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Two new species of genus Cumella G. O. Sars: Cumella solomoni and C. manolelii are described from mesophotic substrata of Puerto Rico and St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands), respectively. Similarities and dissimilarities with related species are discussed.
The cumacean fauna of the Caribbean mesophotic reefs is remarkably rich but understudied. Herein, we present the description of 22 new species of the family Nannastacidae, including one from shallow reefs, 20 of them belonging to Cumella (Cumella) and two new species belonging to the subgenus Cumewingia. We have also included range extensions and new … Read more
Corals at the lower limits of mesophotic habitats are likely to have unique photosynthetic adaptations that allow them to persist and dominate in these extreme low light ecosystems. We examined the hostsymbiont relationships from the dominant coral genus Leptoseris in mesophotic environments from Hawai’i collected by submersibles across a depth gradient of 65125?m. Coral and … Read more
Insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) play important roles in downregulating IGF activity and growth and development in vertebrates under hypoxic stress. However, the mechanisms of hypoxia regulation of IGFBPs in teleost fishes are unknown. The involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) in hypoxia upregulation of IGFBPs in Atlantic croaker were investigated. … Read more
Hypoxia-inducible factor-? (HIF-?) and cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) are biomarkers of environmental exposure to hypoxia and organic xenobiotic chemicals that act through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, respectively. Many aquatic environments heavily contaminated with organic chemicals, such as harbors, are also hypoxic. Recently, we and other scientists reported HIF-? genes are upregulated by hypoxia exposure in … Read more
Some motile phytoplankton have the capability to exploit deep sources of nutrients in a vertical migration cycle: photosynthesis in the near-surface layer, transit to depth, uptake of the limiting nutrient and transit back to the surface layer. If all four steps can be completed within 24 h, then migrations can be synchronized to the day/night … Read more
Multiple environmental mechanisms have been proposed to control bottom water hypoxia (<2 mg O2 L?1) in the northern Gulf of Mexico Louisiana shelf. Near-bottom hypoxia has been attributed to a direct consumption of oxygen through benthic microbial respiration and a secondary chemical reaction between oxygen and reduced metabolites (i.e. ferrous iron and total sulfide) from … Read more
Coral reefs worldwide are being degraded by human-induced disturbances, resulting in ecological, economic, and cultural losses. Runoff and sedimentation are among the greatest threats to the coastal reefs surrounding high islands and adjacent to continental landmasses. Existing scientific data identify the key stressors, synergisms, and outcomes at the coral reef ecosystem, community, and population levels. … Read more
Coastal marine ecosystems worldwide are being degraded as a result of anthropogenic disturbance, including pollution, runoff, and sedimentation, which are directly tied to human activities within adjacent watersheds. While the biophysical sciences can provide critical data determining cause-and-effect relationships among human activities and resource degradation, the social sciences are essential for applying these data to … Read more
Efforts to map coral reef ecosystems in the Hawaiian Archipelago using optical imagery have revealed the presence of numerous scleractinian, zoothanthellate coral reefs at depths of 30130+ m, most of which were previously undiscovered. Such coral reefs and their associated communities have been recently defined as mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs). Several types of MCEs are … Read more