Estimating reef fish size distributions with a mini remotely operated vehicle-integrated stereo camera system.

We tested the efficacy of a stereo camera (SC) system adapted for use with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to estimate fish length distributions at reef sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico. A pool experiment was conducted to test the effect of distance (1, 2, 3 or 5 m), angle of incidence (AOI; 0° to 40° at 5° increments), and SC baseline distance (BD; BD1 = 406, BD2 = 610, and BD3 = 762 mm camera separation) on the accuracy and precision of fish model length (288, 552, or 890 mm fork length) estimates compared to a red laser scaler (RLS). A field experiment was then conducted at 20 reef sites with SCs positioned at BD1 to compare fish length distribution estimates between the SC and RLS systems under in situ conditions.

Author Correction: Changes in Reef Fish Community Structure Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Changes in Reef Fish Community Structure Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Large-scale anthropogenic disturbances can have direct and indirect effects on marine communities, with direct effects often taking the form of widespread injury or mortality and indirect effects manifesting as changes in food web structure. Here, we report a time series that captures both direct and indirect effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DWH) on northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) reef fish communities. We observed significant changes in community structure immediately following the DWH, with a 38% decline in species richness and 26% decline in Shannon-Weiner diversity.

A multi-year study of hepatic biomarkers in coastal fishes from the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, concerns were raised regarding exposure of fish to crude oil components, particularly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This three year study examined hepatic enzymes in post-mitochondrial supernatant fractions from red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and gray triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) collected in the north central Gulf of Mexico between 2011 and 2014. Biomarker activities evaluated included benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase (AHH), ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione transferase (GST), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx).