Goby Breeding Research—Free Access Sponsored by MASNA

MASNA’s Q1 2017 Open Access Memorial Fund Article now freely available to the public.

via Marine Aquarium Societies of North America (MASNA)

MASNA is proud to announce that the Quarter 1, 2017 publication funded by the Dr. Junda Lin Memorial Fund for Publishing Open Access Marine Aquarium Research is now freely available to the public as an open-access article.

Our Q1 recipient is Dr. John Majoris, of the Department of Biology and Marine Program at Boston University. Dr. Majoris is an alum of The Florida Institute of Technology, and is the primary author of the paper which was published in Aquaculture entitled “Reproduction, early development, and larval rearing strategies for two sponge-dwelling neon gobies, Elacatinus lori and E. colini.”

Dr. Majoris shares the following with MASNA:

“Over the past decade, a major goal of the aquaculture industry has been to reduce collection pressure on wild populations by developing techniques for culturing coral reef fishes. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a rearing protocol for two recently described species of sponge-dwelling neon gobies that are endemic to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef: Elacatinus lori and Elacatinus colini.

“We began by describing the reproductive behavior and early development of both species. We then evaluated the effects of different densities and combinations of live prey on the survival and growth of cultured larvae. Surprisingly, we found that a diet of rotifers alone resulted in higher survival than a more standard combination of rotifers and brine shrimp. Larvae that were fed wild plankton also had significantly higher survival and growth than those fed a combination of rotifers and brine shrimp.”

Click Images for Larger View

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  Recording data on Elacatinus lori reproduction in the yellow tube sponge Aplysina fistularis. So that he can avoid bumping corals while searching for neon gobies, Dr. Majoris spends the majority of his dives working upside-down.

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  The research team from Boston University, lead by Principle Investigator Dr. Peter Buston (left), surveys yellow tube sponges for breeding pairs of E. lori.

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  A breeding pair of E. lori within a yellow tube sponge Aplysina fistularis. The larger male (mid-ground) protects a clutch of eggs at the base of the tube sponge (background) while also courting an arriving female (foreground).

 

“Though these species are rare in the aquarium trade, E. lori and E. colini have become the focus of research investigating the influence of swimming and orientation behaviors on larval dispersal, i.e. the distance that larvae travel away from their home reef. Understanding the influence of behavior on larval dispersal will allow us to determine how coral reefs are linked through the exchange of larvae, and ultimately may lead to the development of better approaches to conserving reef fish populations.”

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  The larval rearing lab constructed by Dr. Majoris and his colleagues at the International Zoological Expeditions field station on South Water Caye, Belize. The small replicate rearing bins that were used in this study can be seen on the front left.

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  Breeding pairs of Elacatinus lori collected from the reef are being acclimated to aquaria in the lab.

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  E. lori embryos 6 days after fertilization. The silver-gold color of their eyes indicates that they are almost ready to hatch.

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  An E. lori larva just after hatching. Their small yolk sac lasts only 12-24 hours, making it critical to provide neon goby larvae with food immediately upon hatching.

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  Recently settled E. lori. In this study, larvae began settling 28 days post-hatch, and settlement continued through day 58. Their adult coloration develops rapidly after settlement.

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  At settlement, E. lori have a well developed sensory system, including the eyes, nose, and ears. These senses may also help pre-settlement larvae find their way back to the reef after developing in the upper water column.

 

“I am honored to receive support from the Dr. Junda Lin Memorial Fund for Publishing Open Access Marine Aquarium Research. During my undergraduate studies at Florida Institute of Technology, Dr. Lin played a central role in encouraging my research interests in aquaculture and ecology. No matter how busy he was, Dr. Lin’s office door was always open for students to stop in and discuss their courses and research ideas. He also welcomed students into his lab so that they could gain hands-on research experience, demonstrating his commitment to student mentorship.

“In his classes, Dr. Lin emphasized that understanding ecology and behavior was a critical component of developing aquaculture techniques for new species. At that time, few people were willing to share the methods they used to successfully culture marine ornamental species. Despite this competitive climate, Dr. Lin demonstrated that a willingness to collaborate and share information often resulted in rapid progress and discovery. I deeply regret that we have lost such a positive leader in our field, and will continue to promote his legacy of mentorship and collaboration throughout my career. In this spirit, I’m honored to have the opportunity to publish my research open access.”

The article can be found for free here:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2017.10.024

 

Congratulations to Dr. Majoris and his co-authors. MASNA would like to thank the donors that have contributed to our memorial fund thus far. MASNA welcomes donations from any organization or individual who shares the belief that advancements in science should be freely available to the general public. For more information and to donate to the fund, please click here: http://masna.org/masna-programs/memorial-publishing-fund/

About the Fund

In 2017, MASNA introduced the Dr. Junda Lin Memorial Fund for Publishing Open Access Marine Aquarium Research with the goal of offsetting the cost to students of publishing research as open access articles in order to promote the spread of scientific ideas to not only scientists, but to anyone who is interested in the research, by making it freely available.

Dr. Junda Lin was a Professor of Biological Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology and the Director of the Institute for Marine Research (IMR). Dr. Lin’s Lab focused on the development of aquaculture technology for marine ornamental species to offset and replace wild collection. Dr. Lin’s lab studied the basic biological processes of several shellfish and fish species, evaluated their aquaculture potential, and developed cultivation technology.

Rather than in the traditional scientific publishing scheme, where the reader of the scientific article incurs a cost to access the article, with open access articles, the article is available to the world, and the author is charged a fee when the article is accepted by the publisher.

Therefore, the Dr. Junda Lin Memorial Fund for Publishing Open Access Marine Aquarium Research is a fund sponsored by individuals, aquarium clubs, businesses, and universities that provides students with a financial offset to the costs of publishing a scientific article as an open-access article. More information and the donation link can be found here: http://masna.org/masna-programs/memorial-publishing-fund/