For this study we identified the microscopic dinoflagellate algae (Family Symbiodiniaceae) found within M. cavernosa colonies across a depth gradient from 10–35 m. ​All M. cavernosa sampled were previously genotyped (Eckert, Studivan, and Voss 2019) and we found a strong genetic break between deep (25 and 35 m) and shallow (10 and 16 m) populations. We used the ITS2 ​region of Symbiodiniaceae ribosomal coding DNA and the newly-developed SymPortal (Hume et al. 2019) analysis frame work to identify putatitve Symbiodiniaceae taxa associated with these previously genotyped corals.

Shallow and deep M. cavernosa populations in our Belize study sites harbored different Symbiodiniaceae. Shallow populations had much more variable Symbiodiniaceae compared to deep populations. Notably, this split follows a similar trend to the host population genetic structure, with differences between shallow populations (back reef/ reef crest) and deeper populations (fore reef/ reef wall).

Following his successful thesis defense in December, Ian completed his remaining graduate requirements, submitted his thesis to the FAU Graduate College, and graduated on December 12th!
 
Ian has accepted a position as a research technician with the Voss Laboratory effective immediately and will be responsible for managing the lab as well as coordinating the Voss Laboratory’s local field work.
 
Congratulations Ian!

​Voss lab graduate student Ian Combs successfully defended his master’s thesis research in a standing room only seminar on Thursday, October 31. Ian’s project is part of an ongoing collaborative effort to understand and combat stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) throughout southeast Florida. His research focused on monitoring the spread of SCTLD throughout the northern Florida Reef Tract, and characterized the impacts of SCTLD on individual colonies of Montastraea cavernosa using 3D photogrammetry.  Traditional coral surveys combined with the 3D photogrammetry method provided greater insights into the spatial/temporal dynamics and impacts of this disease on individual corals and reef populations than surveys alone.
 
This project was funded primarily by Florida Department of Environmental Protection with additional support from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, EPA, and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation through the Indian River Lagoon Scholarship program.  Ian will continue working with the Voss Lab on SCTLD-related projects as a research technician.
 
Congratulations Ian!

The Voss Lab led a 16-day Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration Research and Technology (CIOERT) mission exploring shallow and mesophotic reefs off of the Florida Keys, Dry Tortugas and Pulley Ridge aboard the University of Miami’s R/V Walton Smith. FAU-Harbor Branch research professor John Reed served as cheif scientist on the first leg which focused on mesophotic community and habitat characterization using the UNCW Mohawk ROV. Voss Lab graduate students Lexie Sturm and Ian Combs made up “Team Coral” on leg 1. Our primary goals were to survey mesophotic areas of interest, identify and annotate any observed cnidarian species, while also working alongside Team Sponge and Team Algae who were focused on surveying, sampling, and assessing the diversity of these taxa throughout these understudied mesophotic communities. Team Coral was also on the lookout for signs of coral disease, specifically stony coral tissue loss disease, as little is known about the prevalence or dynamics of this disease below 60 feet in depth. 

After a change-out day in Key West, the whole Voss Lab reunited and were joined by other Harbor Branch graduate students and collaborators to begin the diving leg of the cruise, led by project PI and executive director of CIOERT, Joshua Voss. Sampling efforts were split among a shallow team (focused on reefs shallower than 30 m) and a technical diving team (30-60 m). Three species of coral, Montastraea cavernosa, Stephanocoenia intersepta, and Orbicella faveolata and two species of sponge Xestospongia muta and Niphates erecta were collected for population genetics and connectivity assessments. These species are not only relatively abundant across the reefs of southwestern Florida and throughout the Tropical Western Atlantic but also are depth-generalist found on both shallow and mesophotic reefs. These samples will be used to identify genetic structure across the depth ranges of the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas and will contribute to our understanding of population connectivity across reefs in the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean.  We also conducted roving diver surveys to assess coral disease prevalence at shallow and mesophotic reefs and conducted coral mucus sampling of colonies that appeared to be affected by stony coral tissue loss disease.

We thank the staff of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for working with us on cruise planning, objectives, and permitting as well as all the CIOERT researchers, Harbor Branch graduate students, collaborators, including Jeff Beal (FWC) and Jake Emmert (Moody Gardens), and the crew of the R/V Walton Smith for participating on this cruise and playing integral roles in its success. We can’t wait to start analyzing the mountains of generated data and samples, stay tuned for the cruise report and future mesophotic reef science! Until then, check out the highlights from this cruise on our Flickr page!

CIOERT Expedition Mesophotic Coral Reefs: Connectivity and Health in the FKNMS and Pulley Ridge by the numbers

• 88.8 hours of bottom-time
• 49 site targets
• 9,661 images and screenshots
• 1,156 coral, algae, and sponge samples

Leg 1 Science Personnel: 

• John Reed, Chief Scientist, HBOI-FAU
• Shirley Pomponi, Sponge PI, HBOI-FAU
• Dennis Hanisak, Algal PI, HBOI-FAU
• Stephanie Farrington, Research Scientist/Database Manager, HBOI-FAU
• Alexis Sturm, Coral lead, PhD student, HBOI-FAU
• Ian Combs, Coral disease biologist, masters student, HBOI-FAU
• Megan Conkling, Sponge biologist, HBOI-FAU
• Cris Diaz, Sponge biologist, HBOI-FAU
• Kate Beckett, Algal biologist, HBOI-FAU
• Jason White, ROV pilot/ technician, UNCW
• Eric Glidden, ROV pilot/ technician, UNCW
• Don Liberatore, ROV operator/technician, HBOI-FAU

Leg 2 Science Personnel:

• Joshua Voss, Chief Scientist, Coral PI, HBOI-FAU
• Alexis Sturm, Coral lead, PhD student, HBOI-FAU
• Michael Studivan, Coral biologist, Postdoc, HBOI-FAU
• Ian Combs, Coral disease biologist, masters student, HBOI-FAU
• Ryan Eckert, Coral biologist, PhD student, HBOI-FAU
• Erin Shilling, Coral disease biologist, masters student, HBOI-FAU
• Michael McCallister, Fish biologist, HBOI-FAU
• Jeff Beal, Restoration Specialist, FWC
• Caroline Haymaker, Coral biologist, masters student,  HBOI-FAU
• Juliett Ruggiero, Sponge biologist, masters student, HBOI-FAU
• Jake Emmert, Dive specialist, Moody Gardens
• Stephanie Farrington, Research Scientist/Database Manager, HBOI-FAU

Post By: Lexie Sturm

Joshua Voss, graduate students Ryan Eckert and Erin Shilling, and HBOI assistant professor Jim Masterson recently joined Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) superintendent G.P. Schmahl as well as Todd Gregory, Karl McLectchie, Joshua Carlson, Jeff Laning, and Roland Brian from the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration (GFOE) aboard the Research Vessel MANTA for a week of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) operations. This mission was the first of three legs with GFOE in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico.  The goal of this mission was to use GFOE's ROV Yogi and portable VSAT to demonstrate the ability to perform live-broadcast ROV telepresence missions from a small vessel. During the course of the mission the team streamed live ROV dives every day, and conducted live interactions with Marine and Oceanographic Academy (MOA) at HBOI and Moody Gardens Aquarium in Galveston, TX.

Throughout the week the team explored Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCEs) on several banks in the NWGOM, including Alderdice Bank, McGrail Bank, Sonnier Bank and Geyer Bank, all under consideration for sanctuary expansion. In addition to technology demonstrations, HBOI researchers collected video and photographic transects for comparison to previously collected data from these banks. The team also tested the sample collection abilities of Yogi, collecting samples of sponge and black coral for use in genetic connectivity analyses throughout the NWGOM with collaborator Santiago Herrera (Lehigh University). The second and third legs of the GFOE cruises are being led by collaborators Sarah Davies (Boston University) and Mercer Brugler (NYC College of Technology) with focuses on MCE coral spawning and black corals, respectively.

​Thanks to GFOE, the crew of the R/V Manta, and FGBNMS for a successful research mission!

Learn more about the mission here:
https://www.engineeringfordiscovery.org/flower-gardens/

Review twitter posts from this cruise using #seathegarden

Following his successful thesis defense in June, Ryan completed his remaining graduate requirements, submitted his thesis to the FAU Graduate College, and graduated on August 6th! His thesis research has resulted in a published manuscript in Scientific Reports (found here) and another manuscript in preparation for submission in Fall 2019.

Ryan has been accepted into the Integrative Biology PhD program at FAU starting in Fall 2019, and will be continuing to work with the Voss Laboratory for his PhD as well as participate in field research with the lab this summer.

Congratulations Ryan!  Thrilled to have you sticking on with our team!

Ryan and I recently returned from a successful five-day diving trip exploring and sampling shallow and upper-mesophotic reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico as part of the Mesophotic Coral Reefs project. We traveled from Progreso, Yucatan onboard the M/V Caribbean Kraken to sample the coral, Montastraea cavernosa, from sites along Alacranes reef and Bajos del Norte. Our sampling effort targeted colonies from ~10 m, ~15 m, ~25 m, and ~35 m depth zones to assess if there are genotypic differences in M. cavernosa or their algal symbiont assemblages across both depth zones and sites. These reefs’ location, oceanographic regimes, geomorphology, and biological communities make them unique contributors to our understanding of broad coral population connectivity across the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean. Alacranes reef is the largest coral reef system in the Gulf of Mexico. A Mexican National Protected Area and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, this biodiverse reef is situated at the edge of Campeche Bank, far from most human influence, 140 km to the north of the Yucatan peninsula. The second reef system, Bajos del Norte is a relatively poorly characterized site but may be an important piece of the coral connectivity puzzle due to its proximity to the Yucatan channel, the connection between the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. 

We were not the only scientists onboard the Caribbean Kraken. We were joined by graduate students from the Biodiversidad Marina de Yucatan team based out of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico-Unidad Academica Sisal. These students are studying the biodiversity on these southern gulf reefs, focused on taxa ranging from nudibranchs, to sponges, to ascidians. They were also tackling several important questions regarding invasive species dynamics focusing on invasive damselfish and lionfish. At the end of the trip, we gave “mini-talks” to communicate our research to each other, the crew, and the dive tourists aboard the Caribbean Kraken.  

After efficiently collecting and processing over 120 coral samples, we were able to take some time to explore and evaluate the coral diversity at these sites and to assess what species or reefs we would like to target in the future if we return to Mexico. We also had some extra time to explore Mexico’s land-based sites, wandering around Merida’s historic downtown, swimming in cenotes, and even getting to visit the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. We can’t thank both the crew of the Caribbean Kraken and UNAM-BDMY enough for organizing this trip, balancing our different research goals, and also ensuring we had some great diving and fun along the way!

To see more of the beauty and fun, check out our Flickr Page or these videos made by the Caribbean Kraken divemaster, Manuel Victoria.

Post by: Lexie Sturm
Satellite Image: Alacranes Reef, NASA Earth Observatory

​On Tuesday July 16th, graduate student Erin Shilling proposed her Master’s thesis research as part of FAU’s Marine Science & Oceanography program and was approved by her committee (Dr. Joshua Voss, Dr. Andia Chaves-Fonnegra, and Dr. Peter McCarthy). Her research project involves using 3D modelling to compare the success rates of various coral disease intervention methods on coral affected by Stony (Scleractinian) Coral Tissue Loss Disease on the Northern Florida Reef Tract. She will also be assessing any impacts these treatments may have on coral mucus microbial communities by utilizing the 16S V4 amplicon. Please visit out previous blog post to learn more about the intervention work being conducted.

Erin’s project has been made possible thanks to funding from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, and the PADI Foundation. We are also extremely grateful for the support on this project from our partners including Jeff Beal with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and our many collaborators in the Florida Coral Disease Advisory Committee.
 
Congratulations Erin!