Publications

A large number of remotely operated vehicle surveys have been conducted in the Gulf of Mexico deep sea since 2008, including telepresence cruises that broadcast live seafloor images to shore. Visual observations from these surveys were collated and geo-referenced in a regional database with national museum records in order to: (1) map the distribution of L. glaberrima throughout the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, (2) predict the distribution of L. glaberrima based upon environmental correlates using maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling, and (3) correlate the size-class structure to the age-class structure using growth rate estimates from previous radiocarbon studies.

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From 2010 to 2014, underwater camera surveys in the Aleutian Islands were completed with the objective of evaluating potential effects of substrate type, tidal currents, depth, and fishing pressure on distribution, abundance, diversity, and size of structure-forming invertebrate communities. The presence of rocky substrates was associated with higher probability of presence, higher density, and taller structure-forming invertebrates.

natural products; marine sponge; sesterterpenoid; steroid; colorectal cancer; Wnt; β-catenin; Alaska

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is known to play critical roles in a wide range of cellular processes: cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and embryonic development. Importantly, dysregulation of this pathway is tightly associated with pathogenesis in most human cancers. Therefore, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway has emerged as a promising target in anticancer drug screening programs. In the present study, we have isolated three previously unreported metabolites from an undescribed sponge, a species of Monanchora (Order Poecilosclerida, Family Crambidae), closely related to the northeastern Pacific species Monanchora pulchra, collected from deep waters off the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

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An unusual new species of plexaurid octocoral, Alaskagorgia splendicitrina, is described from a specimen collected in the far west Aleutian Island Archipelago, Alaska, USA.

Primnoa pacifica is a cold-water coral prevalent throughout Alaskan waters, while another species in the genus, Primnoa resedaeformis, is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean. This study examined the V4-V5 region of the 16S rRNA gene after amplifying and pyrosequencing bacterial DNA from samples of these species.

ancestral state reconstruction; character evolution; classification; Hexactinellida; integrative systematics; phylogeny; Porifera; total evidence

Glass sponges (Class Hexactinellida) are important components of deep-sea ecosystems and are of interest from geological and materials science perspectives. However, inconsistencies remain that have far-reaching implications for hypotheses about the evolution of their major skeletal construction types (body plans). Here, we increase the taxon sampling of four previously established molecular markers (18S, 28S, and 16S ribosomal DNA, as well as cytochrome oxidase subunit I) by 12 genera, for the first time including representatives of the order Aulocalycoida and the type genus of Dactylocalycidae, taxa that are key to understanding hexactinellid body plan evolution.

A new species of Crypthelia, C. kelleyi, is described from a seamount in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, making it the fifth species of stylasterid known from the Hawaiian Islands. Collected at 2,116 m, it is the fourth-deepest stylasterid species known.

The relationships between tectonic processes, magmatism, and hydrothermal venting along ∼600 km of the slow-spreading Mariana back-arc between 12.7°N and 18.3°N reveal a number of similarities and differences compared to slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges. Analysis of the volcanic geomorphology and structure highlights the complexity of the back-arc spreading center. Here, ridge segmentation is controlled by large-scale basement structures that appear to predate back-arc rifting.

Coelenterata; Antipathidae; Aphanipathidae; deep-sea coral; mesophotic coral ecosystem; Myriopathidae

The black coral fauna of Bermudan waters is poorly known, in large part due to the logistical challenges of surveying deep-water (>50 m) environments where most species occur. In 2016, the Nekton Expedition sought to survey the deep-water biodiversity around Bermuda using manned submersibles and mixed-gas technical SCUBA. A total of 28 black coral specimens were collected, and these were examined based on skeletal spine morphology, polyp morphology, colony branching pattern and in situ photographs. 

Colonies of the holaxonian Calcigorgia spiculifera were tagged beginning in 1999 at three sites in Chatham Strait, Southeast Alaska, using scuba and their growth measured annually for up to 5 years. Colonies were video recorded, and computer image analysis tools provided calibration of video images for measuring the length of several branches.