Draft Genome Sequences of Four Bacterial Species as Part of an Experiential Microbiology Project at SUNY Geneseo.

We report four draft genome sequences related to the genera and , recovered from surfaces associated with human interaction, and , recovered from an aquatic environment. This study was part of an undergraduate microbial bioinformatics course at the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Discovery of Adults Linked to Cloning Oceanic Starfish Larvae (, Asteroidea: Echinodermata).

Two juvenile specimens of a new species of were collected at Parque Nacional Arrecife Alacranes and Triángulos Oeste in the southern Gulf of Mexico. DNA of mitochondrial loci identifies them as members of the same clade as cloning larvae of found abundantly in waters of the Florida Current-Gulf Stream system, and distinct from and , the two known Oreasteridae species in the North Atlantic. Larvae from the new species of persist as clones but also metamorphose and settle to the benthos with typical asteroid morphology.

DEVELOPMENT, METAMORPHOSIS, AND SEASONAL ABUNDANCE OF EMBRYOS AND LARVAE OF THE ANTARCTIC SEA URCHIN STERECHINUS NEUMAYERI.

The development to metamorphosis of the shallow-water antarctic sea urchin, Sterechinus neumayeri, is described for the first time. Developmental stages are similar to those of closely related temperate species with feeding larvae, but the rate of development is extremely slow. Hatching of ciliated blastulae occurs approximately 140, 128, and 110 hours after fertilization at -1.