scholarly journals On the edge: assessing fish habitat use across the boundary between Pacific oyster aquaculture and eelgrass in Willapa Bay, Washington, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 541-557
Author(s):  
KA Muething ◽  
F Tomas ◽  
G Waldbusser ◽  
BR Dumbauld
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Pacific Oyster ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Regional Culture ◽  
Culture Methods ◽  
Willapa Bay ◽  
Bottom Culture ◽  
Oyster Aquaculture ◽  
Long Line

Estuaries are subject to diverse anthropogenic stressors, such as shellfish aquaculture, which involve extensive use of estuarine tidelands. Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas aquaculture is a century-old practice in US West Coast estuaries that contributes significantly to the regional culture and economy. Native eelgrass Zostera marina also commonly occurs in intertidal areas where oyster aquaculture is practiced. Eelgrass is federally protected in the USA as ‘essential fish habitat’, restricting aquaculture activities within or near eelgrass. To contribute scientific information useful for management decisions, we sought to compare fish habitat use of oyster aquaculture and eelgrass, as well as the edges between these 2 habitats, in Willapa Bay, Washington, USA. Furthermore, given a recent shift towards off-bottom culture methods, in part to protect seagrasses, long-line and on-bottom oyster aquaculture habitats were compared. A combination of direct (underwater video, minnow traps) and indirect (predation tethering units, eelgrass surveys) methods were employed to characterize differences in fish habitat use. Eelgrass density declined within both aquaculture habitats but less so within long-line aquaculture. Most fish species in our study used long-line oyster aquaculture and eelgrass habitats similarly with minimal edge effects, and on-bottom aquaculture was used less than either of the other 2 habitat types. These results are consistent with previously observed positive relationships between fish abundance and vertical habitat structure, but also reveal species-specific behavior; larger mesopredators like Pacific staghorn sculpins were sighted more often in aquaculture than in interior eelgrass habitats.

scholarly journals Fish densities associated with structural elements of oil and gas platforms in southern California

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 639-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin L Meyer-Gutbrod ◽  
Li Kui ◽  
Mary M Nishimoto ◽  
Milton S Love ◽  
Donna M Schroeder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Artificial Reef ◽  
Offshore Structures ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Structural Element ◽  
Young Of The Year

There are thousands of offshore oil and gas platforms worldwide that will eventually become obsolete, and one popular decommissioning alternative is the "rigs to reefs" conversion that designates all or a portion of the underwater infrastructure as an artificial reef, thereby reducing the burden of infrastructure removal. The unique architecture of each platform may influence the size and structure of the associated fish assemblage if different structural elements form distinct habitats for fishes. Using scuba survey data from 11 southern California platforms from 1995 to 2000, we examined fish assemblages associated with structural elements of the structure, including the major horizontal crossbeams outside of the jacket, vertical jacket legs, and horizontal crossbeams that span the jacket interior. Patterns of habitat association were examined among three depth zones: shallow (<16.8 m), midwater (16.8–26 m), and deep (>26 m); and between two life stages: young- of-the-year and non-young-of-the-year. Fish densities tended to be greatest along horizontal beams spanning the jacket interior, relative to either horizontal or vertical beams along the jacket exterior, indicating that the position of the habitat within the overall structure is an important characteristic affecting fish habitat use. Fish densities were also higher in transects centered directly over a vertical or horizontal beam relative to transects that did not contain a structural element. These results contribute to the understanding of fish habitat use on existing artificial reefs, and can inform platform decommissioning decisions as well as the design of new offshore structures intended to increase fish production.

scholarly journals Site fidelity, vertical movement, and habitat use of nearshore reef fishes on offshore petroleum platforms in southern California

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Mireles ◽  
Christopher JB Martin ◽  
Christopher G Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Vertical Movement ◽  
San Pedro ◽  
Ecological Importance ◽  
Bottom Depth ◽  
Petroleum Platforms ◽  
Offshore Petroleum

Off California, economically important nearshore reef fishes inhabit the shallow (<20 m) regions of offshore petroleum platforms on the San Pedro Shelf (SPS). It is essential to understand the degrees to which platforms support fish over time to indicate whether biological requirements (e.g., shelter, diet, reproduction) are being met. To determine the ecological importance of platforms as fish habitat, the site fidelity and depth/habitat use of adult cabezon, Scorpaenichthys marmoratus (Ayres, 1854), grass rockfish, Sebastes rastrelliger (Jordan and Gilbert, 1880), kelp rockfish, Sebastes atrovirens (Jordan and Gilbert, 1880), and California sheephead, Semicossyphus pulcher (Ayres, 1854) were investigated at platforms Edith (50 m bottom depth) and Eureka (212 m). A total of 63 fish were acoustically tagged and monitored for up to 578 d. Sixty-three percent of individuals were still present at platforms at the end of the study (long-term site fidelity), with 55 individuals detected a mean of 66.9% (SD 36.0%) of their total days at liberty (daily site fidelity). All species displayed a shift in seasonal depth use. The shallowest horizontal level, consisting of various horizontal beams at platform Edith (15 m depth) and Eureka (17 m), was the most utilized habitat by grass rockfish, kelp rockfish, and California sheephead. Cabezon at platform Eureka utilized depths (21–31 m) unassociated with horizontal levels, while at platform Edith they primarily utilized the second horizontal level (30 m). Decommissioning options that remove the shallowest 26 m of structure would eliminate the habitat most utilized by three of the four study species that dominate the nearshore reef fish communities at SPS platforms.

Fish Habitat Use Within and Across Wetland Classes in Coastal Wetlands of the Five Great Lakes: Development of a Fish-based Index of Biotic Integrity

2005 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 171-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald G. Uzarski ◽  
Thomas M. Burton ◽  
Matthew J. Cooper ◽  
Joel W. Ingram ◽  
Steven T.A. Timmermans
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Index Of Biotic Integrity ◽  
Biotic Integrity

scholarly journals Characterization of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) proteomic response to natural environmental differences

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaamini R. Venkataraman ◽  
Emma Timmins-Schiffman ◽  
Micah J. Horwith ◽  
Alexander T. Lowe ◽  
Brook Nunn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crassostrea Gigas ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Pacific Oyster ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Puget Sound ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Selected Reaction Monitoring ◽  
Protein Abundance ◽  
Willapa Bay ◽  
Abundance Pattern

AbstractGlobal climate change is rapidly altering coastal marine ecosystems important for food production. A comprehensive understanding of how organisms will respond to these complex environmental changes can come only from observing and studying species within their natural environment. To this end, the effects of environmental drivers — pH, dissolved oxygen content, salinity, and temperature — on Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) physiology were evaluated in an outplant experiment. Sibling juvenile oysters were outplanted to eelgrass and unvegetated habitat at five different estuarine sites within the Acidification Nearshore Monitoring Network in Washington State, USA to evaluate how regional environmental drivers influence molecular physiology. Within each site, we also determined if eelgrass presence that buffered pH conditions changed the oysters’ expressed proteome. A novel, two-step, gel-free proteomic approach was used to identify differences in protein abundance in C. gigas ctenidia tissue after a 29 day outplant by 1) identifying proteins in a data independent acquisition survey step and 2) comparing relative quantities of targeted environmental response proteins using selected reaction monitoring. While there was no difference in protein abundance detected between habitats or among sites within Puget Sound, C. gigas outplanted at Willapa Bay had significantly higher abundances of antioxidant enzymes and molecular chaperones. Environmental factors at Willapa Bay, such as higher average temperature, may have driven this protein abundance pattern. These findings generate a suite of new hypotheses for lab and field experiments to compare the effects of regional conditions on physiological responses of marine invertebrates.

scholarly journals Prespawning Movements and Spawning Distribution of Sockeye Salmon in an Urbanizing Alaskan Lake

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 472-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D.M. Ray ◽  
Suresh A. Sethi ◽  
John H. Eiler ◽  
John E. Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Sockeye Salmon ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Black Bear ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Shoreline Development ◽  
Land Planning ◽  
Salmon Population

Abstract The efficacy of fish habitat conservation in land planning processes in Alaska is often constrained by the extent of current knowledge of fish distributions and habitat use. In response to requests for information from land and salmon resource management stakeholders regarding Auke Lake sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) status and life history, we examined the prespawning movements and spawning distribution of adult sockeye salmon to provide ecological information needed for Auke Lake watershed management. We used radiotelemetry to track the movements of 80 fish in the Auke Lake watershed during 2012. The prespawning distribution of the fish was not random, indicating five spatially and temporally distinct high-use staging areas within the lake. The Auke Lake sockeye salmon population was dominated by stream-spawning fish (98.5%), with minimal lakeshore spawning (1.5%) observed in association with a small intermittent tributary of the lake. The prespawning distribution patterns identified in this study corroborate observations from Auke Lake 20 y ago, indicating consistent habitat use patterns by sockeye salmon in the lake. Telemetry data also indicate 12% of sockeye salmon expired in Auke Lake without spawning and that 14% of stream-spawning fish were preyed upon by black bear (Usrus americanus). The prespawning and spawning behavior by Auke Lake sockeye salmon suggest that discrete lake staging areas and stream spawning beds are important candidate habitats for protection during the land planning process for shoreline development surrounding the lake.

scholarly journals A genome-wide association study for host resistance to Ostreid Herpesvirus in Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro P. Gutierrez ◽  
Tim P. Bearf ◽  
Chantelle Hooped ◽  
Craig A. Stentort ◽  
Matthew B. Sanders ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Resistance ◽  
Selective Breeding ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
Pacific Oyster ◽  
Genetic Resistance ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Genotype Data ◽  
Oyster Aquaculture ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome

AbstractOstreid herpesvirus (OsHV) can cause mass mortality events in Pacific oyster aquaculture. While various factors impact on the severity of outbreaks, it is clear that genetic resistance of the host is an important determinant of mortality levels. This raises the possibility of selective breeding strategies to improve the genetic resistance of farmed oyster stocks, thereby contributing to disease control. Traditional selective breeding can be augmented by use of genetic markers, either via marker-assisted or genomic selection. The aim of the current study was to investigate the genetic architecture of resistance to OsHV in Pacific oyster, to identify genomic regions containing putative resistance genes, and to inform the use of genomics to enhance efforts to breed for resistance. To achieve this, a population of ~1,000 juvenile oysters were experimentally challenged with a virulent form of OsHV, with samples taken from mortalities and survivors for genotyping and qPCR measurement of viral load. The samples were genotyped using a recently-developed SNP array, and the genotype data were used to reconstruct the pedigree. Using these pedigree and genotype data, the first high density linkage map was constructed for Pacific oyster, containing 20,353 SNPs mapped to the ten pairs of chromosomes. Genetic parameters for resistance to OsHV were estimated, indicating a significant but low heritability for the binary trait of survival and also for viral load measures (h2 0.12 – 0.25). A genome-wide association study highlighted a region of linkage group 6 containing a significant QTL affecting host resistance. These results are an important step towards identification of genes underlying resistance to OsHV in oyster, and a step towards applying genomic data to enhance selective breeding for disease resistance in oyster aquaculture.

scholarly journals Shell Infestation of the Farmed Pacific Oyster Magallana gigas by the Endolith Bivalve Rocellaria dubia

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 526
Author(s):  
Barbara Mikac ◽  
Alessandro Tarullo ◽  
Marina Antonia Colangelo ◽  
Marco Abbiati ◽  
Federica Costantini
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Oyster ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
Oyster Aquaculture ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Emilia Romagna Region ◽  
Oyster Farm ◽  
Parasitic Association

Oyster shells are substratum for different epibiontic and endobiontic organisms, including pests and parasites. Rocellaria dubia is endolithic and facultative tube-dwelling bivalve, boring in different calcareous substrates, including the shells of bivalves. In 2020, R. dubia was found as endolithic in the shells of the Pacific oyster Magalana gigas, from an oyster farm off the Sacca di Goro lagoon (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy). The purpose of this study was to describe this newly recorded association. Altogether, 136 specimens of R. dubia were found in 15 oysters, photographed under a stereoscope, and their length was measured. Heavily infested oysters hosted tens of R. dubia borers, which were perforating the whole thickness of the oyster valves. The flesh of these oysters was heavily damaged, suggesting parasitic association. R. dubia specimens were categorized into three age classes (0–1, 1–2, and 2–3 years old). M. gigas/R. dubia might be a widespread association, overlooked due to the very scarce research on macrofauna associated with M. gigas. Considering the negative effects of R. dubia endobiosis on oyster fitness, and possible impacts on oyster aquaculture, further research should be conducted in order to elucidate the distribution and ecological characteristics of this parasitic association.

scholarly journals Fatty acid profiles are biomarkers of fish habitat use in a river-floodplain ecosystem

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 773 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil P. Rude ◽  
Jesse T. Trushenski ◽  
Gregory W. Whitledge
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Fatty Acid Profiles ◽  
River Floodplain
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