Search results | Digital Commons of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

Title: Taxonomic revision of the agaraceae with a description of Neoagarum gen. nov. and reinstatement of Thalassiophyllum
Description: We confirmed the monophyly of the Agaraceae based on phylogenetic analyses of 6 mitochondrial and 6 chloroplast gene sequences from Agarum, Costaria, Dictyoneurum and Thalassiophyllum species as well as representative species from other laminarialean families. However, the genus Agarum was paraphyletic, comprising two independent clades, A. clathratum/A. turneri and A. fimbriatum/A. oharaense. The latter clade was genetically most closely related to Dictyoneurum spp., and morphologically the species shared a flattened stipe bearing fimbriae (potential secondary haptera) in the mid to upper portion. The phylogenetic position of Thalassiophyllum differed between the two datasets: in the chloroplast gene phylogeny Thalassiophyllum was included in the A. clathratum/A. turneri clade, but in the mitochondrial gene phylogeny, it formed an independent clade at the base of the Agaraceae, the same position it took in the phylogeny when the data from both genomes were combined despite a larger number of bp being contributed by the chloroplast gene sequences. Considering the remarkable morphological differences between Thalassiophyllum and other Agaraceae, and the molecular support, we conclude that Thalassiophyllum should be reinstated as an independent genus. Dictyoneurum reticulatum was morphologically distinguishable from D. californicum due to its midrib, but because of their close genetic relationship, further investigations are needed to clarify species level taxonomy. In summary, we propose the establishment of a new genus Neoagarum to accommodate A. fimbriatum and A. oharanese and the reinstatement of the genus Thalassiophyllum.
Author: Kawai, Hanyuda, Xu, Terauchi, Miyata, Lindstrom, Klochkova, Miller

Title: Dynamics of vibrio with virulence genes detected in Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) off California: Implications for marine mammal health
Description: Given their coastal site fidelity and opportunistic foraging behavior, harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) may serve as sentinels for coastal ecosystem health. Seals using urbanized coastal habitat can acquire enteric bacteria, including Vibrio that may affect their health. To understand Vibrio dynamics in seals, demographic and environmental factors were tested for predicting potentially virulent Vibrio in free-ranging and stranded Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) off California. Vibrio prevalence did not vary with season and was greater in free-ranging seals (29 %, n = 319) compared with stranded seals (17 %, n = 189). Of the factors tested, location, turbidity, and/or salinity best predicted Vibrio prevalence in free-ranging seals. The relationship of environmental factors with Vibrio prevalence differed by location and may be related to oceanographic or terrestrial contributions to water quality. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio alginolyticus, and Vibrio cholerae were observed in seals, with V. cholerae found almost exclusively in stranded pups and yearlings. Additionally, virulence genes (trh and tdh) were detected in V. parahaemolyticus isolates. Vibrio cholerae isolates lacked targeted virulence genes, but were hemolytic. Three out of four stranded pups with V. parahaemolyticus (trh+ and/or tdh+) died in rehabilitation, but the role of Vibrio in causing mortality is unclear, and Vibrio expression of virulence genes should be investigated. Considering that humans share the environment and food resources with seals, potentially virulent Vibrio observed in seals also may be of concern to human health. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York., Marine Mammals, Birds & Turtles Harbor Seals, CODEN: MCBEB
Author: Hughes, Greig, Miller, Byrne, Gulland, Harvey
Date: 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Coccidal infection of the adrenal glands of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)
Author: Ferguson, Wellehan, Frasca, Innis, Harris, Miller, Weber, Walden, Greiner, Merigo, Stacy

Title: Changes in size composition and relative abundance of fishes in Central California after a decade of spatial fishing closures
Description: Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) were implemented in 2000 to 2003 along the West Coast of the United States to reduce fishing mortality on rockfish (Sebastes spp.) and other groundfish species that had recently been declared overfished. In 2012, we initiated a study to compare recent catch rates, species compositions and length frequencies of fishes inside and outside the RCAs with data collected in central California between 1995 and 1998. At all sites surveyed, total catch rates from the new surveys (2012–14) were significantly higher than catch rates from before RCA implementation (1995–98). The majority of the differences were due to the increased relative abundance of yellowtail rockfish (Sebastes flavidus), although other species, including the overfished canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger), also increased. Differences in the size composition of species between the two time periods reflected both the increased survival of older fishes and higher recruitment success in the past decade. © 2015, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. All rights reserved., published
Author: Marks, Fields, Starr, Field, Miller, Beyer, Sogard, Wilson-Vandenberg, Howard

Title: Porifera (Sponges) from Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris arriving in the Hawaiian Islands and on the Pacific coast of North America
Description: Twelve species of sponges (Calcarea and Demospongiae) were found on Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris (JTMD) that washed ashore in Oregon, Washington, and Hawai‘i. All taxa but one determined to species level are amphi-Pacific, with three having type localities in California (Leucosolenia eleanor Urban, 1906, Hymeniacidon sinapium de Laubenfels, 1930, and Mycale macginitei de Laubenfels, 1930). Haliclona xena de Weerdt, 1986, known previously only from western Europe (and where it is regarded as introduced from an unknown region) is here newly reported from the Tohoku coast of Honshu, as is Halisarca “dujardini Johnston, 1842”. Five species (Mycale macginitei, Hymeniacidon sinapium, Ute sp., Haliclona xena and Halisarca “dujardini”) were observed only once. Multiple lines of evidence (including lack of colonization by uniquely Eastern Pacific sponge species, the arrival in Hawai‘i of some of the same species whose only possible origin was Japan, and the low probability of coastal sponge larvae colonizing JTMD in the open ocean) indicate that the sponges on JTMD originate from the Western Pacific. Several species of sponges may have completed multiple generations on these long-distance rafts.
Author: Elvin, Carlton, Geller, Chapman, Miller

Title: A Random Ladder Game: Permutations, Eigenvalues, and Convergence
Author: Lange, Miller

Title: Sentinel Animals in a One Health Approach to Harmful Cyanobacterial and Algal Blooms
Author: Backer, Miller

Title: Sentinel Animals in a One Health Approach to Harmful Cyanobacterial and Algal Blooms
Author: Backer, Miller