Ecological characterization of the lower Everglades, Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys

We report the development and characterization of 13 novel microsatellite loci for the Caribbean queen conch, Lobatus gigas, an ecologically and commercially important marine gastropod. Paired-end sequencing was carried out on genomic DNA from a single queen conch using half a flow cell lane of an Illumina MiSeq. A total of 48 potentially amplifiable loci containing microsatellites were tested on 45 individuals from the Florida Keys and Bahamas. In total, 13 consistently amplifying and polymorphic microsatellite loci were identified. The number of alleles ranged from 4 to 26 and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.340 to 1.00. There was no evidence of scoring error, large allele dropout, or evidence of linkage disequilibrium at any locus. Four loci deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium due to moderate levels of null alleles (null allele frequencies ranged from 0.081 to 0.230). Although null alleles were detected at four microsatellite loci, the high levels of polymorphism and moderate null allele frequencies suggest that these 13 novel microsatellite markers will be useful for researchers carrying out conservation genetic studies of L. gigas.

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Geotechnical characterization of calcareous sediments from the Dry Tortugas Keys and Marquesas Keys CBBL SRP study sites, Lower Florida Keys

Geo-Marine Letters ◽

10.1007/s003670100075 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 131-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Veyera G. ◽

Brandes H. ◽

Silva A.

Keyword(s):

Florida Keys ◽

Dry Tortugas ◽

Geotechnical Characterization ◽

Study Sites

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Periphyton light transmission relationships in Florida Bay and the Florida Keys, USA

Aquatic Botany ◽

10.1016/j.aquabot.2005.05.003 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 83 (1) ◽

pp. 14-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Thomas A. Frankovich ◽

Joseph C. Zieman

Keyword(s):

Light Transmission ◽

Florida Bay ◽

Florida Keys

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Influence of coastal eddies and counter-currents on the influx of spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, postlarvae into Florida Bay

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf01110 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 52 (8) ◽

pp. 1217 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Cynthia Yeung ◽

David L. Jones ◽

Maria M. Criales ◽

Thomas L. Jackson ◽

William. J. Richards

Keyword(s):

Current Flow ◽

Spiny Lobster ◽

Mesoscale Eddy ◽

Florida Bay ◽

Florida Keys ◽

Larval Transport ◽

Panulirus Argus ◽

Counter Current Flow ◽

Highly Correlated ◽

Counter Current

Postlarvae of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus migrate from offshore in the Florida Keys into their juvenile habitat in Florida Bay through interisland channels. The influx of postlarvae was monitored monthly over the new-moon period at Long Key and Whale Harbor channels (July 1997–June 1999). Although the channels were only 30 km apart, their influx patterns differed. At Long Key, influx peaked every 2–3 months, whereas at Whale Harbor the peaks were in winter and of higher magnitudes. The influx pattern at Long Key was highly correlated with the strength of coastal counter-current flow in the two-week period prior to sampling. Countercurrent flow was correlated with alongshore (upstream) wind stress, but the latter was not a significant predictor of postlarval influx. Coastal counter-current flow is hypothesized to indicate the presence of a cyclonic, mesoscale eddy offshore. Satellite imagery confirmed the presence of these eddies offshore of the Middle Florida Keys often when positive postlarval influx and counter-current anomalies were observed. These eddies can facilitate onshore larval transport, and their variable temporal and spatial properties can cause transport variability over a scale of several tens of kilometres along the Keys.

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Effects of ghost fishing lobster traps in the Florida Keys

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsu238 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 72 (suppl_1) ◽

pp. i185-i198 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Casey B. Butler ◽

Thomas R. Matthews

Keyword(s):

Atlantic Ocean ◽

Spiny Lobster ◽

Florida Bay ◽

Florida Keys ◽

Median Absolute Deviation ◽

Panulirus Argus ◽

Combined Effects ◽

Absolute Deviation ◽

Dead Fish ◽

The Dead

AbstractGhost fishing is the capacity of lost traps to continue to catch and kill animals. In the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery in Florida, the effects of ghost fishing are of particular concern, given the estimated 10s of 1000s of traps lost annually. We distributed 40 each of the three types of lobster traps (wire, wood–wire hybrid, and wood slat) at three locations in the Florida Keys to simulate ghost fishing. Divers monitored these traps biweekly for 1 year then monthly for two additional years, recording the time ghost traps remained intact and continued to fish, as well as the number of live and dead lobsters and other animals in each trap. Wood slat and hybrid traps remained intact and fished for 509 ± 97 (median ± median absolute deviation) and 480 ± 142 d, respectively. Wire traps fished significantly longer (779.5 ± 273.5 d, p < 0.001), and several fished until the end of the experiment (1071 d). Traps in Florida Bay fished longer (711.5 ± 51.5 d) than traps inshore (509 ± 94.5 d) and offshore (381 ± 171 days; p < 0.001) in the Atlantic Ocean. More lobsters were observed in hybrid traps (mean = 4.81 ± 0.03 s.e.) than in wood slat (3.85 ± 0.16) or wire traps (3.17 ± 0.03; F = 40.15, d.f. = 2, p < 0.001). Wire traps accounted for 83% of fish confined overall and 74% of the dead fish observed in traps. Ghost traps in Florida Bay and Atlantic inshore killed 6.8 ± 1.0 and 6.3 ± 0.88 lobsters per trap annually, while Atlantic offshore traps killed fewer (3.0 ± 0.69) lobsters, likely as a result of lower lobster abundance in traps. The combined effects of greater lobster mortality and greater abundance of lost traps in inshore areas account for the majority of the estimated 637 622 ± 74 367 (mean ± s.d.) lobsters that die in ghost traps annually.

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