Publications

The Tampa Bay region of Florida (USA) is a hot spot for non-native freshwater fishes. However, published information on most non-native fishes in the basin is not current. Systematic sampling efforts targeting non-native fishes in the region were conducted from 2013–2015 by the University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory. Data from these recent surveys were analyzed, along with...

Future climate and land-use change may wreak havoc on wetlands, with the potential to erode their values as harbors for biota and providers of human services. Wetlands are important to protect, particularly because these provide a variety of ecosystem services including wildlife habitat, water purification, flood storage, and storm protection (Mitsch, Bernal, and Hernandez 2015). Without...

Specimens of Oscar Astronotus ocellatus from a fish farm were abruptly submitted to salt stress of 14 ppt and 20 ppt, for 3 and 8 h to determine their plasma osmolality. Muscle wet body mass change in vitro was analyzed from control freshwater animals. Fish in 14 ppt presented no osmolality distress even after 8 h. In 20 ppt, a slight increase (10%) in plasma osmolality was observed for...

The Pleurobemini (Bivalvia: Unionida) represent approximately one-third of freshwater mussel diversity in North America. Species identification within this group is challenging due to morphological convergence and phenotypic plasticity. Accurate species identification, including characterisation of currently unrecognised taxa, is required to develop effective conservation strategies...

The development and use of automated species-detection technologies, such as acoustic recorders, for monitoring wildlife are rapidly expanding. Automated classification algorithms provide a cost- and time-effective means to process information-rich data, but often at the cost of additional detection errors. Appropriate methods are necessary to analyse such data while dealing with the...

We present a revised list of freshwater mussels (order Unionida, families Margaritiferidae and Unionidae) of the United States and Canada, incorporating changes in nomenclature and systematic taxonomy since publication of the most recent checklist in 1998. We recognize a total of 298 species in 55 genera in the families Margaritiferidae (one genus, five species) and Unionidae (54 genera...

Synonymies, diagnoses, descriptions, illustrations, an identification key, and meristic frequency tables are provided for all species of Lonchopisthus. Most of the skeletal anatomy of L. higmani is also illustrated. A new jawfish, Lonchopisthus ancistrus n. sp., is described from the Gulf of Mexico and off Honduras based on 21 specimens 41–89 mm SL. The new species differs from other...

During spring 2015, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) biologists noted that pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) were in poor condition during sampling associated with the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Project and NGPC’s annual pallid sturgeon broodstock collection effort. These observations prompted concerns that reduced fish condition could compromise reproductive...

Climate greatly influences the structure and functioning of tidal saline wetland ecosystems. However, there is a need to better quantify the effects of climatic drivers on ecosystem properties, particularly near climate-sensitive ecological transition zones. Here, we used climate- and literature-derived ecological data from tidal saline wetlands to test hypotheses regarding the influence...

Managing an invasive species is particularly challenging as little is generally known about the species’ biological characteristics in its new habitat. In practice, removal of individuals often starts before the species is studied to provide the information that will later improve control. Therefore, the locations and the amount of control have to be determined in the face of great...

Examination of food webs and trophic niches provide insights into organisms' functional ecology, yet few studies have examined trophodynamics within submarine canyons, where the interaction of canyon morphology and oceanography influences habitat provision and food deposition. Using stable isotope analysis and Bayesian ellipses, we documented deep-sea food-web structure and trophic...

American Alligators are opportunistic predators and their food habits have been well studied (Elsey et al. 1992. Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Fish Wildl. Agencies 46:57–66, and references therein and below). Composition of A. mississippiensis diet often varies due to regional limitation in prey availability (Neill 1971. The Last of the Ruling Reptiles. Alligators, Crocodiles, and...