C-247 Cruise Report

Cruise Report C-247 SEA Semester: Marine Biodiversity & Conservation

Scientific Data Collected Aboard SSV Corwith Cramer

Christiansted, St. Croix, USA – St. George’s, Bermuda – New York, NY, USA – Woods Hole, MA, USA 14 May 2013 – 17 June 2013

Participants, Sargasso Sea Symposium – 27 June 2013

Sea Education Association Woods Hole, Massachusetts

This document should be cited as: Siuda, ANS and ER Zettler. 2013. Final report for S.E.A. cruise C247. Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, MA 02540. www.sea.edu.

To obtain unpublished data, contact the Chief Scientists or SEA data archivist: Data Archivist Sea Education Association PO Box 6 Woods Hole, MA 02543 Phone: 508-540-3954 Fax: 508-457-4673 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.sea.edu

2 Table of Contents

Ship’s Company ...... 4 Introduction ...... 5 Table 1. Student Research Projects, C-247 ...... 6 Data Description ...... 7 Figure 1. C-247 Cruise Track ...... 7 Table 2. Oceanographic Sampling Stations ...... 8 Table 3. Surface Sampling Station Data ...... 10 Figure 2. Surface current direction and velocity...... 11 Figure 3. Surface Temperature and Salinity...... 12 Figure 4. Cross Section of Temperature and Salinity ...... 13 Table 4. Neuston Net Data ...... 14 Table 5. Meter and 2-Meter Net Data ...... 16 Student Research Abstracts ...... 18

3 Ship’s Company, SSV Corwith Cramer, Cruise C-247

Faculty Tom Sullivan Captain Erik Zettler Chief Scientist – Leg 1 Amy Siuda Chief Scientist – Leg 2 John Jensen Policy Faculty Caleb McClennen Policy Faculty – Wildlife Conservation Society Linda Amaral-Zettler Biodiversity Faculty – Marine Biological Laboratory

Nautical Staff Kirsten Johnsrud Chief Mate Rocky Hadler Second Mate Jeremy Tagliaferre Third Mate – Leg 1 Carl Herzog Third Mate – Leg 2 Scott Murchison Engineer Shelby Mann Steward Allison Weinstock Sailing Intern

Scientific Staff Annie Scofield First Assistant Scientist, Teaching Assistant Chrissy Dykeman Second Assistant Scientist Patrick Lynch Third Assistant Scientist Laura Cooney Lab Intern

Visitors Greg Boyd SEA Research Assistant Gordon Rowland Ithaca College Faculty

Students Taunya Couts Portland State University Andrew Dougherty University of Denver Ethan Edson Northeastern University Matthew Flynn Eckerd College Rachel Green Hamilton College Mariah Haberman Stanford University Alice Henry Hamilton College Steven Houang Eugene Lang College, The New School Bethany Kolody New York University, Abu Dhabi Katherine Lipp University of Miami Manasi Malik University of Kentucky Mariana Mata Lara Universidad Nacional, Mexico Lauren Nickerson University of New England Annie Osborn Stanford University Leyana Romain St. George’s University, Grenada Gregory Thomas St. Aubin University of British Columbia Claudia Villar Bowdoin College Scott Watters Kenyon College

4 Introduction

This cruise report provides a summary of scientific activities aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer during cruise C-247 (14 May – 17 June 2013). The 2115 nm, five-week cruise served as the scientific data collection portion of the Sea Semester: Marine Biodiversity & Conservation program with Sea Education Association (SEA). Extensive oceanographic sampling was conducted for both student research projects (Table 1) and the ongoing SEA research program. Students measured biodiversity and examined physical, chemical, biological, and environmental oceanographic characteristics in accordance with their written proposals and presented their results in a final poster session and papers (available upon request from SEA).

The brief summary of data contained in this report is not intended to represent final data interpretation and should not be excerpted or cited without written permission from SEA.

Amy NS Siuda and Erik R Zettler Chief Scientists, C-247

5 Table 1. Student research projects, C-247.

Title Student Investigators

Biodiversity and biogeography of leptocephali Taunya Couts, Mariah Haberman, in surface and subsurface waters of the Lauren Nickerson and Claudia Villar Caribbean and Sargasso Seas

Larval life stage distribution and genetic Andrew Dougherty, Kat Lipp, Annie lineage alignment of Caribbean spiny lobster Osborn, Leyana Romain and (Panulirus argus) in the Sargasso Sea Gregory Thomas St. Aubin

Colony morphology and genetic diversity of Ethan Edson, Rachel Green, Steven Vibrio on natural versus artificial substrates Huoang, Bethany Kolody and Scott across the Sargasso Sea Watters

Sargassum as a keystone organism: Alice Henry, Manasi Malik, Mariana Distribution and biodiversity of the species Mata and Matt Flynn and related communities in the Sargasso Sea

6 Data Description

This section provides a record of data collected aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer cruise C-247 (US State Department Cruise: 2012-088) from Christiansted, St. Croix, USVI to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Hourly positions along the C-247 cruise track.

During the 5-week voyage, we sampled at 38 discrete oceanographic stations (Table 2), each with an associated surface sample for chlorophyll a and total inorganic phosphate (Table 3). Additionally, we continuously sampled water depth and sub- bottom profiles (CHIRP system), upper ocean currents (ADCP, Figure 2), and sea surface temperature, salinity, CDOM fluorescence, in-vivo chlorophyll fluorescence, and transmittance (seawater flow-through system, Figure 3 – temperature, salinity). Discrete CTD measurements of vertical temperature and salinity profiles are presented in Figure 4. Additional instrumentation on the CTDs allowed for profiling of dissolved oxygen, fluorescence, transmittance, PAR and CDOM fluorescence. Summaries of sea surface and water column chemical and biological properties are found in Tables 4 and 5. Lengthy CTD, CHIRP, ADCP and flow-through data are not fully presented here. All unpublished data can be made available by arrangement with the SEA data archivist (contact information, p. 2).

7 Table 2. Oceanographic sampling stations. X indicates type of station. (NT = Neuston Tow, MN = Meter Net, TT = Tucker Trawl, HC = Hydrocast with CTD, CTD = Free CTD, TDR = Minilogger depth and temperature recorder, SS = Surface Station.)

Latitude Longitude Station Date Time (N) (W) General Locale NT MN 2-MN HC CTD TDR SS C247-001 16-May-13 0009 18°13.3' 64°43.5' Caribbean Sea X 002 C247-002 16-May-13 1545 17°59.8' 64°32.8' Caribbean Sea X X 003 C247-003 17-May-13 2330 18°11.1' 64°36.4' Caribbean Sea X X X X 004 C247-004 17-May-13 2334 19°18.5' 64°46.1' Tropical Atlantic X X X X 005 C247-005 18-May-13 1111 19°56.7' 64°45.9' Tropical Atlantic X X 006 C247-006 18-May-13 2344 20°39.4' 64°40.6' S Sargasso Sea X X X X 007 C247-007 19-May-13 1032 21°19.6' 64°38.2' S Sargasso Sea X X 008 C247-008 19-May-13 2334 22°04.8' 64°36.0' S Sargasso Sea X X X X 009 C247-009 20-May-13 1045 22°51.9' 64°27.1' S Sargasso Sea X X 010 C247-010 21-May-13 0123 23°40.7' 64°31.7' S Sargasso Sea X X X 011 C247-011 21-May-13 1040 24°03.9' 64°40.4' S Sargasso Sea X X 012 C247-012 21-May-13 2327 24°57.7' 64°51.9' S Sargasso Sea X X X X 013 C247-013 22-May-13 1035 25°44.7' 64°46.7' S Sargasso Sea X X 014 C247-014 22-May-13 2328 26°38.4' 64°41.0' S Sargasso Sea X X X X 015 C247-015 23-May-13 1032 27°21.7' 64°34.1' S Sargasso Sea X X 016 C247-016 23-May-13 2355 28°22.8' 64°26.3' S Sargasso Sea X X X X 017 C247-017 24-May-13 1046 29°08.3' 64°25.0' STCZ X X 018 C247-018 24-May-13 2326 30°01.4' 64°25.4' N Sargasso Sea X X X X 019 C247-019 25-May-13 1041 30°51.3' 64°22.0' N Sargasso Sea X X 020 C247-020 26-May-13 1036 32°06.8' 64°21.3' N Sargasso Sea X X 022 C247-021 26-May-13 2347 32°06.8' 64°25.8' N Sargasso Sea X X X 023 C247-022 4-Jun-13 1110 32°31.8' 64°29.7' N Sargasso Sea X X 024 C247-023 4-Jun-13 2323 33°09.8' 65°27.9' N Sargasso Sea X X X X 025 C247-024 5-Jun-13 1044 33°50.5' 65°56.0' N Sargasso Sea X X 026

8 Table 2 continued.

Latitude Longitude Station Date Time (N) (W) General Locale NT MN 2-MN HC CTD TDR SS C247-025 5-Jun-13 2323 34°29.6' 66°38.3' N Sargasso Sea X X X X 027 C247-026 6-Jun-13 1040 35°2.6' 67°14.6' N Sargasso Sea X X 028 C247-027 7-Jun-13 1139 35°43.3' 65°55.8' N Sargasso Sea X X 029 C247-028 7-Jun-13 1800 35°56.6' 66°1.1' N Sargasso Sea C247-029 7-Jun-13 2358 36°4.6' 66°30.8' N Sargasso Sea X X X 030 C247-030 9-Jun-13 1218 37°15.9' 67°38.8' Gulf Stream X 031 C247-031 10-Jun-13 0010 37°43.8' 68°6.5' Gulf Stream X 032 C247-032 10-Jun-13 1158 38°31.7' 69°28.8' New England Slope X 033 C247-033 10-Jun-13 2331 38°46.4' 70°25.9' New England Slope X X X 034 C247-034 11-Jun-13 1149 39°13.3' 71°14.5' New England Slope X 035 C247-035 12-Jun-13 0928 39°30.5' 72°19.7' Hudson Canyon X X X X 036 C247-036 15-Jun-13 1153 40°37.7' 72°34.6' Shelf S of LI X 037 C247-037 16-Jun-13 0011 40°53.3' 71°41.4' S of Montauk, LI X 038 C247-038 16-Jun-13 1130 41°22.1' 70°53.9' Menemsha Bight X 039

9 Table 3. Surface station data (SS-XXX). Blank = no sample.

Temp. Salinity Chl-a PO4 Station Date Time (C) (PSU) (g/L) (M) SS-001 14-May-13 1700 29.6 36.20 0.196 1.449 SS-002 16-May-13 0030 27.7 36.30 0.046 0.030 SS-003 16-May-13 1740 27.8 36.42 0.036 0.093 SS-004 17-May-13 0009 27.2 36.32 0.080 0.084 SS-005 18-May-13 0030 27.5 36.74 0.018 0.134 SS-006 18-May-13 1208 26.9 36.70 0.005 0.075 SS-007 19-May-13 0020 26.4 36.46 0.024 0.089 SS-008 19-May-13 1142 26.8 36.26 0.004 -0.043 SS-009 20-May-13 0018 26.7 36.33 0.006 0.089 SS-010 20-May-13 1209 26.2 36.37 0.002 0.166 SS-011 21-May-13 0150 25.5 36.48 0.002 0.325 SS-012 21-May-13 1130 25.6 36.44 0.002 0.111 SS-013 22-May-13 0006 25.8 36.36 0.023 0.139 SS-014 22-May-13 1151 25.3 36.53 0.006 0.252 SS-015 23-May-13 0010 24.9 36.71 0.000 0.198 SS-016 23-May-13 1207 23.9 36.75 0.000 0.334 SS-017 24-May-13 0037 23.7 36.77 0.000 0.207 SS-018 24-May-13 1200 23.7 36.78 0.000 0.202 SS-019 25-May-13 0013 23.5 36.80 0.002 0.184 SS-020 25-May-13 1151 23.1 36.80 0.000 0.334 SS-021 26-May-13 0017 22.8 36.72 0.013 0.535 SS-022 26-May-13 1147 22.6 36.73 0.003 0.175 SS-023 27-May-13 0012 22.4 36.73 0.003 0.325 SS-024 4-Jun-13 1217 23.0 36.63 0.019 0.171 SS-025 5-Jun-13 0050 23.3 36.40 0.014 0.475 SS-026 5-Jun-13 1200 23.3 36.70 0.021 0.666 SS-027 6-Jun-13 0033 23.6 36.38 0.080 0.521 SS-028 6-Jun-13 1333 23.0 36.43 0.057 0.066 SS-029 7-Jun-13 1151 23.5 36.30 0.119 0.175 SS-030 8-Jun-13 0015 23.6 36.38 0.074 0.498 SS-031 9-Jun-13 1237 24.8 36.29 0.062 0.134 SS-032 10-Jun-13 0013 25.4 36.03 0.147 0.139 SS-033 10-Jun-13 1210 19.3 34.33 0.308 0.193 SS-034 10-Jun-13 2340 19.8 35.17 0.204 0.080 SS-035 11-Jun-13 1200 19.4 35.29 0.335 0.143 SS-036 12-Jun-13 1110 16.6 32.50 0.654 0.585 SS-037 15-Jun-13 1153 16.1 31.36 SS-038 16-Jun-13 0018 14.7 32.30 SS-039 16-Jun-13 1145 16.3 31.90

10 Figure 2. Surface current direction and velocity measured with the ADCP.

Figure 3. Surface temperature (left) and salinity (right) measurements from the continuous flow-through data logger.

Figure 4. Temperature (top) and salinity (middle) cross sections created from CTD data collected along the entire cruise track. Map (bottom) indicates which stations were included in the section.

13 Table 4. Neuston net tow data. 333 m mesh. Blank indicates no data collected.

Tow Zoo. Phyllo- Lepto- Sargassum Sargassum Plastic Plastic Dist. Density soma cephali Halobates Myctophid natans fluitans pellets pieces Station (m) (mL/m2) (#) (#) (#) (#) (g) (g) (#) (#) C247-001-NT 2189.0 0.0050 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 1 C247-002-NT 1591.8 0.0030 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 C247-003-NT 1786.3 0.0025 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 3 C247-004-NT 1438.9 0.0022 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 C247-005-NT 1227.8 0.0016 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 C247-006-NT 1449.0 0.0021 0 11 0 0 110 26 0 4 C247-007-NT 1726.8 0.0023 0 0 1 0 117 429 0 21 C247-008-NT 1112.0 0.0031 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 C247-009-NT 1444.8 0.0125 0 0 0 0 175 1 0 4 C247-010-NT 2136.2 0.0021 0 7 0 0 60 1 0 1 C247-011-NT 1144.4 0.0009 0 0 1 0 3 18 0 40 C247-012-NT 1309.2 0.0011 0 0 0 0 75 25 0 1 C247-013-NT 1118.0 0.0021 0 0 0 0 57 24 0 5 C247-014-NT 1391.0 0.0022 0 0 0 0 16 2 0 2 C247-015-NT 3447.0 0.0049 0 0 0 0 1100 7.3 0 33 C247-016-NT 1182.5 0.0017 0 0 0 0 150 18 0 14 C247-017-NT 2355.5 0.0047 0 0 1 0 675 10 0 25 C247-018-NT 1549.8 0.0031 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 C247-019-NT 2014.0 0.0006 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 31 C247-020-NT 926.5 0.0014 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 34 C247-021-NT 1247.3 0.0080 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 12 C247-022-NT 1694.0 0.0032 0 0 3 0 67 0 0 75 C247-023-NT 1744.4 0.0075 0 0 15 0 75 0 0 17 C247-024-NT 2041.0 0.0054 0 0 0 0 25 0 0 81 C247-025-NT 1701.0 0.0147 0 1 1 6 0 0 0 2 C247-026-NT 1110.1 0.0081 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 16 C247-027-NT 3066.5 0.0015 0 0 0 0 1 0.05 0 17

14 Table 4 continued.

15 Table 5. Meter Net (333 m mesh) and 2- Meter Net (1000 m mesh) data.

Tow Tow Zoopl. Phyllo- Lepto- S. S. Plastic Plastic Depth Volume Density soma cephali Halobates Myctophid natans fluitans pellets pieces Station (m) (m3) (mL/m3) (#) (#) (#) (#) (g) (g) (#) (#) C247-003-MN 15.0 1455.3 15 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-003-2MN 169.0 8587.9 2 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-004-MN 15.0 1862.5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-004-2MN 199.0 7808.4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-006-MN 15.0 1272.9 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-006-2MN 187.0 8464.6 7 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-008-2MN 246.0 6348.0 2 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-008-MN 14.0 1327.8 15 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-010-MN 25.0 1497.3 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-012-MN 15.0 1377.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-012-2MN 175.0 8349.2 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-014-2MN 230.0 6756.0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-014-MN 15.0 1422.6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-016-2MN 207.0 8322.6 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-016-MN 15.0 1312.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 C247-018-2MN 184.0 7915.7 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 C247-018-MN 15.0 1415.4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 C24-021-MN 22.0 1244.8 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-023-2MNA 166.0 2616.1 0.0371 3 1 1 3 0 0 0 3 C247-023-2MNB 192.0 6608.0 0.0189 1 4 1 7 0 0 0 0 C247-023-MN 10.0 1349.8 0.1052 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 C247-025-2MNA 186.0 2274.4 0.0703 0 4 1 8 0 0 0 0 C247-025-2MNB 171.0 5883.1 0.0357 0 4 0 6 0 0 0 0 C247-025-MN 14.0 696.4 0.6031 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 C247-029-MN 18.2 1876.8 0.0895 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 15

16 Table 5 continued.

ABSTRACTS -

Biodiversity and biogeography of leptocephali in surface and subsurface waters of the Caribbean and Sargasso Seas Taunya Couts, Mariah Haberman, Lauren Nickerson and Claudia Villar

Dozens of eel families spawn in the Caribbean and Sargasso Seas; these areas support a tremendous array of leptocephali (eel larvae) diversity. This study aimed to illustrate the biodiversity and biogeography of leptocephali along a transect from St. Croix, USVI to New York, NY during spring 2013. Detailed examinations of leptocephali association with Sargassum spp. as well as population-level divergence in the Bandtooth Conger (Ariosoma balearicum) were also conducted. Midnight net tows were conducted at ~200m depth, ~10m depth and at the surface. Leptocephali were identified morphologically and a subset was confirmed with genetic analysis. We collected 187 leptocephali from 10 taxonomic families. The greatest density of leptocephali was collected in (a) the Caribbean and (b) in surface tows; the greatest diversity was collected in (a) the North Sargasso and (b) at ~200m depth. Congridae leptocephali were the most common overall, though the Nemichthyidae family dominated North Sargasso samples. American and European eel (Anguilla rostrata and Anguilla anguilla) leptocephali were extremely rare in our samples. The relationship between Sargassum spp. and leptocephali density, as well as between oceanic boundaries and A. balearicum population variation, remains unclear. Our data regarding leptocephali distribution is useful in establishing the importance of the Caribbean and Sargasso Seas in the maintenance of both catadromous and marine eel biodiversity. It also provides insight into management initiatives for the economically valuable anguillid eels; the rarity of Anguilla sp. leptocephali in our tows may validate growing concerns over the health of their global populations.

18 Larval life stage distribution and genetic lineage alignment of Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) in the Sargasso Sea Andrew Dougherty, Kat Lipp, Annie Osborn, Leyana Romain and Gregory Thomas St. Aubin

The spiny lobster fishery is the largest in the Caribbean, providing jobs for 32,000 fishermen. Improving our understanding of larval distribution and dispersal is crucial to effective fishery management. During this study we assigned a morphological identification based on developmental stage to Panulirus argus larvae, called phyllosoma, collected during a South - North transect of the Sargasso Sea. Adults were also collected from a coral reef in Bermuda. In addition, we sequenced the HV-CRd1 gene for the first fifty-three phyllosoma collected and all adults; results were compared to those of previous studies to determine potential origins of the larvae. We found that phyllosoma did not travel in cohorts clustered by stage, and the location of phyllosoma in the high seas was not predictive of geographic origin or destination. Our research contributes to a growing body of work suggesting that P. argus populations depend on foreign recruitment.

19 Colony morphology and genetic diversity of Vibrio on natural versus artificial substrates across the Sargasso Sea Ethan Edson, Rachel Green, Steven Houang, Bethany Kolody and Scott Watters

The bacterial genus Vibrio encompasses a vast diversity of species implicated in environmental studies and global health concerns. To examine the microbial community structure of Vibrio on biotic and abiotic substrates in the ocean, we isolated Vibrio from leptocephali (eel larvae), phyllosoma (spiny lobster larvae), Sargassum sp., and marine plastic debris using selective CHROMagar Vibrio plates. We conducted comparative analyses of colony morphology and genetic diversity on select colonies (n = 43). A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree showed distinct cultures with identical HSP60 sequences expressing distinct colony morphology, suggesting that morphotypical data describes aspects of metabolic bacterial adaptations to environmental conditions that the HSP60 gene cannot distinguish. Genetically identified species of Vibrio were not specific to substrate nor to geographic location. However, specific strains within these species were found only on certain substrates. Though substrates did not demonstrate selectivity for any single Vibrio species along the sampled cruise track, the Vibrio sequenced were distinct from those sampled in coastal regions. All four substrate types presented V. alginolyticus, an opportunistic pathogen known to infect both humans and marine organisms.

20 Sargassum as a keystone organism: Distribution and biodiversity of the species and related communities in the Sargasso Sea Alice Henry, Manasi Malik, Mariana Mata and Matt Flynn

The Sargasso Sea is characterized by the two holopelagic species of Sargassum that create rich communities and foster a nursery for both ecologically and economically important species in its waters. We studied the distribution of Sargassum along our cruise track from St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands to Woods Hole, Massachusetts. To gain an insight into Sargassum population dynamics, we closely examined population diversity and genetic variation in hydroids, colonial epibionts found on most Sargassum clumps. We studied the effect of each clump’s physical characteristics on the diversity of its hydroid community and examined genetic variation in the hydroid species Aglaophenia latecarinata. We collected Sargassum in one nautical mile Neuston tows every twelve hours along our cruise track. Between the United States Virgin Islands and Bermuda, we extracted DNA from A. latecarinata and amplified a portion of the 16S rRNA gene for sequencing. Our results showed a higher density of total Sargassum and of S. fluitans in the South Sargasso Sea than in the North, a higher hydroid diversity on middle-aged Sargassum, and no genetically distinct populations in A. latecarinata. The data provided by this work contributes to the continuous monitoring of Sargassum and Sargassum-based communities in the Sargasso Sea, and will provide much-needed data to policymakers and scientists interested in conserving this unique ecosystem.