The Lazarette Gazette NEWS FROMThe University of Texas at AustinMARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTEPort Aransas, Texas 78373-1267(512-749-6760 -fax 512-749-6777) . UNIVERSITY OF TEX Vol. 3, Issue 12, 15 July 1994 MARINE SCIENCE AS AT AUSTIN. PORT AflANhlP' INsrrrurE ~,TEXAS JUL 151994· In this issue of Lazarette Gazette Jennifer Di Cocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cover Lies ....... · ................... . . : .. _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ISpanish Poetry .. .............. : ....... ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Regular sections: students -p. 1, a_bstract -p. 2, trip reports & travel -p. 2, seminars 1 I -p. 3, irish pennants -p. 4, tony's tidings -p. 5, letters to the editor -p. 6, editor's note -p.7 I1 Jennifer Di Cocco completed work on her M. A. under the direction of Peter Thomas and departed MSIfor some rest and recuperation back home with her folks in San Antonio. On July 8 Jennifer presented aseminar, Reproductive success in Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus (Linnaeus), collected fromGalveston Bay, Texas.~ Study ofa mixed contaminant estuary. (Abstract follows elsewhere in this issue of the LazGaz.) Raouf Kilada won second place in the best student presentation competition at the recent AmericanMalacological Union annual meeting. As well as the honor and accolades, the award comes with a $200 cash prize. The title of his presentation was, The status ofthe northernmost giant clams in the Red Sea.The presentation was based on work he is conducting toward his Ph.D. Raouf is a visiting student fromthe Suez Canal University, Ismalia, Egypt. The meeting was in Houston, Texas, July 9-13. Raouf has very diverse interests. Although his dissertation is on giant clams, the largest invertebrates, his work atMSI is on meiofauna, the smallest invertebrates. Raouf is working in Paul Montagna's laboratory, wherehe is performing toxicity testing on harpacticoid copepods, which is beingjointly performed with Scott Carr'sgroup. -Paul Montagna " REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN ATLANTIC CROAKER, MICROPOGONIAS UNDULATUS (LINNAEUS), COLLECTED FROM GALVESTON BAY, TEXAS: STUDY OF A MIXED CONTAMINANT ESTUARY Jennifer Di Cocco, M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 1994 Supervisor: Peter Thomas The rep~Rductive .slf·ccess of Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus, collected from two sites in the northwest section: of the Houston Ship Channel and one site in Bayport Ship Channel in Galveston Bay, Texas was assessed in October 1993. Contaminant levels at the sites differ due to the amount and type of anth_ropogenic discharge along the Channel itself and in adjacent bays, with the San Jacinto and Tabbs Bay ~eas being heavily contaminated and Bayport Channel less contaminated. Individual spawns from sixty -P.~~~~of{idult fish were inspected for egg quality and success of fertilization, hatch, and 39 and 63 h survival::'' Tabbs Bay had the highest percentage of unsuccessful spawns, 70.8%, followed by Bayport (32.0%), and San Jacinto (18.2%). Hatch was the critical time point in development due to the low success for all three sites (68.0% Bayport, 45.8% Tabbs Bay, 81.2% San Jacinto). San Jacinto had the most abnormal larvae at hatch, 26.3%, while Tabbs Bay had the highest percentage of dead abnormal larvae at 63 h, 51.8%. Less than 10% ofthe larvae at Bayport showed morphological abnormalities at any time point. Observations of larval response to a water jet or sound stimulation showed increasing trends with age of the larvae at Bayport Channel. At Tabbs Bay, there was evidence of impaired behavioral response as the larvae aged to both water jet and sound stimulation. Ovarian levels of ascorbic acid were significantly lower in the Tabbs Bay fish relative to those from the other sites. Conditions of the Houston Ship Channel in the Tabbs Bay region during October 1993 were detrimental to the reproductive success of M. undulatus, exerting the most influence at hatching of the embryo. Due to the physical and ecological similarities between sites, it is thought that the differing contaminant loads contributed to the differences seen between sites in larval survival, abnormalities, behavioral response, and adult ovarian ascorbic acid levels. This research was funded by a grant from the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program. Travel ending between June 25 and July 15 +Connie Arnold, June 22-24, Imperial, Texas, to consult with fish farmers at Triton Fish Farms and with Pecos County Demonstration Facility. +Scott Holt, June 22-29, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, present paper, The location ofred drum spawning sites in a northwestern gulf tidal inlet and their relation to larval transport and recruitment at the 18th Annual Larval Fish Conference. +Joan Holt, June 22-29, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, present paper, Variation in salinity tolerance in larval sciaenids at the 18th Annual Larval Fish Conference. +Terry Whitledge, June 22-July 1, St. Paul Alaska, to participate in Pribilofisland ecological investigation of nutrient/productivity cycles. +Curtis Suttle, June 24-30, Quingdoa, China, to attend International Phycological Congress. +Kirsten Poling, June 24-30, Bangor, Maine, present paper, Development of the mechanosensory systemof larval sciaenids at the 18th Annual Larval Fish Conference. +Dennis Higgs, June 24-30, Bangor, Maine, present paper, Ontogenetic changes in sensory morphology and function in Atlantic menhaden at the 18th Annual Larval Fish Conference. +James Tolan, June 25-28, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, present paper, Distribution and differential nursery habitat selection by immigrating larval fish in a South Texas estuary, at the 18th Annual Larval Fish Conference. +Rick Tinnin, June 25-30, Santa Cruz, California, to teach and participate in MARE Sum:iner Institute at UCSC. +Curtis Suttle, July 1-11, Goa, India, to attend meeting and present course on marine molecular methods at Institute of Oceanography. +Rick Kalke, July 5, Point Comfort, to participate in freshwater inflow study in Lavaca/M:atagorda and San Antonio Bays. +Tony Amos, July 6-8, Washington, DC, to attend committee meeting of NAS/NRC/Marine Board Committee on Shipborne Waste. +Paul Montagna, July 9, Houston, present paper, Ecology ofinfauna[ Mollusca in South Texas Bays, at the American Malacological Union annual meeting. +RaoufKilada, July 9, Houston, present paper, The status ofthe northernmost giant clams in the Red Sea, at the American Malacological Union annual .meeting. • Dr. Ellery Ingall, UTMSI, Views from the bottom: The phosphorus story from Peru and other places,June 28. • Jim Tolan, Texas A&M -Corpus Christi, Habitat selection by larval fishes immigrating into estuarine nursery grounds, July 1. • Antonio Mannino, UTMSI, Effects offreshwater inflow and sediment characteristics on small scale spatialvariation of macrobenthic community structure in Nueces Bay, July 8. • Jennifer Di Cocco, UTMSI, Reproductive success in Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus (Linnaeus),collected from Galveston Bay, Texas: Study ofa mixed contaminant estuary, July 8. • Dr. Donald R. Tindall, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Dinoflagellates responsible for ciguatera fish poisoning and other seafood-borne human diseases, July 12. FAML SPORTS REPORT Working at FAML is sort oflike being a sports jock. Don't get me wrong, FAML is a lab for fish rearing, but the main topic of casual conversation is always sports. At the moment, there are four softball teams originating from FAML. The men's team, named The University ofTexas, is captained by Jay Rooker. Also on this team are Gilbert Ramos, David Jirsa and Allen Davis. The lab also sports a coed team called Shortys that has Allen Davis, Claire Fernandez, David Jirsa, Patti Pickering, Cecilia Riley and Jay Rooker. Colleen Carlin Pike and Dana Allen co-captain another local team called Island CafeI Shamrock Cove Fishing. Last, but not least, James Abell plays on the Tortuga Flats team which is captained by Kathy Binney (a foster child of F AML). During the volleyball season, there are four teams that vie for trophies at F AML. Colleen Carlin Pike has a local team sponsored by Saint Joseph's Catholic Church, Dana Allen is captain of another local team Wahoos, Patti Pickering is captain of a university team called Shortys, and Allen Davis plays on the Sharkey's team. There is a lot of competition among these teams. We like to call this rivalry Lab Battles. Now that the summer is here, I must also mention that Juan Pablo Lazo has started up a soccer league that plays on Mondays and Wednesday at the local high school track. David Jirsa tried his luck with this sport last week and now has his knee bandaged (old football injury). As you can see, the students and staff at F AML are a hardy bunch of athletes. 'You can feed your mind with knowledge, but you must also exercise to stay healthy" is an old FAML proverb. -Colleen Carlin Pike TOP 10 (?) BEST LIES AT MSI 12 -There are no roaches or ants in the dorm. 11 -Day (et. al.) 1989 is never wrong. 10 -Macroalgae can grow at the bottom of the channel. 9 -They can't fry everything. 8 -Site 50 never has snakes. 7 -The boats worked fine before they got in the water. 6 -Field trips always start on time. 5 -Field trips always end on time. 4 -The tires are fine. 3 -The bay is smooth as glass. 2 -All the work has been done for you. 1 -This lab is fairly straight forward. -Anonymous Summer Undergraduate Students Las 'Estre«as esta6an ae visita 'El mar un poco agitatfo sun asi (a noc!U J:onnia Sentia aeseos ae contale al culo o mar 'Tristeza ae mis cjos Sofo que no sa6ia aonae tennina6a uno 0 empeza6a e{ otro, cantu6e 9{p fza6ia sonitlo alguno Sofo e{ ae fas ofas que se qus6ra6an 'Una tras otra anuncia6an e{ nacimi.t.nto ae{ nue'[}O aia :Y yo espera6a 'El poeta ae{ aia me toco fos cjos Peces '[}ofoatfores ce!e6ra6an su fUgaaa 'Baifa6an, 'Dejantfo espacio para mi 'El 6arco me mecia para animarme Sofo e{ poeta sa6ia que no viviria !Jfasta e{ regreso a ti Weather Report June 20-July 10 -:.91.aron J. 'Espinoza -Andi Wickham •John, I received the latest issue ofthe Gazette yesterday and was reading the Egabrag Woes article when I noticed an error in the article (an error that is being made commonly here while we get used to the new name). The Balcones Research Center name has changed to the J.J. Pickle Research Campus (not Center). Next, in the listing of MS! personnel, what do the "#", *, and **"mean? Also, how about putting the Institute's telephone number and FAX number on the masthead so folks can more readily call or FAX in news articles? Finally, I have enjoyed reading about the old days and the current days at the Institute, you really do a nice job of blending the two. I wanted to relate an old story about H. T. Odum, one of the former directors as I know you know. My first summer at Port Aransas (1958), Dr. Odum had the graduate students, faculty, and us laboratory assistants visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (then Texas Game and Fish Commission) laboratory at Rockport for lectures at various times. One evening after a lecture, we were returning to Port Aransas, and I happened to be riding in the front seat ofDr. Odum's car. We drove onto the old wooden causeway (made ofrailroad ties laid parallel to the roadway, remember?) at about 60 mph (he was always in a hurry) causing someone in the car to comment "How do you manage to stay on the causeway going this fast?" Dr. Odum answered, "Oh, you just pick out a row of railroad ties, and stay on it!". "What ifyou miss?" came the next question. Looking offthe causeway to the water, Dr. Odum said, "It's not deep!" Well, we never found out how deep it was in all the trips we made over that old causeway, and looking back on those "old days" that was remarkable. Dr. Clark Hubbs took some of those trips too; I noticed he wrote a note for the Gazette recently. Hope you are planning to write a book someday including all these old stories! I'll put my order in for a copy. (Neal Armstrong, Professor, Civil Engineering, UT-Austin) {Editor's note: In last issue's personnel listings, *=student, ..... =temporary or part time, #=also see Department of Marine Science Listing. These were somewhat hidden on the bottom of page 9. Suggestion on phone numbers incorporated beginning this month.} • Thanks for sending me the LIG; my experience at Port Aransas dates from the era of Fort Odum when I was a graduate student in Geology. I've been reading the LIG, and I have ·three comments about Oceanography Day offered up in the spirit of for whatever they may be worth. Having spent most of my working life as a marine scientist, I guess I'm qualified to comment.From the thank-you letters written to MS! by attendees it is clear that the Jacques Cousteau Effect has been operating, and that these youngsters have seen and participated in a lot ofGee-Whizzery. Certainly, that is an effective way to get young peoples' attention. However, (1) I believe it is your responsibility (''your" meaning MS!) to explain to yourguests that . marine science is expensive and is paid for through the mechanism ofresearch proposals and the politicking (sp ?) that goes with fund raising efforts. You must point out that each researcher spends more time and effort in writing proposals than in conducting research. (2) I believe it is your responsibility to explain that scientists must be keen observers and very good record keepers. In all ofthe Cousteau-ian Odysseys I don't recall anyone making measurements, recording data, and analyzing results. Quantitative skills rear a terrifying head here. Do you present hypotheses, talk about sampling schemes to test these out, talk about getting enough data to yield statistically significant results, talk about serendipity and how new directions appear at strange and wonderful moments? It just is not fair to lead prospective scientists to believe Cousteau-ian entertainment is a realistic portrayal ofscience at work. (3) I believe it is your responsibility to explain how important it is to attend meetings, present oral reports to your peers, and published results ofyour work. Communication skills are required too. Also file under for whatever its worth ... I've lost two jobs ... Inst. Marine Science, Univ. ofAlaska; and Harbor Branch Foundation, Florida, because I failed to produce an acceptable fiow ofgrant money. Young folks need to realize that they will be employed as fund raisers first, and will go in search of zee white whale only secondarily. (Charles M. Hoskin, Ph.D., 1962) The last issue of the LazGaz was missing the Editor's Note section because I was taken out ofaction by a recurrence of my back problem before I got around to writing one. Nevertheless, the issue was finished and mailed-thanks to Patty Baker, JoAnn Page, and Linda Yates. And here is another issue, although a week later than usual, with the editor still gymping around. Thus a greater than ever thanks is again due to Patty Baker, JoAnn Page, KathyQuade, Lynn Amos, Linda Yates, Tony Amos, Paul Montagna, Colleen Pike, and Andi Wickham; and, of course a special thanks to Jennifer Di Cocco. I was happy to receive letters from Charles Hoskin and Neal Armstrong. As a MSI laboratory assistant in 1958, summer student some years later, Acting Director, and first Chairman of the then Department of Marine Studies, (and a dozen other associations too numerous to list)Neal Armstrong can probably claim title to the longest continuing association with MSI. Thanks also to Aaron J. Espinoza for the beautiful poem, which we have heard was inspired by the recent cruise aboard RIV LONGHORN. Others have been inspired this summer somewhat differently, and we are indebted to Greg Street for passing on the Top 10 Best Lies at MSI which came from the L232 . chalkboard. Although a few are inside jokes, old timers will be impressed with the timelessness of many ofthese. My son, Ethan, who is among the undergraduate students at MSI this summer, told me, with a straight face, that he did not contribute to this list. -John Thompson