Observing Invasive Lionfish Larval Dispersal Through Ocean Currents May Help to Reduce Population Size
By Dana Tricarico, RJD Intern The waters of the Caribbean, Western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico have become a hub for the invasive species called Pterois volitans and Pterois miles, more commonly known as species of Indo-Pacific lionfish. This predatory species is now an increased problem, creating negative ecological consequences to its non-native regions since […]
Utilizing Crittercams to Study Animal Behavior
By Christopher Brown, RJD Intern Two traditional techniques utilized by scientists to study animal behavior include observing wildlife species held in captivity and observing wildlife species in their natural habitats. However, there are limitations to both techniques. Animals that are held in captivity may not exhibit the same behaviors of individuals from the same species […]
Rearranging the tree of life: a closer look at Ctenophores
By Shannon Moorhead, RJD Intern At first glance, members of the animal phylum Ctenophora don’t look like much. Commonly known as the comb jellies, ctenophores vaguely resemble true jellies of the phylum Cnidaria: marine organisms with translucent, gelatinous bodies that spend the majority of their time suspended in the water column. Like cnidarians, comb jellies […]
Fishery Collapses Explained by Overfishing, Life-History Traits, and Climate Variability
By Christopher Brown, RJD Intern Species around the world have experienced significant declines below fixed thresholds that indicate the risk of extinction. Evidence has suggested that the risk of extinction runs high in terrestrial species that maintain large body sizes, feed high in the food chain, and demonstrate slow population growth rates. However, within marine […]
Shark Tagging with Our Lady of Lourdes Acadamy
By Christopher Brown, RJD Intern As dawn broke on Saturday, November 7, 2015, eight sharky RSMAS students and one fearless lab manager awoke to the call of the sea. The RJD team assembled at Diver’s Paradise in Crandon Marina at 8:00am to begin loading the boat with the shark-friendly fishing gear that is utilized to […]
Living on the Edge: Settlement Patterns by the Symbiotic Barnacle Xenobalanus globicipitis on Small Cetaceans
By Rachel Skubel, RJD Intern If you were a barnacle, how would you choose your home? For X. globicipitis barnacles residing on striped dolphins, this question was ‘put under the microscope’ by Juan Carillo and colleagues at the University of Southern Mississippi and Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (Valencia, Spain). Of all […]