Paolaemonetes Vulgaris Case Study

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is one of the most familiar inhabitants of marshes and waterways along the Atlantic and GMx coasts of North America. The abundance of blue crab larvae and juveniles make them important components of the diets of numerous species of fish, invertebrate and avian predators (Van Engel 1987, Guillory and Elliot 2001). As juveniles and adults, blue crabs act as generalist predators on benthic infauna and epifauna; consuming invertebrates, fish, and crustaceans (including other blue crabs) as well as plant and detrital materials (Darnell 1958, Alexander 1986, Meise and Stehlik 2003, Lipcius et al. 2007). It has been proposed that blue crabs are keystone species in the marsh because of their impact as predators

This scientific study is relevant to today’s issues in biology/society due to the constant progression of civilization. As time moves forward there is always something, whether it is an environmental factor or a societal one, that affects the progression of the human race. Humans are either braving impacts brought on by each other, or issues concerning their lifestyle. For example, climate change is a pressing matter due to the increasing temperature of the atmosphere. Eventually this could effect life as we know it by forcing populations to migrate to a cooler environment. This is similar to the reefs and their adaptation to seascape factors due to the fact that individuals acclimate to circumstances affecting them. The species present in

I hold the crab firmly between my fingers. As its sharp claws reach for my fingers, I drop it into a red sand pail. Inside the pail, the crabs that I caught earlier part to make way for the new arrival. In New England, my family and I have a choice between any number of beaches, all of them alive with life, from eels to mussels. However, the aquatic life on some beaches is threatened by human activity and development.

In South Carolina, Charleston, Harriet McLeod talks about a “tiny” parasite killing shrimp by targeting their gills and making it hard for them to breathe. In the article this parasite was described such as having the shrimp smoke about three packets of cigarettes and then making it run a marathon. It attacks their respiratory system and this then “ruins their endurance making them weak amongst predators,” says McLeod. This was said to cause decline profit from the shrimp industries and to make the shrimp season much shorter. There was a theory that the reason for declining shrimp numbers for this parasite being existent was the drought, but when rainfall was recorded in the southeast they knew that it wasn’t the drought. The rainfall caused a change in the salinity of the water which means that the shrimp wouldn’t be able to survive from the freshwater mixture with the salty water (McLeod). This was said

The starfish is a keystone species sometimes found in the Northwest intertidal zones. An intertidal zone is also known as the seashore, and is the area that is above water at low tide, and underwater at high tide. Starfish—in their community—are predators and they feed on mussels found in the same ecosystem. When starfish have been eliminated from their ecosystem (experimentally), the mussel population increases, and covers the rocky intertidal zones that once were

In the report, it is expressed that the estuary had become the “most invaded aquatic ecosystem in North America” because of all the non native species taking over the area and preventing native species from thriving. The Urosalpinx cinerea was first introduced to the bay in shipments of Atlantic oysters. Often, this species was, and still is, accidentally transported through commercial shipments of oysters. Because this snail preys on oysters, it “impacts on oysters, especially oyster spat, can be

Our findings reveal that there is no significant difference in abundance, sex distribution, or size distribution among the highly populated site, the partially populated site, and unpopulated site (p-values are all <0.05). Therefore, we cannot support our alternative hypothesis that increased human presence results in the decreased presence, decreased size, and skewed sex ratio of sand crabs. As a result, we accept our null hypothesis that the amount of human presence has no significant effect on Emerita analoga population, distribution, or size.

Every ecosystem has atleast one keystone predator that aids in the structure of the trophic levels population. The rocky intertidal is used as a famous example of a top predator controlling the lower trophic level population. The goal for this study is to establish the natural abundance of species and to examine the affects of predation on the different species located in the ecosystem. It was hypothesized that the sea star, whelk, and chiton have a impact on the population of lower trophic levels. A simulation was ran in the rocky intertidal zone removing the top predators. Sea star Pisaster ochraceus, chiton Katharina, and whelk Nucella was removed from the ecosystem and all the species in the ecosystem population was recorded for week eight

The impact to the benthic invertebrate macrofauna occurs from the disturbance of the substratum from dredging at the proposed sand winning sites, this results in habitat loss and death of resident infanua (Biccard, Clark, Porter and Hutchings, 2012). However the significance is considered to be low as the proposed dredging site signify an abundant sandy-bottom habitat which can be considered tolerant to disturbance when compared to bioclastic sediments and reefs (Biccard et al., 2012). In addition, the size of the area where the proposed impact will occur is negligible when compared to the size of the total area with the same type of habitat (Biccard et al., 2012). Dredged benthic

A two was ANOVA was used to determine butterflyfish populations, with time and site as the two fixed factors. The formula wi = ui/pi was used to which prey types were avoided or preferred, where ui = proportional use of each prey type, and pi = availability of said prey in the habitat, and calculated with a confidence interval of

In order to explore biological diversity as it occurs at various taxonomic levels, arthropods were taken from a coastal ecosystem for identification and classification. A field trip was taken to the south shore estuary on Long Island, specifically the Lido Preserve, which is a salt marsh habitat. On the island, the class of researchers were split into six teams, with each team comprising of four students. Each team followed the same sampling techniques, indicating an equal sampling effort throughout the process of collecting arthropods. Random samples were not taken, because each team was designated a specific spot, or transect, in the marsh. Since all groups followed the same sampling procedures, this allowed for accurate and precise

After conducting the experiment, statistical analysis was done to see how the observed results compared to expected results (hypotheses). ). The data was obtained from blackboard and put it into Excel along minute intervals of 1-20. A table was set up in excel to include 5 replicates, average temperatures,

Aeration rate was inversely correlated with daily shrimp production (kg/ha/d) (p = 0.0432, r = -0.36) and positively correlated with FCR (p = 0.0452, r = 0.36); While it was not correlated with all other shrimp production parameters and water temperature parameters (P > 0.05). It is obvious that higher aeration rates are needed when dissolved oxygen levels decrease. This decrease is inversely affecting shrimp growth, survival and production, and is increasing the FCR. The correlations of all shrimp performance and water temperature parameters with pond surface area to volume ratio were not significant (P > 0.05) which agrees with what was observed by Prapaiwong and Boyd (2012b)

“Limulus polyphemus, the horseshoe crab, inhabits shallow-brackish marine environments ranging from the Atlantic Ocean along the North American coastline to the Gulf coasts of the United states and from the East coast of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula” (Walls, Elizabeth). There are three other species of the horseshoe crab worldwide: Tachypleus tridentatus, Tachypleus gigas, and Carconoscorpinus rotundicauda that closely resemble Limulus in structure and habits, ranging from the Indian ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Asia (National Wildlife Federation).

Wednesday 18 February 2015, Sacred Heart College’s Year 12 biology class took a field trip to ‘Siren’s Rock’, located between Island Bay and Owhiro Bay on Wellington’s South Coast. The pattern which was being investigated across the rocky shore was zonation. Zonation is a community pattern that occurs along an environmental gradient and is caused by the change in an environmental factor changing the distribution of species which results in species being present in zones or bands. This report will focus on the relationship between, and how this affects the zonation pattern on the shore of, the two species Cellana denticulata; commonly known as the Denticulate Limpet, and Syprachiton pelliserpentis; the Snakeskin Chiton.