Coral reef fish larvae show no evidence for map-based navigation after physical displacement.

Millions of minute, newly hatched coral reef fish larvae get carried into the open ocean by highly complex and variable currents. To survive, they must return to a suitable reef habitat within a species-specific time. Strikingly, previous studies have demonstrated that return to home reefs is much more frequent than would be expected by chance.

High-resolution otolith elemental signatures in eteline snappers from valuable deepwater tropical fisheries.

Marine resources are often shared among countries, with some fish stocks straddling multiple Exclusive Economic Zones, therefore understanding the structure of populations is important for the effective management of fish stocks. Otolith chemical analyses could discriminate among populations based on differences in the chemical composition of otoliths. We used otoliths from two deepwater snappers (flame snapper Etelis coruscans and ruby snapper Etelis boweni) to examine the evidence for population structure across six Pacific Island countries using solution-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for otolith core and whole otolith samples and laser ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) for core and edge areas of a cross-sectioned otolith.

The utility of jellyfish as marine biomonitors.

Jellyfish are abundant in coastal waters across broad latitudinal ranges and are often considered pests and a group that can cause phase shifts in marine ecosystems. Recent studies have highlighted their potential as biomonitors of contaminants including metals, herbicides and nutrients. Traditionally, sedentary organisms like molluscs and annelid worms have been used, but some jellyfish have similar characteristics of localised distributions and in some cases sedentary behaviour.

Habitat type and complexity drive fish assemblages in a tropical seascape.

Inshore marine seascapes support a diversity of interconnected habitats and are an important focus for biodiversity conservation. This study examines the importance of habitat attributes to fish assemblages across a mosaic of inshore habitats: coral reefs, rocky reefs, macroalgae beds and sand/rubble beds. Fishes and benthic habitats were surveyed at 34 sites around continental islands of the central Great Barrier Reef using baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS).

Behavioural and oceanographic isolation of an island-based jellyfish (Copula sivickisi, Class Cubozoa) population.

Cubozoan jellyfish are classified as plankton despite the strong swimming and orientation abilities of cubomedusae. How these capabilities could affect cubozoan population structures is poorly understood. Medusae of the cubozoan Copula sivickisi can uniquely attach to surfaces with the sticky pads on their bells.

Detecting effects of herbicide runoff: The use of Cassiopea maremetens as a biomonitor to hexazinone.

Herbicides are an integral part of global agricultural activity but can be advected into local drainages that can discharge to coastal marine systems. Herbicide runoff can impact coastal marine organisms, including those associated with coral reefs and coastal mangrove forests. In this study, the symbiotic sedentary jellyfish Cassiopea maremetens were exposed to analytical grade hexazinone to determine their sensitivity and potential for recovery after exposure to a press herbicide event of 14 days followed by a recovery period of matching duration.

Deep-reef fish assemblages of the Great Barrier Reef shelf-break (Australia).

Tropical mesophotic and sub-mesophotic fish ecology is poorly understood despite increasing vulnerability of deeper fish assemblages. Worldwide there is greater fishing pressure on continental shelf-breaks and the effects of disturbances on deeper fish species have not yet been assessed. Difficult to access, deeper reefs host undocumented fish diversity and abundance.

Herbicide effects on the growth and photosynthetic efficiency of Cassiopea maremetens.

Herbicides from agricultural run-off have been measured in coastal systems of the Great Barrier Reef over many years. Non-target herbicide exposure, especially photosystem II herbicides has the potential to affect seagrasses and other marine species. The symbiotic benthic jellyfish Cassiopea maremetens is present in tropical/sub-tropical estuarine and marine environments.

A magnetic compass that might help coral reef fish larvae return to their natal reef.

Many coral reef fish larvae spend days to months in the open ocean before settlement on coral reefs [1]. Early in development, larvae have limited swimming capabilities and will therefore be greatly affected by currents. This can potentially result in dispersal distances of tens of kilometers [2].

Statolith Morphometrics Can Discriminate among Taxa of Cubozoan Jellyfishes.

Identification of potentially harmful cubomedusae is difficult due to their gelatinous nature. The only hard structure of medusae, the statolith, has the potential to provide robust measurements for morphometric analysis. Traditional morphometric length to width ratios (L: W) and modern morphometric Elliptical Fourier Analysis (EFA) were applied to proximal, oral and lateral statolith faces of 12 cubozoan species.

Fine-scale detection of pollutants by a benthic marine jellyfish.

Local sources of pollution can vary immensely on small geographic scales and short time frames due to differences in runoff and adjacent land use. This study examined the rate of uptake and retention of trace metals in Cassiopea maremetens, a benthic marine jellyfish, over a short time frame and in the presence of multiple pollutants. This study also validated the ability of C.

Predators Exacerbate Competitive Interactions and Dominance Hierarchies between Two Coral Reef Fishes.

Predation and competition are critical processes influencing the ecology of organisms, and can play an integral role in shaping coral reef fish communities. This study compared the relative and interacting effects of competition and predation on two competing species of coral reef fish, Pomacentrus amboinensis and P. moluccensis (Pomacentridae), using a multifactorial experiment.

Oceanographic and behavioural assumptions in models of the fate of coral and coral reef fish larvae.

A predictive model of the fate of coral reef fish larvae in a reef system is proposed that combines the oceanographic processes of advection and turbulent diffusion with the biological process of horizontal swimming controlled by olfactory and auditory cues within the timescales of larval development. In the model, auditory cues resulted in swimming towards the reefs when within hearing distance of the reef, whereas olfactory cues resulted in the larvae swimming towards the natal reef in open waters by swimming against the concentration gradients in the smell plume emanating from the natal reef. The model suggested that the self-seeding rate may be quite large, at least 20% for the larvae of rapidly developing reef fish species, which contrasted with a self-seeding rate less than 2% for non-swimming coral larvae.

Environmental Records from Great Barrier Reef Corals: inshore versus offshore drivers.

The biogenic structures of stationary organisms can be effective recorders of environmental fluctuations. These proxy records of environmental change are preserved as geochemical signals in the carbonate skeletons of scleractinian corals and are useful for reconstructions of temporal and spatial fluctuations in the physical and chemical environments of coral reef ecosystems, including The Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We compared multi-year monitoring of water temperature and dissolved elements with analyses of chemical proxies recorded in Porites coral skeletons to identify the divergent mechanisms driving environmental variation at inshore versus offshore reefs.

Reef odor: a wake up call for navigation in reef fish larvae.

The behavior of reef fish larvae, equipped with a complex toolbox of sensory apparatus, has become a central issue in understanding their transport in the ocean. In this study pelagic reef fish larvae were monitored using an unmanned open-ocean tracking device, the drifting in-situ chamber (DISC), deployed sequentially in oceanic waters and in reef-born odor plumes propagating offshore with the ebb flow. A total of 83 larvae of two taxonomic groups of the families Pomacentridae and Apogonidae were observed in the two water masses around One Tree Island, southern Great Barrier Reef.

Do clouds save the great barrier reef? satellite imagery elucidates the cloud-SST relationship at the local scale.

Evidence of global climate change and rising sea surface temperatures (SSTs) is now well documented in the scientific literature. With corals already living close to their thermal maxima, increases in SSTs are of great concern for the survival of coral reefs. Cloud feedback processes may have the potential to constrain SSTs, serving to enforce an "ocean thermostat" and promoting the survival of coral reefs.

Sun Compass Orientation Helps Coral Reef Fish Larvae Return to Their Natal Reef.

Reef fish sustain populations on isolated reefs and show genetic diversity between nearby reefs even though larvae of many species are swept away from the natal site during pelagic dispersal. Retention or recruitment to natal reefs requires orientation capabilities that enable larvae to find their way. Although olfactory and acoustically based orientation has been implicated in homing when larvae are in the reef's vicinity, it is still unclear how they cope with greater distances.

Trace element accumulation in Cassiopea sp. (Scyphozoa) from urban marine environments in Australia.

Jellyfishes are robust, short-lived animals, tolerant to a wide range of environmental conditions and pollutants. The benthic jellyfish, Cassiopea sp. was collected from five locations along the north and eastern coast of Australia and analysed for trace elements to determine if this species has potential as a marine biomonitor.

Impacts of climate change on marine organisms and ecosystems.

Human activities are releasing gigatonnes of carbon to the Earth's atmosphere annually. Direct consequences of cumulative post-industrial emissions include increasing global temperature, perturbed regional weather patterns, rising sea levels, acidifying oceans, changed nutrient loads and altered ocean circulation. These and other physical consequences are affecting marine biological processes from genes to ecosystems, over scales from rock pools to ocean basins, impacting ecosystem services and threatening human food security.

Smelling home can prevent dispersal of reef fish larvae.

Many marine fish and invertebrates show a dual life history where settled adults produce dispersing larvae. The planktonic nature of the early larval stages suggests a passive dispersal model where ocean currents would quickly cause panmixis over large spatial scales and prevent isolation of populations, a prerequisite for speciation. However, high biodiversity and species abundance in coral reefs contradict this panmixis hypothesis.

Exposure to Thiodan results in lipofuscin accumulation in hepatocytes of the freshwater catfish Tandanus tandanus.

We investigated the effect of time after pulse exposure to 1.0 microg l(-1) endosulfan (applied as Thiodan) on endosulfan residues in the liver and ultrastructural changes in the hepatocytes of the freshwater catfish Tandanus tandanus. Time after exposure did not affect the mean residue level in the liver.