moises, 401 Asahida, Takashi, 241 Bernardi, Giacomo, 29, 30, 227 Asakura, Hiroshi, 462 Bernardo, Lawrence Patrick, 231 Asch, Rebecca, 387 Berry, Oliver, 257 Atema, Jelle, 229 Bertrand, Joris, 35, 91 Au, Maggie, 355 Bertucci, Fr´ed´eric, 198, 208 Aubin, Joel, 150 Aued, Anaide, 377 549 Augspurger, Jason, 304 Auguet, Jean-Christophe, 183 Awata, Satoshi, 306, 490 BABARAN, Ricardo, 76 Baily, Nicolas, 495 Berumen, Michael, 19, 21, 34, 53, 145, 222, 225, Bshary, Redouan, 180 228, 231, 234, 272, 328, 330, 396, 402, Bucol, Abner, 231 492, 504 Buriyo, Amelia, 352, 353, 357, 363 Berumen, Michael L., 395 Burkepile, Deron, 177 Berumen, Michale, 192 Burridge, Christopher, 45 Besson, Marc, 240, 245, 248 Busilacchi, Sara, 293 BETANCUR, RICARDO, 20 Buston, Peter, 124, 229 Betley, Erin, 429 Bustos, Claus, 101 BIENVENU, Jean, 188 Butler, James, 293 Bird, Chris, 80 Byrne, Michael, 285 Bird, Christopher, 41 Byrnes, Evan, 213 Bispo, Regina, 403 Black, Bryan, 372, 384 Cˆot´e,Isabelle, 397 Blandin, Agathe, 399 Cahyani, Ni Kadek Dita, 471 Bode, Michael, 145, 223, 225, 231, 234 Caillon, Sophie, 429 Boerder, Kristina, 147 Caley, Julian, 123 Bohensky, Erin, 295 Callier, Myriam, 150 Bond, Todd, 115, 513 Campbell, Colleen, 272 Bongaerts, Pim, 333 Campbell, Michael, 272 Bonillo, C´eline, 312 Campbell, Stuart, 119 Bonin, Mary, 136, 225 Candido, Davi, 431 Bonsall, Michael, 78 Cantor, Maur´ıcio, 79 Bonzi, Lucrezia C., 395 Capobianco, Alessio, 11, 13 Booth, David, 400, 435 Cappo, Mike, 259 Bourillon, Bastien, 317 Cardoso, Sara, 404 Bouvier, Corinne, 183 Carleton, Karen, 338 Bouvier, Thierry, 183 Carlson, Peter, 167 Bouyoucos, Ian, 255, 411 Carnevale, Giorgio, 13 Bowen, Brian, 86, 90, 224 Carpenter, Kent, 47 Boyle, Kelly, 206 Carpentier, Alexandre, 315, 317, 321 Bradley, Darcy, 279 Carr, Pete, 194 Bradley, Michael, 117 Carter, Chris, 415 Brandl, Simon, 326 Carvalho, Gary, 506 Braun, Camrin, 272 Casas, Laura, 53 Brauner, Colin, 369, 373 Caselle, Jenn, 167 Bravington, Mark, 257 Casey, Jordan, 189 Brazeau, Martin, 10 Castiello, Marco, 10 Bridge, Tom, 332 Catalano, Katrina, 229 Briggs, Amy, 455 Ceccarelli, Daniela, 128 Broadhurst, Matthew, 271 Chˆateau,Pierre-Alexandre, 440 Brooks, Andrew, 425 Chabanet, Pascale, 433 Brooks, Daxton, 196 Chabrier, S´ebastien, 488 Brooks, Edward, 255 Chacin, Dinorah, 352, 353, 357, 359 Brouwer, Stephen, 137 Chakrabarty, Prosanta, 40, 45 Brown, Culum, 213, 216 Chambers, Sherrie, 216 Brown, Joel, 157 Chand, Namrata, 431 Brown, Jonathan, 156 Chang, Yang Chi, 440 Brown, Kelly, 431 Chao, Anyo, 447 Brownjohn, Maurice, 137 Chary, Killian, 150 Brownscombe, Jacob, 255 Cheal, Alistair, 123, 421 Bruce, Barry, 445 Chen, Cerise, 43 Brunnschweiler, Juerg, 276 Chen, Chaolun Allen, 440
550 Chen, I-Shiung, 511 Cowley, Paul, 36 Chen, Wei-Jen, 44 Cowman, Peter, 80, 83, 89, 95 Chen, Yi, 380 Craig, Maddison, 171 Chen, Yun-Ju, 440 Craig, Michael, 72 Chevallier, Damien, 274 Crandall, Eric, 80 Chiarello, Marl`ene, 183 Crandall, Eric D., 41 Chin, Andrew, 252, 292, 294, 299, 444 Crook, David, 22 CHINAIN, Mireille, 453 Crow, Karen, 33, 490 Chinain, Mireille, 451, 452, 456, 459, 460, 467 Cuetos-Bueno, Javier, 116 Ching-Ping, Lu, 286 Cuif, Marion, 237 Chiu, Mei-Yun, 511 Cullman, Georgina, 429 Chiu, Yu-Wen, 440 Curdia, Joao, 53 Chlous, Fr´ed´erique, 114 Curley, Belinda, 456 Choat, Howard, 173 Choat, J., 396 D’Alberto, Brooke, 299 Choat, John, 168 D’Cruz, Ellen, 122, 140 Clark, Malcolm, 340 Dacks, Rachel, 429 Claudet, Joachim, 114, 122, 130, 140, 429, 436 Darius, H´el`eneTaiana, 452 Clausing, Rachel, 460, 465 Darius, Taiana, 451, 456, 459, 460, 467 Claverie, Thomas, 183 Davenport, Danielle, 22 Clements, Kendall, 168, 173, 502 David, Bruno, 246 Clerkin, Paul, 283 David, Lecchini, 240 Clobert, Jean, 227 Davidson, Isla Keesje, 205 Closs, Gerard, 246, 305 Davies, Neil, 41, 488 Closs, Gerry, 304 Davies, Peter, 335 CLUA, Eric, 448 Davies, Wayne, 338, 349 Cochran, Jesse, 272 Davis, Andy, 287 Coelho-Jr., Clemente, 437 Davis, Kathryn, 167 Coker, Darren, 330 Davis, Randall, 260 Cole, Kathleen, 98, 105, 109, 110 Dayal, Roselene, 282 Coleman, Richard, 224 De Brauwer, Maarten, 327 Collier, Kevin, 246 de Bruyn, Mark, 506 Collin, Shaun, 300, 349 de Busserolles, Fanny, 271, 338, 349 Comp`ere,Philippe, 208 De Gracia, Brigida, 420 Comte, Adrien, 442 de Jong, Menno, 32 Connell, Sean, 371, 378, 382, 388 De Montgolfier, Benjamin, 274 Connolly, Rod, 128 Dearden, Richard, 10 Connolly, Sean, 80 DEBITUS, Cecile, 153 Constantine, Rochelle, 219 Dechraoui Bottein, Marie-Yasmine, 459, 460, Conway, Kevin, 324 465 Cook, April, 345 Deck, John, 41 Cooke, Steven, 255, 416 Delrieu-Trottin, Erwan, 25 Cordner, Elisabeth, 193 DeMartini, Edward, 396 Cordova, Justin, 61 Dempster, Tim, 362 Corrigan, Shannon, 23 Denis, Vianney, 440 Cortese, Daphne, 242 Depczynski, Martial, 243, 361, 364 Cortesi, Fabio, 338, 349 Deron, Burkepile, 162 Cosijn, Michaela, 293 Dessier, Aur´elie, 308, 317, 321 Cote, Isabelle, 200 Detta¨ı,Agn`es, 312 Coulson, Peter, 372 Devloo-Delva, Floriaan, 190, 257 Couto, Ana, 394 DIAZ DE ASTARLOA, juan, 496 Coves, Denis, 150 DiBattista, Joseph, 34, 38, 75, 90, 222, 330
551 Diedrich, Amy, 295 Ferraris, Jocelyne, 433 Dillon, Erin, 279 Ferreira, Camilo, 371, 378, 388 Ding, Shaoxiong, 99 Ferreira, Marta, 431 Ding, Wang, 203 Ferse, Sebastian, 131, 159, 449 Doblin, Martina, 463 Ferse, Sebastian C. A., 119 Donahue, Megan, 166 Feunteun, Aurore, 274 Donaldson, Terry, 163 Feunteun, Eric, 308, 315, 317, 321 Donelson, Jennifer, 385, 401, 405–408 Feutry, Pierre, 257 Douglas P., Nowacek, 203 Fiandrino, Annie, 150 Dowton, Mark, 325 Ficklin, Darren, 495 Dubois, M´elodie, 130 Filardi, Chris, 429 Duchemin, Matthieu, 274 Fine, Michael, 208 Duckettc, Drew, 23 Finucci, Brit, 270, 298 Duffy, Clinton, 270, 285, 298 Fisk, Aaron, 190 Dulvy, Nicholas, 256 Fitzgibbon, Quinn, 415 Duncan, Murray, 414 Floeter, Sergio, 79, 83, 89, 95 Dunn, Daniel, 340 Fobert, Emily, 240, 244, 477 DUPAIX, Ama¨el, 188 Fontes, Jorge, 271 Dupuy, Chistine, 321 Fontoura, Luisa, 79 Dupuy, Christine, 315, 317 Fordham, Damien, 374 Dutra, Leo, 431 Fox, Mike, 193 Dwyer, Ross, 217 Fox, Rebecca, 400, 408 Fr´ed´erich, Bruno, 56, 84 Eagle, Janelle, 136 Fran¸cois,Lo¨ıc, 245 Ebert, Dave, 256 Francis, Malcolm, 219, 270, 285, 298 Ebert, David, 61, 283, 301 Franklin, Craig, 217 Egan, Eimear, 313 Frazao-Santos, Catarina, 254 Eggertsen, Linda, 360 Freitas, Rui, 254 Eggertsen, Maria, 352, 353, 357, 359, 363 Friedman, Matt,4,7, 11, 13, 16, 26 El-Sayed, Sanaa, 11 Frisch, Ashley, 225, 288 Eme, David, 87, 344 Fujisawa, Misaki, 185 Emslie, Michael, 123, 421 Fujiwara, Kyoji, 491 Emslie, Mike, 126 Fukui, Yoshino, 68 Ender, Isabel, 291, 484 Fulton, Christopher, 358, 361, 364 Endo, Azusa, 512 Furumitsu, Keisuke, 264 Erbe, Christine, 207 Erdmann, Mark, 219 Gabillon, Alban, 488 Erisman, Brad, 387 Gaertner, Jean-Claude, 71 Escalle, Lauriane, 137 Gaither, Michelle, 32, 41, 80, 90 Eurich, Jacob, 174 Gajdzik, Laura, 84 Ewing, Rodney, 41 Galzin, Ren´e, 51, 71, 188, 423 Eynaud, Yoan, 193 Galzin, Rene, 189 Garc´ıaHerrera, Nur, 159 FABRE, Pauline, 436 Garcia Jimenez, Alberto, 91 Faircloth, Brant, 26 Garcia, Eric, 29 Fairweather, Peter, 164 Garmendia, Vladimir, 160 Fakan, Eric, 417 Garot-Adrian, Cory, 315 Faliex, Elisabeth, 308 GATTI, Cl´emence, 453 Farcas, Adrian, 204 Gatti, Cl´emence, 452, 459 Fauvelot, C´ecile, 237 Gauff, Robin, 159 Feldheim, Kevin, 301 Gazit, Nadav, 429 Fenner, Douglas, 128 Gelcich, Stefan, 114
552 George, Andrew, 48 Hamilton, Trevor, 369, 373 Gerhardt, Karin, 295 Hammer, Michael, 50 Gerlach, Gabriele, 172 Hampton, John, 282 GHAFFAR, Mazlan Abdul, 76 Han, Yu-San, 308 Gibbons, Brooke, 140 Han-Ran, Zhang, 494 Gibbs, Leah, 287 Hanel, Reinhold, 338 Gibson, Claudine, 270, 298 Harasti, David, 335 Gierl, Christoph, 104, 112 Harazaki, Shigeru, 514 Gilbert, Antoine, 419 Harborne, Alastair, 161 Giles, Sam,4,7 Hardenstine, Royale, 272 Gingerich, Philip, 11, 13 Harding, Harry, 199, 202, 210, 397 Gkafas, George, 32 Hardison, Ransom, 451 Glass, Jessica, 36 Harmelin-Vivien, Mireille, 71 Glaus, Kerstin, 276 Harries, Simon, 410 Goatley, Christopher, 175–177, 326 Harrington, Richard, 26, 36 Goetze, Jordan, 122, 140 Harrison, Hugo, 34, 145, 223, 225 Golani, Daniel, 348 Hartog-Burnett, Kynan, 172 Gold, Zachary, 195 Harvey, Euan, 296, 327, 344, 379 Goldenberg, Silvan, 371, 374, 378, 388 Harwood, D. Tim, 452 Gon, Ofer, 347, 348 Harwood, Tim, 456, 458, 464, 467 Goodman, Jane, 305 Hata, Harutaka, 64 Gordeev, Ilya, 341 Hata, Hiroki, 182 Gordon, Luke, 327 Hayashi, Hiroaki, 491 Gordon, Tim, 202, 210 HE, SONG, 504 Gordon, Timothy, 199, 397 He, Song, 222 Goren, Menachem, 348 Healy, Teleah, 444 Gouraguine, Adam, 424 Heenan, Adel, 166 Gourvenec, Susan, 115 Heinrichs, Shawn, 261 Gouws, Gavin, 55, 348 Heintz, Tom, 419 Graham, Nick, 194 helme, herehia, 320 Grandcourt, Edwin, 253 Helvik, Jon Vidar, 349 Grant, Michael, 299 Hemingson, Christopher, 74 Grewe, Peter, 257 Herder, Fabian, 54 Griffiths, Marc, 502 Hernandez-Ortiz, Dalia, 116 Grosell, Martin, 383, 389 Herwata Putra, Mochamad Iqbal, 261 Grulois, Daphne, 237 Hess, Philipp, 460 Grutter, Alexandra, 180 Heuer, Rachael, 383, 389 Gu, Chary Jia-Rui, 355 Heupel, Michelle, 190, 252 Guilhaumon, Fran¸cois, 96 Hewavitarane, Chintaka A., 308 Guillemot, Nicolas, 419 Hickford, Mike, 313 Guillerme, Thomas, 10 Hicks, Andy, 246 Gunasekera, Rasanthi, 257 Higuchi, Takatoshi, 308 Guo, Hongyi, 247 Hillary, Richard, 257 Hills, Jeremy, 431 Hadiaty, Renny, 54 Hilton, Eric, 57, 58, 65 Halafihi, Tuikolongahau, 396, 458 Hing, Martin, 287, 325 Halford, Andrew, 78 Hinz, Hilmar, 424 Hall, April, 141, 284, 481 Hixon, Mark, 281 Hall, Robert, 506 HO, Raimana, 153 Halling, Christina, 352, 353, 357, 359, 363 Ho, Zoe, 355 Halpin, Patrick, 340 Hoban, Michael, 86 Hamilton, Scott, 193 Hobbs, Jean-Paul, 75, 327, 505
553 Hobbs, JP, 34 Jarvis, Matt, 246, 304 Hobday, Alistair, 415 Jasinski, Steven, 15 Hodge, Jennifer, 67 Jeng Ping, Wang, 250 Hodgson, Bruce, 142 JENNAN, Aurel, 188 Hoelzel, A. Rus, 32 Jennings, Simon, 194 Hoese, Douglass, 54 Jentoft, Sissel, 338 Hoey, Andrew, 194, 329, 396, 400, 408 Jing, Liu, 494 Holbrook, Sally, 158, 162, 227, 425, 427 Johanson, Zerina,4 Holdsworth, John, 285 Johnson, Kendall, 28 Holland, William, 451 Jones, Geoff, 145, 174, 223, 227, 234 Holmes, Thomas, 364 Jones, Geoffrey, 136, 225, 228, 332 Holzer, Guillaume, 245, 248 Jordan, Alan, 335 Horie, Taku, 268 Joung, Shoou-Jeng, 267 Horigue, Vera, 133 JOUVIN, Bruno, 453 Hosoda, Koh, 517 Jupiter, Stacy, 429 HOSOYA, Kazumi, 503 Houghton, Leah, 192 Kaartvedt, Stein, 349 Hsu, Hua-Hsun, 267 KAKIOKA, Ryo, 76 Huerlimann, Roger, 190 Kalfatak, Donna, 315 Huertas, Victor, 165 Kaplan, David, 237 Hughes, Lily, 20 Kapur, Maia, 396 Humphrey, Craig, 376 Katayose, Go, 241 Huveneers, Charlie, 164, 280, 445 Kaufman, Les, 193 Huyghe, Filip, 233 Kauwe, Keoni, 24 Hylton, Sarah, 292 Kawakami, Tatsuya, 308 Kawanishi, Ryota, 182 Iacchei, Matthew, 90 Kawase, Hiroshi, 517 Iida, Midori, 306, 307, 311 Keith, Philippe, 312, 315 Illing, Bj¨orn, 413 Keller, Krystle, 215 Imai, Hitoshi, 508 Kerry, James, 180 Ingram, Travis, 304, 305 Kexiong, Wang, 203 Irigoien, Xabier, 349 Kilduff, Liam, 70 Iriogien, Xabier, 53 Killen, Shaun, 242 Isari, Stamatina, 53 Kim, Hye Seon, 518 ISHIKAWA, Satoshi, 76 Kim, Ju-Hee, 518 Itagia Taelega, Faamanatuga, 508 KIMURA, Mizuki, 186 Iwai, Daisuke, 517 Kimura, Seishi, 63 Iwatsuki, Yukio, 47 Kimura, Shingo, 308 Izumiyama, Michael, 490 King, Cragen, 324 Kingsford, Michael, 141, 172, 284 Jaafar, Zeehan, 111 Kitajima, Yuki, 517 Jabado, Rima, 253 Klanten, Selma, 325, 435 Jackson, Gary, 300 Kline, David, 369 Jacob, Hugo, 245, 391 Knott, Nathan, 216, 287 Jadloc, Claro Renato, 231 Knouft, Jason, 495 Jaffrezic, Florence, 465 Kochzius, Marc, 233 Jain-Schlaepfer, Sofia, 417, 470 Kohli, Gurjeet, 456 Jais, Jean-Philippe, 465 Kohno, Hiroyoshi, 497 Jaiteh, Vanessa, 275 Kon, Takeshi, 106 Jakobsen, Kjetill, 338 Kondo, Masashi, 307 James, Nicola, 414 Kondo, Shigeru, 517 Jarrold, Michael, 376 Kortet, Salme, 87, 500
554 Kosaki, Randall, 86 Leung, Priscilla To-Yan, 355 Kotani, Tomonari, 152 Levu, Adi, 431 Koyanagi, Ryo, 307 lewis, sarah, 261 Kraft, Derek, 224, 278 Li, Chenhong, 28 Kragt, Marit, 446 Libby, Liggins, 70 Kretzschmar, Anna Liza, 456 Liggins, Libby, 37, 80, 87, 92, 344 Kroon, Frederieke, 410 Lightfoot, Damien, 19, 21 Krueck, Nils, 139 Lillian, Taulapapa, 508 Kulbicki, Michel, 71, 95, 96 Lin, Chia-Yen, 267 Kuroki, Mari, 308, 317, 321, 472 Lin, Chien-Hsiang, 420 Kuwamura, Tetsuo, 185, 510 Lin, Han-Yang, 511 Kwan, Garfield, 369 Liston, Jeff,9 Kwun, Hyuck Joon, 518 Litaker, Wayne, 451 Kyne, Peter, 256, 257, 270, 298 Liu, Kwang-Ming, 267 Kyoko, Kuniyoshi, 462 Liu, Min, 121, 355 Liversage, Kiran, 516 Lafferty, Kevin, 279 Loffler, Zoe, 329 LAGARDE, Adrien, 439 Loiseau, Nicolas, 71 Laglbauer, Betty, 271 Lombarte, Antoni, 16 Lal, Monal, 282 Loneragan, Neil, 275 Lam, Paul Kwan-Sing, 355 Longo, Gary, 30 Lamb, Robert, 377 Longo, Sarah, 52 Landaeta, Mauricio, 101 Lord, Clara, 312 Langlois, Tim, 115 Losen, Barbara, 460 Langlois, Timothy, 122, 140, 243, 300 Lovejoy, Nathan, 506 Larsen, Thomas, 192 Lovo, Semiti, 431 Larsson, Michaela E., 463 Lowe, Christopher, 167 Last, Peter R., 269 Lowry, Michael, 215 Laubenstein, Taryn, 366 Luamanuvae, Sesilia, 508 Laudet, Vincent, 56, 245, 248 Ludt, William, 45 Lavaki, Krystelle, 431 Lumpkin, Travis, 15 Lavergne, Edouard, 516 Lyon, Stephen, 449 Lavou´e,Sebastien, 506 Lyon, Warrick, 285 Lawrence, Alice, 93 Leaana, Rilloy, 508 M´erigot,Bastien, 71 Lecchini, David, 51, 56, 84, 188, 198, 208, 245, Macdonald, chancey, 332 248, 375, 391, 397 MacNeil, Aaron, 123, 129, 194, 421 Lee, Chun-Hung, 440 MADI MOUSSA, Rakamaly, 239 Lee, Hui-Xian, 269 Madi Moussa, Rakamaly, 433 Lee, Mao-Ying, 515 Madin, Elizabeth, 79, 171, 180 Lee, Ming-An, 511 Maeda, Ken, 307 Legras, Ga¨elle, 71 Maes, Gregory, 190 Lehmann, Robert, 19, 21 Magalhaes, Karine, 437 Leis, Jeffrey, 223, 230 MAI, Tepoerau, 153 Lepoint, Gilles, 84 Maisano Delser, Pierpaolo, 23 Leport, Guillaume, 134 Majoris, John, 229 Leprieur, Fabien, 96 Malmstrøm, Martin, 338 leprieur, fabien, 79 Malone, Margaret, 157 Leslie, Rob, 347 Maltese, Anthony,6 Leslie, Robin, 348 Mandelman, John, 255 Letourneur, Franck, 465 Manjaji-Matsumoto, B. Mabel, 269 Lett, Christophe, 237 Maratrat, Katy, 198
555 Marc-Andr´e,LAFILLE, 149 Metian, Marc, 375, 391 Marcionetti, Anna, 35, 91 Meyer, Carl, 289 Marie, Amandine, 276, 282 Meyer, Christopher, 41, 189 Marquet, G´erard, 315 Meyer, Lauren, 445 Marsden, Islay, 458 Meyers, Megan, 219, 285 Marshall, Justin, 271, 338, 349 Michel, Loic, 84 Marshall, Paul, 114 Michell, Craig, 53, 349 Marthick, James, 257 Michell, craig, 21 Martin, Aliz´ee, 423 michener, Robert, 193 Martin, Tyson, 128 Mihalitsis, Michalis, 155 Mason, Luciano, 223 Miller, David, 19, 21 Mass´e,Lola, 433 Miller, Michael, 319, 321 Masuda, Reiji, 422 Miller, Michael J., 308, 317 Matias, Ambrocio Melvin, 94 Mills, Suzanne, 199, 200, 205, 227, 242, 397, Matis, Paloma, 400 399 Matley, Jordan, 190 Miskiewicz, Tony, 100 Matschiner, Michael, 338 Mitchell, Jonathan, 300 Matsumoto, Akihiro, 268 Mitsuo, Yoshito, 306 MATSUMOTO, Soichiro, 186 Miya, Masaki, 106, 422 Matsunuma, Mizuki, 59 Miya, Tshoanelo, 347 MAWYER, Alexander, 436, 438 Miyagawa-KOHSHIMA, Kazuko, 181 Maxfield, Jessica, 105, 109 Miyahara, Hirokazu, 181 Mazouni, Nabila, 71 Miyamoto, Michael, 99 McAndrews, Ryan, 131 Miyauchi, Shojiro, 152 McCall, Jennifer, 451 Mizuuchi, Ryo, 517 McCarter, Joe, 429 Mochioka, Noritaka, 308 McCauley, Douglas, 279 Mona, Stefano, 23, 25 McCauley, Robert, 207 Monarca, Patrick, 408 McClure, Eva, 180 Moniz, Isadora, 245 McCord, Charlene, 73 Monroe, Alison, 395, 402 McCormick, Mark, 136, 169, 171, 174, 200, 202, Montanari, Stefano, 505 210, 227, 366, 376, 397, 417, 470 Moore, Daniel, 32 McCraney, Tyler, 103 Moore, Glenn, 50, 72, 324 McIlwain, Jennifer, 34, 327 Moore, Jon, 345 McLean, Dianne, 115, 300, 513 Morais, Renato, 118 McMahon, Kelton, 192, 492 Moranta, Joan, 424 McMillan, Peter, 347 Morat, Fabien, 189 McMillan, W Owen, 42 Moritz, Charlotte, 423, 426 McQueen, David, 392 Morrison, Susan, 72 McWilliam, Jamie, 207 Morrongiello, John, 384 Meekan, Mark, 180, 200, 202, 259, 260, 372, Motomura, Hiroyuki, 59, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 76, 397, 446 491, 514 Meeuwig, Jessica, 372 Motson, Katie, 431 Mellin, Camille, 123 MOUILLOT, DAVID, 120 Melo, Marcelo, 346 Mountford, Jessica, 338, 349 Meng, Pei-Jie, 440 Mourier, Johann, 280 Mennesson, Marion, 314, 315 Mugue, Nikolai,8, 343 Mensinger, Allen, 211 Mugue, Nikolay,5 Merchant, Nathan, 202, 204 Mukherji, Sushmita, 299 Mescam, Gauthier, 265 Mumby, Peter, 139 Messmer, Vanessa, 225 Munday, Philip, 19, 21, 136, 366, 367, 376, 385, Metcalfe, Neil, 408 389, 392, 401–403, 405, 406
556 Munday, Rex, 464, 467 Nyingi, Dorothy, 507 Munroe, Thomas, 515 Munsterman, Katrina, 162 O’Connor, Jack, 240 Murakami, Hiroaki, 422 O’Dea, Aaron, 279, 420 Murdy, Edward, 111 O’Donnell, Rory, 399 Murray, Sam, 456, 458, 464, 467 O’Keeffe, Kristine, 435 Murray, Shauna, 456 Oberh¨ansli,Fran¸cois, 375 Musilov´a,Zuzana, 338 Oberhaensli, Fran¸cois, 460 MUTO, Fumihito, 76 Ochavillo, Domingo, 390 MUTO, Nozomu, 76 Ogata, Mizuki, 422 Muto, Nozomu, 62 OGAWA, Kazuhiro, 186 Mwale, Monica, 55 Oguro, Tamaki, 306 Myers, Elisabeth, 87, 344, 474 Okamoto, Makoto, 348 Myers, Robert, 96 Olds, Andrew, 128 Oliveira, Rui, 404 Naboutuiloma, George, 431 Oliveira-Santos, Luiz, 83 Nagasawa, Hiroya, 462 Onda, Hiroaki, 308 Nagelkerken, Ivan, 117, 371, 374, 378, 382, 388 Ong, Joyce, 372 NAKAE, Masanori, 49, 208 Orlov, Alexei, 341, 343 Nakamura, Yohei, 370 Orlova, Svetlana, 341, 343 Nalley, Eileen, 166 Orti, Guillermo, 20 Nanjo, Kusuto, 497 Osenberg, Craig, 455 Nanninga, Gerrit, 222, 225 Oshiro, Naomasa, 462 Nash, Chloe, 73 Otake, Tsuguo, 308, 317, 321 Natasha, Janice, 282 Ou, Michelle, 369, 373 Naylor, Gavin, 23, 251 Ovenden, Jennifer, 22 Nazarkin, Mikhail, 17 Neale, Stephen, 136 Palacios, Maria, 171 Near, Thomas,7, 26, 36, 45 Palacios, Maria del Mar, 169, 482 Neat, Francis, 32 Pannell, David, 446 Nedelec, Brendan, 200 Papastamatiou, Yannis, 280, 290, 333 Nedelec, Sophie, 199, 200, 397 Pardede, Shinta, 119 Nehmens, Melissa, 301 Parenti, Lynne, 98, 111 Nemeth, Richard, 156 Park, Hyo-Seon, 518 Nerriere, Louis, 96 Park, Jinsoon, 518 Newman, Stephen, 34, 372, 396 Parker, Jack, 379 Nguyen, Hoang Minh, 372 Parmentier, Eric, 84, 198, 208 NGUYEN, Van Quan, 76 Parravicini, Valeriano, 95, 96, 162, 189 Nguyen-Huu, Tri, 237 Parsons, Darren, 392 Nichols, Peter, 445 Parsons, Miles, 207 Nicol, Simon, 392 Partridge, Julian, 115, 513 Niedererr, Katie, 196 Pascua, Pua’ala, 429 Nilsson, G¨oran, 367 Paula, Jose Ricardo, 403 Nishida, Mutsumi, 106 Pauly, Daniel, 138 Nishimura, Mio, 462 Pawley, Matthew, 296 Noble, Mae, 364 Payet, Samuel, 34 Nohara, Kenji, 268 Pearl, Leanne, 200 Norin, Tommy, 242 Pearman, John, 53 Norman, Brad, 217 Pecl, Gretta, 415, 469 Normande, Iran, 437 Pegado, Maria Rita, 403 Norris, Richard, 279 Pendleton, Linwood, 442 Nuel, Gregory, 465 Pepperell, Julian, 214
557 Percival, Joseph, 516 Reynolds, Samantha, 217 Pereira, Pedro, 437 Rhodes, Kevin, 116 Perez Matus, Alejandro, 160, 354 Rhodes, Lesley, 456, 458, 464, 467 Perry, Chris, 161, 170 Ribas-Deulofeu, Lauriane, 440 Pether, Steve, 392 Richarson, Marine, 303 Pethybridge, Heidi, 445 Rico, Ciro, 276, 282 Petit, J´erˆome, 146 Ridge, Perry, 24 Pezold, Frank, 28 Riginos, Cynthia, 37, 41, 80, 92, 94, 475 Pickering, Tim, 308 Rima, Jabado, 256 Pickett, Brandon, 24 Rios, Nelson, 495 Pierotti, Michele, 42, 420 Riou, Antoine, 433 Piggott, Camilla, 243 Ritchie, Peter, 39 Pillans, Richard, 257 Roberts, Clive, 87, 344, 500 Pilling, Graham, 137, 282 Robertson, D Ross, 42 Pinheiro, Barbara, 437 Robitzch, Vanessa, 222 Pinheiro, Hudson, 333, 334 Rocha, Luiz, 333, 334 Pinsky, Malin, 234 Roche, Ronan, 78 Planes, Serge, 23, 189, 225, 228, 234, 280, 290, Rochester, Wayne, 293 411, 426 Rodgers, Giverny, 407 Pollom, Riley, 256 Rodriguez-Dominguez, Almendra, 382 PONZO, Nicolas, 453 Roebeck, Unity, 508 Pope, Stephen, 392 Rogers, Abbie, 446 Posu, Joseph, 293 Rogers, Alex, 78, 340 Potts, Warren, 414 Rogers, Paul, 285 Pouil, Simon, 375, 391 Rojas, Yessenia, 359 Poulos, Davina, 244 Rongo, Teina, 456 Pratchett, Morgan, 505 Rosa, Rui, 254, 394, 403 Priest, Mark, 222, 225, 396 Rosen, Alana, 15 Prince, Jane, 122, 140 Rossier, Victor, 35 Prinz, Natalie, 449 Rou´e,M´elanie, 452 Pruitt, Jonathan, 158 Rountrey, Adam, 372 Pujol, Benoit, 221, 228 Roupsard, Francois, 282 Putland, Rosalyn, 204, 211 Roux, Natacha, 56, 248 Pyle, Richard, 333 Rummer, Jodie, 366, 367, 389, 411, 413, 416, 417, 470, 483 Queiroz, Nuno, 394 Rummer, Jodie L., 395 Russ, Garry, 231, 288 R¨uber, Lukas, 106, 107, 506 Russell, Bayden, 388 Radford, Andrew, 199, 200, 202, 205, 210, 397 Ruz, Catalina, 160 Radford, Ben, 364 Ryu, Taewoo, 385, 401, 405 Radford, Craig, 204, 211 RAHARIVELOMANANA, Phila, 153 Sabinot, Catherine, 433 Rambahiniarison, Joshua, 271 Sado, Tetsuya, 106, 422 Rau, Andrea, 465 Sadovy de Mitcheson, Yvonne, 121 Ravasi, Timothy, 19, 21, 367, 385, 395, 401, Saenz Agudelo, Pablo, 25 402, 405, 406 Saenz-Agudelo, Pablo, 222, 225, 228, 231, 234 Re˜nones,Olga, 424 Sakai, Yoichi, 185, 493, 510, 512 Regnier, Thomas, 32 Sakanoue, Rei, 493 Reichenbacher, Bettina, 104, 112 Sakurai, Momoko, 263 Reid, Malcolm, 246, 304 Salamin, Nicolas, 35, 91 Repolho, Tiago, 403 Salinas-de-Le´on,Pelayo, 296 Revel, Taina, 451 Salis, Pauline, 56, 245, 248
558 Sallan, Lauren, 15 Shimizu, Masahiro, 517 Salles, Oc´eane, 221, 228, 234, 480 Shin, Hirofumi, 517 Salter, Michael, 161 Shinohara, Gento, 489 Salzburger, Walter, 338 Shinzato, Chuya, 307 Samoilys, Melita, 78 Shirai, Kotaro, 306 Samson, Kimberley, 431 Shivji, Mahmood, 276, 285 Sanchez, Caroline, 282 Sianipar, Abraham, 219 Sandin, Stuart, 178, 193 Sibat, Manoella, 460 Sano, Mitsuhiko, 497 Sigouin, Amanda, 429 Santos, Catarina, 403 Simpfendorfer, Colin, 190, 252, 256, 295, 299, Santos, Jose, 437 411 Sarah, Smeets, 208 Simpson, Stephen, 199, 200, 202, 205, 210, 397, Sardinha, Gabriela, 79 417 Sarigol, Fatih, 32 Simpson, Steve, 209 SASAKI, Kunio, 49 Sims, David, 394 Sasal, Pierre, 308 Sinclair-Taylor, Tane, 34, 75, 192, 222, 225, SATO, Mao, 49 330, 396 Satoh, Nori, 307 Siqueira, Alexandre, 83, 89 Satoh, Takashi, 106 Sithole, Yonela, 55, 478 SAULNIER, Denis, 153 Siu, Gilles, 423 Saunders, Ben, 327, 379 Skomal, Greg, 272 Saunders, Thor, 22 Smart, Jonathan, 299 Sbrocco, Elizabeth, 80 Smith, Adam, 296 SCANGA, Virginie, 274 Smith, Brad, 196, 286 Schabetsberger, Robert, 308 Smith, David, 424 Schiel, David, 313 Smith, Franz, 377 schiettekatte, nina, 120 Smith, James, 215 Schlacher, Thomas, 128 Smith, Kirsty, 456, 458, 464, 467 Schlatter, Emma, 124 Smith, Neville, 282, 392 Schliewen, Ulrich, 107 Smith, Yanni, 292 Schmidt, Ray, 507 Sogabe, Atsushi, 182 Schmitt, R.J., 425 Sokowaqanilotu, Etika, 431 Schmitt, Russell, 158, 162, 227, 427 Solagna, Laura, 208 Scholz, Zoe, 242 Solera, Leilani, 231 Schrevel, Catalina, 274 Song, Jiakun, 247, 380 Schulz-Mirbach, Tanja, 16 Song, Lulu, 380 Schunter, Celia, 19, 367, 395, 402 Sorenson, Laurie, 26 Schunter, Celia M., 21 Souza, Coralina, 437 Schwarzhans, Werner, 16 Spaet, Julia, 222 Scolaro, Derek, 229 Speed, Conrad, 259 Senou, Hiroshi, 66, 343 Spinks, Rachel, 406 Setiawan, Alvin, 392 Sporne, Ilva, 431 Shantz, Andrew, 162 Srinivasan, Maya, 136, 225, 228 Shao, Kwang-Tsao, 511 Stallings, Christopher, 359 Shcepetov, Dmitry, 343 Steele, Mark, 425 Sheaves, Marcus, 117 Stelbrink, Bj¨orn, 506 Shepherd, Bart, 333, 334 Sterling, Eleanor, 429 Sherman, Samantha, 252 Stern, Nir, 348 Shervette, Virginia, 156 Stevenson, Lisa, 292, 294 Shih, Yu-Ming, 511 Stewart, Andrew, 87, 500 Shima, Jeff, 235, 236 Stieb, Sara, 338 Shimizu, Madoka, 308 Stirnemann, Rebecca, 516
559 Stoica, Georgeta, 433 Tester, Patricia, 451 Stoll, Benoˆıt, 488 Teterina, Anastasia, 343 Story, Richard, 449 Thacker, Christine, 26 Streit, Robert, 135 the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Coral Group Streten, Claire, 410 of, 181 Struthers, Carl, 87, 500 Thia, Joshua, 37 Sturaro, Nicolas, 84 Thiault, Lauric, 114, 122, 140 Su-Fang, Niu, 494 Thibaut, Loic, 80 Suarez, Jenifer, 377 Thompson, Jameel, 431 Sucr´e,Elliott, 183 Thomson, Caroline, 221 Sugita-Konishi, Yoshiko, 462 Thornqvist, Per Ove, 403 Sullivan, Robert, 349 Thorrold, Simon, 192, 225, 228, 234, 272, 492 Summers, Adam, 65 Ticktin, Tamara, 429 Sun, Derek, 180 Tietbohl, Matthew, 192 Sunobe, Tomoki, 510 Tiitii, Ulusapeti, 508 Suski, Corey, 255 Tindale, Scott, 285 Suthers, Iain, 215 Tinkler, Paul, 364 Sutton, Tracey, 340, 345 Tittensor, Derek, 147 Suwalski, Arnaud, 23 Toda, Minoru, 514 SUZUKI, Shoko, 186 Tomonari, Akamatsu, 203 Swarsenski, Peter, 391 Toonen, Rob, 80 Swarzenski, Peter, 375 Toonen, Robert, 41, 224 Swearer, Stephen, 235 Tootell, Jesse, 425 Swearer, Steve, 236, 362 Tores, Fr´ed´eric, 465 Sweatman, Hugh, 421 Tornabene, Luke, 28, 326 Tose, Kento, 370 Tørresen, Ole, 338 Tracey, Sean, 214 Taboada, Manuela, 431 Tran, Hau Duc, 307 Tachihara, Katsunori, 263, 462 Tremblay-Boyer, Laura, 419 Taiga, Yodo, 509 Treml, Eric, 80, 92, 133, 235 Taillebois, Laura, 22 Tresguerres, Martin, 369 Taka, Terumasa, 308 Tricas, Timothy, 206 Takami, Munehiro, 489 Trip, Elizabeth, 502 Takashima, Mariko, 509 Trnski, Thomas, 70 TAKESHIMA, Hirohiko, 76 Troyer, Emily, 328 Takeshima, Hirohiko, 182 Tsipy Tantely, Zola, 433 Takeuchi, Aya, 308 Tsukamoto, Katsumi, 308, 310, 311, 317, 319, Talwar, Brendan, 255 321 Tan, Heok Hui, 307, 506 Tsutsumida, Narumasa, 516 TANAKA, SHO, 268 Tung, Wei-Chen, 447 Tanepau, Tihoti, 144 Tuqiri, Nanise, 461 Tang, Wenqiao, 247 Turnbull, John, 435 Tanigawa, Toshiaki, 462 Tuset, Victor, 16 Tano, Stina, 363 Tuttle, Lillian, 479 Tanret, Donatien, 144 Twiname, Samantha, 415 Tashiro, Satokuni, 60 Tyler, James, 57, 381 Tawake, Alifereti, 431 Taylor, Brett, 168, 173, 396 Uchida, Senzo, 181 Taylor, Matthew, 215 Udy, Jacquetta, 127 Taylor, Stephen, 300 Ullah, Hadayet, 371, 374 Tebbett, Sterling, 175 Umezawa, Yu, 264 Templin, Rachel, 349 Ung, Andr´e, 452
560 Unmack, Peter, 50 Weideli, Ornella, 290, 411, 476 Welch, Megan, 367, 389, 402 Vaeoso, Motusaga, 82 Wen, Colin, 447 van Dijken, Schannel, 516 Wenger, Lucy, 361 van Herwerden, Lynne, 505 Weschke, Emma, 199 van Lier, Joshua, 361 West, David, 305 Van Putten, Ingrid, 293 Westneat, Mark, 48, 73, 85 van Putten, Ingrid, 431 Wetherbee, Brad, 285 Van Wynsberge, Simon, 419 Whelan, Christopher, 157 Varea, Rufino, 431 White, William, 292, 294, 299 Vasil’ev, Victor, 12, 102 Whitmarsh, Sasha, 164 Vasil’eva, Ekaterina, 12, 102 Wibowo, Kunto, 514 Vaz, Diego, 65 Wikstr¨om,Sofia, 363 Vedor, Marisa, 394 Williams, Gareth, 193 Veilleux, Heather, 385, 401, 405 Williams, Joel, 335 Vera-Duarte, J, 101 Williams, Sam, 214 Verhaegen, Marie, 274 Williamson, David, 145, 223, 225, 288 Verma, Arjun, 456 Wilson, Rod, 161, 170 Veuille, Michel, 23 Wilson, Sara, 222 Viallon, J´erˆome, 451, 452, 456, 467 Wilson, Shaun, 194, 358, 361, 364 Vieira da Silva, Carina, 254 Winberg, Svante, 403 Vigliola, Laurent, 237 Wing, Stephen, 127 Vii, Jason, 426 Winney, Isabel, 221 Vila Pouca, Catarina, 216 Witman, Jon, 377 VILASRI, Veera, 76 Wong, Kathryn, 202 Vill´eger,S´ebastien, 162, 183 Wong, Katy, 210 Villanoy, Cesar, 133, 231 Wong, Marian, 325 Vinnikov, Kirill, 110 Woodcock, Emma, 172 Virag, Laure, 315 Worm, Boris, 147 VIRIOT, Laurent, 188 Viriot, Laurent, 51 XieWu, WU, 494 Visconti, Valerio, 502 Xing, Yingchun, 499 VIVIANI, J´er´emie, 51, 188 Xiong, Wenhua, 501 von Rintelen, Thomas, 506 Xu, Guang-Hui,7
Wai, Tak-Cheung, 355 Yamaguchi, Atsuko, 264, 267 Wainwright, Peter, 52, 67 Yamakawa, Takashi, 308 Wakefield, Corey, 372 Yamamoto, Shozo, 508 Wallace, Elizabeth, 24 Yan, Meng, 355 Wallis, Graham, 304 Yarlett, Robert, 170 Wang, Ching-Wei, 447 Yasui, Shintaro, 63 Wang, Xiaojie, 380 Yasumoto, Takeshi, 462 Waqalevu, Viliame, 152 Yodo, Taiga, 498 Warner, Robert, 167, 180 Yong-Shuang, Xiao, 494 Warren, Carol, 275 Yoshida, Tomohiro, 62 Watanabe, Itaru, 498 Yoshikawa, Akihiro, 63 Watanabe, Mao, 264 Yoshino, Tetsuo, 106 Watanabe, Shun, 308, 310, 311, 321 Yoshioka, Motoi, 509 Watanabe, Yoshiro, 497 Yu Yun, Chen, 250 Watson, Sue-Ann, 392 Yu, Chi-Ju, 267 Webb, Colleen, 124 Yungnickel, Mark, 313 Weeks, Rebecca, 133 Zgliczynski, Brian, 178, 193
561 Zhang, Jie, 266 Zhang, Shuo, 152 Zhang, Xuguang, 247 Zhang, Ya, 247 ZHAO, Yahui, 499 Zhitao, Wang, 203 Ziadi-Kuenzli, Fabienne, 263 Ziani, Nicolas, 274 Zimmerhackel, Johanna, 446 Zlatkin, Rebecca, 389
562 563 List of the participants of IPFC10
Aase Johnny Brazeau Martin De Bruyn Mark Abesamis Rene Briggs Amy De Busserolles Fanny Acuna David Brooks Andrew De Souza Brasil Barreto Helena Adams Kye Brown Culum Dechraoui Bottein Marie-Yasmine Akagawa Izumi Brown Jonathan Delrieu-Trottin Erwan Åkerlund Carolina Burkepile Deron Diaz De Astarloa Juan Al Hameli Shamsa Busilacchi Sara Dibattista Joseph Anderson Giulia Cahyani Ni Kadek Dita Dillon Erin Anderson Eric Michael Capobianco Alessio Ding Shaoxiong Antunes Agostinho Caselle Jennifer Donaldson Terry Arcila Dahiana Casey Jordan Donelson Jennifer Argyle Phoebe Chabanet Pascale Dubois Mélodie Arnold Rachel Chacin Dinorah Duncan Murray Asahida Takashi Chakrabarty Prosanta Dutra Leo Bacchet Philippe Chambers Sherrie Ebert David Bala Shirleen Chary Killian Eggertsen Linda Bambridge Tamatoa Cheal Alistair Eggertsen Maria Bannikov Alexander Chen Cerise Eme David Barmintseva Anna Chen Wei-Jen Emslie Mike Barrett Luke Chin Andrew Ender Isabel Barriot Jean-Pierre Chinain Mireille Endo Azusa Bart Henry Choat John Erdmann Mark Beckett Hermione Claudet Joachim Erisman Brad Bejarano Sonia Clements Kendall Escalle Lauriane Beldade Ricardo Clerkin Paul Eurich Jacob Bellwood David Closs Gerry Fabre Pauline Bemis Katherine Clua Eric Faircloth Brant Bergseth Brock Coker Darren Fauvelot Cécile Berkström Charlotte Cole Kathleen Ferreira Camilo Bernal Moises Coleman Richard Ferse Sebastian Bernardi Giacomo Comte Adrien Feunteun Eric Berthe Cécile Conway Kevin Feutry Pierre Bertucci Frederic Cook April Finucci Brit Berumen Michael Cordova Justin Floeter Sergio Besson Marc Cortese Daphne Fobert Emily Betancur Ricardo Cortesi Fabio Fontoura Luisa Bode Michael Coves Denis Fox Rebecca Boerder Kristina Cowman Peter Francis Malcolm Bond Todd Craig Maddison Frazao-Santos Catarina Bonzi Lucrezia Crandall Eric D. Frederich Bruno Bouyoucos Ian Crow Karen Friedman Matt Bowen Brian D'alberto Brooke Fujisawa Misaki Bradley Michael Darius Taiana Fujiwara Kyoji Brandl Simon Davidson Isla Keesje Fukui Yoshino Brauner Colin D'cruz Ellen Fulton Christopher Bray Dianne De Brauwer Maarten Gaither Michelle 564 Galzin René Hosoya Kazumi Leis Jeffrey Garcia Eric Huertas Victor Leung Priscilla To-Yan Garcia Jessica Huyghe Filip Lewis Sarah Gatti Clémence Iida Midori Liggins Libby George Andrew Illing Björn Lightfoot Damien Gerhardt Karin Isari Stamatina Lin Han-Yang Gibbons Brooke Iwatsuki Yukio Liston Jeff Gierl Christophe Izumiyama Michael Liu Jing Giles Samantha Jaafar Zeehan Liu Min Glass Jessica Jabado Rima Loffler Zoe Glaus Kerstin Jacob Hugo Lord Clara Goatley Christopher Jain-Schlaepfer Sofia Ludt William Gold Zachary Jaiteh Vanessa Maamaatuaiahutapu Moana Goldenberg Silvan Jarrold Michael Macdonald Chancey Gomon Martin Jarvis Matt Macneil Aaron Gon Ofer Johnson Kendall Madi Moussa Rakamaly Goodman Jane Jones Geoffrey Maeda Ken Gordon Tim Katayose Go Mai Tepoerau Gouraguine Adam Kauwe Keoni Majoris John Graham Nick Kawase Hiroshi Malone Margaret Grosell Martin Keith Philippe Maltese Anthony Grutter Alexandra Keller Krystle Manjaji-Matsumoto Mabel Guilhaumon Francois Kimura Seishi Marcionetti Anna Guo Hongyi Kingsford Michael Martin Tyson Hall April Klanten Oya Masuda Reiji Hamilton Trevor Kon Takeshi Matias Ambrocio Melvin Hammer Michael Kraft Derek Matis Paloma Hardenstine Royale Kroon Frederieke Matley Jordan Harding Harry Krueck Nils Matsunuma Mizuki Harmelin Vivien Mireille Kuroki Mari Matsuura Keiichi Harrison Hugo Kuwamura Tetsuo Mawyer Alexander Hartog-Burnett Kynan Kwun Hyuck Joon Maxfield Jessica Hata Harutaka Kyne Peter Mcandrews Ryan Hata Hiroki Labrosse Pierre Mccraney Tyler He Song Lafille Marc-André Mclean Dianne Healy Teleah Lagarde Adrien Mcmillan Peter Helme Herehia Laglbauer Betty Meekan Mark Hemingson Christopher Lamb Robert Mellin Camille Heuer Rachael Landaeta Mauricio Melo Marcelo Hickford Mike Larson Helen Mennesson Marion Hilton Eric Larsson Michaela E. Mescam Gauthier Hixon Mark Laubenstein Taryn Metian Marc Hoban Michael Laudet Vincent Meyer Carl Hodge Jennifer Lawrence Alice Meyer Christopher Hodgson Bruce Le Port Guillaume Meyer Lauren Hoese Douglass Lecchini David Mihalitsis Michalis Holbrook Sally Legras Gaëlle Miller Michael Holleman Wouter Lehmann565 Robert Mills Suzanne Miskiewicz Tony Percival Joseph Schiettekatte Nina Mitchell Jonathan Pereira Pedro Schlatter Emma Miyagawa-Kohshima Kazuko Perez Matus Alejandro Schmitt Russel Mona Stefano Petit Jérôme Schunter Celia Monroe Alison Pezold Frank Schwarzhans Werner Montanari Stefano Pickering Timothy Sherman Samantha Moore Glenn Pierotti Michele Shima Jeffrey Morais Renato Piggott Camilla Shinohara Gento Moritz Charlotte Pinheiro Hudson Simpson Steve Morrongiello John Pinsky Malin Sinclair-Taylor Tane Motomura Hiroyuki Planes Serge Siqueira Alexandre Mourier Johann Pollard David Sire Jean-Yves Mugue Nikolai Prinz Natalie Sithole Yonela Munday Philip Pujol Benoit Siu Gilles Munroe Thomas Putland Rosalyn Smith Brad Murray Sam Radford Andrew Smith Kirsty Muto Nozomu Radford Craig Speed Conrad Myers Elisabeth Ravasi Timothy Spinks Rachel Nagelkerken Ivan Reichenbacher Bettina Srinivasan Maya Nakamura Yohei René-Trouillefou Malika Sterling Eleanor Nalley Eileen Reynolds Samantha Stevenson Lisa Nanjo Kusuto Rhodes Kevin Stewart Andrew Nash Chloe Rhodes Lesley Streit Robert Naylor Gavin Ribas-Deulofeu Lauriane Struthers Carl Nazarkin Mikhail Richarson Marine Sutton Tracey Nedelec Sophie Riginos Cynthia Swearer Stephen Nehmens Melissa Rios Nelson Taillebois Laura Niedererr Katie Ritchie Peter Takashima Mariko Nizinski Martha Roberts Clive Talwar Brendan Nuel Gregory Rocha Luiz Tanaka Sho O'connor Jack Rodriguez-Dominguez Almendra Tano Stina O'dea Aaron Roebeck Unity Tanret Donatien Oliveira Rui Rosa Rui Taquet Marc Ong Joyce Roue Mélanie Tashiro Satokuni Orlov Alexei Rüber Lukas Taylor Brett Orlova Svetlana Rummer Jodie Tebbett Sterling Oshiro Naomasa Ruz Catalina Thiault Lauric Palacios Maria Del Mar Sakanoue Rei Thorrold Simon Parker Jack Salamin Nicolas Tietbohl Matthew Parmentier Eric Salis Pauline Tracey Sean Parravicini Valeriano Sallan Lauren Treml Eric Parsons Miles Salles Oceane Tricas Timothy Paterson Angus Salter Michael Trnski Thomas Paula Jose Ricardo Samoilys Melita Troyer Emily Pauly Daniel Sandin Stuart Tsukamoto Katsumi Paxton John Sato Mao Tuqiri Nanise Kuridrani Payet Samuel Scanga Virginie Tuttle Lillian Pecl Gretta Schiel566 David Udy Jacquetta Ullah Hadayet Wang Xiaojie Yamaguchi Atsuko Vaeoso Motusaga Sina Waqalevu Viliame Yamamoto Shozo Van Lier Joshua Watanabe Shun Yarlett Robert Van Wynsberge Simon Weeks Rebecca Yodo Taiga Vasil'ev Victor Weideli Ornella Yoshida Tomohiro Vasil'eva Ekaterina Wen Colin Yu Chi-Ju Vaz Diego Weschke Emma Yu Yun Chen Veilleux Heather Westneat Mark Zgliczynski Brian Villeger Sebastien Whitmarsh Sasha Zhang Jie Vinnikov Kirill Wibowo Kunto Zhao Yahui Viriot Laurent Williams Joel Zhitao Wang Visconti Valerio Wilson Shaun Ziadi Fabienne Viviani Jérémie Wong Marian Zimmerhackel Johanna Wainwright Peter Xiong Wenhua Zubia Mayalen
567 List of sponsors
Minist`erede l’Environnement, de l’Energie et de la Mer The French Ministry of Environment, Energy and the Sea is responsible for preparing and implementing the Government’s policy in sustainable development, the environment and green technologies, energy and the transition of energy, climate, the prevention of natural and technological hazards, industrial safety, transport and transportation infrastructure, equipment and the sea.
Fonds Pacifique The Pacific Cooperative Fund for Economics, Society and Culture known as the “Pacific Fund”, is France’s main instrument for regional cooperation in the Pacific. Funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and through this cooperation with the independent states of the Pacific, it contributes to the regional integration of New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the Wallis and Futuna Islands.
568 Polyn´esiefran¸caise French Polynesia
Marine species have always been a very important natural resource for the ancient island societies of the Pacific, and for Polynesians in particular. Today, these resources continue to contribute to the socioeconomic development of these islands. Once only considered as exploitable resources, fish populations within lagoons and along the outer reef have become indicators of global change, particularly with respect to change stemming from anthropogenic pressures. For this reason, the government of French Polynesia provides ongoing support to research programs and management initiatives to further our understanding of fish ecology, to develop sustainable fishing practices within lagoons and offshore areas, and to enhance the integration of traditional knowledge within current practices in resource management.
Paris Sciences et Lettres Paris Sciences et Lettres - PSL Research University was founded on a two-fold conviction: first, that innovation and creativity are the only solutions to today’s global challenges and second, that major academic centers across the globe will be instrumental in developing these solutions.
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes The Ecole´ Pratique des Hautes Etudes´ (EPHE), established in the Sorbonne in 1868, is acknowledged as one of France’s ‘grands ´etablissements’ where research is undertaken in Life and Earth Sciences, Historical and Philological Sciences, and Religious Sciences.
The EPHE focuses on unique fields of knowledge. Lectures and other learning strategies, offered by over 260 faculty, provide an exceptional opportunity for immediate immersion into research as practiced in a myriad of fields including languages and religions of Pre-Islamic Central Asia, the major monotheistic faiths, Chinese archaeology, Hebrew palaeography, Greek dialectology and digital humanities in the sphere of Social Sciences and Humanities; coral reef biodiversity, neurosciences and cognitive science, cellular environment and regulation in the Life and Earth Sciences sector. . . as well as transdisciplinary issues that bridge these key areas of knowledge.
569 CNRS The National Center for Scientific Research, or CNRS, is a public organization under the responsibility of the French Ministry of Education and Research. Founded in 1939 by governmental decree, the CNRS aims to: *Evaluate and carry out all research capable of advancing knowledge and bringing social, cultural, and economic benefits for society. *Contribute to the promotion and application of research results. *Develop scientific information. *Support research training. *Participate in the analysis of the national and international scientific climate and its potential for evolution in order to develop a national policy.
Universit´ePerpignan Via Domitia The University of Perpignan Via Domita is a modestly sized, multidisciplinary and dynamic campus. Involved in projects at local level, its influence also extends towards southern Catalonia and the rest of the world. Every year, some 9500 students follow courses in a broad range of areas including literature, languages, human and social sciences, law, economics, management, exact sciences, sport and tourism. In addition to the academic courses that it offers, the UPVD is also involved in renewable energies: it runs a Master’s degree in solar energy, with support from the DERBI competitivity cluster and has a ”Renewable energies” department, SUP’EnR school.
Institut des R´ecifsCoralliens du Pacifique The Pacific Coral Reefs Institute (IRCP) is an institute of The Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), created on January 21st, 2009 by order of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.The main missions of IRCP are among four : – Promote, over time, on a regional scale of the Pacific, the necessary link between fundamental research, politics of conservation and formation of the actors in the field of the management of coral reefs; – Support transverse topic, which take account the contribution of the human and social sciences for the sustainable management of coral reefs; – Set up a monitoring network of coral reefs; – Work in favour of federative projects aiming at the conservation of coral reefs and so to contribute, in a context
570 of sustainable development, a contribution in the future of the coral ecosystems and peoples who depend on it.
Soci´et´eFran¸caised’Ichthyologie Founded in 1976, the French Society for Ichthyology seeks to unite people with a common interest in furthering our fundamental and applied knowledge of Ichthyology; to represent the members of the Society at the national and international levels; to promote and coordinate research in the field of Ichthyology; and to liaise between its members through the dissemination of a quarterly publication produced by the Society.
IRD Scientific progress is necessary to further sustainable and human development: the IRD (French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development) carries this conviction with it wherever it is present, and wherever it works with its partners. The IRD is a key French player on the international development agenda.It works based on an original model: equitable scientific partnership with developing countries, primarily those in the intertropical regions and the Mediterranean area.The IRD believes that only this model allows us to design solutions which are adapted to the challenges that humans and the planet are facing: pandemics, climate change, humanitarian and political crises, etc. Because development challenges are challenges for the whole planet.
Universit´ede Polyn´esiefran¸caise The University of French Polynesia is a French University located in Punaauia, Tahiti, French Polynesia. The University of French Polynesia is often the talk of local newspapers, especially because of its proactive policy for the employability of its graduates. The campus of Outumaoro covers an area of over 12 hectares, including facilities in excess of 15,000 m2. The University of French Polynesia has a diversified and wide course offering, adapted to the local labor market of French Polynesia. As of 2012, it numbers 3051 students plus 40 PhD candidates.
571 Institut Louis Malard´e The Louis Malard´eInstitute contributes to the preservation of the health, public hygiene and natural environment of French Polynesia. This mission revolves around two divisions: Public Health and Scientific Research.
IFREMER IFREMER is a French institute that undertakes research and expert assessments to advance knowledge on the oceans and their resources, monitor the marine environment and foster the sustainable development of maritime activities.
Direction des Ressources Marines et Mini`eres Direction of marine and mineral resources. Regulations fishing, marine areas and management planning, protection of species.
International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field. It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Pacific Community The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, proudly supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 26 country and territory members.
572 Agence Fran¸caisede D´eveloppement Agence Fran¸caisede D´eveloppement (AFD) is a financial institution and the main implementing agency for France’s official development assistance to developing countries and overseas territories.
Fonds Fran¸caispour l’Environnement Mondial The French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) has been working to promote protection of the global environment in developing countries since it was established by the French government in 1994.
Australian Society For Fish Biology The Australian Society For Fish Biology was founded in 1971 with the intention of promoting fish studies and the interchange of information between fish biologists in a relaxed but effective manner. Annual Conferences have been held once every year since the Society’s inception. They are now the highlight of the Society’s calendar, providing a forum for members around Australia to meet and discuss their work.
Oceania Chondrichthyan Society The Oceania Chondrichthyan Society (OCS) is an international non-profit organisation created ‘To promote and facilitate the advancement of the scientific study of chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras), the promotion of education, conservation, and sustainable utilisation of natural resources, and to provide a medium for the exchange of information and ideas among those studying chondrichthyan fishes.’
573 INTEGRE INTEGRE, Pacific Territories Initiative for Regional Management of the Environment, is a sustainable development project designed for and implemented by the four European Pacific overseas countries and territories (OCTs).
Funded by the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC) and steered by French Polynesia, INTEGRE aims at promoting the implementation of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) in its beneficiary OCTs and in the Pacific region generally.
RESCCUE The overall goal of RESCCUE is to contribute to increasing the resilience of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) in the context of global changes. To this end RESCCUE aims at supporting adaptation to climate change (ACC) through integrated coastal management (ICM), resorting especially to economic analysis and economic and financial mechanisms.
Maison de la Culture - Tahiti The Tahitian House of Culture was established in 1971 in Papeete as the “Youth House – House of Culture (MJMC) by the State near the district of Paola’i. Its mission is to display and share French Polynesian culture, to promote activities and artistic creations in all of its forms, and to organise and promote popular events, particularly those which profile ma’ohi culture, at local, national and international levels.
GIE Tahiti Tourisme Immersed in a world of majestic mountain peaks, turquoise waters and white-sand beaches, visitors to our islands create memories through authentic experiences that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. For centuries, the Tahitian people have referred to this as “Mana”. Mana is a life force and spirit that surrounds and connects all living things. You can see it.
574 Touch it. Taste it. Feel it. And from the moment you arrive, you will understand why we say our islands are Embraced by Mana.
Ville de Papeete Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Papeete is located on the island of Tahiti and is hosting the 10th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference.
Lyc´eeHˆotelierde Tahiti The Hotel and Tourism School of Tahiti was established in 2003 and is the only school of its kind in the French south-west Pacific zone. A state-of-the-art facility, with beautiful equipment on an idyllic and protected site, the school enrols 600 students including 120 students, from CAP to BTS, who may pursue either a professional or a technological degree in 5 disciplines: cooking, restaurant service, hotel service, baking (bread and pastries) and tourism, with complementary specialities including bartending and catering.
Institut de la Jeunesse et des Sports de Polyn´esiefran¸caise The IJSPF is charged with wide range of youth-related topics including sports and the development of youth associations, the application of pilot projects and the implementation of new youth programs launched by the Government of French Polynesia.
Air Tahiti Nui Maeva – Welcome We offer daily non-stop service to Tahiti from Paris and Los Angeles as well as convenient flights to Auckland and Tokyo. With our code share partners SNCF rail in France, American Airlines in the USA and Qantas in Australia, we link to over 39 other cities including Sydney, New York and Marseilles.
Our fresh and dynamic crew make our passengers feel like they are already in Tahiti as soon as they step on board. The smile and generosity of our teams, the elegant and refined design of the cabins, the sound of ukulele, and the fragrance of the Tiare flower that is offered with our
575 traditional Maeva, the Tahitian word for welcome, are some of the tokens of friendliness that we extend. They demonstrate the human and uniquely Tahitian part of our character.
InterContinental Tahiti Resort Spa A lavish garden setting, a gorgeous turquoise lagoon, volcanic peaks rising up in the distance – the InterContinental Tahiti Resort Spa is the perfect launch-point for your French Polynesian vacation.
Located on the main island in Papeete only two kilometres from the airport and city shopping, this is your first stop in French Polynesia, welcoming you into a lush 12-hectare tropical garden, surrounded by clear, cerulean seas. With overwater bungalows, lagoon-view and garden-view rooms, our premium accommodation provides panoramic views over beautiful Tahiti, showcasing the sparkling ocean and the volcanic mountains of our sister island, Moorea.
Our 4-star resort and spa boasts two superb infinity pools set amid colourful indigenous plants and towering palms. We offer a diverse range of activities and top-notch facilities, with locally renowned restaurants and vibrant tropical bars, each offering their own unique ambiance. Relax in the Lobby Bar with a premium drink, enjoy an intimate dinner at Le Lotus overwater restaurant, or kick up your heels with our signature cocktails at Tiki Bar.
With a luxury spa, lush overwater bungalows, tropical gardens and a wide range of water sports, the InterContinental Tahiti Resort Spa is the quintessential island escape, with everything you need for a true French Polynesian getaway.
ISI The society ISI.PF is a polynesian LLC of computer engineering created in april 2008 by 2 polynesian engineers. It draw on outstanding expertise in application development, in order to adress the local entreprise’s problem. The society is also the first editor of mobile applications (iOS and Android) in French Polynesia.
Tahiti Expert Events Tahiti Expert Events is an overall and global communication agency, operating for more than 5 years in the implementation of all corporate, institutional and brand strategies through
576 events, marketing and digital content.
Our multi-ethnic team implements its expertise and deploys its network to provide you with innovative and effective solutions.
Tahiti Expert Events offers you a multi-profession approach in order to obtain the best services. We promise you reliability, time savings and innovation.
Tahiti Nui Travel Tahiti Nui Travel has been the undisputed leader in travel in Tahiti and Her Islands since 1965.
Our mission is to help you to organize travel plans to Tahiti and Her Islands and provide continuous support before, during and after your clients’ holidays. With our knowledge and expertise, you can be assured of your clients memorable experience in our islands.
Tahiti and Her Islands are home to 118 islands, warm and welcoming locals, unique sceneries and ancient culture. This wealth and variety requires a depth of knowledge which we have been developing since our creation in 1965.
Air Tahiti Air Tahiti, the inter-island airline in French Polynesia, has daily flights to 49 stops across the country, covering the area of Europe, over distances from 15 km (the shortest between Tahiti and Moorea) up to 1600 km (Tahiti-Mangareva). This latter distance is equivalent to a Paris/Stockholm or New York/Miami. First private sector employer in French Polynesia, the company insures a public service mission. It drives economic and social development of the archipelagoes and a key player in the tourism development. Air Tahiti is deeply involved in local actions promoting the Polynesian culture, the environment, the social and the Polynesian sports.
Office des Postes et T´el´ecommunication The autonomy status of April 12,1996 extended French Polynesia’s competence to international relations in the field of posts and telecommunications. The Assembly and the Government of the country are now responsible for the regulation of all activities in the postal and telecommunications sector, except for defense and security communications, and communications and radio frequency regulation, which remain within the competences of State. Since this reform, the post and telecommunications Office (OPT) is the only public operator of postal services and telecommunications.
577 With its 900 employees, 87 agencies and centers scattered over 57 islands spread over a sea surface as large as the size of Europe, the OPT, while carrying out its missions, has been involved in the Sustainable Development Plan since 2013.
In the digital age, OPT is a civic and eco-responsible company and is proud to contribute to the major challenges for the preservation of our planet and to welcome all participants and members of the 10th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference (IPFC10).
Vini In French Polynesia, Vini S.A.S. is the leading provider of mobile, fixed data and TV content communications services for the retail and business communities, with more than 220.000 customers. Vini is a wholly owned subsidiary of Office des Postes et T´el´ecommunications. Our ambition, while in the middle of south pacific, is to deliver the best innovative communication services and systems that address our customers’ critical needs and especially, their connection to the rest of the world. Additionally, we are determined to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace by delivering an outstanding customer experience, allowing us to maintain market share on the new competitive environment.
Polyn´esie1`ere Polyn´esie1`ereis a French-language public broadcast company located in French Polynesia – one of France’s Overseas Territories – for diffusion of programming throughout French Polynesia.
Tahiti Nui T´el´evision Tahiti Nui T´el´evision(TNTV) is a cable and satellite television channel created in 2000. TNTV airs local programs produced by the channel, children’s programmes and news programmes in French and in Tahitian.
578 Miss Tahiti CROWNING MISS TAHITI HAS BECOME A REAL INSTITUTION IN FRENCH POLYNESIA SINCE 1960 In the early days, the Miss Tahiti contest was organised by the Hotel Tahiti, which is no longer standing. It drew throngs of spectators, many of whom came to cheer on their nominee. As the contest became increasingly popular, it was moved to Papeete, which has venues large enough to hold large audiences: To’at? Square or the gardens of Papeete’s City Hall. For all Polynesians, watching the Miss Tahiti Pageant is a must, whether by attending the pageant itself or seeing it on television.
Banque de Polyn´esie The Bank of Polynesia puts all of its expertise in business, finance and the economy into the hands of its clients, with the goal of becoming the bank of reference relational bank on the
Fenua. The strength of an international group : As a 72
Oc´eaniennede Services Bancaires The Oceanic Banking Services (OSB) society was created in December 1994 to improve the processing of payments (bank card transactions, checks, management of bank machines, etc.). Since this time, the OSB has enabled the electronic interoperability and the harmonization of existing systems for all the banking and financial institutions in the area.
Renault In 2015, the Renault-Nissan Alliance sold 8.5 million vehicles in almost 200 countries around the world through its eight brands: RENAULT, DACIA, RENAULT SAMSUNG MOTORS, NISSAN, INFINITI, DATSUN, VENUCIA and LADA. This record figure corresponds to more than one vehicle in every ten sold worldwide. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is the world’s fourth-biggest vehicle manufacturer.
579 WAN An environmental asset; Robert Wan’s farms are located some 5000 km from the nearest industrial activity, representing a unique and protected biodiversity with totally pristine, unpolluted waters.
A commercial asset; Robert Wan produces a luxury product of rarity and the world’s only gem produced by a living creature. We believe these pearls to be the symbol of harmony between man and nature, and an inspiration to the emerging values of the 21st century.
Wing Chong By Wing Chong, you will find a wide range of products at the best prices for the polynesian customers, and a team at your service for any assistance. Come and visit our showroom to benefit exclusive discounts and special offers!
Vaimato Industrial society produising VAIMATO natural spring water.
Nautisport NAUTISPORT is a specialist shop in items relating to sea activities. The shop has various sections such as: fishing, scuba-diving, marine electronic devices, ropes, spare parts, various nautical items. . . The NAUTISPORT shop and its Show Room are located in Tahiti – Fare Ute. There is also a branch in Raiatea.
TipTop MF Production (Former Raumanu Industry) manufactures and distributes ice-cream and sorbets of quality since more than 40 years. The story began with the Tip Top ice-cream, locally manufactured in the factory of Titioro as a Neo-Zealand franchised store. Nowaday well-known by all the Polynesian, the range has been developed for all tastes and budgets,
580 from the low price Freshka brand to the high-end Sorbets de Tahiti products. MF Production hire 47 persons to the production, stock, sell and distribution of its products across the entire country. By buying MF Production products, you support the only locally-made industry and the local economy as well.
Yes Tahiti Travelling with yestahiti you choose safety and the services of the first travel agency in French Polynesia, since 1965. Yestahiti offers special legal and commercial conditions as French agencies do.
Nescaf´e Nescaf´eis a brand of coffee made by Nestl´e
Fenua Ma Since 15 years, FENUA MA is in charge of the waste treating and recycling management in French Polynesia. During the IPFC, Fenua Ma will provide baskets for selective waste sorting.
Rotui Jus de Fruits de Moorea a vu le jour suite `ala cr´eationde la coop´erative des producteurs agricoles locaux, durant une p´eriode de surproduction, en juin 1981. Aid´ee`acette ´epoque par le gouvernement et en partenariat avec la Commune de Moorea, la banque Socredo, la Chambre d’Agriculture et d’autres entreprises priv´eescomme la Brasserie de Tahiti (le premier distributeur de la marque Rotui), elle avait pour objectif de bˆatirune usine de jus de fruit frais `al’ananas. Jus de Fruits de Moorea accueille au sein mˆemede son usine, la soci´et´eManutea Tahiti, cr´e´eeen 1983, qui s’est sp´ecialis´eedans la fabrication de boissons alcoolis´ees,de confiseries et de condiments.
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