Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) is one of the key adapter molecules in Toll-like receptor signal transduction that triggers downstream cascades involved in innate immunity. In the present study, a TRAF6 (named as Et-TRAF6) was identified from the marine fish grouper, Epinephelus tauvina by RACE PCR. The full-length cDNA of Et-TRAF6 comprised 1949 bp with a 1713 bp ope...

Project Overview Designing effective marine reserves for fisheries management requires an understanding of the movement rates and ranges of key fishery species and how these species use habitats within and outside reserve areas. In this project, the Perry Institute for Marine Science mapped marine habitats, and examined the habitat use and movement of key Caribbean fishery species, particularly...

The use of Casemix system as providers’ reimbursement method under social health insurance schemes has spread beyond high-income countries. Over the last decade many low and middle-income countries (LMIC) have started to implement Casemix system to replace the conventional yet inefficient fee-for-service as provider payment mechanism. UNU-IIGH launched an international grouper called UNU-CBG in...

The shelf-edge Oculina coral reef ecosystem, known only from off the central east coast of Florida, is unique among coral reefs and exists nowhere else on earth. The azooxanthellate (i.e., lack symbiotic algae) branching coral typically produces 1 – 2 meter diameter coral heads which often coalesce into thicket-like habitats with exceedingly high biodiversity, similar to that of tropical coral ...

Understanding animal space use patterns is critical for ecological research and conservation efforts. An organism’s home range territory serves as the fundamental unit of area repeatedly used routine activities. Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus , once high commercial fishery importance, are now on IUCN’s Red List designated Critically Endangered due to overexploitation. Known formation larg...

Abstract Assessing individuals’ abundance, residency (presence at a site within certain period) and fidelity (tendency to return the same in subsequent seasons or years) is crucial for evaluating improving effectiveness of spatial conservation/management measures regarding ecologically socio-economically valuable species. Using underwater visual census (UVC) photo-identification (photo-ID) tech...