As coral reefs change in their composition, the dynamics of organisms that depend on them will likely also be affected. Traditionally, marine ecologists have recognized that settlement of fishes (and invertebrates) is tremendously variable in space and time, and changes in coral communities might therefore be expected to operate through effects on settlement. However, recent work demonstrates t...

To identify temporal and spatial patterns in the supply of late-stage fish larvae to the coral reefs of the upper Florida Keys, 3 replicate light traps that collect larvae in the process of settling were deployed at each of 2 reefs from May 2002 to February 2004. Traps were deployed every other night from May through October and twice monthly from November through April to examine cross-shelf (...

There is a growing realization that the scale and degree of population connectivity are crucial to the dynamics and persistence of spatially structured populations. For marine organisms with complex life cycles, experiences during larval life may influence phenotypic traits, performance, and the probability of postsettlement survival. For a Caribbean reef fish (Thalassoma bifasciatum) on an oce...

Pyrethroids are commonly used insecticides that are considered to pose little risk to human health. However, there is an increasing concern that children are more susceptible to the adverse effects of pesticides. We used the zebrafish model to test the hypothesis that developmental exposure to low doses of the pyrethroid deltamethrin results in persistent alterations in dopaminergic gene expres...

Correlated genetic responses have been hypothesized as important components of fishery-induced evolution, although predictive data from wild populations have been difficult to obtain. Here, we demonstrate substantial genetic correlations between a trait often subjected to fishery selection (adult body length) and traits that affect survival of larvae (length and swimming performance) in a wild ...

Betanodavirus is one of the two genera making up the family Nodaviridae and is the etiological agent of viral nervous necrosis (VNN, also known as viral encephalopathy and retinopathy or VER). The virus infects a large range of host species in more than 50 species of marine and freshwater fish worldwide from different geographical areas and the known host range continues to expand as new specie...