Product Citations and Abstracts

This paper is the initial report of a program to develop biological control of the Southern Oyster Drill, Thais haemastoma, cause of considerable economic loss in some areas on the Gulf of Mexico. Information on the life cycle, known hosts, reported localities, synonymy, and morphological descriptions of developmental stages of the digenetic trematode Parorchis acanthus has been compiled from various sources. The pathology of Parorchis infection in T. haemastoma is briefly described and figured. Preliminary data indicate that incidence of natural infection of P. acanthus in T. haemastoma is about 2% in Northwest Florida, 3.4% in Mississippi and less than 1% in Texas. All natural infections were massive, parasite larvae constituting 70 to 90% of the liver. Parorchis infections experimentally induced in herring gulls (Larus argentatus), in ring-billed gulls (L. delawarensis), and in oyster drills are reported. Sexually mature Parorchis adults were first recovered from the cloacas of four out of four gulls 30 days after feeding each gull approximately 200 encysted metacercariae suspended in sea water. In oyster drills continuously exposed to droppings of Parorchis-infected gulls, the first infection was found on the 21st day of exposure and on the 33d day of exposure, four of 33 examined were infected. The elapsed time and the recovery of only first generation rediae indicate that these were true experimental infections. Possible use of P. acanthus as a biological control agent for T. haemastoma is discussed.

Cooley, Nelson R. 1962. Studies on Parorchis acanthus (Trematoda: Digenea) as a Biological Control for the Southern Oyster Drill, Thais haemastoma. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Fish. Bull. 62(201):76-91. (ERL,GB 028).

Events in the attack on the southern oyster drill, Thais haemastoma, by miracidia of the digenetic trematode, Parorchis acanthus, are described. Infection rates in wild drill populations of various Gulf Coast localities from Florida to Texas were low, but intensity of infection in individual drills was high and caused castration. Infection rates in laboratory experiments were high, but intensities were low. Pathology of natural infections in drills is described. The infection lasts at least two years, possibly even for life. Natural infection rates of juvenile herring gulls (Larus argentatus), ring-billed gulls (L. delawarensis) and juvenile laughing gulls (L. atricilla) are reported. Juvenile herring and ring-billed gulls were readily infected experimentally with P. acanthus, juvenile laughing gulls were less susceptible, and nestling least terns (Sterna albifrons) appeared to be resistant. Intensity of infection was generally low. P. acanthus offers little hope of being useful as a biological control of the drill, Thais, because of difficulties in spreading the parasite or assuring a significant rise in wild drill infection rates.

Cooley, Nelson R. 1978. Inventory of the Estuarine Fauna in the Vicinity of Pensacola, Florida. Florida Department of Natural Resources, Marine Research Laboratory, St. Petersburg, FL. 119 p. (ERL,GB 102).

This faunal inventory of the Pensacola Estuary, Florida, records 654 species of benthic and pelagic animals collected systematically from 1961 through 1963 and casually in other years. Sampling dates were correlated with approximate mid-points of spring rise and autumnal decline as well as annual extremes of water temperature. Biological sampling was coordinated with seasonal studies of hourly variation in salinity and water temperature during single maximum amplitude tidal cycles recorded simultaneously at six stations along the salinity gradient. Data for each species include salinity of sampling station, habitat, season in which collected, and relative abundance. Predominant species were mollusks (184), annelids (91, chiefly polychaetes), arthropods (91, chiefly decapod crustaceans), and bony fishes (180). Spawning of a turbellarian, seven mollusks and 25 crustaceans, and breeding of horseshoe crabs are reported; limited data do not define duration of spawning or breeding seasons. Season, duration and intensity of setting of larvae of oysters, barnacles, bryozoans and serpulid worms in Santa Rosa Sound during 1962-63 and in Little Sabine Bay during 1960-63 are also reported.

Cooley, Nelson R. 1970. Effects of Pesticides Studied at Florida Fisheries Center. Pollut. Abstr. 1(2):16-20. (ERL,GB 107).

Investigation of the effects of pesticides on animals important to the commercial fisheries and their food organisms is the primary mission of the Pesticide Field Station, Gulf Breeze, Florida. Located about six miles southeast of Pensacola, this Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (BCF) Center for Estuarine and Menhaden Research conducts practically all of the BCF pesticide investigations at this station. Only studies affecting salmon are carried on elsewhere.

Cooley, Nelson R., James M. Keltner, Jr. and Jerrold Forester. 1972. Mirex and Aroclor 1254: Effect on and Accumulation by Tetrahymena pyriformis Strain W. J. Protozool. 19(4):636-638. (ERL,GB 137).

Effects of 2 toxicants, Mirex and Aroclor® 1254, on Tetrahymena pyriformis strain W in axenic cultures were investigated. Mirex is a chlorinated hydrocarbon effective against the fire ant, and Aroclor® 1254 is a compound structurally related to DDT and used extensively in various industrial processes. Both toxicants reduced growth rates and population densities of T. pyriformis grown at 26°C generally in proportion to concentrations of the chemicals, their effects becoming statistically significant (P <0.05) at 0.9 µg/liter for Mirex and 1.0 and 10.0 µg/liter for Aroclor® 1254. Ciliates exposed to the toxicants for 7 days concentrated Mirex 193 X and Aroclor 60 X as compared to the initial concentrations of these compounds. It is suggested that the chief effect of the 2 toxicants on populations of T. pyriformis and of similarly responding ciliates in nature would be to reduce the availability of these protozoa as food organisms and nutrient regenerators. The ability of the ciliates to concentrate the tested compounds would permit the toxicants to enter into and to be translocated through aquatic food chains. In this manner the compounds could exert toxic effects at higher trophic levels.

Cooley, Nelson R., James M. Keltner, Jr. and Jerrold Forester. 1973. Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Aroclors 1248 and 1260: Effect on and Accumulation by Tetrahymena pyriformis. J. Protozool. 20(3):443-445. (ERL,GB 158).

Effects of 2 polychlorinated biphenyls, Aroclor® 1248 and 1260, on axenic Tetrahymena pyriformis strain W were investigated and compared with published data on Aroclor® 1254. Aroclors 1248 and 1260 at 1 mg/liter in the presence of 0.1% (v/v) polyethylene glycol 200 reduced significantly (P <0.005) growth rates and 96-hr populations of T. pyriformis grown at 26°C. Both toxicants were approximately 0.001 as toxic as Aroclor® 1254. Ciliates were exposed for 7 days to concentrated Aroclors 1248 40X, 1254 60X, and 1260 79X over initial concentrations in the media. Accumulation of Aroclors increased with increased chlorination. It is suggested that if levels in the environment reached those used in these studies, the chief ecologic effect of Aroclor® 1254 would be reduction of availability of the ciliates as food and as nutrient regenerators, but with Aroclors 1248 and 1260, this effect would be secondary to accumulation of the toxicants by the ciliates. Accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls by ciliates would permit the toxicants to enter aquatic food chains. Thus the compounds could exert toxic effects at higher trophic levels.

Cooley, Nelson R. 1974. Occurrence of Snook on the North Shore of the Gulf of Mexico. Fla. Sci. 37(2):98-99. (ERL,GB 192).

The known range of snook is extended about 100 miles westward to Santa Rosa Sound.

Cooley, Nelson R. and James M. Keltner, Jr. 1970. Effects of Pesticides on Estuarine Ciliates. In: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Circ. 335. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Washington, DC. Pp. 16-18. (ERL,GB X001).

Protozoa, with algae and bacteria, form the broad basis of all aquatic food webs. In Alligator Harbor, Franklin County, Fla., there are more ciliate protozoans than metazoans per unit volume of intertidal surface sand of a marine beach. In Scandinavian waters, ciliates are 10 to 100 times more numerous in fine sand and in localities with a rich growth of sulfur-bacteria than the total number of metazoans (nematodes, turbellarians, gastrotrichs, and others) found there. Free-living ciliates feed on bacteria, diatoms, algae and minute protozoans, either singly or in various combinations, and are in turn eaten by other protozoans and small metazoans. Although ciliates make up only a small fraction of the biomass in the oceans, their nutrient turnover rate is so great that they may be more important in this role than some macroplankton. As predators of bacteria, ciliates have an important role in regeneration of nutrients in aquatic ecosystems. Bacteria assimilate the nutrients in the large amounts of organic detritus that occur in estuaries, thus making them available to bacteria-feeders. Ciliates feed on the bacteria and excrete large quantities of dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus compounds which are utilized as nutrients by other bacteria, thereby aiding bacterial decomposition or organic detritus. Increasing evidence shows that pesticides are entering estuaries via runoff from farm lands, salt marshes sprayed to control mosquitoes, and beaches sprayed to control stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans). Some of these pesticides are highly toxic to such estuarine animals as shrimps, crabs, oysters, and fishes. Also, certain food organisms are affected. The abundance of ciliates in aquatic ecosystems and their importance as nutrient regenerators and as food for other organisms are such that any significant increase or decrease in their population density should be reflected at other trophic levels. For these reasons, we began investigation of how selected pesticides affect local estuarine ciliates. The goals of the study are to learn: 1. If and at what concentrations these pesticides are toxic to ciliates; 2. If ciliates develop resistance to these pesticides; 3. If ciliates concentrate and store the pesticides, thereby aiding in their translocation through the estuarine food web; 4. How toxic effects of pesticides are produced and which metabolic processes are affected

Cooley, Nelson R. 1970. Estuarine Faunal Inventory. In: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Circ 335. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Washington, DC. Pp. 12-16. (ERL,GB X438).

This study is the first attempt to make a systematic inventory of the fauna of the estuarine waters near the station at Gulf Breeze. A manuscript that describes this inventory was completed during the past year. The study area, designated 'Pensacola Estuary' for convenience, is located in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties in extreme northwestern Florida. It is a normal (positive) estuary, i.e., one in which evaporation is less than precipitation and runoff. Five bays (Pensacola, Escambia, East, Blackwater and Little Sabine) and Santa Rosa Sound form the major part of the estuary. Charted depths in Blackwater, Escambia, and Little Sabine Bays range up to 4.6 m.; most of Pensacola Bay is 6.1 to 9.1 m. deep and increases to about 18.3 m. near its mouth. This investigation has (1) provided a checklist of 712 identified species that occur in high-, intermediate-, and low-salinity areas of the Pensacola Estuary, (2) identified the predominant animal groups found there, (3) supplied previously unavailable data on the seasonal occurrence, habitat and salinity preferences, and relative abundance of specific species, and (4) recorded simultaneously at six stations in high-, intermediate-, and low-salinity areas in the estuary the hourly changes in salinity and water temperature that occur during a single maximum amplitude tidal cycle. This information provides baselines from which to measure future ecological changes in the Pensacola Estuary.

Cooley, Nelson R. 1965. Estuarine Productivity. In: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Circ 247. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Washington, DC.. Pp. 11-12. (ERL,GB X450).

This project has established hydrographic and biological baselines for the Pensacola Estuary from which we can measure the effects of future environmental changes due to man's activities including pesticide pollution. Hydrographic baselines include monthly changes in salinity, water temperature, pH, and visibility index, and seasonal trends in salinity land water temperature at stations in areas of high, intermediate, and low salinity in the estuary. Biological baselines include studies on primary productivity in high-, intermediate-, and low-salinity areas of the estuary, and a faunal and floral inventory of the estuary.

Cooley, Nelson R. 1965. Primary Productivity. In: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Circ 247. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Washington, DC.. Pp. 12. (ERL,GB X451).

The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory at Gulf Breeze, Fla., was established in 1938 to investigate the estuarine factors affecting the commercial production of oysters. The program was broadened in 1958 to include other estuarine animals having importance to commercial fisheries and to study especially the effects of pesticides on these animals and their food supply.

Cooley, Nelson R. 1965. Faunal Inventory. In: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Circ. 247. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Washington, DC.. Pp. 12-13. (ERL,GB X452).

This study is a first attempt to conduct a systematic inventory of the Pensacola Estuary, to establish a checklist of species occurring there, and to assemble information on their seasonal occurrence, abundance, and habitats. Standard seasonal samples of pelagic and bottom species were collected at stations in areas of low, intermediate, and high salinity in the estuary. Sampling devices used were: a 16-ft. otter trawl; an Ekman dredge for use on deep water mud bottoms; a 0.1-m2. frame with scoop for use on shallow-water sand bottoms; and sand-filled wooden protected-habitat boxes with hardware-cloth covers, placed on the bottom near stations with a sandy bottom, for collection of rare species not usually found because of predation. We took these samples during the same period that seasonal water samples were collected so that the changes in the population densities could be correlated with seasonal trends in salinity and water temperature. A checklist of fauna in the Pensacola Estuary has been compiled from specimens collected during this study and in earlier years. The list includes 603 species in 327+ genera and 249+ families. Chief animals in the estuary are polychaete annelid worms, gastropod and pelecypod mollusks, crustaceans, and fishes. The numbers and kinds of animals are much greater at the high-salinity end of the estuary than elsewhere. Greater numbers and kinds of animals, especially fishes, appeared in spring and summer than in fall and winter.