Canadian Atlantic Oyster Drills (Urosalpinx) — Distribution and Industrial Importance

1969 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1121-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Medcof ◽  
M. L. H. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Cape Cod ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Field Collection ◽  
Urosalpinx Cinerea ◽  
Occurrence Records

Distribution of drills (Urosalpinx cinerea Say) was worked out from critical examination of museum holdings, from assessment of published and several unpublished occurrence records, and from field collection in new areas. Drills occur in warm inlets on the Nova Scotia coast of the Bay of Fundy, possibly in one inlet of the outer Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, and in several inlets of the southwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Only in the last were oysters found with the drills and there is only one record of serious damage to young oysters. Distribution patterns suggest that drills reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence by spreading eastward from Cape Cod, through the Bay of Fundy, then through a channel that is believed to have connected the Bay and the Gulf. There is no evidence of long-term restriction of distributional range since that pioneering period, but local distribution seems to have contracted so that now drills occupy only the warmest parts of their range. In the last 30 years, drill abundance in some important oyster-producing sections of the Gulf of St. Lawrence has decreased, perhaps because of low sea temperatures. Old colonies persist but do little damage in oyster areas. No new colonies seem to have sprung up. In our area the species seems to be bordering on extinction. Drills are not a threat to the Canadian east-coast oyster industry.

Biochemical Implications of Seasonal Trends in the Iodine Values and Free Fatty Acid Levels of Commercially Produced Atlantic Coast Herring Oils

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 1669-1683 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Ackman ◽  
C. A. Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Relative Proportion ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Iodine Values ◽  
Seasonal Decline ◽  
Fatty Acid Compositions

Annual surveys of commercial herring oils produced in summer and fall off southwestern Nova Scotia and in winter and spring off southwestern Newfoundland showed iodine values (IV) mostly within the range 135 to 105 in both locations for the years 1965–70. Two systematic trends in IV with season were detected. The first extended uniformly over the whole of each fishery season and was limited to no more than ± 5 IV units. It is believed to represent the influence of long-term average environmental conditions that may vary from year to year and that establish the basic fatty acid compositions of the fish entering the fishery. The second was observed as a seasonal decline, over 2–3 months, of 20 IV units in the Nova Scotia fishery, and of 10 IV units in the Newfoundland fishery. It is proposed that this short-term effect follows from an increase in the relative proportion of the low-density, long-chain, monoethylenic fatty acids characteristic of clupeid oils that could decrease residual fat density at a time of general fat depletion and corresponding density increase for the fish as a whole.Free fatty acids (FFA) in freshly produced oils were also examined. In both fisheries % FFA seldom exceeded 1 and under optimum conditions the % FFA were consistently about 0.2–0.3. Annual seasonal % FFA effects were apparently restricted to an increase in April in the Newfoundland fishery associated with high IV oils of a pink colour denoting heavy spring feeding.

Seasonal occurrence of waterbirds in Minas Passage, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2010 to 2012

2021 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-141
Author(s):  
Patrick L. Stewart ◽  
Fulton L. Lavender ◽  
Heather A. Levy
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Seasonal Abundance ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Somateria Mollissima ◽  
Migration Pathway ◽  
Cepphus Grylle ◽  
Surf Scoter ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

We determined patterns of seasonal abundance and diversity of seabirds and coastal waterfowl in Minas Passage, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada using quantitative, shore-based point surveys from mid-March to late August and mid-October to December 2010 to 2012. This area experiences the world’s highest tides and greatest tidal currents. We showed that species and seasonal cycles of waterbirds in Minas Passage reflect patterns typical of the inner Bay of Fundy and the northeast Atlantic coast of North America. The study highlights the importance of Minas Passage as an important local migration pathway for waterbirds including Black Scoter (Melanitta americana) and Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) passing through the Bay of Fundy. Large numbers of sea ducks (Black Scoter, Surf Scoter [Melanitta perspicillata], White-winged Scoter (Melanitta fusca), and Long-tailed Duck [Clangula hyemalis]), and Red-throated Loon were observed at the site in spring and fall, corresponding to known peak movements elsewhere in the Bay of Fundy. Fewest species and smallest abundances of waterbirds overall occurred in summer and early winter, while most species and largest abundances occurred in April-May and early November. Of the 46 species observed, resident breeders such as Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), and Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), were most abundant in spring to early summer during breeding and migrants including Red-throated Loon, Black Scoter, Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis), Surf Scoter, and Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) occurred in moderate numbers during migration periods.

scholarly journals A review of the fishes and fisheries of Minas Basin and Minas Passage, Nova Scotia, and their potential risk from tidal power development

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Michael J. Dadswell ◽  
Roger A. Rulifson
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Seasonal Occurrence ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Species Status ◽  
Power Development ◽  
Tidal Power ◽  
Potential Impact

A total of 85 species of fish are known or suspected from Minas Basin and Minas Passage, Nova Scotia, Canada. This systematic review details their seasonal occurrence, habitat, abundance, migratory behavior, fisheries and potential impact from tidal power development. The fish assemblage is a mixture of species common to the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia as well as numerous warm- and cold-water visitors seldom found elsewhere in Canada. Minas Basin fisheries exploit some species especially those that migrate through the Basin during summer. Fishes were captured or observed using angling, seines, benthic long lines, drift and fixed gill nets, intertidal fish weirs, bottom trawls and sightings while on vessels. Fishes are categorized with respect to their taxonomic diversity, seasonal occurrence, status, fisheries and the potential impact from tidal lagoons and propeller turbines resulting from development of tidal power in Minas Basin and Minas Passage. Keywords: Bay of Fundy, habitat, species status, propeller turbines, taxonomic relationship, tidal lagoons.

Networking: From the Long-Term Ecological Research Program to the National Ecological Observatory Network

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce P. Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Associate Professor ◽  
Cape Cod ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Environmental Biology ◽  
The North ◽  
Virginia Coast Reserve ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Disciplinary Background

As a scientist, the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program has been on my mind for more than three decades. As an educator, I have served in the classroom for 41 years. The merger of the physical and the ecological sciences was at the core of my teaching philosophy. As a science communicator, I informed the general public on issues of climate and climate change. As a collaborator, I found that understanding strengths and weaknesses in collaborative partnerships best ensures success. As a science leader, I served at the National Science Foundation (NSF) as the Director of the Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), established the Schoolyard LTER Program, and launched the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). My disciplinary background includes formal graduate education at the University of Wisconsin in meteorology, climatology, and paleoclimatology, as well as in oceanography and biology (mycology, botany, zoology, and genecology). As a postdoctoral fellow, my scientific identity was on track to culminate as a paleoclimatologist. As an assistant and associate professor, my identity morphed to include coastal geomorphology (Hayden et al. 1995). Finally, my experiences in the LTER program have vectored my career toward the interactions of climate and vegetation (Hayden 1998). My affiliation is with the Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR) site in the LTER program (1986–2014). As one of the founding principal investigators of the VCR site, I have served in subsequent renewals as its principal or co-principal investigator. Our site-based research plan focused on the Virginia Coast Reserve on Virginia’s eastern shore with a focus on the dynamics of the chain of 14 barrier islands, bounded by the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay to the south and Assateague Barrier Island to the north. This peninsula is 100 km in length by 20 km in width. Only the islands fronting the Mississippi delta are more dynamic in both the temporal and spatial domains. Prior to joining the LTER program, my research was hemispheric to regional in scope, and it focused on the environmental dynamics of the Atlantic Coast from Florida to Cape Cod at 50-m intervals (Fenster and Hayden 2007).

scholarly journals First visual record of rare purple-colored dogwhelks (Nucella lapillus) on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2435
Author(s):  
Sonja M. Ehlers ◽  
Julius A. Ellrich
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
Shell Color ◽  
The North ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
Visual Record

The dogwhelk Nucella lapillus is a rocky intertidal gastropod of the North Atlantic coast. Individual shell color varies. Common colors range between white and brown, with darker dogwhelks being more affected by heat stress than lighter-colored conspecifics. Other reported shell colors are purple, black, mauve, pink, yellow, and orange from UK coasts, red and gray from the Bay of Fundy coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (Canada), and purple, black, gray, yellow, and orange from the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts (USA), with purple being considered as a rare color. On the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, dogwhelks are active from April until November, but information on dogwhelk shell color is missing for this coast. On 16 June 2016, we found two purple-colored dogwhelks in the mid-to-high intertidal zone of a moderately wave-exposed rocky shore near Duncans Cove, on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia while collecting dogwhelks (n= 1000) during low tide for manipulative field experiments. All other dogwhelks collected on that day were of common white and brown colors. During earlier dogwhelk collections in Atlantic Nova Scotia (between 2011-2013) and field surveys in Duncans Cove (between 2014-2016), we did not find any purple-colored dogwhelks, indicating the rareness of this color in that region. Apparently, our observations provide the first visual record of rare purple-colored dogwhelks on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

Usefulness of Meristic and Morphometric Characters in Discriminating Populations of American Shad (Alosa sapidissima) (Ostreichthyes:Clupeidae) Inhabiting a Marine Environment

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary D. Melvin ◽  
Michael J. Dadswell ◽  
Joseph A. McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
American Shad ◽  
Cape Cod ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Morphometric Characters ◽  
Alosa Sapidissima ◽  
Linear Discriminant ◽  
Percent Correct ◽  
Spawning Run

American shad (Alosa sapidissima) concentrate each summer in the basins of the inner Bay of Fundy during their coastal migration. Tag returns from 6124 marked shad indicated that these fish return to every important shad spawning stream on the Atlantic coast. Ten meristic and 16 morphometric characters of shad collected from 14 rivers (range: Florida to Quebec) were used to develop linear discriminant functions (LDF). Variables which differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the sexes, year of sampling, and the time of collection during the spawning run were removed prior to LDF classification. The highest mean percent correct classification was achieved by the allocation of fish into regional groups, after classification into individual rivers, using pooled meristic and morphometric variables: 87.2% for males and 82.4% for females. The functions were then used to assign shad from a mixed populations (Cumberland Basin) to individual rivers and regions. Of these, 10.9% were assigned to rivers south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, 38.1% to rivers between Cape Lookout and Cape Cod, 32.5% into rivers of the Bay of Fundy, and 18.5% into rivers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In-river tag returns were compared with LDF classification and were found to be similar.

scholarly journals First visual record of rare purple dogwhelks (Nucella lapillus) on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada

F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2435
Author(s):  
Sonja M. Ehlers ◽  
Julius A. Ellrich
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
Shell Color ◽  
The North ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
Visual Record

The dogwhelk Nucella lapillus is a rocky intertidal gastropod of the North Atlantic coast. Individual shell color varies. Common colors range between white and brown, with darker dogwhelks being more affected by heat stress than lighter-colored conspecifics. Other reported shell colors are black, mauve, pink, yellow, and orange from European coasts, red and grey from the Bay of Fundy coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (Canada), and purple, black, gray, yellow, and orange from the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts (USA), with purple being considered as a rare color. On the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, dogwhelks are active from April until November, but information on dogwhelk shell color is missing for this coast. On 16 June 2016, we found two purple dogwhelks in the mid-to-high intertidal zone of a moderately wave-exposed rocky shore near Duncans Cove, on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia while collecting dogwhelks (n= 1000) for manipulative field experiments. All other dogwhelks collected on that day were of common white and brown colors. During earlier dogwhelk collections in Atlantic Nova Scotia (between 2011-2013) and field surveys in Duncans Cove (between 2014-2016), we did not find any purple dogwhelks, indicating the rareness of this color in that region. Interestingly, the purple dogwhelks were detected on a relatively cool day (12.3 ± 0.4 °C, mean ± se, n= 96 temperature measurements) compared to the intertidal temperatures of all other survey days (≥ 18.2 ± 0.5 °C), suggesting that purple dogwhelks may find it less thermally stressful to venture out of crevices and macroalgal cover under relatively cool temperatures. Our observations provide the first visual record of rare purple dogwhelks on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

scholarly journals First visual record of rare purple dogwhelks (Nucella lapillus) on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja M. Ehlers ◽  
Julius A. Ellrich
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
Shell Color ◽  
The North ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
Visual Record

The dogwhelk Nucella lapillus is a rocky intertidal gastropod of the North Atlantic coast. Individual shell color varies. Common colors range between white and brown, with darker dogwhelks being more affected by heat stress than lighter-colored conspecifics. Other reported shell colors are black, mauve, pink, yellow, and orange from European coasts, red and grey from the Bay of Fundy coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (Canada), and purple, black, gray, yellow, and orange from the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts (USA), with purple being considered as a rare color. On the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, dogwhelks are active from April until November, but information on dogwhelk shell color is missing for this coast. On 16 June 2016, we found two purple dogwhelks in the mid-to-high intertidal zone of a moderately wave-exposed rocky shore near Duncans Cove, on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia while collecting dogwhelks (n= 1000) for manipulative field experiments. All other dogwhelks collected on that day were of common white and brown colors. During earlier dogwhelk collections in Atlantic Nova Scotia (between 2011-2013) and field surveys in Duncans Cove (between 2014-2016), we did not find any purple dogwhelks, indicating the rareness of this color in that region. Interestingly, the purple dogwhelks were detected on a relatively cool day (12.3 ± 0.4 °C, mean ± se, n= 96 temperature measurements) compared to the intertidal temperatures of all other survey days (≥ 18.2 ± 0.5 °C), suggesting that purple dogwhelks may find it less thermally stressful to venture out of crevices and macroalgal cover under relatively cool temperatures. Our observations provide the first visual record of rare purple dogwhelks on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

scholarly journals First visual record of rare purple dogwhelks (Nucella lapillus) on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja M. Ehlers ◽  
Julius A. Ellrich
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Nucella Lapillus ◽  
Shell Color ◽  
The North ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
Visual Record

The dogwhelk Nucella lapillus is a rocky intertidal gastropod of the North Atlantic coast. Individual shell color varies. Common colors range between white and brown, with darker dogwhelks being more affected by heat stress than lighter-colored conspecifics. Other reported shell colors are black, mauve, pink, yellow, and orange from European coasts, red and grey from the Bay of Fundy coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (Canada), and purple, black, gray, yellow, and orange from the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts (USA), with purple being considered as a rare color. On the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, dogwhelks are active from April until November, but information on dogwhelk shell color is missing for this coast. On 16 June 2016, we found two purple dogwhelks in the mid-to-high intertidal zone of a moderately wave-exposed rocky shore near Duncans Cove, on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia while collecting dogwhelks (n= 1000) for manipulative field experiments. All other dogwhelks collected on that day were of common white and brown colors. During earlier dogwhelk collections in Atlantic Nova Scotia (between 2011-2013) and field surveys in Duncans Cove (between 2014-2016), we did not find any purple dogwhelks, indicating the rareness of this color in that region. Interestingly, the purple dogwhelks were detected on a relatively cool day (12.3 ± 0.4 °C, mean ± se, n= 96 temperature measurements) compared to the intertidal temperatures of all other survey days (≥ 18.2 ± 0.5 °C), suggesting that purple dogwhelks may find it less thermally stressful to venture out of crevices and macroalgal cover under relatively cool temperatures. Our observations provide the first visual record of rare purple dogwhelks on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

Geographic and seasonal variation in biological characteristics of American eel elvers in the Bay of Fundy area and on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 2172-2185 ◽  
Author(s):  
B M Jessop
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
American Eel ◽  
East River ◽  
Commercially Important ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Seasonal Decline ◽  
Collection Date

Seasonal (April-July) patterns in the decline of length, mass, and condition and an increase in pigmentation stage of American eel (Anguilla rostrata) elvers collected during the estuarine commercial fishery and during entrance into fresh water varied among rivers in the Bay of Fundy and on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. Elver mean length, adjusted to a mean collection date, varied among commercially fished rivers by up to 9%; mean mass varied by up to 27%. Within commercially fished rivers, mean length declined seasonally by 2-5%, mass by 0-60%, and condition by 0-44%. Elver condition declined 7-9% by the time 50% of the run (number of elvers) had entered the East River, Chester, and East River, Sheet Harbour, and by 21% at 95% of the run, while the mean pigmentation stage increased to 4.1-4.8 and 5.7-6.5, respectively, on a scale of 1-7. Such geographic variability in biological traits may result from the effect of varying annual and seasonal environmental conditions on the coastal distribution of elvers and on their run timing and physiological development in estuarine and stream habitats. The biological importance of the seasonal decline in elver length, mass, and condition is uncertain, but a seasonal decline in mass of 35% may be commercially important when elvers are sold by weight rather than count.

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