New records of Philometra spp. (Nematoda: Philometridae) from marine perciform fishes off Florida, USA, including descriptions of two new species.

Recent examinations of marine perciform fishes from off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida, USA, revealed the presence of the following six species of Philometra Costa, 1845 (Nematoda: Philometridae): P. haemulontis sp. n.

Timing and locations of reef fish spawning off the southeastern United States.

Managed reef fish in the Atlantic Ocean of the southeastern United States (SEUS) support a multi-billion dollar industry. There is a broad interest in locating and protecting spawning fish from harvest, to enhance productivity and reduce the potential for overfishing. We assessed spatiotemporal cues for spawning for six species from four reef fish families, using data on individual spawning condition collected by over three decades of regional fishery-independent reef fish surveys, combined with a series of predictors derived from bathymetric features.

Effects of preservation methods of muscle tissue from upper-trophic level reef fishes on stable isotope values (δ (13)C and δ (15)N).

Research that uses stable isotope analysis often involves a delay between sample collection in the field and laboratory processing, therefore requiring preservation to prevent or reduce tissue degradation and associated isotopic compositions. Although there is a growing literature describing the effects of various preservation techniques, the results are often contextual, unpredictable and vary among taxa, suggesting the need to treat each species individually. We conducted a controlled experiment to test the effects of four preservation methods of muscle tissue from four species of upper trophic-level reef fish collected from the eastern Gulf of Mexico (Red Grouper Epinephelus morio, Gag Mycteroperca microlepis, Scamp Mycteroperca phenax, and Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus).