American Atlantic Coast Research Articles

Phylogenetic analysis of thermal acclimation of the glycolytic enzymes in the genus Fundulus.

Physiological acclimation that alters enzyme activity can compensate for the effect of temperature on function and may be achieved by altering enzyme concentration. This study uses phylogenetic analyses to investigate the evolutionary history of and to test several hypotheses about acclimation responses among all the glycolytic enzymes. These hypotheses are that (1) acclimation increases enzyme concentration at lower temperatures to compensate for reduced activity; (2) equilibrium enzymes tend to show acclimation responses; and (3) acclimation responses are more common in species whose populations experience either large temporal or geographical temperature variations. Using maximal activities as indices of enzyme concentration, the presence of acclimation responses in all the glycolytic enzymes in the heart ventricle was determined for five species in the teleost genus Fundulus. Three of these species are distributed along the steep thermal cline of the North American Atlantic coast, and thus these species experience both seasonal and geographical variation in temperature. The other two species are found in the Gulf of Mexico and experience seasonal variation similar to the Atlantic species but no geographical variation in temperature. Two Atlantic coast species, Fundulus heteroclitus and Fundulus majalis, have unique derived acclimation responses. No derived acclimation responses occur in the Gulf species. A conserved response in hexokinase was observed within one subgenus comprising both Atlantic and Gulf species. In F. heteroclitus, enolase responded to acclimation, and in F majalis, aldolase, triphosphate isomerase, and lactate dehydrogenase had acclimation responses. These enzymes are equilibrium enzymes, and the concentrations of all of them increase at lower temperatures, which would compensate for the effect of temperature on enzyme activity. The compensatory changes all occur in the Atlantic species and may be a mechanism for species to expand their ranges. These data suggest that physiological acclimation is evolutionarily labile.

A New Species of Leptocuma Sars, 1873 (Cumacea) From the South American Atlantic Coast

Leptocuma borzonei n. sp. is described and illustrated from material collected in southern Brazil and the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This species is most closely related to L. forsmani Zimmer, 1943 from Baja California. The female of L. borzonei differs from that of L. forsmani by its larger size, its carapace being approximately 1/7th of the total length, the antennal notch very widely open, the second peraeopod very short, the uropodal rami approximately as long as the peduncle, and the uropodal endopod with a row of 9-13 plumose setae.

Multiple trans-Arctic passages in the red alga Phycodrys rubens: evidence from nuclear rDNA ITS sequences

In order to investigate how episodes of geological and climatic change have influenced the distribution and evolutionary diversification of Arctic to cold temperate-North Atlantic seaweed species, intraspecific genetic variation was analyzed among isolates of the sublittoral, benthic red alga Phycodrys rubens (collected between June 1992 and January 1994). Rooted phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences and the plastid encoded Rubisco spacer sequences suggest that P. rubens invaded the North Atlantic from the Pacific shortly after the opening of the Bering Strait (3 to 3.5 million years ago), colonizing both the western and eastern Atlantic coasts. Based on these data we further hypothesize that P. rubens survived along the European coasts during the more recent Pleistocene glaciations, while becoming locally extinct along the North American Atlantic coasts. Following retraction of the last ice sheet, the western Atlantic coast was colonized a second time from the Pacific. The presence of two distinct genetic types (based on ITS and Rubisco sequences) along the European coasts is postulated to be a result of isolation and subsequent differentiation. This is likely because ice-free areas are known to have existed in northern Scotland and Norway during the last glaciation. The presence of an East Atlantic genetic type along the West Atlantic coast is believed to be a recent introduction (caused by human activity) of P. rubens to Newfoundland.

RHITHROPANOPEUS HARRISII (GOULD), AN AMERICAN CRAB IN THE ESTUARY OF THE MONDEGO RIVER, PORTUGAL

ABSTRACT The estuarine crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Gould) was originally found along the North American Atlantic coast and in 1991 was reported for the first time on the Iberian Peninsula. The larvae of this species were found only in the upper reaches of the Mondego estuary, Portugal, during spring and summer months, from late April to September. Larval density was highest during June. The reproductive season of R. harrisii occurs within the range of the highest water temperature. This study shows a temporal coherence in the larval patterns of occurrence during 2 years of sampling, and indicates that larvae of R. harrisii are more abundant near the surface during night flood tide, but near the bottom during ebb tide. This suggests a net larval landward transport, which results in retention near the area of adult spawning. The aim of this study was to analyze the seasonal and spatial occurrence and tidal abundance of larvae of R. harrisii in the estuary of the Mondego river, Portugal. In addition, patterns of the temporal distribution of the larvae on the geographic range where the crab larvae have been found are briefly reviewed.

A Biomarker Approach to Assessing Xenobiotic Exposure in Atlantic Tomcod from the North American Atlantic Coast

We determined levels of hepatic cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) mRNA, hepatic DNA adducts, and fluorescent aromatic compounds (FACs) in bile, a measure of exposure to polyaromatic hydrocarbons, in Atlantic tomcod from six river systems ranging from highly polluted to relatively pristine on the northeast North American coast (the Hudson River, New York; the St. Lawrence River, Quebec; the Miramichi River, New Brunswick; the Saco and Royal rivers, Maine; and the Margaree River, Nova Scotia). Hudson River tomcod showed the greatest response for all parameters, and tomcod from the Margaree River exhibited the least response. Tomcod from the Miramichi River exhibited marked induction of CYP1A mRNA but low levels of hepatic DNA adducts and biliary FACs, whereas fish from the St. Lawrence River showed no induction of CYP1A mRNA and moderately elevated levels of DNA adducts and biliary FACs. In tomcod from the Hudson and Miramichi rivers, the levels of CYP1A mRNA were 28 times and 14 times, respectively, as great as the levels in fish from the St. Lawrence, Saco/Royal, and Margaree rivers. Mean levels of DNA adducts varied from 120 nmol adducts/mol bases in Hudson River tomcod to < 3 nmol adducts/mol bases in fish from the Miramichi and Margaree rivers. Concentrations of FACs in the bile of tomcod from the Hudson and St. Lawrence rivers were 8 and 1.8 times, respectively, as great as the concentrations in tomcod from the Miramichi River and Margaree River. In tomcod from the Hudson River, all three biomarkers were markedly elevated; in the St. Lawrence River two biomarkers were elevated, in the Miramichi River one was elevated, but no biomarker was substantially elevated in fish from the Saco/Royal and Margaree rivers. Elevated levels of hepatic DNA adducts and biliary FACs in tomcod from the Hudson River suggest increased exposure to PAHs, consistent with previous studies.

Antithamnioid algae (Rhodophyta, Ceramiaceae) newly recorded from the Azores

Abstract The genus Scageliopsis Wollaston, presently considered to be endemic to Southern Australia, is reported from the island of Faial in the Azores. A comparison with the type of the genus, S. patens Wollaston, has shown that the Azorean plants probably belong to the same species. They were sterile and grew interwoven with other diminutive turf algae at sublittoral levels down to 41 m. Two other antithamnioid species, Antithamnion diminuatum Wollaston, and Antithamnion pectinatum (Montagne) Brauner in Athanasiadis et Tittley, comb. nov., are also reported for the Azores. Both reports extend their distributional range in the North Atlantic; A. diminuatum was previously known from South Australia and South Africa and A. pectinatum is widely recorded from the Southern Hemisphere, the Western Mediterranean and the North American Atlantic coast (Connecticut).

Parasites of American shad, Alosa sapidissima (Osteichthyes: Clupeidae), from rivers of the North American Atlantic coast and the Bay of Fundy, Canada

Parasites belonging to a total of 26 taxa were recovered from 695 American shad (Alosa sapidissima) sampled from six rivers and one marine location (Cumberland Basin, Bay of Fundy) on the east coast of North America. Of these, 23 taxa are reported from American shad for the first time. Species identified were predominantly boreal marine forms that have low host specificities and widespread distributions. Two species, Hysterothylacium aduncum and Scolex pleuronectis, were found in American shad from all localities (> 60% prevalence). Relative abundance and diversity indices of the parasite assemblages varied in relation to geographic location and temporally in Cumberland Basin. These data suggest that there is different timing of arrival and departure of shad from individual river populations in Cumberland Basin. High levels of prevalence and incidence of exotic, southern parasite species, such as Genitocotyle atlantica, in shad from Cumberland Basin and most or all river populations indicate that all individual shad spend some portion of their life at or near the southern extent of their reported range.

Aggregates market of the north American Atlantic coast — Trends

ABSTRACT The aggregates market of the North Atlantic Coast Is changing. Growing urbanization is redefining traditional roles concerning transportation, operating size, raw materials supply, recycling and imports. A trend toward a mature aggregates market has been observed. The production and consumption of crushed stone has increased relative to that of sand and gravel. Market trends are predicted, partly based on Information that suggest closer supply/demand ties in the future between the North Atlantic coastal countries.

Haustorius jayneae, a New Species of Haustoriid Amphipod from the Northern Gulf of Mexico, with Notes on Its Ecology at Panama City Beach, Florida U.S.A.

A new species of sand-burrowing amphipod, Haustorius jayneae, is described from the swash zone and shallow subtidal sands along the north Florida and Mississippi Gulf coasts. It is most similar to H. canadensis from the American Atlantic coast, differing primarily in the presence of a distinct anterodistal spinous lobe on pereopod 6, article 5; a longer row of distal marginal spines on pereopod 7, article 4; and fewer proximal spines on the peduncle of uropod 1. A revised key to the known species of Haustorius is included and information on the ecology of H. jayneae n. sp. at Panama City Beach, Florida, is reviewed.

Acanthohaustorius uncinus, a New Species of Sand-Burrowing Amphipod from the Northern Gulf of Mexico, with Notes on its Ecology (Haustoriidae: Haustoriinae)

A new species of sand-burrowing amphipod, Acanthohaustorius uncinus, is described from vegetated and unvcgetated estuarine sands from St. Andrew Bay, Florida and East Ship Island, Mississippi. The genus Acanthohaustorius has been informally recorded from St. Andrew Bay, but this species is now formally descrikd from the Gulf of Mexico. A. uncinus n. sp. is most similar to A. m i l k of the Open American Atlantic coast. It differs from A. miZZsi in the presence of a dorsally directed, hooked spine on the peduncle of uropod 1 and the totally cleft telson lobes. Information on the ecology of A. uncinus n. sp. in St. Andrew Bay is provided, along with a revised key to the known species of Acanthohaustorius and a brief review of haustoriid studies in the Gulf of Mexico.

Phytogeography of seaweeds of the Azores

189 species of seaweeds have been recorded for the Atlantic archipelago of the Azores (114 Rhodophyceae, 41 Phaeophyceae and 34 Chlorophyceae). Ten of these have been described as endemic algae. The taxonomic status of these “endemics” is far from clear, however. Studies on the relatedness of this seaweed flora to seaweed floras of surrounding areas using clustering methods indicate its intermediary position between the seaweed floras of the subtropical Macaronesian Islands (Canaries Madeira and Salvages) on the one side and those of the warm temperate Eurafrican coasts on the other side. The geographic position of the Azores is NW of the other Macaronesian Archipelagos and thus nearer to the American coast. The Gulf stream may easily transport seaweeds from the Carribean to the Azores. Nevertheless, the number of species of these islands in common with the American Atlantic coast is much lower than with, for example, the W. Mediterranean. Of one group of seaweeds, viz. algae with a strictly warm temperature distribution, not a single species occurs likewise on American coasts. This absence is probably explicable because of the narrow temperature range for survival of these seaweeds. Temperatures of surface waters around the Azores during pleistocene glaciations were not much lower than they are at present. Nevertheless, it can be supposed that a number of seaweeds now occurring in the Azores have become extinct during the last glaciation.

Four Cyclaspis Species (Cumacea) From the South American Atlantic Coast

[Se describen tres nuevas especies - C. perelegans sp. n., C. striata sp. n., y C. oxyura sp. n. - y se redescribe C. pustulata Zimmer, 1943, todas pertenecientes al genero Cyclaspis Sars, 1865 y halladas frente a la costa brasilera. C. pustulata fue previamente localizada en la bahia de Chesapeake y en el estuario del Mississippi., Se describen tres nuevas especies - C. perelegans sp. n., C. striata sp. n., y C. oxyura sp. n. - y se redescribe C. pustulata Zimmer, 1943, todas pertenecientes al genero Cyclaspis Sars, 1865 y halladas frente a la costa brasilera. C. pustulata fue previamente localizada en la bahia de Chesapeake y en el estuario del Mississippi.]

On Some Cyclaspis (Cumacea) From the South American Atlantic Coast With the Description of Two New Species

El presente trabajo es un aporte al conocimiento de las especies del genero Cyclaspis Sars, 1865 (Cumacea) del litoral atlantico sudamericano. Incluye la descripcion de dos nuevas especies, ambas localizadas sobre la plataforma continental: C. alba hallada en Uruguay y la Provincia de Buenos Aires, y C. variabilis hallada desde el Estado de Rio de Janeiro hasta la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ademas se describen la hembre ovigera y el macho adulto de C. dolera Zimmer, 1944, con ejemplares obtenidos en una muestra de la plataforma continental del Estado de Rio de Janeiro; de esta manera se amplia la informacion referida a este especie, la cual fue erigida sobre la base de dos hembras inmaduras halladas en aguas someras centroamericanos. Por ultimo se redescribe el macho adulto y se describe las hembras adulta y subadulta de C. dentifrons Zimmer, 1944. Esta especie, citada originalmente para las cercanias de la Isla de Sao Sebastiao (Estado de Sao Paulo), fue hallada en una nueva localidad de la plataforma continental del mencionado Estado y en la plataforma continental del Estado de Rio de Janeiro.

SYSTEMATICS, DISTRIBUTIONAL ECOLOGY, AND SOME HOST-PARASITE RELATIONSHIPS OF UHLORCHESTIA UHLERI (SHOEMAKER) AND U. SPARTINOPHILA, NEW SPECIES (CRUSTACEA: AMPHIPODA), ENDEMIC TO SALT MARSHES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST OF NORTH AMERICA

ABSTRACT The palustral talitrid amphipod genus Uhlorchestia Bousfield, 1984, is endemic to marshes of Spartina of the North American Atlantic coast. On the basis of newly developed characters and phyletically ordered character states, Uhlorchestia spartinophila, new species, and Uhlorchestia uhleri (Shoemaker, 1930) are herewith described and figured. Uhlorchestia uhleri is a larger, more southerly species (North Carolina to Texas), confined to the upper, more brackish portions of coastal marshes, mainly in association with Spartina patens. Its character states are, in balance, slightly more plesiomorphic than those of the smaller, more northerly U. spartinophila, new species (central Maine to northeastern Florida) that dominates the middle to lower, more saline regions of salt marshes, mainly in association with Spartina alterniflora. Both talitrid species are often parasitized by protozoans and larval helminths. Parasitized individuals are characterized by changes in color and behaviour.

Meiofaunal Densities and Copepod Species Composition in a Louisiana, U.S.A., Estuary

Meiofaunal Densities and Copepod Species Composition in a Louisiana, U.S.A., Estuary

Some Rare Species of Abyssobenthic Shrimp (Families Crangonidae, Glyphocrangonidae and Nematocarcinidae) From the Venezuela Basin, Caribbean Sea (Decapoda, Caridea)

Deep-sea trawling in the Venezuela Basin of the Caribbean Sea during October through early December 1981 by USNS Bartlett collected 4 species in 3 families and genera of abyssobenthic caridean shrimp; namely, Pontophilus talismani Crosnier & Forest, 1973 (Crangonidae), Glyphocrangon atlantica Chace, 1939 (Glyphocrangonidae), Nematocarcinus acanthitelsonis Pequegnat, 1970 and Nematocarcinus ensifer (Smith, 1882) (Nematocarcinidae). Pontophilus talismani is a rare west African species previously known from 2 ovigerous females collected between Dakar and the Cape Verde Islands. Glyphocrangon atlantica was equally rare, heretofore recorded from 3 specimens, 2 from the Caribbean Sea south of Cuba or northeast of Honduras, and a third from the eastern Atlantic off France. Nematocarcinus acanthitelsonis was previously known from 4 specimens, consisting of 2 in the type series from the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, and 2 more from south of the Canary Islands in the eastern Atlantic. Nematocarcinus ensifer, on the other hand, is a common deep-sea shrimp widely distributed on the American Atlantic coast, the Azores, the African and European coasts, and in the eastern and mid-Pacific Ocean from Central America to Hawaii, and perhaps to New Guinea, Japan and the Indian Ocean if synonymization by several authors is correct. All 4 species are considered to be bathyal or abyssal forms, but their widespread distribution, as determined in part from this study, suggests that zoogeographical relationships may be more general for Decapoda inhabiting deep-sea basins than was previously suspected.

Migration of dunlincalidris alpina:A worldwide overview

Ringing recoveries have been used to determine the winter quarters for the different breeding populations of Dunlin. These are Greenlandic, Icelandic, and British breeding birds to north‐west Africa; those from the Baltic to north‐west Africa, the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf; Lapplandic to the British Isles south to north‐west Africa; western Russian to the British Isles, the Mediterranean, the Caspian and Abrabian Gulf; eastern Russian and northern Alaskan to the Asian Pacific coast; western Alaskan to the North American Pacific coast; arctic Canadian to the North American Atlantic coast. Populations that breed in different areas occupy greatly overlapping regions in winter throughout much of the range.

Distribution of Recent benthic foraminifera off the North American Atlantic coast

Distribution of Recent benthic foraminifera off the North American Atlantic coast

Adaptive Radiation in Sand-Burrowing Amphipod Crustaceans

Over millenia of geological history, the highly oxygenated, unstable substratum of wave-exposed intertidal sands has been a physically harsh environment and a challenge to survival for animal life attempting to utilize its relatively rich planktonic and interstitial nutrient resources. The Atlantic Ocean originated presumably in the late Mesozoic, yet since that time, certain endemic groups of gammaridean amphipod crustaceans of different feeding and reproductive morphology and behavior have apparently developed, convergently, two main types of fossorial body form necessary to survival in this environment. The obligate-sand-burrowing subfamilies Pontoporeiinae and Haustoriinae (family Haustoriidae) illustrate the phenomenon of adaptive radiation within these two body forms. The wide-bodied hydraulic-tunnelling subfamily Haustoriinae contains eight distinct genera of which seven genera and approximately 28 known species occur (many sympatrically) along the non-tropical North American Atlantic coast. The species occupy definitive but somewhat overlapping niches of the sandy beach environment. Analysis of amphipod feeding morphology and distribution in the North Pacific and North Atlantic regions indicates that (1) filter-feeding and reproductive mechanisms are most specialized within the Haustoriinae; (2) the most specialized haustoriin species inhabit the highest intertidal and most landward estuarine environments; (3) evolution and adaptive radiation are proceeding most fully and rapidly in warmtemperate (southern) parts of the subfamily range; and (4) the Haustoriinae may be replacing the more primitive and less specialized colder-water Pontoporeiinae in regions from which the former is now excluded by ecological and distributional barriers.

HYDROID AND YOUNG MEDUSA STAGES OFDIPURENA STRANGULATA(HYDROZOA, CORYNIDAE)

The hydroid stage in the life history of Dipurena strangulata, a relatively well-known medusa along the United States east coast, is described for the first time. A previous description of the young medusa does not accord with observations recorded here, but is similar to and may have been based on young Linvillea agassizi rather than D. strangulata. Of the described hydroids of Dipurena, D. strangulata is most like D. reesi morphologically, but differs in the position of the filiform tentacles and the number of endodermal cells in the capitate tentacles. The status of the various species of Dipurena described from the North American Atlantic coast is reviewed.