2013/2014 Biennial Report

Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce
George Stoyle

G. Stoyle

On the cover

The Caribbean Spanish dancer, Hexabranchus morsomus, 

is a nudibranch, a large and colorful sea slug. The animal 

was given the common name “Spanish dancer” because 

the whirling swimming movement and the red color of the 

mantle are reminiscent of the twirling skirts of a flamenco 

dancer. This specimen was photographed during a research 

cruise in Honduras, see page 23.
1 

Introduction ..........................................................3

Research Activities ................................................9

Education and Outreach .....................................33

Appendices ..........................................................43

Contents

Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet 

The characteristic 

prop roots of the 

red mangrove, 

Rhizophora mangle

G. Stoyle

Introduction

The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce (SMSFP) is 

a center for research and education in the marine sciences, 

specializing in studies of biodiversity and ecology of the 

marine and estuarine ecosystems of central and south Florida. 

The facility is a field station of the Smithsonian Institution, 

administered by the National Museum of Natural History 

(NMNH). The Station provides unique opportunities to 

conduct marine field research, with the availability of excellent 

laboratory facilities, in a region of the continental United States 

with high marine biodiversity. The Smithsonian Marine 

Station hosts Smithsonian scientists and their colleagues from 

around the world, with over 100 scientific visitors annually.
 4 Smithsonian Marine Station L. Diederick T. Smoyer

Introduction

The Smithsonian Marine Station is 

located on the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), an 

estuary extending along more than one third the 

length of the east coast of Florida that is widely 

recognized as one of the most diverse estuaries 

in North America and has been designated by 

the Environmental Protection Agency as an 

Estuary of National Significance. This region 

of Florida’s coast, characterized as a transitional 

zone where temperate and tropical waters overlap, 

offers access to a great variety of habitats and an 

extraordinary diversity of both temperate and 

tropical species. In the Indian River Lagoon 

the variety of habitats ranges from mangroves, 

salt marshes, and seagrass beds to sand and 

mud flats, and intertidal oyster beds. Along 

the coastal shores of the barrier islands, which 

separate the lagoon from the Atlantic Ocean, 

are long stretches of sandy beaches, and in the 

nearshore waters, paralleling the shoreline, are 

a series of ridges formed by coquina outcrops, 

which in shallow waters provide a substratum for 

sabellariid worm reefs. The broad continental 

shelf with its sandy plains and shoals extends 

offshore to the Florida Current, a component of 

the Gulf Stream System. Along the edge of the 

continental shelf just to the north of Fort Pierce 

Research Biologist Jennifer Sneed shows students from the Upward 

Bound program at Indian River State College dried compounds 

recently extracted from cyanobacteria.

The main lab and administration building of the Smithsonian Marine 

Station at Fort Pierce. 
2013/2014 Biennial Report 5 

L. DiederickT. SmoyerL. Diederick

and continuing northward for 167 km is a unique 

Oculina coral reef formation. Located at depths 

from 70-100 m and consisting of pinnacles 

3-35 m in height, this unusual deep water 

ahermatypic (lacking zooxanthellae) Oculina reef 

formation has been recognized by the National 

Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration as 

a Habitat of Particular Concern. To the south 

of Fort Pierce, within a few hours of travel, are 

Florida Bay and the Florida Keys, the only living 

tropical coral reefs in the continental United 

States. 

The facilities at the Smithsonian Marine 

Station include an 8,000 square foot building 

containing laboratories for histology, chemistry, 

microscopy, electrophoresis, DNA studies, 

and offices and laboratories for use by resident 

staff, visiting scientists, and postdoctoral and 

pre-doctoral fellowship recipients. Specialized 

equipment in these laboratories includes 

recirculating seawater systems, temperaturecontrolled aquaria and incubators, equipment 

for preparing tissues for light, confocal and 

electron microscopy, an ultra-cold freezer, 

equipment for electrophoresis, a thermocycler 

for DNA amplification, high-performance 

liquid chromatographs, a gas chromatograph/

mass spectrometer, and a UV-visual 

spectrophotometer. For microscopic studies, 

equipment is available for light, epifluorescent, 

and Nomarski microscopy, , photomicrography, 

macro photography, video recording and editing, 

inverted microscopy, and scanning confocal laser 

microscopy with enhanced computer operated 

image analysis system. Our 2,400 square foot 

storage building includes an expanded shop with 

new power tools, including a commercial quality 

vertical bandsaw, horizontal bandsaw, and drill 

press. An outside shade house is also available 

for experiments in growth studies of vascular 

plants. A wet laboratory with flow-through 

seawater system piped from the Fort Pierce Inlet 

greatly enhances the ability to maintain marine 

organisms and conduct experiments. 

The Marine Station owns four boats for 

use in field studies: a 17’ Boston Whaler and 

21-foot Carolina Skiff for research within the 

Indian River Lagoon, a 21’ center-console boat to 

Donated by Peter and Jeanne Tyson, the 

Tyson House provides temporary lodging 

for visiting scientists.

NMNH Sant Director Kirk Johnson presents Head 

Scientist Valerie Paul with a certificate and pin 

recognizing her 10 years at the Smithsonian.

Bill Hoffman (SMEE), Alan Tomlinson 

(independent film producer), and Michael 

Boyle (SMS) after their 2013 panel discussion.
 6 Smithsonian Marine Station

access nearshore waters, and a 39’ vessel, the R/V Sunburst, which is used in the offshore waters of the 

continental shelf and Florida Current for dredging, trawling, coring, and plankton tows. 

This year marked the 44th year of the Smithsonian’s research program in Fort Pierce and the 

15th year of operation at its location on Causeway Island along the Fort Pierce Inlet. The campus 

on Causeway Island has allowed the Smithsonian Marine Station to increase and strengthen the 

breadth and diversity of its research and to attract new collaborative interactions. In October 2012, the 

Smithsonian announced the formation of the first worldwide network of coastal ecological field sites to 

standardize measurements of biological change. The Smithsonian Marine Station will be one of four 

sites within the Tennenbaum Marine Observatory Network that will launch the project. By studying 

sites with the help of Smithsonian experts and collaborators in biology, ecology and anthropology, and 

using technologies like DNA sequencing, the project will provide an unprecedented understanding 

of how marine biodiversity is affected by local human activities and global change, such as ocean 

warming, acidification and rising sea levels.

S. Jones

The 2400-square foot storage building at 

SMS is also home to a well-stocked shop 

with new power tools.

Z. Foltz

L. DiederickJ. Piraino

Introduction

The 21-foot Triumph is used by researchers 

to access both the Indian River Lagoon and 

the nearshore waters of the Atlantic Coast. 

Visitors to the annual SMS Open House get 

the opportunity to see ‘behind-the-scenes’ 

and engage in hands-on activities.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 7 

Z. Foltz

Research Activities

The Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce is a central 

participant in marine research at the National Museum of 

Natural History. It provides a vital link between tropical 

and temperate ecosystems in the Smithsonian’s coastal 

network of marine research stations, which includes an 

array of laboratories and research vessels spanning the 

western Atlantic coastal zone and across the Isthmus 

of Panama. The Smithsonian facilitates long-term, 

interdisciplinary comparative research among these sites, 

including the Smithsonian Marine Station, Smithsonian 

Environmental Research Center in Maryland, Carrie Bow 

Cay Field Station in Belize, and the Smithsonian Tropical 

Research Institute in Panama.
 10 Smithsonian Marine Station R. Ritson-Williams L. Diederick

Research Activities

Research at the Smithsonian Marine 

Station at Fort Pierce (SMSFP) is carried 

out by resident scientists, postdoctoral 

fellows, graduate students, and visiting 

scientists from various Smithsonian 

research units and colleagues from other 

national and international institutions. 

Smithsonian units frequently represented 

include the National Museum of 

Natural History and the National 

Zoological Park in Washington D.C., the 

Smithsonian Environmental Research 

Center in Edgewater, Maryland, and the 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 

in Panama. 

Chemical Ecology

Coral settlement on macroalgaldominated reefs

Coral cover on Caribbean reefs has declined in 

recent decades with many reefs shifting from 

coral-dominated ecosystems to those dominated 

by macroalgae. This trend is especially 

Colonies of staghorn coral can grow quite large in the shallows of 

Caribbean reefs.

Some corals release gametes during nighttime spawning events that 

take place only a few times a year. Here a researcher holds a jar of 

gamete bundles collected during a night dive in the Florida Keys.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 11 

J. Sneed

Experimental chambers are used to test 

the settlement behavior of larvae in the 

presence of macroalgae (Dictyota sp.). 

J. Sneed

Crustose coralline algae chips await 

experimental treatment at Carrie Bow Cay 

Field Station, Belize. 

J. Sneed

Newly settled elkhorn corals on a surface 

covered in crustose coralline algae (CCA).

concerning because there is evidence that once 

a reef has become overgrown with macroalgae 

it is difficult for corals to regain dominance. 

One of the processes that is important in 

the establishment and maintenance of coral 

dominated reefs is the recruitment of juvenile 

corals. Researchers from the SMS Marine 

Chemical Ecology lab have been working to 

understand what factors affect the successful 

recruitment of new corals to the reef and how 

macroalgae impact this process. 

Successful coral recruitment is dependent 

on the selection of an appropriate habitat by 

coral larvae as they undergo settlement and 

metamorphosis. Some coral species settle 

preferentially on certain species of crustose 

coralline algae (CCA), while others choose 

to settle on biofilmed carbonate surfaces. In 

either case, there is evidence that corals may 

be choosing a settlement location based on the 

bacteria living on the surface. Dr. Valerie Paul 

and Dr. Jennifer Sneed have been investigating 

the role of bacteria in the choice of settlement 

location by a variety of Caribbean corals in Belize 

and Florida. They have identified a compound 

(tetrabromopyrrole) produced by a bacterium 

isolated from the surface of a CCA that induces 

settlement in multiple species of Caribbean 

corals.

In order to understand how macroalgae 

might impact the recruitment process, SMS 

researchers have been investigating the effects of 

macroalgae on the bacterial communities within 

settled coral larvae (Porites astreoides and Acropora 

palmata) and on the surfaces of CCA. Settled 

coral larvae and pieces of CCA were exposed to 

two macroalgae, Halimeda opuntia and Dictyota

sp., and their associated bacterial communities 

were profiled using next-generation sequencing. 

Macroalgae had little effect on the bacterial 

communities within the settled corals, but caused 

significant changes in the taxonomic composition 

of the bacterial communities associated with 

the surfaces of CCA. To better understand 

how macroalgae affect bacterial communities on 

the surfaces of CCA, two student interns, Jay 

Houk and Sarah Harrison, examined the effects 

of organic extracts from a variety of marine 
 12 Smithsonian Marine Station

macroalgae on the growth of CCA-associated 

bacterial isolates in culture. They determined 

that several macroalgae contained secondary 

metabolites that affected bacterial growth. The 

alteration of bacterial communities on CCA 

surfaces by macroalgae could affect the response 

of coral larvae to these surfaces and have impacts 

on coral settlement success. 

While these results demonstrate the 

effects of macroalgae on microbial communities 

important to coral settlement, macroalgal 

overgrowth is only one of many threats to coral 

reefs. It is important to understand how corals 

will respond to multiple stressors at the same 

time. To gain a better understanding of how 

corals will respond to various stressors, Drs. 

Jennifer Sneed, Justin Campbell and Valerie 

Paul have been investigating the response of 

larval and adult corals to macroalgae (H. opuntia) 

and ocean acidification individually and in 

combination. There were interactive effects of the 

two stressors on the recruitment processes of P. 

astreoides. Within treatments exposed to low pH, 

the presence of H. opuntia significantly increased 

settlement of P. astreoides larvae. However, newly 

settled corals that were in contact with H. opuntia

under low pH conditions had significantly less 

growth compared to those in contact with H. 

opuntia at ambient pH levels. This indicates 

that while under ocean acidification conditions, 

H. opuntia may enhance settlement; the newly 

settled corals on algal covered reefs may 

grow slower than they would under current 

day pH levels. There were no effects of ocean 

acidification on the photosynthetic efficiency in 

adult corals. However, contact with H. opuntia 

for four weeks caused decreased photosynthetic 

efficiency in adult colonies of P. astreoides, and 

Acropora cervicornis, but had no effect on Orbicella 

faveolata. H. opuntia also caused bleaching in P. 

astreoides. This demonstrates that the presence 

of large amounts of H. opuntia on coral reefs 

could be deleterious to the health of adult coral 

colonies. 

 Together these results indicate that the 

presence of macroalgae (specifically H. opuntia) 

on coral reefs may not only harm the adult 

coral colonies on the reef, but also impede the 

recruitment of new individuals to the reef. 

Classifying and identifying tropical 

marine cyanobacteria 

Some recent investigations at the Smithsonian 

Marine Station at Fort Pierce have focused on 

increasing the understanding of the biological 

diversity of tropical and subtropical benthic marine 

cyanobacteria. As part of these taxonomic efforts, 

SMS researchers are currently surveying and 

analyzing cyanobacteria from Florida and other 

marine locations in the wider Caribbean. From 

these studies, researchers have discovered several 

new taxa not previously described by science. 

Some of the newly described taxa include the new 

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce J. Sneed N. Engene

N. Engene

Research Activities

Culturing marine bacteria for future 

settlement assays. 

Benthic cyanobacteria growing among 

different species of macroalgae in shallow 

water. 

Benthic cyanobacteria on a coral reef.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 13 

genera Moorea, Caldora and Okeania, all of which are common and ecologically important on coral reef 

and other tropical marine environments globally. In fact, this research suggests that the vast majority of 

cyanobacteria in tropical marine habitats represent novel biodiversity. Many of these new taxa are cryptic 

species and have been taxonomically neglected because of phenotypic similarities with traditional groups. 

This work has characterized some of these specimens and provided them with names so that the scientific 

community has taxonomic systems to identify and classify them.

SMS scientists have also investigated the production of secondary metabolites among different 

cyanobacteria. Many of these molecules have potent bioactivities with important ecological and 

biomedical relevance. Proper understanding of the taxonomy of the secondary metabolite-producing 

cyanobacteria has important implications for cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs). For 

example, being able to properly identify specific toxin-producing species can allow the prediction 

of cyanoHABs and permit field biologists to survey, monitor, and/or manage these blooms in the 

environment. Appropriate conservation actions depend on rapid identification of the cyanobacteria, so 

researchers at SMS are also developing chemical and genetic fingerprinting methods that can be used for 

rapid, robust, and high throughput identification of cyanobacteria. Moreover, some of these secondary 

metabolites have promising potential as pharmaceuticals and other human-beneficial natural products 

(NPs). A recently published study by former SMS Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Niclas Engene, revealed that 

approximately 99% of all marine NP-producing cyanobacteria are misidentified and that this primarily 

is due to limitations in the traditional classification systems. Phylogenetic investigations at SMS have 

revealed a general correlation between phylogeny-based taxonomy and secondary metabolites, which 

had not previously been found using the traditional taxonomic systems. In the future, natural products 

chemists will be able to take advantage of the proposed classification systems to enhance their natural 

products discovery efforts by targeting specific groups of NP-rich cyanobacteria. 

Cyanobacteria are widely 

distributed throughout marine 

habitats, including coral reefs.

N. Engene

Research Activities
 14 Smithsonian Marine Station

Coral disease and microbe-microbe 

interactions on coral surfaces

Corals are crucial to the health of reef ecosystems 

and sustainability of the surrounding human 

communities. Coral reefs around the world, and 

especially in the Caribbean, are under increasing 

stress. Global climate change, overfishing, and 

terrestrial run-off are just a few of the examples 

of such stressors. When stressed, corals become 

susceptible to infections with pathogens, 

which may result in dramatic, ecosystem-wide 

outbreaks of coral diseases. While coral diseases 

are common in ecosystems around the world, 

there are uncertainties associated with the 

question of what exactly causes them. Most 

scientists, however, agree that coral diseases 

are similar to those of other organisms and can 

be explained by the “Disease Triangle” model. 

This model postulates that the host must be in a 

physiological state that makes it more susceptible 

to the infection, a pathogen must be present and 

the environmental conditions must favor the 

disease progression.

As it relates to corals, the Disease 

Triangle model is complicated by the fact 

that corals are “holobionts”. Holobionts are 

multipartite symbiotic organisms formed by 

the animal (coral polyp), dinoflagellate algae 

that reside within coral cells (and supply it 

with carbon fixed through photosynthesis), 

and bacterial and viral associates of polyps and 

dinoflagellates. Over the last decade, significant 

advances have been made in characterization of 

the microbial interactions on coral surfaces. It is 

now clear that microbes can have both positive 

and negative effects on coral health and resistance 

to various stressors. The goal of this project is 

to continue the characterization of interactions 

between pathogens, corals and their associated 

native microbial communities. 

A novel disease of Porites astreoides

Global climate change, increasing ocean 

acidification, overfishing and other human 

activities have all been linked to a decrease in 

coral cover world-wide and a rapid structural 

change, often associated with the loss of 

biodiversity in reef ecosystems. Even though 

some coral recovery occurs on impacted reefs, 

shorter-lived, brooding mounding corals, and 

especially non-branching members of the 

Porites genus tend to be over-represented in 

reefs that have recovered from disturbances. 

This observation led researchers to hypothesize 

that the reefs worldwide are likely to become 

dominated by non-branching Porites spp. in the 

future. This hypothesis, however, assumes that 

Porites spp. are resilient to other biotic and abiotic 

stressors. There are at least eighteen diseases 

of corals that are generally recognized, with at 

least four pathologies of Porites spp. In diseased 

Porites spp., symptoms can be fairly general, 

making assignment of gross lesion morphology 

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce R. Ritson-Williams R. Ritson-Williams

R. Ritson-Williams

Porites astreiodes Black Band Disease Close-up of Black Band Disease.

Research Activities
2013/2014 Biennial Report 15 

Same colony pictured left, photographed 

eight months later. 

Coral with BBD, showing healthy tissue 

and denuded skeleton.

Disease progression on Porites astreiodes

colony. Photos taken 8 months apart.

difficult between diseases. This is generally true 

for many other coral diseases. It is hypothesized 

that at least some coral diseases are a collection 

of generic symptoms that could be elicited by a 

number of opportunistic pathogens that attack 

corals when their defenses are compromised or 

their native microbiota is destabilized. There 

is growing evidence that some abnormalities 

described as coral diseases are associated with 

general disturbances in the native microbial 

communities 

As shown in the split photo above, the 

disease begins as a yellow biofilm (narrow band), 

preceded by a large bleached zone. The coral 

tissue appears completely removed behind the 

band. The two images of the same coral colony 

were taken eight months apart. Characterization 

of the changes in the microbial communities 

associated with the progressing lesions 

demonstrated that the observed symptoms are 

more likely associated with the loss of the native 

bacteria from the genus Oceanospirillum. Within 

lesions, microbial communities were much more 

diverse, likely dominated by secondary colonists, 

which are also present as minor players in 

native microbial communities found on healthy 

corals. As a result, current research focuses 

on understanding how members of the native 

microbial communities are “switching” from the 

benign (commensal) existence to cause a disease 

due to environmental stress.

Interactions in the Black Band Disease consortium 

Black band disease (BBD), a multi-species 

consortium dominated by cyanobacteria, was 

first described at Carrie Bow Cay Field Station 

in the 1970s. Since its discovery there, BBD 

was found worldwide, affecting corals in the 

Caribbean, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. As 

shown in the images above (center and right),

BBD spreads fast, devastating boulders within 

only a few months. Images of tagged corals 

were taken eight months apart; the black band is 

apparent in the image on the left, on the border 

of the denuded skeleton and healthy tissue. 

Eight months later, almost the entire colony is 

consumed by the disease consortium. Thus, a 

better understanding of what causes this disease 

is needed in order to develop more effective 

proactive management approaches for controlling 

it. 

The goal of this project is to characterize 

chemical interactions within the BBD 

consortium to determine how pathogens within 

the consortium communicate with each other, 

with native coral microorganisms and with the 

coral itself. To this end, we have collected 

samples of the disease consortium from a dozen 

corals at various stages of the diseases. Molecular 

and chemical characterization of these samples is 

currently ongoing. 

M. TeplitskiM. Teplitski

M. Teplitski

Research Activities
 16 Smithsonian Marine Station

Ocean acidification and marine 

macroalgae

Since December 2012, SMS has been involved 

in research aimed at exploring and understanding 

the complex nature of ocean acidification (OA) 

and marine carbonate chemistry within nearshore, 

coastal environments. To date, researchers have 

established several devices at SMS that record realtime measurements of pCO2

 in the surrounding 

waters and have installed an experimental OA 

research system with 12 separate aquaria capable 

of independently manipulating temperature and 

pCO2. Together, these devices have launched the 

Smithsonian’s effort to understand the biological and 

ecological consequences of climate change within 

marine environments. 

A pCO2 logger was installed as part of 

a larger research initiative in collaboration with 

Dr. Whitman Miller from the Smithsonian 

Environmental Research Center (SERC) and Dr. 

Rachel Collin at the Smithsonian Tropical Research 

Institute (STRI), who have similar instrumentation 

installed at their respective locations. The logger 

functions by pumping seawater through a series of 

tubes that extract and measure the concentration 

of dissolved CO2. Measurements are continuously 

recorded every minute, and the system is checked 

and calibrated weekly. Furthermore, discrete water 

samples are collected twice each week to measure 

additional parameters of the seawater carbonate 

system. Data from the device has revealed an 

extremely dynamic CO2 environment, with complex 

environmental changes in both temperature and 

water residence times caused by the tidal cycle. These 

findings suggest that OA within nearshore estuarine 

environments may be completely distinct compared 

to OA on the reef tract or across the open ocean.

The experimental OA research system is 

comprised of 12 independent, temperature controlled 

aquaria that have been connected to an automated 

CO2 dosing system. This equipment allows 

researchers to conduct manipulative experiments, 

and examine how biological organisms respond to 

climate change stressors across a variety of time 

scales. To date, one completed project has revealed 

that calcified marine macroalgae display different 

and unique responses to OA depending upon the 

species. Thus, OA might not influence all calcified 

algae in a similar manner. Follow up experiments 

have further revealed that temperature can also 

play a relatively strong role in regulating the effects 

of OA, particularly for green algae in the genera 

Halimeda and Caulerpa. Lastly, more recent research 

has begun to explore the effects of OA on various life 

history stages of corals. This work has examined the 

effects of OA and algal presence on the physiology 

and overall health of common corals, such as Porites 

astreoides. Future work will continue to examine 

responses of algae and corals to OA, and examine 

how light and temperature both singularly and 

synergistically regulate the effects of OA. 

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce D. Littler J. Campbell

D. Littler

Research Activities

A pCO2 logger continuously measures the 

concentration of dissolved CO2 in seawater 

every mintue, allowing a closer look at the 

dynamic CO2 environment.

Fleshy macroalgae of the genus Caulerpa. 

Scientists at SMS are using an experimental 

system to examine this organism’s 

response to OA.

Calcified marine macroalgae, Halimeda sp., 

display differnt and unique responses to 

ocean acidification (OA) depending on the 

species.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 17 

Life Histories

The Life Histories Program has continued its investigations of oceanic larvae from the surface waters 

of the nearby Florida Current, a component of the Gulf Stream System, with a focus on the unique 

larvae of marine worms that belong to a distinct animal group known as Sipuncula. Over the past 

40 years, observations on morphology, behavior, and metamorphosis of 10 common larval types, 

as well as juveniles, were compiled by Dr. Mary Rice, Julianne Piraino, and Hugh Reichardt, in a 

review to be published in the upcoming Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on the 

Biology of the Sipuncula, (ISBS2, in preparation). These larvae have been found throughout warm 

water currents of the Atlantic Ocean, and they are presumed to serve as genetic links between widely 

isolated populations of benthic-dwelling adults. Studies by SMS scientists of larval and juvenile life 

history stages have established the morphological basis for relating larvae to their species-specific 

adult affiliations, and thereby enable an assessment of the potential role of larvae in maintaining 

genetic continuity across ocean basins. Furthermore, the Lab’s studies on morphology complement 

a collaborative molecular study (Schulze et al. in preparation) aimed at utilizing DNA sequence data 

to identify the species of these same larvae, which will also be published in the ISBS2 symposium 

proceedings. 

During the fall of 2013, Dr. Michael Boyle visited the Life Histories Program to initiate 

field and laboratory protocols associated with his current research project. Michael completed a 

Smithsonian Marine Science Network Postdoctoral Fellowship at SMS in March 2013, and is 

currently a Tupper Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 

(STRI) in the Republic of Panama. One component of his project involves utilizing next-generation 

sequencing technologies to obtain the developmental transcriptomes of marine invertebrate worms 

within the Sipuncula. During particular months of the year, several sipunculan species are known to J. Campbell

The experimental OA system 

at SMS. This array of 12 

independent, temperature 

controlled aquaria is connected 

to an automated CO2dosing 

system that allows scientists to 

exmaine how marine organisms 

respond to different temperature 

and CO2 levels.

Research Activities
 18 Smithsonian Marine Station

be reproductive, and they are commonly found within benthic habitats of the Indian River Lagoon 

and western Atlantic Ocean along the southeast coast of Florida. Two of the target species, Phascolion 

cryptum and Nephasoma pellucidum, exhibit highly contrasting direct and indirect developmental 

life history patterns, respectively. Dr. Boyle has collected and cultured adult worms from the field, 

isolating embryonic and larval stages from spawning events in the laboratory, and purifying RNA 

for sequencing and bioinformatic analyses. Transcriptome sequencing and assembly procedures were 

completed in 2014, and are now providing the first developmental transcriptome datasets for members 

of Sipuncula. These comparative genomic resources are currently being analyzed to ultimately support 

ongoing studies on molecular and genetic mechanisms that are known to regulate animal development 

in related groups of marine invertebrates. In the fall of 2014, Michael initiated a more rigorous 

transcriptome project for a third sipunculan species, which is currently undergoing sequencing and 

assembly steps in Florida, with a fourth species in preparation for sequencing at STRI in Panama. Dr. 

Boyle’s research takes advantage of access to facilities, equipment and staff resources at Smithsonian 

research stations in Florida and Panama. Overall, Michael’s projects will serve to promote sipunculans 

as experimental models for a broader understanding of the evolution and development of biological 

diversity. An invited publication highlighting sipunculan research in the Life Histories Program has 

been completed, and will be released in early 2015 within a special edition of the International Journal 

of Developmental Biology, titled Spiralian Model Systems. Dr. Boyle recently co-authored a manuscript 

on the phylogeny of Sipuncula using transcriptomics, published in Molecular Phylogenetics and 

Evolution. He also co-authored a manuscript in the journal EvoDevo, on the molecular conservation 

of gut development in a marine polychaete worm, including a comprehensive review comparing those 

gene expression patterns across the Metazoa. Dr. Boyle is now compiling manuscripts as an author and 

editor of the ISBS2 Proceedings for publication by Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. 

An ongoing project of the Life Histories program involves an investigation focused on 

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

Confocal 

microscope image 

of Phascolion 

cryptum larva. 

Blue, DNA; green, 

muscles; red, 

protein filaments 

within cells.

M. Boyle

Research Activities
2013/2014 Biennial Report 19 

comparative morphology and evolution of 

sipunculan nervous systems, which began in 

2012 and resumed during summer 2014 with 

additional in-depth studies. This exciting project 

is a collaborative effort by Dr. Mary Rice and 

Dr. Boyle at the SMS and STRI facilities, 

and Dr. Néva Meyer and her PhD graduate 

student, Allan Carrillo, from Clark University 

in Worcester, Massachusetts. Dr. Meyer was 

a visiting researcher at SMS in 2012, and 

Dr. Boyle re-convened their collective efforts 

for three weeks of intensive embryology and 

confocal laser scanning microscopy during JulyAugust of 2014. A manuscript of this project 

is in preparation, and Michael and Allan each 

presented comparative species-specific highlights 

of this collaboration during two poster sessions at 

the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative 

and Comparative Biology (SICB) in January 

2015. Dr. Boyle also summarized this project, 

along with multiple highlights from both of his 

Smithsonian Postdoctoral Research Fellowships, 

during his invited Keynote Lecture for the 

American Microscopical Society at SICB 2015. 

During his presentation, Michael showcased 

images of adult sipunculan worms from the 

Smithsonian’s Galeta Point Marine Station 

on the Caribbean coast of Panama and several 

sipunculan larvae from the Florida Current of 

the Gulf Stream, approximately 20 nautical miles 

offshore of the SMS. The larvae were collected 

and photographed during an intensive weeklong sampling of planktonic organisms that was 

organized by Karen Osborn from the Department 

of Invertebrate Zoology at the NMNH. Both 

Karen and Michael share an interest in larval 

diversity and life history patterns, which is 

anchored by the dedicated career studies of Mary 

Rice.

Another major project from 2013 - 2014 

was the organization and description of an 

extensive reference collection of sipunculans, 

from the Caribbean and Florida, which has been 

assembled by Dr. Mary Rice and her colleagues 

over the past 45 years. With the dedicated 

assistance of visiting scientist and collaborator Dr. 

Gisele Kawauchi from the University of Sao Paulo 

in Brazil, the collection has been digitized and 

organized for transfer to the National Museum of 

Natural History for accession into the National 

Collections of Invertebrate Zoology. The collection 

includes approximately 30 species represented 

by specimens from 345 localities, in more than 

1,000 bottles. A manuscript is in preparation by 

Kawauchi and Rice, describing and illustrating 

the species in this comprehensive collection of the 

Sipuncula of the Caribbean and the East Coast of 

Florida. 

Finally, as part of continuing research 

on the distribution and dispersal of deep-sea 

sipunculans, the Life Histories Program recently 

participated in the Curacao Deep Sea Observation 

Project (DROP), starting in 2012 and continuing 

in 2013 and 2014. DROP, a biodiversity 

J. PirainoM. BoyleM. Boyle

Research Activities

Visiting scientist Dr. Gisele Kawauchi 

performs dissections of an adult 

sipunculan worm under a miscroscope at 

SMS.

Phascolion cryptum outside of its gastropod 

shell.

Adult P. cryptum inhabit discarded 

gastropod shells in shallow waters in the 

Southeastern U.S.
 20 Smithsonian Marine Station

exploration sponsored by the National Museum 

of Natural History off the coast of Curacao in 

the Southern Caribbean, provides access to a 

research submersible and thus the opportunity 

for a comparison with previous long-term studies 

in the Bahamas using the Johnson Sea-Link 

submersible (Rice et al, Invertebrate Biology 

131:204-215, 2012). Fibrous collectors, proved 

to be effective substrata for larval settlement 

of sipunculans, were deployed along the coast 

of Curacao on three occasions at depths up 

to 1,000 feet (305 meters) for periods of 9, 

11, and 14 months. On retrieval, sipunculans 

were sorted from the collectors and tentatively 

identified as Phascolosoma turnerae, the same 

species previously reported from collectors in the 

Bahamas. Specimens from both localities are 

now available for molecular analyses along with 

specimens from adult populations of Phascolosoma 

turnerae in the Gulf of Mexico. Future research 

will address the question of genetic connectivity 

between different populations, including those 

populations of adults recently reported from 

Mediterranean and Japanese waters. 

Benthic Ecology

Estuaries around the world are approaching 

critical levels of degradation and Florida’s Indian 

River Lagoon (IRL) watershed is no exception. 

Large-scale, collaborative efforts are underway 

to restore biodiversity and the vital ecological 

functions these ecosystems provide. The staff 

in the Marine Ecology Lab at SMS is involved 

in one of the most ambitious of these projects, 

the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration 

Plan (CERP). The many dimensions of CERP, 

under the direction of South Florida Water 

Management District and the U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers, include restoring wetlands and 

building flood control structures, water treatment 

areas, and storage basins. 

The extensive modification to the 

southern IRL watershed over the past 100 years, 

most notably the drainage canals created in an 

effort to convert wetlands and watercourses for 

urban and agricultural uses, has decreased the 

system’s ability to store water and has increased 

nutrient-rich stormwater runoff. Additionally, 

large episodic freshwater canal flows now occur 

in the wet seasons while there is very low flow 

during dry seasons. These changes have led to a 

less diverse, increasingly compromised benthic 

community, the life found in or on the sediment 

bottoms of water bodies like the St. Lucie 

Estuary and the IRL. Benthic organisms, such 

as clams, snails, polychaete worms, amphipod 

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce S. Reed M. Stephens

M. Stephens

Research Activities

Researchers add rose bengal to their 

samples to stain the tissues of organisms, 

making it easier to find, sort and identify.

Research technicians processing a bottom 

sample from a site in the St. Lucie Estuary.

Polychaetes such as this one are a common 

inhabitant of the sediments of the Indian 

River Lagoon.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 21 

crustaceans and shrimp, are critical components of a healthy estuary. These organisms respond 

predictably to various environmental changes such as an increase or decrease in salinity, low dissolved 

oxygen, and sedimentation. Benthic organisms are reliable indicators of habitat quality and can reflect 

environmental conditions over time. 

The Marine Ecology Lab began a monitoring program in the early phases of CERP in 2005, 

providing a baseline data set to detect and predict changes system-wide. Since 2004 the project has 

collected over 2500 benthic samples at 36 sites within the IRL system, from Titusville in the north to 

Stuart in the south. More than 500,000 individual animals and over 700 species have been counted 

within these diverse systems. As the different phases of the hydrology projects come online, the benthic 

data will reflect changes in discrete areas of the estuary. The lab has produced intensive multivariate 

analyses that can now help to make decisions about the restoration of the estuaries of Atlantic Florida. 

Such feedback is crucial for water managers to confirm that their efforts are having the desired effects.

Under the direction of Principal Investigator, Dr. Seabird McKeon, the Marine Ecology Lab 

will continue to monitor changes within the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie Estuary. The lab 

was the received an NSF CyberSEES award. “Infrastructure and Technology Supporting Citizen 

Science Data Usage and Distribution for Education and Sustainability,” focuses on the creation of a 

viable network system to allow biodiversity data gathered by citizen scientists to be rapidly utilized by 

researchers working on particular taxa or issues. For example, the Smithsonian-sponsored Biocube 

project allows teachers to rapidly generate data on the biodiversity of a small area. Should an invasive 

species be recorded by students, the network would alert scientists studying invasions and invasive 

species distributions of the students’ findings. To support this effort, a postdoctoral scholar, Dr. 

Michele Weber, has joined the team. An evolutionary ecologist with a background in marine genomics 

and coral reef biology, she will be facilitating the translation of citizen science data to research 

biologists and information scientists while based at the National Museum of Natural History. S. Jones

An unsorted sample of benthic 

invertebrates from the Indian 

River Lagoon.

Research Activities
 22 Smithsonian Marine Station

unknown. SMS researchers are investigating 

the grazing characteristics of common infauna 

and epifauna species in the northern IRL as 

part of the St. Johns River Water Management 

District’s IRL Algal Blooms Investigation (IRL–

ABI). The aims of this project are to improve 

knowledge of infaunal and epifaunal grazers, 

and to improve an understanding of grazing 

pressure and its potential to act as a control on 

phytoplankton blooms. This sampling effort of 

infauna and epifauna combined with field and 

laboratory experiments should give insights into 

how estuarine communities cope with harmful 

algal blooms or other environmental changes. 

Previous research has been concerned 

with the formation of these algal blooms but 

not on the community-level effects these blooms 

may have. In addition, little is known about 

how phytoplankton blooms may be controlled 

in natural communities. During 2014, 90 sites 

throughout the northern Indian River Lagoon 

(IRL), Mosquito Lagoon and Banana River were 

sampled to identify and quantify the marine 

invertebrates that live in the sediment (infauna) 

and on surfaces such as seawalls, dock pilings 

and mangrove roots (epifauna). Epifaunal and 

infaunal communities of invertebrates are being 

sampled quarterly across 27 sites in the northern 

IRL, Mosquito Lagoon and Banana River for the 

duration of the three-year project. Using the first 

year’s survey data, the research team identified 

key filter feeding species within the community 

The Marine Ecology Lab was also 

involved in three biodiversity expeditions. 

The first, to the Myiel archipelago of 

Myanmar, resulted in a photoguide “Reef 

Invertebrates of Myanmar,” available for 

download at www.sms.si.edu/Marine_Ecology/

ReefInvertebratesOfMyanmar.pdf. Dr. 

McKeon also participated in a Ross Institute 

Founders Expedition to the Solomon Islands, 

collecting several undescribed species of marine 

invertebrates, and gathering data critical 

to understanding the tremendous marine 

biodiversity of the region. The Lab’s continuing 

biodiversity work on Carrie Bow Cay has been 

the focus of the Carrie Bow Biocode, an effort to 

get genetic samples for all marine life larger than 

5mm from the marine environments surrounding 

the island. This effort is already paying dividends 

in the form of “NextGen Natural History,” 

studies of diet and connectivity that are not 

possible without the use of molecular tools.

Northern Indian River Lagoon

Major planktonic blooms of long duration 

(months) have become more frequent in the 

Northern Indian River Lagoon, with negative 

outcomes for species of commercial interest and 

species offering critical ecosystem services. The 

role of benthic infaunal and epibenthic species 

on the control of planktonic blooms is largely M. Riley

C. Johnson

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

Research Activities

Graduate fellow Cora Johnson at a field 

site in Florida.

Circular tank with dividers used to test 

which vegetation types immature crabs 

prefer.

The mangrove tree crab, Aratus pisonii, can 

be found on mangroves throughout their 

east coast range.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 23 

assemblages. These key species will be used in 

grazing experiments to determine how grazers 

function in bloom conditions and if they have the 

potential to control bloom forming species.

These efforts have been aided by the 

addition of three new postdoctoral scholars, 

Dr. Jessica Lunt, Dr. Eve Galimany, and Dr. 

Christopher Freeman. Dr. Galimany is an expert 

in the measurement and understanding of bivalve 

feeding. Her work in the past has documented 

how bivalves feed in response to environmental 

conditions. Now at SMS, she will be looking 

at how diverse filter feeding communities might 

control harmful algal blooms. Dr. Lunt studies 

quantitative ecology of estuaries. Arriving 

in 2014 from Texas, she started a research 

program that covers the ecological interactions 

of oyster bed communities, including settlement 

and predation of the oysters themselves. Dr. 

Freeman’s work revolves around the use of stable 

isotopic signatures that can help tease out the 

functional diversity of filter feeding organisms 

that likely play an important role in mitigating 

algal blooms.

MarineGEO

In 2012, the Smithsonian launched a unique 

project to study coastal marine biodiversity and 

ecosystems around the globe. Marine Global 

Earth Observatories (MarineGEO), including 

the Smithsonian’s Tennenbaum Marine 

Observatories Network (TMON), is the first 

long-term, worldwide research program to focus 

on understanding coastal marine life and its role 

in maintaining resilient ecosystems around the 

world.

By specializing in coastal ecosystems—

where marine biodiversity and people are 

concentrated and interact most—this initiative 

will provide policymakers with the science 

to support innovative solutions and advance 

management and protection of the ocean. The 

Smithsonian Marine Station serves as a key node 

in this network and several projects are currently 

underway. SMS hosted the group’s first field 

expedition in late June 2014, officially launching 

the TMON initiative. The trip came with an 

extensive list of objectives, including honing 

short- and long-term goals, refining protocols for 

sampling and research, beginning coordinated 

data collection, and building a cohesive field 

team. To meet these goals, the group spent a 

considerable amount of time scouting field sites, 

testing methods, and discussing both smalland large-scale strategy and logistics. A central 

part of the work on the trip involved reviewing, 

testing, and implementing core protocols for 

characterizing four key habitat types: hardbottom 

areas built by living organisms (oyster reefs, coral 

reefs, etc.), marine vegetation (seagrass beds, 

mangrove forests, etc.), sediment bottoms, and 

human-built structures (dock pilings, artificial 

D. JaniakD. Janiak

Research Activities

Medusa from parasitic hydroid Eutima

within an oyster egg.

Group photo from the June 2014 TMON 

meeting at SMS.

Dr. Andrew Altieri (STRI) samples on an 

oyster bed in the IRL.
 24 Smithsonian Marine Station

tropical seagrass meadow structure strongly vary 

according to location. Future research on this 

topic will be directed toward expanding TEN to 

new locations along the coast of Florida. 

Spatial Ecology of Marine 

Protected Areas

The Spatial Ecology of Marine Protected Area 

(SEMPA) Program conducts research that 

can underpin conservation and management 

strategies for marine resources. The team led by 

Dr. Stephen Box works internationally to provide 

technical assistance and support to coastal 

communities, industry partners and government 

agencies that are collectively responsible for 

marine and coastal governance.

Their interdisciplinary group focuses on 

existing and emerging conservation challenges 

with strong interests in applied questions 

involving marine reserve design, animal and 

human movement ecology, population genetics 

and spatial planning. Combined, their results 

are helping to build solutions to critical problems 

around the world, including in the Caribbean, 

Pacific Ocean and Andaman Sea. 

Honduras

SEMPA’s extensive work in Honduras partners 

closely with a national non-government 

reefs, etc.). Using universally applicable sampling 

methods is crucial for obtaining standardized 

measurements of biodiversity and

ecological processes over time, and deploying 

coordinated experiments across different regions 

and habitat types – the basis of the TMON 

initiative.

Additionally, since May 2014, the 

Smithsonian Marine Station has also been 

exploring the complex environmental and 

biological factors influencing the health and 

resilience of tropical seagrass beds. As part of 

a Grand Challenges project, an experimental 

network of tropical seagrass meadows has been 

established at four sites across Florida and the 

greater Caribbean region. This work focuses on 

the foundational species, Thalassia testudinum, 

and has been named the Thalassia Experimental 

Network (TEN). This work examines the 

relative effects of eutrophication and consumer 

abundance (both small and large grazers) on 

the structure and function of regionally distinct 

seagrass meadows. At each site across the 

network, factorial experiments were established 

and maintained for approximately 100 days. At 

the end of the experiment, metrics of seagrass 

health (shoot density, biomass, epiphyte loading, 

and growth) were all assessed. The results 

demonstrate that regionally distinct meadows can 

display differential responses to shifts in nutrient 

availability and consumer presence, suggesting 

that the proximate mechanisms governing G. Stoyle

G. StoyleG. Stoyle

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

Research Activities

Divers prepare to enter the water for 

another day of reef surveys.

A “smorgasbord” of sponge samples drying 

before they are transported back to the 

U.S. for analysis.

Scientific divers chat prior to surveying a 

new reef site in Honduras.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 25 

Several previously unexplored 

reef sites have been identified 

and surveyed in the Moskito 

Cays region, laying the 

foundation for effective 

conservation planning in the 

region.

organization to provide the scientific support with which to design a network of no take reserves 

across the Honduran Caribbean to encompass 20% of the fishable area of the country. In parallel, 

their work focuses on resolving critical fishing issues and is helping in the design of an exclusive use 

area for artisanal fishing to separate industrial fishing and indigenous, small scale fisheries; developing 

strategies to improve the sustainability of commercial fisheries of conch, lobster and sea cucumbers; 

and producing tools to improve data collection and management. In addition, they have worked to 

formulate a transition plan that uses external investment finance to end dangerous and exploitative 

scuba fishing practices and replace them with ecologically and socially responsible fisheries. 

At the heart of the western Caribbean, on the extensive shallow shelf of eastern Honduras, 

lies a string of small islands known as the Miskito Cays. The warm waters surrounding the islands 

are home to extensive coral reefs and seagrass beds, but due to their remote location the area had until 

recently remained virtually unstudied. In May 2013, Dr. Box led a team of fifteen interdisciplinary 

scientists from five institutions on the first expedition to explore these uncharted reefs, funded by 

The Summit Foundation with additional support from National Geographic’s Ocean Initiative. The 

lack of information on these ecosystems has been especially problematic for local fishing groups 

from indigenous communities looking to develop alternatives to working in the dangerous industrial 

fisheries. Their vision was to develop locally managed artisanal fisheries while working to conserve 

the area’s inherent biodiversity, but without information on the physical and biological make-up of the 

reefs they had nothing upon which to base their plans. Dr. Box and his team have been assisting these 

indigenous groups in realizing their vision by applying their research to establish strategies for the best 

use and management of the reefs throughout the Miskito region. Working in the remote corners of 

Central America is logistically challenging, so in collaboration with the Marine Spatial Ecology Lab 

at the University of Queensland the program initially used satellite imagery and biophysical modeling 

to build habitat maps and identify potentially important areas across more than 3.5 million acres of G. Stoyle

Research Activities
 26 Smithsonian Marine Station

The team for the exploration 

cruise in the Miskito Cays 

included representatives from 

SMS and Harbor Branch in the 

US, as well as researchers from 

Honduras, Venezuela, and 

England.

remote sea. But to accurately assess the ecological 

condition of the area, scientists ultimately had 

to get wet. Using a live aboard dive vessel to sail 

around the island chain, part of the research 

team conducted underwater visual surveys to 

assess the condition of the coral reefs and verify 

habitat maps. A second group collected samples 

of the fauna and flora, including corals, sponges, 

algae, invertebrates and key fisheries species. 

Genetic analysis of these samples will help to 

define the ecological connectivity of the area and 

evaluate how this area is related to other parts of 

the western Caribbean. With nearly 350 dives 

logged and a wealth of new information collected 

during the week-long voyage, the expedition’s 

outputs will directly help marine conservation 

planning in the region. The Smithsonian’s 

SEMPA program is providing the ecosystem 

science essential to supporting local governance 

of these invaluable natural resources and 

through its research enables real opportunities to 

transform the conservation and management of 

marine ecosystems in the western Caribbean.

Caribbean wide

SEMPA has spearheaded a regional research 

collaboration that currently spans partners 

from ten countries in the Caribbean. Their 

lab has provided centralized genetic analysis 

so that samples from across the region can be 

incorporated to investigate the connectivity of 

key marine species. The work has focused on 

queen conch and spiny lobster, the two most 

commercially important species in the Caribbean, 

with the aim of defining the ecologically 

relevant management units. This project has 

catalyzed the first such regional collaboration for 

genetic research focusing on these species and, 

importantly, has provided the capacity to include 

countries with limited resources. In addition, the 

project supported students from these countries 

to come to the Smithsonian and learn genetic 

analysis techniques.

Colombia

SEMPA has provided technical assistance to the 

USAID-BIOREDD project on the Pacific Coast 

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

G. Stoyle

Research Activities
2013/2014 Biennial Report 27 

of Colombia to collate, analyze and synthesize 

fisheries data collected from the coastal 

communities of afro-indigenous fishers. This 

information was used to develop strategies that 

can improve the sustainability of these fisheries 

and support the aims of the community groups 

to establish exclusive fishing areas and improve 

the local management of their marine resources. 

The SEMPA team also developed a suite of 

tools, including a track and trace system so that 

buyers of seafood know that it originated from 

communities that follow a responsible fishing 

charter. 

Myanmar

A new program of work started in 2014 in 

Myanmar to connect forest conservation and 

watershed management to marine conservation 

and the establishment of marine protected areas. 

The SEMPA program is implementing the 

marine components of the program, while a team 

from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology 

Institute (SCBI) is managing the terrestrial side. 

Little is known about the marine resources of 

Myanmar but it is clear there is a significant 

problem from large and small scale fisheries that 

present a clear threat to marine biodiversity.

SEMPA’s work is first focusing on 

defining the threats posed by unrestricted 

fishing and establishing local networks to collect 

fisheries information. Researchers will then build 

strategy for fisheries reform and integrate the 

new fisheries data into the design of a network 

of marine protected areas that can balance 

biodiversity conservation with local economic 

development. The project is in partnership with 

Flora and Fauna International and the national 

government.

Program Highlights

SEMPA’s work focuses on “science for decision 

making” and has attracted international attention 

during 2014:

•Prince Charles hosted a meeting on Blue 

Economy in London where Dr. Box presented 

the case study on restructuring the Honduran 

Lobster Fishery. This project was identified as the 

global pilot of how to use impact investment to 

solve fisheries issues as part of the emerging “blue 

economy”.

•A special session on the work of the 

Smithsonian and its partners in Honduras was 

held on the opening day of the 2014 Gulf and 

Caribbean Fisheries Institute annual meeting in 

Barbados. Their work was featured in seven oral 

presentations and four poster presentations, as 

well as a side event on the use of fisheries data to 

inform the design of marine reserves. 

•BBC2 filmed a segment on work on parrotfish 

genetic connectivity research in Honduras as 

part of a travelogue documentary series on the 

Caribbean Sea. It will air in March 2015.

ILCP - M. Christmas

Z. FoltzZ. Foltz

Research Activities

Spiny lobsters are one of the most 

commericially important species in the 

Caribbean. 

Lionfish are aggressive invaders on reefs 

throughout the Caribbean.

Honduran fishers use spears to harvest 

lionfish from the reefs.
 28 Smithsonian Marine Station

•The Honduras lobster fishery was featured as 

a case study for innovative solutions at USAID 

Frontiers in Development conference in October 

2014 in Washington D.C. 

• In collaboration with internationally renowned 

photographers from the International League 

of Conservation Photographers and with Earthin-Focus, campaigns were developed to increase 

awareness on the importance of no take reserves 

and to showcase good news stories of local action 

towards sustainability. 

Mangrove Ecology

Carbon sequestration in mangroves on 

Florida’s east coast

Mangroves inhabit tropical and subtropical 

intertidal habitats worldwide and represent 

an important dominant plant community 

throughout their range. Despite their limited 

distribution along coastal margins, they store 

vast amounts of carbon (C), thus playing an 

essential role in the global C cycle. In parts of 

the southeastern United States, warmer winter 

temperatures and reductions in the intensity 

of freeze events are leading to mangrove forest 

range expansion and salt marsh displacement. 

As these ecosystems shift, their primary 

productivity will be altered by both physical and 

biological variables, ultimately impacting their C 

sequestration potential. 

Coastal Florida spans a spatial and 

temporal latitudinal gradient; the southern part 

of the state is mainly mangroves, which gives way 

to the salt marsh-mangrove ecotone, which then 

fades into pure salt marsh. Winter temperatures 

also span this gradient. Average winter 

temperatures are 21o C in the southern part of 

the state, which diminish to 12o C in northern 

regions. Mangroves have been documented 

transgressing poleward into salt marsh habitat, 

making the east coast of Florida an excellent 

location to study the effects of habitat alteration 

on the C sequestration potential of the system. 

Work by Lorae Simpson and the Mangrove 

Ecology lab at SMS has aimed to document 

current C stocks and rates along the east coast 

of Florida and determine how early life history 

and temperature will affect the ability of the 

mangroves to sequester C. 

Transgression of mangroves into salt 

marsh is due to a combination of factors during 

early life history. Researchers examined the role 

of propagule flotation time and light availability 

on establishment and productivity of Rhizophora 

mangle (red mangrove), Avicennia germinans 

(black mangrove) and Laguncularia racemosa

(white mangrove). Propagules were collected on 

the east coast of Florida and were grown under 

two light levels (sun and shade) after being 

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce L. Simpson L. Simpson

L. Simpson

Research Activities

These propagules are being used in a Flotation experiment set-up.

study to understand effects of floatation 

time on growth. 

As part of one experiment, some plants are 

shaded and others are provided full sun.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 29 

A typical salt marsh study plot in 

the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge.

floated in seawater for varying lengths of time (0,1,2,3,4 weeks). The team found that site, flotation 

time and light availability all significantly affected growth and biomass partitioning of the mangrove 

species. Understanding the factors mediating mangrove establishment and productivity gives insight 

into the mechanisms behind their poleward range expansion and helps forecast the future range of this 

important ecosystem. 

Carbon sequestration in mangroves will likely vary after establishment depending on spatial 

and temporal factors. Currently, the research team is quantifying mangrove C stocks and rates along 

the coastal latitudinal gradient. They have set up ten permanent plots, spanning 342km, in an effort 

to quantify species composition, structural complexity and ecosystem C dynamics. The Mangrove 

Ecology team has quantified mangrove biomass and species composition and a litter decomposition 

and root accumulation study is currently underway. The data collected will serve as a baseline for 

future work. 

These projects aim to improve the scientific understanding of the underlying factors that 

control C sequestration in mangroves, salt marshes and the salt marsh-mangrove ecotone. By 

strengthening the science supporting the sequestration potential of these immense C sinks and 

documenting the effects that climate change may have, they can better understand the how to protect 

these coastal wetlands in the future. 

Community formation along a shifting habitat edge 

Over the past two years, graduate student Cora Johnston’s research has focused on how changes in 

the type and distribution of wetlands affect organisms that colonize and inhabit these shallow coastal 

habitats. Specifically, she has examined how settling crabs respond to the expansion of mangrove L. Simpson

Research Activities
 30 Smithsonian Marine Station

forests along Florida’s Atlantic coast. In spring 

2013 and spring 2014, surveys of crab arrival and 

settlement into mangroves and neighboring grass 

salt marshes revealed that crabs associate with 

particular wetland vegetation types – regardless 

of their location in the landscape – such that 

a specific community of crab species appears 

to be following mangroves on their pole-ward 

march. This habitat tracking should lead to 

greater crab diversity at latitudes with emerging 

mangrove stands. During lab experiments at 

SMS (summer 2013), Cora found that even 

tiny settling crabs – that could wander around 

a pencil eraser – actively select the wetland type 

that provides optimal survival from predation. 

This active habitat selection helps explain how 

crabs are tracking mangrove expansion so quickly 

and accurately. Based on unexpected sightings 

of the mangrove tree crab (Aratus pisonii) during 

the spring survey, Cora and fellow SMS-Link 

Fellowship alumna Megan Riley, a graduate 

student at the University of South Carolina, 

conducted a secondary survey over the summer 

in which they documented mangrove tree crabs 

in pure salt marshes as far north as Jekyll Island, 

Georgia.

In spring 2014, with the help of SMS 

staff, Cora established a landscape-scale 

experiment to assess crab use of marshes and 

mangroves from settlement through development 

and maturity. She is now using data from six 

months of experimental monitoring to evaluate 

the influences of wetland type, landscape 

context, and physical structure (e.g. woodiness, 

branching) on the size of resident crabs and the 

duration of their residency. Her study is expected 

to shed light on how differences between 

expanding mangroves and displaced marshes 

may affect production of crustaceans from these 

mercurial wetland edges, with implications 

for changing species interactions and fisheries 

management.

ACRONYMS: (NMNH) National Museum of Natural History (SERC) Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SMSFP) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

A mangrove tree crab, Aratus 

pisonii, right at home on a 

mangrove prop root.

M. Riley

Research Activities
2013/2014 Biennial Report 31 

Sponge symbiosis

Marine sponges are important and prolific members of many coastal ecosystems. Researchers working 

on sponges are just beginning to realize how large and diverse microbial communities within sponges 

really are. MarineGEO Postdoctoral Fellow Christopher Freeman studies these symbiotic interactions 

between microbes and marine sponge hosts. These interactions are incredibly diverse as almost all 

sponges host symbionts, but the overall abundance and composition of these communities varies 

substantially across sponge species. By hosting symbionts, sponges gain access to microbial metabolic 

pathways, which greatly increases the nutrient sources available to the sponge. This symbiont-derived 

nutrition is an important food source for sponges, allowing them to grow and compete for space on 

crowded tropical reefs. To carry out this research, Dr. Freeman measured the elemental composition 

of sponge tissue to determine the role of symbionts in host carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) metabolism. 

In particular, he is interested in how these interactions change over large geographic distances and 

whether they are impacted by nearby human development. 

To accomplish this, Freeman collected individuals of 15 common sponge species from tropical 

reefs in Bocas del Toro Panama, the Miskito Cays of Honduras, Belize, and the Florida Keys. These 

reefs differ in their proximity to human development and also span a large latitudinal gradient across 

the Caribbean. To expand this dataset, he also collected related species of sponges from Gray’s Reef 

National Marine Sanctuary, a temperate, hard-bottom reef off the coast of Georgia, USA, as well as 

Pacific reefs around Hong Kong, Taiwan, Myanmar, and Moorea. To date, data from the Caribbean 

suggest that C and N metabolism are highly variable across individual sponge species, but that the 

cycling of these nutrients is relatively stable across tropical sites. Thus, it appears as though these 

symbionts play an important role in the partitioning of available nutrients across coexisting sponge 

species on tropical reefs, which supports diverse sponge communities. C. Freeman C. Freeman

C. Freeman

Research Activities

Dr. Freeman is studying the differences in 

interactions between sponges and their 

microbes across geographic regions. 

In addition to filtering food from the water, 

sponges (like this one in Myanmar) benefit 

metabolically from microbes.

Sponges in Moorea. Sponges play host to 

diverse microbial communities.
 32 
A. Wood

Education and Outreach

In the service of the Smithsonian’s ongoing mission for both 

the increase and diffusion of knowledge, the Smithsonian 

Marine Station at Fort Pierce supports a robust education 

and outreach program. Central among these efforts is the 

Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit, housed at the 

St. Lucie County Aquarium. In 2014 the Exhibit saw its 

highest attendance since opening, welcoming more than 

33,000 visitors to peruse its live ecosystem displays and 

interpretive exhibitry. Smithsonian staff and researchers 

were also actively engaged in community outreach, offering 

monthly tours of SMS, hosting several large-scale events, 

and attending numerous community festivals.
 34 Smithsonian Marine Station T. Smoyer J. Roulette

Education and Outreach

The St. Lucie County Aquarium got a new look in 2014 - a 

bright blue exterior!

The queen angel is a long-time resident of the Caribbean 

coral reef model ecosystem and the ‘face’ of the Aquarium 

on social media. 

Marine Ecosystems Exhibit

The Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit 

(SMEE) is a different kind of aquarium. The 

live displays are more than just fish tanks, they 

are functioning model ecosystems. Located in 

the St. Lucie County Aquarium, the Exhibit is 

a joint venture of the Smithsonian and St. Lucie 

County. The centerpiece is the 3,300-gallon 

Coral Reef Ecosystem. Initially on display at 

the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural 

History, the reef was moved to Fort Pierce in 

2001 to become the focal point of a new outreach 

facility. Visitors to SMEE can also explore five 

other local habitats of the Indian River Lagoon 

and the Florida coast, interact with horseshoe 

crabs and other invertebrates in a touch tank, and 

investigate preserved marine specimens and play 

hands-on activities in the Aquarium’s classroom.

The dynamic quality of natural 

ecosystems is captured not only in the model 

ecosystem displays, it is also reflected in the 

constant modification and improvement of the 

Exhibit’s interpretive elements. Permanent and 

temporary signage is an important component 

in providing a high quality visitor experience. 

Education staff developed several graphic and 
2013/2014 Biennial Report 35 

C. KrascoC. KrascoJ. Wanek

interpretive elements for the Aquarium galleries 

to complement living displays, highlight 

important ecological concepts, and showcase 

Smithsonian research. A permanent graphic 

element was installed next to the Coral Reef 

Ecosystem to illustrate its history and move from 

the National Museum of Natural History to 

the Aquarium. Education staff also developed 

in-house brochures to accompany each Model 

Ecosystem aquarium. The brochures include 

information tailored to the specific ecosystems 

with sections including “why protect,” “current 

threats,” and “how to preserve.” 

In an effort to disseminate SMS research 

to the public, education staff continued the 

series of “Meet the Smithsonian Scientist” 

posters in the classroom at SMEE, highlighting 

both research and scientific support staff at the 

Marine Station. Educators also collaborated with 

researchers to develop a “Tools of the Trade” 

display to showcase authentic tools that marine 

biologists use in their field work, including 

mixing bowls, turkey basters, syringes and 

PVC pipe. Interactive elements produced by 

staff and interns included content on symbiotic 

relationships, invertebrate anatomy, crustacean 

molting, ocean zones and oyster reef inhabitants. 

In an effort to shed light on the tiny inhabitants 

of marine environments, educators collaborated 

with animal husbandry staff to collect and display 

various live organisms under magnification in 

the classroom at SMEE. Displays included live 

horseshoe crab larvae, plankton collected from 

the Indian River Lagoon, and microorganisms 

collected directly from the Model Ecosystems at 

SMEE.

SMEE set a new record for attendance 

in 2013 with more than 32,700 on-site visitors, 

a nearly 30% increase from the attendance in 

2012. The increasing trend continued in 2014 

with a record of more than 33,400 visitors. 

As attendance continues to increase while 

staffing levels have remained constant, SMEE 

continues to increase and diversify opportunities 

for volunteers at the Exhibit. New volunteer 

opportunities were added including unique 

positions such as Aquarium Handyman, 

Coral Gardener Volunteer, Aquarium Feeding 

Campers test their ROV designs outside the 

Marine Station.

Field activities, like seining in the IRL, are a 

popular option for visiting school groups.

Smithsonian summer campers get an 

internal anatomy lesson while visiting 

another local marine research facility. 
 36 Smithsonian Marine Station

Specialist, and several research-based positions 

to assist scientific staff at SMS. The number of 

SMEE volunteers continues to increase on an 

annual basis, with over 6,200 hours of service 

contributed from 80 volunteers in 2013, and 

over 6,800 hours contributed from 91 volunteers 

in 2014. SMEE honored several long-time 

dedicated volunteers with the Presidential Service 

Award for their outstanding commitment to 

the Aquarium. In 2013, seven volunteers were 

honored with the silver award for contributing 

more than 250 hours of service, and one 

volunteer received the gold award for more than 

500 hours of service. In 2014, eight volunteers 

received the silver award and one volunteer was 

honored with the gold award.

Marine Education at the Exhibit

Approximately one quarter of SMEE’s visitorship 

consists of school-age students that visit SMEE 

for staff-facilitated education programs during 

the academic year as well as throughout the 

summer months. SMEE continues to offer onsite and field-based marine science programming 

that is educational and entertaining for children 

and meets science education standards as set 

forth by the Next Generation Sunshine State 

Standards and Ocean Literacy Principles. 

Activities are available for students in grades 

K-12, with the content varying based on 

appropriate grade bands. SMEE staff established 

several new collaborations with area schools and 

agencies to increase and diversify the participants 

engaged in on-site programming. In 2013, a 

partnership was established with St. Andrews 

Episcopal Academy to offer unique experiences 

for their high school students, who worked with 

SMEE educators and scientific staff to establish 

a new monitoring project on area beaches. 

SMEE also partnered with University of Florida 

Extension Agents throughout 2013 and 2014 to 

offer on-site programs for local 3rd, 4th and 5th 

graders as part of their Lagoon and You program.

In an effort to reach non-school based 

children and families, SMEE created unique 

programming for homeschool audiences. Once 

monthly Homeschool Days were offered in fall 

2013 and featured topics including plankton, 

watersheds, animal adaptations, mangroves 

and water quality. In 2014, education staff 

collaborated with educators at area informal 

education facilities to create a unique 

collaborative program called Homeschool 

Hopper. During each Hopper session, students 

ages 7-12 participated in one program per week 

for a five-week session. Classes were held at a 

different facility each week, offering students the 

opportunity to be exposed to different content 

including terrestrial, freshwater and saltwater 

environments. Participating organizations 

included SMEE, Heathcote Botanical Gardens, 

Savannas Preserve State Park, Oxbow EcoProgram participants at an Aquarium event 

proudly show off their fish prints.

Smithsonian summer campers get a 

firsthand look at what lives underwater.

Coffee bean snails can be found covering 

mangroves...and campers!

Education and Outreach
2013/2014 Biennial Report 37 

Center and the Manatee Observation and 

Education Center.

Education staff continued to offer popular 

fee-based programming for children and families 

at the Aquarium. These programs target our 

traditional audience in new ways, providing a 

more focused and in-depth learning experience 

for those interested in taking advantage of the 

many resources the Smithsonian has to offer. 

Aquarium After Dark is a prime example. This 

popular after-hours program that provides 

a glimpse into the nightlife of the Model 

Ecosystems was offered several times during the 

winter months of 2013 and 2014 with attendance 

at capacity each time. One fee-based program 

that has only grown since its inception is summer 

camp. These popular one-week sessions offer 

children ages 6-14 the opportunity to experience 

hands-on learning about local marine ecosystems 

and research. SMEE staff offered six weeks 

of camp in 2013 and 2014, but an extensive 

waitlist for ages 12-14 prompted staff to add an 

additional week of camp for this age group in 

2014, bringing the total number of sessions to an 

unprecedented seven weeks of summer camp. 

The staff at SMEE recognizes that 

visitor programs, activities and opportunities 

that are included with the price of admission are 

an important facet in providing a high quality 

experience. As such, a number of these activities 

are offered on a regular basis, including two 

daily guided tours of the galleries, a weekly 

Educator Cristin Krasco gives an 

introduction before leading a group into 

the water during the World Ocean Day 

Celebration.

Participants shared their “ocean promises” 

during the 2014 World Ocean Day 

Celebration at SMEE.

U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy 

welcomed a large crowd to the inaugural 

Indian River Lagoon Science Festival.

Behind-the-Scenes tour, and a six-week morning 

lecture series sponsored by the Florida Center for 

Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE 

Florida). The lectures support another important 

mission of SMEE, to disseminate marine science 

research to the public. The COSEE lecture series 

features local marine scientists from area research 

facilities including SMS, the Ocean Research 

and Conservation Association, Florida Atlantic 

University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic 

Institute, Indian River State College and Florida 

Institute of Technology. Lecture attendees enjoy 

hearing from these experts in an intimate setting, 

giving participants the unique opportunity to 

ask questions and interact with scientists on the 

forefront of marine science research.

Large-scale events are mission-driven 

activities that draw significant numbers of guests 

to the Aquarium throughout the year. SMEE 

celebrated World Oceans Day in both 2013 and 

2014 as part of a growing global celebration 

recognizing that together we have the power 

to protect our ocean. The eighth annual World 

Oceans Day was held at SMEE on Saturday, 

June 8, 2013 and the ninth annual celebration 

took place on Saturday, June 7, 2014. In both 

years the family-friendly event was attended by 

about four hundred people. Highlights included 

learning stations, crafts, face-painting, seining 

demonstrations in the Indian River Lagoon, and 

a variety of other activities focused on Earth’s 

indispensable marine resources. On Saturday, 

L. Diederick

Education and Outreach
 38 

Weekly behind-the-scenes tours 

at SMEE provide visitors a chance 

to learn about what it takes to 

maintain model ecosystems, 

including feeding schedules, 

lighting, and filtration systems.

September 27, the inaugural Indian River Lagoon Science Festival brought almost 70 exhibitors and 

thousands of participants to Museum Pointe Park, located directly behind the Smithsonian Marine 

Ecosystems Exhibit. The Festival was the vision of Smithsonian Marine Station Education and Public 

Programs Specialist Laura Diederick and Marine Biology Educator Cristin Krasco. Diederick and 

Krasco had previously organized the Smithsonian’s National Estuaries Day Festival (2011-2013), 

a celebration of the environmental, cultural and economic importance of the IRL. The Science 

Festival was not meant to replace its predecessor, but instead expand upon its success, increasing in 

both size and scope. In late 2013, SMS was awarded $10,000 by the Sloan Foundation, through 

their partnership with the Science Festival Alliance, in support of this expanded vision. The IRL 

Science Festival would serve as a central, collaborative activity around which the extensive Science, 

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) community in the region could rally. Pre- and 

post-Festival events, or satellite events, were held directly in the community, with the intention of 

maximizing the reach of the Festival efforts. Additionally, the events targeted community members of 

all ages, and interest-levels in science. Satellite events included a Science Fair Boot Camp (organized 

for students, by students!) and “The Science of Beer” (organized for adults, by adults!) in St. Lucie 

County; Indian River County events were “Doing Science”, a hands-on exploration for students 

in grades 1-4 and 5-7 and “Connections” a public lecture by John Nelson, President of the Martin 

County Audubon Society; and finally in Martin County, “Ais on the Lagoon”, a morning guided 

paddle that focused on the natural history of the IRL and how the Ais Indians depended on it.

Education and Outreach
History, Dr. Kirk Johnson, shared Crabs, Walrus 

and the Future of Museums, highlighting how 

marine fossils, marine mammals, and museums 

led him to pursue a career of exploration, and 

how that career shaped his views about science, 

discovery and the future of natural history 

museums. Lectures in 2014 were presented 

by Dr. David Pawson, Emeritus Scientist at 

NMNH, Dr. Melanie McField, Director of 

Healthy Reefs for Healthy People, and Dr. 

Seabird McKeon, Marine Ecologist at SMS.

Social media has become an increasingly 

important method for communicating 

information in the modern world to not only our 

local community, but also nationally and even 

internationally. As such, SMS maintains active 

social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, 

YouTube, and Instagram. Both SMS Facebook 

and Twitter accounts were initiated in June of 

2009 and both have nearly five thousand followers 

as of December 2014. Facebook and Twitter are 

used to communicate information about events, 

marine research, relevant news, and interesting 

media featuring the marine world. The SMS 

YouTube channel, boasting well over twenty 

thousand views, focuses on videos of fascinating 

animal behavior at the Ecosystems Exhibit. SMS 

launched an Instagram account in October 2014 

to better connect with teen and young adult users. 

Images and videos featuring marine research and 

biodiversity are shared daily with a virtual audience 

of over two hundred as of December 2014.

SMEE volunteers are crucial to both 

programming and ecosystem upkeep, 

contributing thousands of hours each year.

SMS increased its social media reach by 

joining Instagram in late 2014. 

Smithsonian researchers hosted several 

booths at the inaugural Indian River 

Lagoon Science Festival. 

Taking the Smithsonian to 

the Community

Exhibit and Marine Station staff are regularly 

called upon by community organizations to 

participate in outreach events, classroom visits, 

and public lectures. SMS was represented at 

numerous events throughout the year, including 

the Manatee Center’s NatureFest, St. Lucie 

County School District’s annual Science and 

Engineering Fair, Pelican Island Preserve’s 

Wildlife Festival, the Fort Pierce Downtown 

Farmer’s Market, the Fort Pierce Oyster Festival, 

the Coast Guard Open House, Party in the 

Park at Fort Pierce Inlet State Park, and the St. 

Petersburg Science Festival.

SMS continued the now-annual tradition 

of partnering with the Pelican Yacht Club to 

host a series of Smithsonian Science Lectures in 

2013 and 2014. In January 2013, independent 

filmmaker Alan Tomlinson presented Lights, 

Camera...Science! Filming a Smithsonian 

Channel Documentary, discussing the 

production of the Smithsonian Channel program 

based on SMS research and education. He 

was joined by a panel of Smithsonian scientists 

featured in the documentary, including Bill 

Hoffman and Michael Boyle, who discussed 

their work and answered questions from the 

audience. In March 2013, Sant Director of the 

Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural 

Education and Outreach
 40 Smithsonian Marine Station

IRL Species Inventory

The Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory 

(IRLSI) is an online database (www.sms.si.edu/

irlspec/) documenting the biodiversity of the 

IRL. It is widely utilized by resource managers, 

educational groups, and the general public. 

The initial inventory was compiled in 1994 and 

affirmed claims that the IRL was one of the 

most biologically diverse estuarine systems in the 

United States. More importantly, the inventory 

provided a basis for a better understanding of this 

unique ecosystem and the development of more 

relevant management plans. The Smithsonian 

Marine Station became the repository for the 

inventory in 1997. The Smithsonian’s goal in 

obtaining the inventory was to enhance scientific 

knowledge and promote public awareness of the 

IRL ecosystem. 

Annual expansion of the inventory 

has resulted in a taxonomic listing of over 

3,500 documented species, over 440 species 

narratives, and descriptions of ecologically and 

commercially significant species groups as well 

as IRL’s diverse habitats. Recent additions to 

the website include a species image gallery, a 

searchable and downloadable species database, 

an article detailing the effects of climate change 

relative to the IRL, and enhanced data sharing 

with the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). Currently, 

the entire IRLSI website is being updated 

by transferring content into newly developed 

Bringing the Community to 

the Smithsonian

Monthly tours of the research station were first 

offered several years ago and continue to grow 

more popular each year. Most tours average 

8-10 adults, though children and teenagers 

occasionally attend with their parents or 

grandparents. Each tour begins with a brief 

introduction on the history of SMS and the types 

of research being conducted and then continues 

through the station, making brief stops at three 

to four labs to chat with our researchers about 

their work. In addition to the monthly tours, 

similar programs were offered to community 

groups by special request.

The annual SMS Open House continued 

to be an anticipated community event along 

the Treasure Coast. The primary goal of the 

Open House is to increase awareness within 

the community about the research areas and 

aims of SMS. Activities were available for both 

children and adults, including self-guided tours, 

a touch tank, algae pressing, face painting, 

simulated watershed table, ROV demonstrations, 

and a simulated benthic sampling game. 

Several hundred people took advantage of the 

opportunity in both 2013 and 2014. L. Diederick

C. Krasco

The IRL Species Inventory hosts an online 

gallery for submissions to the annual IRL 

Photo Contest. 

SMS scientist Dr. Steve Box shares his 

research on spiny lobsters with a young 

visitor to the annual SMS Open House. 

NMNH Sant Director Dr. Kirk Johnson and 

his wife tour SMEE with educator Cristin 

Krasco.

Education and Outreach
2013/2014 Biennial Report 41 

templates to improve navigability and encourage more effective visitor usage. The updated version will 

debut in 2015. 

The IRL Species Inventory project is supervised by Research Associate Joseph Dineen and 

managed by former Link Fellow and current FIT graduate student Holly Sweat. SMSFP Director 

Valerie Paul provides project advisement. The project team hopes that the IRL Species Inventory 

will help improve understanding and collaboration between the scientific community and the general 

public, thereby ensuring sustainability of the Indian River Lagoon. 

COSEE Florida

The Florida Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE Florida) is a National Science 

Foundation-funded program that is part of the national COSEE network. The COSEE mission 

is to spark and nurture collaborations among scientists and educators to promote ocean discovery 

and literacy and to enhance the public’s understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of the ocean. 

COSEE Florida is a collaborative partnership between four institutions – Indian River State College, 

Ocean Research & Education Association, Florida Institute of Technology, and the Smithsonian 

Marine Station. The four partner institutions work together to carry out COSEE Florida’s three 

strategic initiatives – engaging ocean scientists in professional development and the dissemination 

of their research, developing an Ocean Sciences Concentration for pre-service educators in the state 

college system, and building a statewide Ocean Sciences Learning Network. The Smithsonian Marine 

Station leads this initiative within the collaboration, though works closely with the other COSEE 

Florida partners. 

The Ocean Science Learning Network is COSEE Florida’s informal education initiative tasked 

with fostering meaningful collaborations between ocean scientists and science centers, aquariums, 

museums, university outreach programs and other informal entities looking to increase and/or enhance 

their marine science-based activities for the public. These collaborations are developed through the 

mutual coordination and implementation of a variety of activities under the umbrella theme, Water 

as Habitat (WaH). COSEE Florida Informal Education Manager Laura Diederick has taken a 

deliberate, regional approach in establishing the network. 

COSEE Florida supported a series of six morning lectures at the Smithsonian’s Marine 

Ecosystems Exhibit in Fort Pierce in January, February and March, inviting only Presentation Boot 

Camp graduates to participate. Less “traditional” public events, such as science cafes and science film L. Diederick A. Luke

C. Tolliver

Education and Outreach

A biocube is placed in a salt marsh and 

used to observe biodiversity during a 

COSEE Florida-sponsored workshop.

SMS researcher Scott Jones delivers 

a presentation as part of the COSEE 

Florida-sponsored “Marine Science in the 

Morning”.

COSEE FL is a sponsor of the University 

of Florida Marine Science Symposium, 

opening the poster session to the public. 
 42 Smithsonian Marine Station

A COSEE Florida-sponsored 

workshop for educators 

introduced the concept of 

exploring biodiversity in one 

cubic foot using ‘biocubes’. The 

workshop was held at Florida 

State University’s Coastal & 

Marine Laboratory in Florida’s 

panhandle. 

L. DIederick

screenings coupled with panel discussions continued to be well-received. Lastly, we broadened our 

approach to outreach even further this year by supporting and/or participating in large-scale events 

organized and hosted by other organizations. In October 2013, we sponsored an evening panel 

discussion at the “unconference” ScienceOnline: Oceans conference in Miami.

In 2014, COSEE Florida hosted 19 activities that directly engaged 99 ocean scientists and 

had approximately 885 audience participants. Post-event evaluations from self-reporting audience 

participants resulted in 87.3% reporting that event topics are relevant to their lives, 96.8% reporting 

that their participation increased their knowledge or understanding of the marine science topic, 96% 

reporting that they would recommend a COSEE Florida event to others, and 96.0% rated the WaH 

events as “Good” (25.4%) or “Excellent” (70.6%).

Education and Outreach
2013/2014 Biennial Report 43 

Administration and Staff

G. Wayne Clough - Secretary, Smithsonian 

Institution

John Kress - Interim Undersecretary for Science, 

Smithsonian Institution

Kirk Johnson - Sant Director, National Museum 

of Natural History

Richard Vari - Interim Associate Director for 

Science, National Museum of Natural History

Valerie J. Paul – Head Scientist, Smithsonian 

Marine Station at Fort Pierce

Mary Rice - Emeritus Senior Research Scientist

Neal Asthana - Marine Technician

Katrina Bayliss, Research Assistant

Stephen Box - Program Coordinator, Spatial 

Ecology of Marine Protected Areas

Laura Diederick - Public Programs Specialist

Joseph Dineen - Research Associate

Zachary Foltz - Station Manager, Carrie Bow 

Cay Field Station

Erin Fryauff - Research Assistant

Sarath Gunasekara - Research Chemist

William Hoffman - Ecosystems Exhibit Manager

L.J. Houk - Research Technician

Dean Janiak - Biologist, Tennenbaum Marine 

Observatories Network

M. Scott Jones - Program Coordinator, 

Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems

Joan L. Kaminski - Administrative Officer

John Paul Kennedy - Biological Science Technician

Cristin Krasco - Marine Biology Educator & 

Volunteer Coordinator 

Mike Lehmann - Biological Science Technician

William D. Lee - Research Technician

C. Seabird McKeon - Research Biologist

Julianne Piraino - Laboratory Manager

Tanya Ramseyer - Marine Technician

Sherry A. Reed - Research Assistant and Dive 

Safety Officer

Hugh F. Reichardt - Station Manager

Lorae Simpson - Biological Science Technician

Jennifer Sneed - Biologist

Michelle Stephens - Research Assistant

Ana Tronholm - Biologist

Jasmine Wanek - Marine Biology Educator
 44 Smithsonian Marine Station

Fellows and Interns

Fabio Filla

Manuela Funes

Christiana Garst

Sarah Harrison

Lynn Hoke

L.J. Houk

Lane Johnston

Karen Pick

Andres Reyes

Jacqueline Rose

Sara Rosewall

Breanna Sipley

Katherine Skura

Janis Spanier

Lindsay Spiers

Miranda Steffler

Link Fellows

Larissa Akiko

Holly Brown

Cheryl Doughty

Cora Ann Johnston

John Paul Kennedy

Thomas Sauvage

George E. Burch Fellow in Theoretic 

Medicine and Affiliated Theoretic Science 

Max Teplitski 

Post-doctoral Fellows

Michael Boyle

Justin Campbell

Iliana Chollett

Courtney E. Cox

Niclas Engene

Christopher Freeman

Eva Galimany

Jessica Lunt

C. Seabird McKeon

Shay O’Farrell

Iris Segura-Garcia

Alexander Tilley

Nathan Truelove

Pre-doctoral Fellow

Juliana Lopez

Interns

Katrina Bayliss

Amy Calderon
2013/2014 Biennial Report 45 

Station Visitors

The Smithsonian Marine Station serves as a field station of the National Museum of Natural History, 

drawing scientists and students from within the Smithsonian, as well as collaborating institutions 

around the world. The charts below reflect the make-up of visitors to SMS during 2013 and 2014. 

Total number of Visitor Days: 2946

Total number of individual visitors: 228

Number of represented institutions outside the Smithsonian: 77
 46 Smithsonian Marine Station

Scientific Publications

Abed, M. M. Raeid, Sergey Dobretsov, Marwan 

Al-Fori, Sarath P. Gunasekera, Kumar Sudesh and 

Valerie J. Paul. 2013. Quorum-sensing inhibitory 

compounds from extremophilic microorganisms 

isolated from a hypersaline cyanobacterial mat. 

Journal of Industrial Microbiology Biotechnology, 

40: 759-772.

Anderson, Joshua R., Angelo J. Spadaro, Antonio 

Baeza and Donald C. Behringer. 2013. Changes in 

resource allocation and allometric growth of defensive 

and reproductive structures through ontogeny in the 

Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus. Biological 

Journal of the Linnean Society, 108: 87-98.

Atherton, Sarah. 2014. Urodasys poculostylis sp. nov., 

a new stylet-bearing gastrotrich (Macrodasyida) from 

Capron Shoal, Florida. Marine Biology Research, 

10(5): 530-536.

Atherton, Sarah and Rick Hochberg. 2014. The 

evolution of the reproductive system of Urodasys

(Gastrotricha: Macrodasyida). Invertebrate Biology, 

133(4):314-323.

Baeza, J. Antonio. 2013. Molecular phylogeny of 

broken-back shrimps (genus Lysmata and allies): 

A test of the ‘Tomlinson-Ghiselin’ hypothesis 

explaining the evolution of hermaphroditism, 

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 69: 46-62.

Baeza, J. Antonio, Raymond T. Bauer, Junji 

Okuno, and Martin Thiel. 2014. Molecular 

phylogeny of hinge-beak shrimps (Decapoda: 

Caridea: Rhynchocinetes and Cinetorhyncus) and allies: 

a formal test of familiar and generic monophyly using 

a multilocus phylogeny. Zoological Journal of the 

Linnean Society, 172(2):426-450.

Baeza, J. Antonio, Donald C. Behringer, Rebecca 

J. Hart, Michael D. Dickson and Joshua R. 

Anderson. 2014. Reproductive biology of the marine 

ornamental shrimp Lysmata boggessi in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Journal of the Marine 

Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 94(1): 

141-149.

Baeza, J. Antonio and M. Soledad Fuentes. 

2013. Exploring phylogenetic informativeness and 

nuclear copies of mitochondrial DNA (numts) 

in three commonly used mitochondrial genes: 

mitochondrial phylogeny of peppermint, cleaner, 

and semi-terrestrial shrimps (Caridea: Lysmata, 

Exhippolysmata, and Merguia). Zoological Journal of 

the Linnean Society, 168: 699-722.

Baeza, J. Antonio and M. Soledad Fuentes. 2013. 

Phylogeography of the shrimp Palaemon floridanus

(Crustacea: Caridea: Palaeomonidae): a partial test 

of meta-population genetic structure in the wider 

Caribbean. Marine Ecology, 34(4): 381-393. 

Baeza, J. Antonio, Michele Furlan, Ariádine C. 

Almeida, Samara de Paiva Barros-Alves, Douglas 

F.R. Alves, and Vivian Fransozo. 2013. Population 

dynamics and reproductive traits of the ornamental 

crab Porcellana sayana: implications for fishery 

management and aquaculture. Sexuality and Early 

Development of Aquatic Organisms, 1: 1-12.

Bertini, Giovana and J. Antonio Baeza. 2014. 

Fecundity and fertility in a freshwater population of 

the neotropical amphidromous shrimp Macrobrachium 

acanthurus from the southeastern Atlantic. 

Invertebrate Reproduction and Development, 58(3): 

207-217.
2013/2014 Biennial Report 47 

Bertini, Giovana, J. Antonio Baeza and Eduardo 

Perez. 2013. A test of large-scale reproductive 

migration in females of the amphidromous shrimp 

Macrobrachium acanthurus (Caridea: Palaemonidae) from 

south-eastern Brazil. Marine and Freshwater Research, 

64: 1-13.

Boyle, Michael and Mary E. Rice. 2014. Sipuncula: an 

emerging model of spiralian development and evolution. 

International Journal of Developmental Biology, 58: 

485-499.

Boyle, Michael, Emi Yamaguchi, and Elaine C. 

Seaver. 2014. Molecular conservation of Metazoan gut 

formation: Evidence from expression of endomesoderm 

genes in Capitella teleta (Annelida). EvoDevo, 5(39): 19.

Bucher, Katina E., David L. Ballantine, Chad 

Lozada-Troche, and James N. Norris. 2014. Wrangelia 

gordoniae, a new species of Rhodophyta (Ceramiales, 

Wrangeliaceae) from the Tropical Western Atlantic. 

Botanica Marina, 57(4): 16pp.

Bracken-Grissom, H. D., P. Cabezas Cannon, R. 

M. Feldman, C. E. Schweitzer, S. T. Ahyong, D. 

L. Felder, R. Lemaitre and K. A. Crandall. 2013. 

A comprehensive and integrative reconstruction 

of evolutionary history for Anomura (Crustacea: 

Decapoda). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 1-37.

Bracken-Grissom, H.D. and D.L. Felder. 2014. 

Provisional revisions of the American snapping shrimp 

allied to Alpheus floridanus Kingsley, 1878(Crustacea: 

Decapoda: Alpheidae) with notes on A. floridanus 

africanus. Zootaxa, 3895 (4):451-491.

Bracken-Grissom, H.D., R. Robles, and D.L. 

Felder. 2014. Molecular phylogenetics of American 

snapping shrimp allied to Alpheus floridanus Kingsley, 

1878 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae). Zootaxa, 

3895(4):492-502.

Campbell, Justin E., Jonathan D. Craft, Nancy 

Muehllehner, Chris Langdon, and Valerie J. Paul. 

2014. Responses of calcifying algae (Halimeda spp.) to 

ocean acidification: implications for herbivores. Marine 

Ecology Progress Series, 514:43-56.

Chollett, Iliana, Steven W. J. Canty, Stephen J. Box, 

and Peter J. Mumby. 2014. Adapting to the impacts 

of global change on an artisanal coral reef fisheries. 

Ecological Economics, 102: 118-125.

Chollett, Iliana., George Stoyle, Stephen J. Box. 

2013. Honduran Miskito Cays: Among the last 

unexplored reef systems in the Caribbean. Coral Reefs, 

33: 155.

Collin, Rachel and Matthew J. Starr. 2013. 

Comparative ontogenetic changes in enzyme activity 

during embryonic development of marine gastropods. 

Biological Bulletin, 225: 8-17.

Craft, Jonathan D., Valerie J. Paul, and Erik E. 

Sotka. 2013. Biogeographic and phylogenetic effects on 

feeding resistance of generalist herbivores toward plant 

chemical defense. Ecology, 94(1): 18-24.

DeBose, J. L. and Valerie J. Paul. 2014. Chemical 

signatures of multi-species foraging aggregations are 

attractive to fish. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 

498:243-248.

Engene, Niclas, Sarath P. Gunasekera, William 

H. Gerwick, and Valerie J. Paul. 2013. Phylogenetic 

inferences reveal large extent of novel biodiversity in 

chemically rich tropical marine cyanobacteria. Applied 

and Environmental Microbiology, 79(6): 1882-1888.

Scientific Publications
 48 Smithsonian Marine Station

Scientific Publications

Engene, Niclas, Valerie J. Paul, Tara Byrum, 

William H. Gerwick, Andrea Thor, and Mark 

H. Ellisman. 2013. Five chemically rich species of 

tropical marine cyanobacteria of the genus Okeania

gen. nov. (Oscillatoriales, Cyanoprokaryota). Journal of 

Phycology, 49: 1095-1106.

Feller, Ilka C., Anne H. Chamberlain, Cyril Piou, 

Samantha Chapman, and Catherine E. Lovelock. 

2013. Latitudinal patterns of herbivory in mangrove 

forests: Consequences of nutrient over-enrichments. 

Ecosystems, 16(7): 1203-1215.

Frable, Benjamin W., Carol C. Baldwin, Brendan M. 

Luther, Lee A. Weigt. 2013. A new species of western 

Atlantic lizardfish (Teleostei: Synodontidae: Synodus) 

and resurrection of Synodus bondi Fowler, 1939, as a 

valid species from the Caribbean with redescriptions of 

S. bondi, S. foetens (Linnaeus, 1766) and S. intermedius

(Agassiz 1829). Fishery Bulletin, 111: 122-146.

Freeman, Christopher, Cole Easson, and David 

Baker. 2014. Metabolic diversity and niche structure 

in sponges from the Miskito Cays, Honduras. PeerJ 

2:e695; DOI 10.7717/peerj.695.

Gomez, Carlos E., Valerie J. Paul, Raphael RitsonWilliams, Nancy Muehllehner, Chris Langdon, 

and Juan A. Sanchez. 2014. Responses of the tropical 

gorgonian coral Eunicea fusca to ocean acidification 

conditions. Coral Reefs, DOI 10.1007/s00338-014-

1241-3.

Herranz, Maria, Michael J. Boyle, Fernando 

Pardos and Ricardo C. Neves. 2013. Comparative 

myoanatomy of Echinoderes (Kinorhhyncha): a 

comprehensive investigation by CLSM and 3D 

reconstruction. Frontiers in Zoology, 11:31.

Herranz, María and Fernando Pardos. 2013. 

Fissuroderes sorenseni sp. nov. and Meristoderes boylei sp. 

nov.: First Atlantic recording of two rare kinorhynch 

genera, with new identification keys. Zoologischer 

Anzeiger, 253(2): 93-111.

Herranz, María, Fernando Pardos, and Michael 

Boyle. 2013. Comparative morphology of 

serotonergic-like immunoreactive elements in the 

central nervous systems of kinorhynchs (Kinorhyncha, 

Cyclorhagida). Journal of Morphology, 274: 258-274.

Herranz, María, Nuria Sánchez, Fernando Pardos, 

and Robert P. Higgins. 2014. New kinorhyncha from 

Florida coastal waters. Helgoland Marine Research, 

68:59-87.

Hochberg, Rick, Sarah Atherton, and Vladimir 

Gross. 2013. A new species of sublittoral marine 

gastrotrich, Lepidodasys ligni sp. n. (Macrodasyida, 

Lepidodasyidae), from the Atlantic coast of Florida. 

Zookeys 289:1-12.

Hurt, Carla, Steven H. D. Haddock, and William 

E. Browne. 2013. Molecular phylogenetic evidence 

for the reorganization of the Hyperiid amphipods, 

a diverse group of pelagic crustaceans. Molecular 

Phylogenetic and Evolution, 67:28-37.

Kerr, K. A., A. Cornejo, F. Guichard, and R. 

Collins. 2014. Planktonic predation risk varies with 

prey life history stage and diurnal phase. Marine 

Ecology Progress Series, 503: 99-109.

Krediet, Cory J., Julie L. Meyer, Nicholas 

Gimbrone, Roy Yanong, Ilze Berzins, Ali Alagely, 

Herman Castro, Kim B. Ritchie, Valerie J. Paul, and 

Max Teplitski. 2014. Interactions between the tropical 

sea anemone Aiptasia pallida and Serratia marcescens, 
2013/2014 Biennial Report 49 

Scientific Publications

an opportunistic pathogen of corals. Environmental 

Microbiology Reports,6(3): 287-292.

Krediet, Cory J., Kim B. Ritchie, Valerie J. Paul, 

and Max Teplitski. 2013. Coral-associated microorganisms and their roles in promoting coral health 

and thwarting diseases. Proceedings of the Royal 

Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1755):20122328

Kwan, Jason C., Yanxia Liu, Ranjala Ratnayake, 

Ryo Hatano, Akiko Kuribara, Chiko Morimoto, 

Kei Ohnuma, Valerie J. Paul, Tao Ye, and Hendrik 

Luesch. 2014. Grassypeptolides as natural inhibitors 

of Dipeptidyl Peptidase 8 and T-cell activation. 

ChemBioChem, 15:799-804.

Laanbroek, Hendrikus J., Rosalinde M. Keijzer, 

Jos T.A. Verhoeven and Dennis F. Whigham. 2013. 

Changes in community composition of ammoniaoxidizing betaproteobacteria from stands of Black 

mangrove (Avicennia germinans) in response to 

ammonia enrichment and more oxic conditions. 

Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 4: Article 343: 1-9.

Meyer, Julie L., Valerie J. Paul and Max Teplitski. 

2014. Community shifts in the surface microbiomes 

of the coral Porites astreoides with unusual lesions. PloS 

ONE, 9(6):e100316.

Montaser, Rana, Valerie J. Paul, and Hendrik 

Luesch. 2013. Modular strategies for structure 

and function employed by marine Cyanobacteria: 

Characterization and synthesis of Pitinoic Acids. 

Organic Letters, 15(16): 4050-4053.

Morrow, Kathleen M., Mark R. Liles, Valerie 

J. Paul, Anthony G. Moss, and Nanette E. 

Chadwick. 2013. Bacterial shifts associated with 

coral-macroalgal competition in the Caribbean Sea. 

Marine Ecology Progress Series, 488: 103-117.

Ocampo, Emiliano H., Mirta L. Menone, 

Fernando G. Iturburu, Jesús D. Nuñez, and J. 

Antonio Baeza. 2014. Effect of the endosymbiotic 

pea crab Calyptraeotheres garthi on the metabolic 

rate and oxidative status of the slipper limpet 

Crepidula eachimilla from the southwestern Atlantic. 

Invertebrate Biology, 133(2): 170-179.

Olsen, Kevin, Rapheal Ritson-Williams, Judith 

D. Ochrietor, Valerie J. Paul and Cliff Ross. 2013. 

Detecting hyperthermal stress in larvae of the 

hermatypic coral Porites astreoides: the suitability of 

using biomarkers of oxidative stress versus heat shock 

protein transcriptional expression. Marine Biology, 

160: 2609-2618.

Olsen, Kevin, Raphael Ritson-Williams, Valerie 

J. Paul, and Cliff Ross. 2014. Combined effects of 

macroalgal presence at elevated temperature on the 

early life-history stages of a common Carribean coral. 

Marine Ecology Progress Series, 509: 181-191.

Pawlik, Joseph R., Charles D. Amsler, Raphael 

Ritson-Williams, James B. McClintock, Bill J. 

Baker, and Valerie J. Paul. 2013. Marine Chemical 

Ecology: A Science Born of Scuba. In M. A. Lang, 

R. L. Marinelli, S. J. Roberts, and P. R. Taylor 

(Eds.), Research and Discoveries: The Revolution of 

Science through Scuba, (pp 53-69). Washington, DC: 

Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.

Puglisi, Melany P., Jennifer M. Sneed, Koty H. 

Sharp, Raphael Ritson-Williams and Valerie J. 

Paul. 2014. Marine chemical ecology in benthic 

environments. Natural Product Reports, 31(11):1510-

1553.
 50 Smithsonian Marine Station

Ratnayake, Ranjala, Yanxia Liu, Valerie J. Paul, and 

Hendrik Luesch. 2013. Cultivated sea lettuce is a 

multiorgan protector from oxidative and inflammatory 

stress by enhancing the endogenous antioxidant defense 

system. Cancer Prevention Research, 6(9): 989-999.

Rawlinson, Kate A. 2014. The diversity, 

development and evolution of polyclad flatworm 

larvae. EvoDevo, 5:9.

Riley, Megan. 2014. Fitness-associated consequences 

of an omnivorous diet for the mangrove tree crab 

Aratus pisonii. Aquatic Biology, 20; 38-43. 

Riley, M.E., Cora A. Johnston, Ilka C. Feller, and 

Blaine D. Griffen. 2014. Range expansion of Aratus 

pisonii (mangrove tree crab) into novel salt marsh 

habitats. Southeastern Naturalist, 13(4):N43-N48.

Ritson-Williams, Rapheal, Suzanne N. Arnold, 

Valerie J. Paul and Robert S. Steneck. 2014. Larval 

settlement preferences of Acropora palmata and 

Montastraea faveolata in response to diverse red algae. 

Coral Reefs, 33:59-66.

Ross, Cliff. 2014. Nitric oxide and heat shock protein 

90 co-regulate temperature-induced bleaching in the 

soft coral Eunicea fusca. Coral Reefs, 33: 513-522.

Ross, Cliff, Rapheal Ritson-Williams, Kevin Olsen 

and Valerie J. Paul. 2013. Short-term and latent postsettlement effects associated with elevated temperature 

and oxidative stress on larvae from the coral Porites 

astreoides. Coral Reefs, 32: 71-79.

Salvador, Lilibeth A., Kanchan Taori, Jason S. Biggs, 

Jean Jakoncic, David A. Ostrov, Valerie J. Paul, and 

Hendrik Luesch. 2013. Potent elastase inhibitors 

from cyanobacteria: Structural basis and mechanism 

mediating cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects 

in bronchial epithelial cells. Journal of Medicinal 

Chemistry, 56: 1276-1290.

Sauvage, Thomas, Michael J. Wynne, Valerie J. 

Paul, and Suzanne Fredericq. 2014. Morphological 

and molecular clarification of the enigmatic Caulerpa 

floridana W.R. Taylor (Chlorophyta, Bryopsidales) 

from the Dry Tortugas, Florida. European Journal of 

Phycology, 49:3, 370-383.

Simpson, Loraé T., Ilka C. Feller, Samantha K. 

Chapman. 2013. Effects of competition and nutrient 

enrichment on Avicennia germinans in the salt marshmangrove ecotone. Aquatic Botany, 104: 55-59.

Sneed, Jennifer M., Koty Sharp, Kim B. Ritchie, 

and Valerie J. Paul. 2014. The chemical cue 

tetrabromopyrrole from a biofilm bacterium induces 

settlement of multiple Caribbean corals. Proceedings 

of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 

281(1786):20133086.

Soares, Angelica, Niclas Engene, Sarath 

Gunasekera, Jennifer Sneed, and Valerie 

Paul. 2014. Carriebowlinol, an antimicrobial 

tetrahydroquinolinol from an assemblage of marine 

cyanobacteria containing a novel taxon. Journal of 

Natural Products, 78(3):534-538

Sterrenburg, Frithjof A., Myriam de Haan, Wulf 

E. Herwig & Paul Hargraves. 2014. Typification 

and taxonomy of Gyrosigma tenuissimum (W.Sm.) 

J.W. Griffith & Henfr., comparison with Gyrosigma 

coelophilum N. Okamoto & Nagumo and description of 

two new taxa: Gyrosigma tenuissimum var. gundulae var. 

nov. and Gyrosigma baculum sp. nov. (Pleurosigmataceae, 

Bacillariophyta). Phytotaxa, 172(2): 071-080. 

Scientific Publications
2013/2014 Biennial Report 51 

Scientific Publications

Thoma, Brent P., Daniele Guinot and Darryl L. 

Felder. 2014. Evolutionary relationships among 

American mud crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: 

Brachyura: Xanthoidae) inferred from nuclear and 

mitochondrial markers, with comments on adult 

morphology. Zoological Journal of the Linnean 

Society, 170: 86-109. 

Verhoeven, Jos T. A., Hendrikus J. Laanbroek, 

Mark C. Rains, and Dennis F. Whigham. 2014. 

Effects of increased summer flooding on nitrogen 

dynamics in impounded mangroves. Journal of 

Environmental Management, 139: 217-226.

Vieira, Leandro M, Alvaro E. Migotto, and 

Judith E. Winston. Ctenostomatous Bryozoa from 

São Paulo, Brazil, with descriptions of twelve new 

species. Zootaxa, 4:485-524. 

Vieira, Leandro M., Mary E. Spencer Jones and 

Judith E. Winston. 2013. Cradoscrupocellaria, a 

new bryozoan genus for Scrupocellaria bertholletii

(Audouin) and related species (Cheilostomata, 

Candidae): taxonomy, biodiversity and distribution. 

Zootaxa 3707(1): 001-063.

Vieira, Leandro M., Mary E. Spencer Jones, Judith 

E. Winston, Alvaro E. Migotto, and Antonio 

C. Marques. 2014. Evidence for polyphyly in the 

genus Scrupocellaria (Bryozoa: Candidae) based on 

a phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters. 

PLOS ONE, 9(4): e95296.

Wang, Rui, Valerie J. Paul, Hendrik Luesch. 

2013. Seaweed extracts and unsaturated fatty acid 

constituents from the green alga Ulva lactuca as 

activators of the cytoprotective Nrf2-ARE pathway. 

Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 57: 141-153.

Windsor, Amanda M. and Darryl L. Felder. 2014. 

Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic reanalysis 

of the family Mithracidae MacLeay (Decapoda: 

Brachyura: Majoidea). Invertebrate Systematics, 

28(2): 145-173.

Winston, Judith E. and Leandro M. Vieira. 2013. 

Systematics of interstitial encrusting bryozoans from 

southeastern Brazil. Zootaxa, 3710 (2): 101-146.

Winston, Judith E., Leandro M. Vieira, and 

Robert Woollacott. 2014. Scientific results of the 

Hassler Expedition, Bryozoa. No. 2, Brazil. Bulletin 

of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 161(5):139-

239.

Yotsu-Yamashita, Mari, Yuka Abe, Yuta Kudo, 

Raphael Ritson-Williams, Valerie J. Paul, Keiichi 

Konoki, Yuko Cho, Masaatsu Adachi, Takuya 

Imazu, Toshio Nishikawa and Minoru Isobe. 2013. 

First identification of 5,11-Dideoxytetrodotoxin 

in marine animals, and characterization of major 

fragment ions of tetrodotoxin and its analogs by high 

resolution ESI-MS/MS. Marine Drugs, 11: 2799-

2813.

Young, Craig M., Roland H. Emson, Mary E. 

Rice, and Paul A. Taylor. 2013. A paradoxical 

mismatch of fecundity and recruitment in deepsea opportunists: Cocculinid and pseudococculinid 

limpets colonizing vascular plant remains on the 

Bahamiun Slope. Deep-Sea Research II, 92: 36-45.
 52 Smithsonian Marine Station

Charles & Janet Alford 

Robert & Frances Bangert 

Thomas Beddow 

Hugh & Carolyn Benninger

David & Ursula Blackburn 

William & Clare Bohnett 

Robert & Kathleen Braun

Jack & Sally Chapman 

Judith Collins 

Anne Covert 

Ashton & Margo DePeyster 

Eugene Detmer 

Norman Fashek & Tara MacTaggart 

Thomas Fritz 

Paul Hargraves 

William Jaeckle 

Richard G. Jennings

Mark & Linda Kaiser 

Kenny & Debbie Langley 

Marilyn Link

Alma Lee Loy 

Whitney & Elizabeth MacMillan

John & Marilyn McConnell 

Eleanor Sexton 

Sumner Gerard Foundation 

Randy & Mimi Swaringen 

Renke & Pamela Thye 

Peter & Jeanne Tyson

Lace Vitunac 

Margaret Wisniewski 

Camille Yates 

Joel & Amy Zwemer

2013 and 2014 Friends of SMS

The Friends of the Smithsonian Marine 

Station is the sponsor organization devoted 

to promoting and supporting the research and 

education efforts of SMS. Annual membership provides financial support for student and 

postdoctoral researchers, large-scale outreach 

events like the Annual Open House and National Estuaries Day, programs and displays at the 

Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit, and a 

number of other mission-driven initiatives. Special events provide participants opportunities to 

interact with scientific and education staff while 

learning about current research. All donations 

to the Friends of the Smithsonian Marine Station are tax-deductible. For more information 

about becoming a Friend, visit our website at 

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