Two DEEPENDERS Exploring Ocean Sciences Meeting
Dr. Heather Judkins and her grad student, Claire de Noyo, both presented new DEEPEND research at the 2024 Ocean Sciences Meeting in February in New Orleans! Heather shared results from her ongoing cephalopod diet metabarcoding study which helps piece together the complex deep-sea food web of the Gulf of Mexico. Of the 63 individuals analyzed, fishes accounted for the majority of prey items.
Claire is a Conservation Biology master's student at USF St. Petersburg and presented the preliminary findings of her thesis research- also on deep-sea trophic ecology! Claire conducted a stomach content analysis on the Hammerjaw (Omosudis lowii) using 574 preserved DEEPEND specimens, making this project the largest Hammerjaw diet study to date. Findings confirm that Gulf of Mexico Hammerjaws prey primarily on cephalopods. They both found that the conference was interesting and learned so much about other ocean science topics!
DEEPEND Researchers and Students Attend GoMCON
Recently, members of the DEEPEND|RESTORE Consortium traveled to the Gulf of Mexico Conference, GoMCON, in Tampa, Florida and had a great experience. GoMCON is a bi-annual conference that brings together scientists, students, stakeholders, industry leaders, and so much more to network and present on research being conducted in the Gulf of Mexico. Nova Southeastern Graduate students from Dr. Sutton’s Oceanic Ecology Laboratory, Hannah Johnson, Katie Lim, and Travis Kirk, students from Dr. Rosanna Milligan’s DEEPSCAPE Laboratory, Sidney Trimble and Ian Areford, as well as Florida International University Postdoc Dr. Pedo Peres were able to be in attendance for this year’s conference. Liberty Juno, a student in Dr. Jon Moore’s Deep Sea Ichthyology lab, attended the conference alongside the NSU students.
Both Dr. Tracey Sutton and Dr. Rosanna Milligan gave oral presentations on their research during the conference. Students Sidney Trimble and Ian Areford presented their poster on Length Weight Relationships of Mesopelagic fish in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Student Liberty Juno presented a poster on the “Occurrence, Neuroanatomy, and Morphometrics of Slickhead Leptochilichthys in the Gulf of Mexico.” Students Travis Kirk, Katie Lim, Ian Areford, and Dr. Pedro Peres gave presentations during the pelagic portion of the conference. Katie’s presentation entitled “The Trophic Ecology and Vertical Distribution of the Deep-Pelagic Fish Scombrolabrax heterolepis (Scombriformes: Scombrolabracidae), an ‘Advanced’ Fish in a World of ‘Primitive’ Fishes” looked at the diet of an evolutionarily advanced fish species compared to other deep-sea predators; Travis’ presentation entitled, “Trophic Ecology of Black Swallowers,” examined the diet of a previously understudied genus of fishes finding this fish to be a super predator of the deep sea; and Ian’s presentation entitled Mesopelagic Fish Biomass Patterns in Comparison to Major Oceanographic Features looked at the spatial distribution patterns of various stomiids fishes in relation to different features of the Gulf of Mexico such as, the Mississippi river plume and the loop current. Finally, Dr. Pedro Peres presented on the changes in genomic diversity of three abundant deep-pelagic fish species in the Gulf of Mexico over 10 years. All our members did a fantastic job with their presentations, and we are so proud of all their hard work!
The graduate students were able to spend three days immersing themselves in new and exciting research presentations, innovations in the field, and more. The conference was a wonderful opportunity for our students to also investigate various fields of employment within the Gulf of Mexico and allowed the opportunity to network with companies and non-profits, both in the private and public sector, and with industry leaders. Students were able to learn different tools in order to look at environmental science as it integrates with policy and management to better plan for restoration and ecosystem resilience. Tools such as, changes to mapping the coastal and offshore systems to data management, broadened our graduate students’ minds to how all the various scientists, stakeholders, and policy makers work together to make informed changes. Overall, this year’s Gulf of Mexico Conference was a wonderful experience! Our graduate students and principal investigators had a great time exploring the wonderful city of Tampa, even visiting the aquarium there, while enjoying all the conference had to offer. We look forward to the next GoMCON in 2026!
Paper from DEEPEND PI Sutton chosen as one of the most-significant publications in the 70-year history of Deep-Sea Research
The journal Deep-Sea Research was first published in October 1953, directed by the Joint Commission on Oceanography to focus on the deep-sea floor as the main theme. The scope of the journal, considered one of the most prestigious in oceanography, has since grown to encompass the entire open ocean from the air-sea interface to beneath the sea floor. Of over 10,000 papers published, 70 were selected as the most significant in the 70-year history of the journal. A paper entitled A global biogeographic classification of the mesopelagic zone (Sutton et al., 2017), which included DEEPEND data, was chosen by the journal as one of the 70. This paper, which characterizes the regional scales over which the ocean interior varies in terms of biodiversity and function, has been actively cited by the scientific, resource management, marine policy, marine conservation, and marine education sectors.
*T.T. Sutton, M.R. Clark, D.C. Dunn, P.N. Halpin, A.D. Rogers, J. Guinotte, S.J. Bograd, M.V. Angel, J.A.A. Perez, K. Wishner, R.L. Haedrich, D.J. Lindsay, J.C. Drazen, A. Vereshchaka, U. Piatkowski, T. Morato, K. Błachowiak-Samołyk, B.H. Robison, K.M. Gjerde, A. Pierrot-Bults, P. Bernal, G. Reygondeau, and M. Heino (2017). A global biogeographic classification of the mesopelagic zone. Deep-Sea Research Part I Oceanographic Research Papers, 126, pp. 85-102, 10.1016/j.dsr.2017.05.006
Ocean Twilight Zone symposium
Some of the DEEPEND team members attended the Ocean Twilight Zone symposium at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution this week. Tracey Sutton, Heather Judkins, Zan Milligan, and Matt Woodstock presented their work over the three-day biological portion of the symposium. Tracey and Heather focused their talks on fish and cephalopods both of which included examining ways to examine biomass and its' importance related to carbon transfer through the deep ocean and were part of a panel discussion on the topic. Matt presented his work on food web modeling of the mesopelagic zone. Zan highlighted her work on mesopelagic fishes and their vertical distribution patterns. Overall, the team had a great time working and learning with their deep-sea colleagues at the event!
Another Successful DEEPEND/RESTORE cruise in the books
We completed our DP09 cruise successfully, returning to port on May 12th. The weather and gear cooperated, allowing us to get our full complement of stations and tows completed! This was the last cruise of our current RESTORE award, so now our focus goes to processing our data, analyzing our findings and producing products that can be used by a wide variety of resource managers around the country.
We couldn’t have been successful without our entire team- both out at sea and back on land. A huge thank you to the crew of the R/V Point Sur for their continued efforts to provide a safe and productive ship for us to work on!
If you’re interested in what we focused on during the cruise, please visit our blog which is located under the “Products” tab and then under the “Outreach” tab.
Front row: Tracey Sutton; Second row, left to right: Natalie Howard, Haley Glasmann, Hannah Johnson, Heather Bracken-Grissom, and Danté Fenolio; Third row, left to right: Mike Vecchione, Stormie Collins, Pedro Peres, Jeff Martin, Lisa Rosemann, Kevin Boswell, Jon Moore, Tamara Frank, and Heather Judkins.
Next research cruise DP09 departs on May 2nd
Our DEEPEND team is preparing for our next research cruise, which will set sail from Gulfport, MS on May 2, and last 11 days. We will continue to sample the deep-pelagic offshore fauna as part of our time-series since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, while also collecting oceanographic data, acoustic data, and water samples. During this cruise, we should encounter a well-defined cyclonic eddy (or “ring”) at our offshore stations, which will allow us to study an important driver of pelagic community structure. Tissues from various deep-pelagic taxa will be collected to measure environmental contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are found in crude oil. Our genetics team will be collecting water samples from the deep scattering layer to run environmental DNA analyses to see how it compares to our net catches. We will also collect deep-living fishes from different taxonomic groups to sequence and assemble their whole genomes at high resolution, chromosomal-level. The goal is to understand the interesting evolutionary adaptations that allow these species to live in extreme conditions of cold, high pressure and darkness in the deep sea. While at sea, the team will be keeping an eye out for seabirds, turtles, and mammals. After the cruise is over, we will package our findings into information that can be used by Gulf resource managers and stakeholders. Our ship tracker will be up and running and we will be blogging throughout the cruise, so come back to visit the website often these next couple weeks!
A Puzzle with Missing Pieces: Marine Mammals in the Gulf
Marine mammals are still being impacted by Deepwater Horizon as well as other threats. Scientists and managers are working to conserve them.
Read the full story here
Podcast - THE PELAGIC DEEP SEA WITH TRACEY SUTTON
From Armatus Oceanic
We have a confession to make. We talk a big game about how we are busting myths, tackling deep-sea tropes and showing the deep ocean as it really is… but we have been guilty of one of the big ones. The deep sea is not just the bottom! Most of the deep sea, in fact, most of the habitat of this planet is the huge open 3D environment of open water or ‘pelagic’ water. In this staggering volume the planets largest migration takes place twice a day. Animals are locked in an evolutionary arms race, using their own light to deceive and trick. Finding a meal is rare, finding a mate is rare and life is without boundaries. These factors have led to some truly wild evolution.
We also tackle a couple of listener questions: Whatever happened to the word ‘nictoepipelagic’ which seems to have vanished from scientific writing? We also discuss parasites in the deep sea, how can they find a specific host when the animals are so spread out? We hear from Don about hunting for the 'deep scattering layer' (DSL) before we even knew what it was and find out where Larkin has been from her new vessel on the Gulf of Mexico.
In recent news we cover Edith Widder and her new book Below the Edge of Darkness, underwater GPS through the power of a pong, following the yellow brick road to meet the deep-sea wizard and some lovely new footage of a highfin dragonfish.
We also find ourselves talking about how the deep sea is portrayed in children’s books and learn that apparently zesty citrus and floral smells are associated with the deep ocean… who knew?!
Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or you own tales from the high seas on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note. We are also on Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO Facebook: ArmatusOceanic Instagram: @deepsea_podcast, @armatusoceanic
