The Lazarette Gazette NEWS FROM The University of Texas at Austin MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE Port Aransas, Texas 78373-1267 (512-749-6760 -fax 512-749-6777) (internet: thompson@utmsi.zo.utexas.edu) Vol. 5, Issue 7, 3 May 96 In this issue of Lazarette Gazette Dennis Higgs -newest Ph.D. in Marine Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cover Dennis Michael Higgs: Interrelations between sensory developinent and habitat change in clupeoid larvae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . Lee Fuiman: Plans for Open House .....· . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Ellery Ingall: Uri.usual red color in Orea Basin sediment sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Bob Beyers: Seining with Clark Hubbs ........ ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Regular sections: students -p. 1, abstract -p. 2, 50-year anniversary -p. ;3, seminars p. 4, attaboys -p. 4, cruise reports & boat operations -p. 5, safety -p. 7, letters to the editor -p. 8, tony's tidings -p. 10, editor's note -p. 11 Dennis Higgs has completed.his Ph.D. and is shopping for a job. He recently returned from an interview for~ postdoctoral position in honeybee neurobiology and behavior at the University of Illinois, and has an offer from them. He is currently on travel to the University ofArizona for a postdoc possibility on neurobiology ofXenopus (African clawed frog) and from there to the University of Southern California to interview for a position in songbird neurobiology. Dennis says that while these positions are far from marine science they continue along the same lines as his dissertation; they just aren't on fish. rifty 'Year !Anniversary: 1946 -1996 Dennis: I would love to get back to fish one day but need to learn some new techniques and approaches first. After this last trip is done I hope to finalize my plans very quickly and move on. Before I leave Texas I am going to spend about a week or so camping in West Texas with most of that time spent in Big Bend. I've always wanted to see it and this may be my last chance: I was born and raised in Michigan and got my undergraduate degree from Michigan State University. then did a Master's at Northern Illinois University. I came here for my Ph.D. because I had read some of Lee's papers and found him to be one ofthe few people asking the types ofquestions I wanted to ask and I was very impressed with the quality of his work. It was ofcourse a good choice. Dennis says the most excitement he had in Port Aransas was when Bill Piepmeier tried to burn down my cottage. He received a phone call saying his cottage was on fire and ran home to find three fire trucks, an ambulance and police cars parked on the Wilson lawn and the Port A. volunteers crawling over the cottage.For the next few months, when the wind blew just right, Greg Street and Dennis could smell smoke. Dennis: I will look back on Port A with a great deal of fondness. I most enjoyed the outdoor part ofPort A life. I became a casual birder living here since I could look out my door on a good day and see more species ofvery colorful warblers in 5 minutes than I had ever seen in my first 25 years oflife. I also enjoyed kayaking, running on the beach, Port A volleyball (even when we lost), and just living in a place as unique as South Texas. For someone who spent his whole life in the Midwest the thought of moving to a place as weird as Texas was supposed to be was a little daunting. I quickly found people here to be the same as anywhere else I have been. Some jerks, but the large majority are friendly and helpful, especially when my first car blew up on a long stretch ofroad outside Goliad three days after moving here. In short, I will miss Port A and all the friends I made while here. I think I will name my first kid (ifI every have any) "Shorty". INTERRELATIONS BETWEEN SENSORY DEVELOPMENT AND HABITAT CHANGE IN CLUPEOID LARVAE Dennis Michael Higgs, PhD. Supervisor: Lee A. Fuiman The development of sensory morphology and behavioral performance was examined in Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus: Clupeidae), bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli: Engraulidae), and scaled sardine (Harengula jaguana; Clupeidae). Menhaden spawn offshore and do not arrive in estuarine waters until a mean total length of 29 mm. Anchovy spend their entire life inshore and sardines are found in estuarine and coastal waters throughout the larval period. These habitat utilization patterns allowed examination ofrelationships between developmental form, function, and ecology in these three species. Coincident with, or prior to, arrival inshore, menhaden had fully inflated auditory bullae, enhanced proliferation of rod photoreceptors, onset of retinal summation, improved visual acuity, and complete enclosure of cephaliclateral line canals. This suggested that these morphological changes may be important to survival inshore: Analysis of evasive behaviors in menhaden larvae showed that increases in responsiveness and reactive distance during ontogeny were due to ontogenetic improvements in the mechanosensory system.Development of the visual system in menhaden did not contribute to improvements in the behaviors measured here, although vision was important when responding to the stimulus used. Comparisons of menhaden morphological and behavioral development were made to anchovy and sardine development. Mechanosensory development was accelerated in menhaden while retinal development was accelerated in anchovy. These morphological, changes were reflected in behavioral responsiveness. Ontogenetic improvements in responsiveness were dependent on the ontogeny of the mechanosensory system in menhaden and on the ontogeny of the visual system in anchovy. The ontogeny of sensory morphology was constrained more by phylogeny than ecology but behavioral responsiveness matched predictions based on larval habitat. Anchovy were more responsive than menhaden until the size at which menhaden first arrive inshore. Sardine, whiChhave a habitat utilization pattern intermediate to menhaden and anchovy, were intermediate in responsiveness to the other two species as early larvae. Sardine were as responsive as menhaden and anchovy by the end of the larval period. Open House, May 25 -The Open House Committee -Joan Holt, Rick Tinnin, Todd Sperry, Ruth Grundy, advisory council member Mary Judson, and Lee Fuiman -have put together an exciting day for the public at the MSI. The event will take place on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend (May 25th) from 10 am until 6 pm. Guided tours will depart every half hour from the Open House headquarters outside the Visitors Center. These tours will last 40 minutes and will take up to 15 people to selected parts of the Institute ·where they will view demonstrations or displays of Institute activities. At present, there are nine tours planned: "Seagrasses vs. Brown Tide" "Water Quality and Animals Underfoot" "Fish Hormones, Reproduction, and Pollution" "Larval Fish Sensory Biology" "Aquaculture Tour" "Sea Turtles, Sea Sounds and Plankton" "The Magical History Tour" "College Education at MSI" "Seagoing Research" The Aquaculture Tour will be a walk through the facilities of the Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory. Transportation to and from FAML will be provided by the RTA trolley. In addition to the guided tours, the buildings will be ope~· for self-guided tours. Visitors will be directed toward the existing public displays as well as several new ones to be constructed for the Open House. The new displays will include research activities on the Amazon River, Arctic and Antarctic, Onboard Ships, and Mariculture Research and Education. Visitors will also be able to stop by the outdoor tanks to see sea turtles, where Andi Wickham and Susan Lewis will be standing by to answer questions. Maureen Terry and Linda Fuiman will be in the Pier Lab with lots of critters in touch tanks. Two of our Faculty, Ed Buskey and Ken Dunton, will be making special presentations. Ed will give a talk on Bioluminescence: Living Light of the Sea and Ken will talk about his recent research trip to Antarctica. We are also planning to ask Pam Stryker to put on a few special shows for kids about marine science. Pam works with the Marine Education Services department of MSI from time to time and has several excellent programs that kids just love. We are also planning to have a sand sculpting contest to give kids a chance to "get down and dirty." The RIV KATY will be running trips throughout the day. Onboard will be Rick Tinnin or Bob Huntington, who will provide educational commentary. Short marine science movies will be shown in the auditorium intermittently throughout the day. The Ocean Emporium in the Visitors Center will be selling a nice selection of commemorative souvenirs. Food and beverages will be for sale by civic groups from Port Aransas. These booths will be located under the main research building. Many members of the MSI staff have volunteered to help with this big event. Indeed, it would not be possible without a great deal of cooperation. The Open House committee thanks every one of the volunteers for their spirit and willingness to help. We are planning to have an organizational meeting for all volunteers pretty soon. We hope this will help clarify many of the questions that may arise prior to the event. We are hoping to bring in 1000 visitors during the day, so please spread the word about this wonderful event. -Lee Fuiman • Dr. JoAnn Burkholder, North Carolina State University, Impacts ofa toxic ambush-predator dinoflagellate on estuarine fisheries and human health, Friday, April 19. • Russell Seguin, Department of Marine Science, UT-Austin, Monitoring nitrogenous compounds in the Nueces River and Bay: the development offield instrumentation using ion selective electrodes, Friday, April 26. ..., ,. ,, ' " ... ...,. .,... " v ' ...... A .., ... v ,........... ~ ... ,.. ... ... "" , ., ... ,,,,.... "",.,,.,.,. ..., ... ,,. >' >' >' >' ., ,,..,"°"""' .,.._ ..., ,. ,.,,, , ., ...,.., ,,... .,.._ ,,,.., ~ / \ ~ ! v. ... l,... , ., I},\'.~ L,~" (: c '>:' ~ t__ ".:...."·,. __~... ~..~.·....,.,. """""-"'"' ~ ··-··"-'""''""ffl """"'""'"'''' ..............,,.,, ... ,, "'"""""''··-·-·"•"·-·-······....,_,..,. ..•• ',,: • I want to thank you all for such an enjoyable weekend. I learned so much! I have never considered myself to be an "aquarium lover", but you guys have certainly raised my interest. I can hardly wait to start a project. I want to do it all! I think what I liked most about the workshop was the atmosphere. All of the staff members were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I could tell they really enjoy their work. Again, thanks so much for a great experience. I'll be back. (To the MES Aquarium Workshop Staff-Bob Huntington, Linda Fuiman, Maureen Terry, and Rick Tinnin and the Cafeteria Crew Toni Longoria and Patt Lamas from Kym Secoy, Ella Barnes Elementary School, Corpus Christi) • An Attaboy for Wyatt and Chuck for promptly fixing the air conditioner on the KATY in preparation for her trip to South Padre this past week and for helping clean up a messy area on the pier laboratory in preparation for the site visit by the National Sea Grant Review Committee last Wednesday. I really appreciate them squeezing this in at the last minute. (To Wyatt Harris and Chuck Pearson from Rick Tinnin) • We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate some people for doing an outstandingjob in getting their labs to comply with the various items on our checklist. The MSI has been very helpful assisting us with the disposal ofmany old, unwanted chemicals. Dr. Thomas, ofMSI, has put in much effort to improve the· overall safe working conditions of his research and toxicological wet labs. Dr. lngall is a new professor at MSI who has done a great job with his lab and with the training of his personnel. (Excerpt from the Lab Safety Newsletter of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, Volume 2 Number 4) Cruise #96-662 -Captain's Report: The first NSF cruise of the year got underway April 22 after a delay of one day awaiting better weather. Ellery Ingall was ChiefScientistfor his project, Burial andpreservation ofphosphorus in marine sediments: . . : Response to bottom water oxygenation. Three members of the science party were from . ~-~ GeorgiaTech: A. N. Roychoudhury, Student; Eric Viollier, Technician; and Suvasis Dixet, ~§:.:ih-. ~Student. In addition to Dr. Ingall, MSI science personnel aboard were: Lauren Clark, -:--=s=-. · ·--C3io Graduate Student; Paul Renaud, Technician; and Michael Taras, Technician. RIV LONGHORNs work on this trip was conducted at the Horseshoe Basin, Orea Basin, and the Pygmy Basin. Equipment utilized included the Knight Corer, Box Corer, CTD, and PDR. The new Knudsen Precision Depth Recorder and the new Altimeter, recently provided by the National Science Foundation, were utilized for the first time and with good success. During this trip strong winds (gusts to 50 mph) were encountered along with rough seas, however most objectives were achieved. RIV LONGHORN returned to homeport early the morning of April 30. -Noe Cantu qb-t,~) () fj()O Lf/dil/1~ p'P ~o,~RAHSAS PASS I ... • ++· ·VORTH BAHERJ( BAFFIN BAY t .. !f+~i~~.!~~.': :+ ··4++ ~ :iEUT ' .......~............. *ff"~-35/,/0_/>r·'ks ORT HAHSFIELD £ ~.f /:/orf ,AY-~r,.>aS ~~ ~BROWNSVILLE 0 '\3 86 172 Miles L • Cruise #96-662 -ChiefScientist's Report: The Orea Basin is a several hundred meter deep instraslope basin in the Gulf of Mexico located about 100 miles south of Louisiana. The central and deepest portion of the basin is filled with about 200 meters of anoxic, hypersaline brine. (The salt content is nearly 10 times normal seawater.) The basin provides a unique study site to test our ideas on the effects of ·anoxia on nutrient regeneration in the ocean. The primary focus of the trip was to obtain high quality sediment samples for our studies. We had a fair bit of trouble taking mud samples in this region because the sediments are so variable. In some places the bottom sediments were impenetrable by our sampling devices and in other places not more than one mile away the muds were essentially a loose slurry of water and sediment. However; after many attempts we were able to obtain samples representative of the different environments down there. Perhaps the scientific highlight of the cruise was getting one core sample right at the boundary between the oxic and anoxic waters ofthe basin. Given that the drift of the ship is somewhat unpredictable during the hour it takes to get a sampling device to the ocean bottom, the chances of hitting this zone are pretty small. I estimate that this zone may only be a few hundred meters wide on the ocean bottom. This area is a zone of intense metal cycling where abnormally high amounts of iron, manganese and probably other metals precipitate. All these metals in the sediments at this site give the sediments an intense red color unlike any ocean mud we have ever seen. We are presently running some tests to see what kinds of interesting chemicals are in this mud. The non-science highlight (other than Frank's brownies) was the big tuna Randy caught which we recently enjoyed at a post-cruise dinner. -Ellery lngall Verbatim quotes from QTRACS (satellite message system) during the trip: 4/25/96, 11:52; 27°01'50"N & 91°21'52"W At last!I I Ellery finally got some mud. Three cores were done this morning and the third one had some mud. As the Knight Core broke surface, one could see mud in two liners. As the Knight core was brought aboard, the mud in one of the liners fell out ofthe liner, on to the deck. They were able to put a plug on the last one, as the Knight Core was swinging. They are busy processing the mud now, and Ellery is very happy. It will take about five hours to process. A CTD cast will be made as soon as they are done. All is working well. Noe. 4/26/96, 06:07; 26°51'59"N & 91°21'50"W We are heading to coring site, and start to core at 0630. Looking at the weather forecast another front is coming down. Will they ever stop? The winds are 17 mph from the South and seas 5 feet. The other day three whales were spotted, and at night while doing a CTD cast, there were squid two feet long swimming around the boat. We were going to try to ca:tch some for Rick Tinnin, but we know what he would do with them. All is going well. Noe. SCHEDULE FOR THE RIV KATY FOR THE MONTH OF MAY MAY 01 0800-1000 01 1000-1200 01 1200-1400 02 0800-1000 02 1000-1200 03 1000-1200 04 1300-1500 08 MORNING 09 MORNING 09 AFTERNOON 10 MORNING 10 AFTERNOON 11 MORNING 11 AFTERNOON 13 MORNING 13 AFTERNOON 15 MORNING 15 AFTERNOON 16 ALL DAY 17 MORNING 1 7 AFTERNOON 20 MORNING 20 AFTERNOON 2 3 AFTERNOON 24 MORNING 24 AFTERNOON 25 ALL DAY 29 MORNING 29 AFTERNOON 30 MORNING MCALLEN MEMORIAL HS PORT ISABEL HS NIKKI ROWE HS (MCALLEN) SAN BENITO HS PSJA HS (SAN JUAN) NIKKI ROWE HS (MCALLEN) BASIC MARINE SCIENCE WORKSHOP UTMSI ELDERHOSTEL LAMAR MS (TEMPLE) STROMAN HS (VICTORIA) DECATUR MS LIFEGATE MINISTRIES SCHOOL ALAMO HEIGHTS JS (SAN AN.) FONDREN MS (HOUSTON) TRAVIS HS LIBERTY HILL HS NORTH LAKE COLLEGE (DALLAS) NAVARRO SCHOOL (SEGUIN) HARRY ROGERS MS (SAN ANTONIO) ALLEN ELEMENTARY (AUSTIN) RANDOLPH MS (UNIVERSAL CITY) NORTH LAKE COLLEGE (DALLAS) EASTFIELD COLLEGE GREGORY PORTLAND ISD GARDEN CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL MSI OPEN HOUSE LOHN ISD SAN DIEGO JHS ROBSTOWN HS JOEL SALINGER KEVIN TENISON KAREN DIQUE JAVIER GARCIA ROBERT SOPER KAREN DIQUE R. TINNIN JUDY REYNOLDS KAREN SCHILLER SHELLY HELLER STEVE WOODS BILL HOLMES ETHAN CALK JAMES KEE PAM SCHWARZ CAROLYN COBB MIKE HUDDLESTON ANN BOURLON MARY WILLIAMS DAVID SEGURA GLORIA GONZALEZ MIKE HUDDLESTON GAYLE WEAVER FRANK WHITE ARTHUR NONHOF SYLVIA MANCILLAS STAFF RICHARD MOORE OSCAR GARCIA BECKY LOVE Waste pickup -The Office of Environmental Health and Safety is planning a waste pickup at MSI on Tuesday, May 21, 1996. Akin Davulcu, OEHS Analytical Services Coordinator, plans to arrive at MSI at approximately 1000. Waste needs to be moved to the MSI transfer facility by May 17. Tags and requestfor disposal forms must be completed and faxed to OEHS by May 17. John Shaw and Wyatt Harris at MSI can assist you. Special requests or questions for OEHS should go to Akin Davulcu at 471-2032 or e-mail at ohahd@utsdp.dp.utexas.edu. • • The recent "Crab Attack" piece by Clark Hubbs put me in mind ofanother incident that took place mysecond semester in graduate school. I was taking an Ichthyology course under Dr. Hubbs. We went on our first collecting trip to a stream north ofAustin, where he was to demonstrate several different types ofseines. It was still mid-winter and the water was very cold, but Dr. Hubbs jumped right in. We were all instructed to follow and did so with some trepidation, dragging the ends ofthe nets. All ofus, that is, except one rather large, over-weight student who steadfastly refused to get his fe.et even damp. As time went on, we all tried various seines, getting thoroughly wet in the process. Naturally the one dry guy in the class began to be the target ofdirty looks and sotto voiced murmurs. Dr. Hubbs seemed oblivious to our resentment until near the end ofthe trip when he took one end ofa 30-meter seine and pointed to the dry individual, telling him to take the other end and head toward a specific spot on the opposite bank. With a sour look, he complied,walking in ankle deep water until he was about half way across. He then stepped in a hole and was last seen fioating down the stream, desperately clutching the end ofthe seine, with only his head out ofthe water. We then realized that Dr. Hubbs, who had seined this stream many times before, and was thoroughly familiar with its topography, had effectively solved the problem ofa non-cooperative student. We never saw that student in Ichthyology Class again. (Robert J. Beyers, Ph.D. 1962) Too Good To Be True-The amazing utilization of the MSI web site during March now looks to have been due to the inquiring minds of prospective graduate students. During April, the daily average number ofhits on our WWW page by people outside ofMSI dropped to 32 (versus 163 in March). In all, there were 952 unique hits from outside MSI during the month. These values are virtually identical to those for ·February, our second month in operation. We now have a section of the WWW page (under Current Events) devoted to the 50-year celebration of MSI. This section will be updated frequently, so keep an eye on it for the latest on the gala festivities. Anyone involved in the planning of events for the celebration is encouraged to provide Scott or Lee with material to post on the WWW. -Lee Fuiman Number of Computers Accessing UTMSI Web Site January-April 1996 >-250 cu "C ' 8. 200 (I) Cl) (I) (I) e 1so "C "C cu ~ 100 C" c: :::> 50 ot-~~~-@~~~~~J:0...~-+--~~~~~-+-~~~~~-+-~~::_~~-=---i 12-Dec-95 9-Jan-96 6-Feb-96 5-Mar-96 2-Apr-96 30-Apr-96 --i··f, , 1 'a :;__, L , , t t ~" '· , , , ~ C[' b t I C;i 11 ~ h vJ , i i Ow<:..~ ---W<< ' <<<~~flw<< __.:. W<-<~<< -1 ~ ~2Q :;;.;::_......__-=~--2 -::; .c:. l1 0227 l1 0330 H1 0022 H1 1046 H1 1056 l1 0448 l1 0618 l2 1810 l2 1807 H21107 H2 1112 H2 2156 l2 1822 l2 1854 10 :Fifty 'Year .fllnniversary: 1946 -1996 Weather Report for April 8 -28 -Tony Amos Thanks to Dennis Higgs for his abstract and other assistance with this Dennis Higgs issue of the Lazarette Gazette. And also thanks to Ellery Ingall for the intriguing information about the red mud sample from his recent cruise. Itwas great to get these reports from Captain Cantu and Ellery and greater that, after that many days aboard the close quarters of the RIVLONGHORN, and all the bad weather encountered on their cruise, all hands still got together ~-after they were safely ashore to celebrate with a meal. Perhaps I err in reproducing the two messages from the RIVLONGHORN, but I wanted to give you a little of the flavor of the trip. Last issue I related how Dr. Hubbs had offered to kill anyone who did not sufficiently appreciate the Lazarette Gazette. And now I am wondering whether, after all, he might have been serious. According to the letter from Bob Beyers, 35 years or so ago the penalty for being an uncooperative student during seining instruction was death by drowning. Eventually I would like to get around to a special issue during the 50-year anniversary of all the MSI ex-Directors (yes, even those guys you didn't like so much). So far we have done only Lund and Gunter. Please send your stories, anecdotes, whatever, on: your favorite(?) Director, and it should eventually be published in the matching issue. Many thanks to all who helped with this issue. -John Thompson