Doug Weaver
The journal Copeia published a new paper by Doug Weaver, a TAMU-CC doctoral student, in the January issue. Doug is a Ruth Campbell Fellow working in the laboratory of HRI Research Associate Dr. Ian MacDonald on the community ecology and habitat association of coral reef fishes. The paper was co-authored by Dr. Luiz Rocha of the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Marine Biology.

The paper describes a new species of wrasse, commonly known as the Mardi Gras wrasse, documented from the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. The scientific name, Halichoeres burekae, was given to honor Joyce and Frank Burek, underwater photographers who first documented the species in the sanctuary. Subsequent to its discovery, this species is also known from the coral reef communities off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, and has also been reported from Seven and One Half Fathom Reef located offshore of Padre Island.

Recent fish surveys conducted on Veracruz coral reefs indicate it is one of the top five most abundant fishes, while it exhibits episodic recruitment to the FGBNMS. After the initial discovery and collection of a holotype and paratype in 2002, this species was absent from the sanctuary until 2006, when over a thousand individuals were observed at Stetson Bank.

The Mardi Gras wrasse (Halichoeres burekae) described from the western Gulf of Mexico. Male (A) and Female (B). Click to enlarge.

The mardi gras wrasse is unique among western Atlantic wrasses in that it is one of only three plankton-feeders (out of twelve members of the genus), and is closely related to the widespread rainbow wrasse, found throughout the Caribbean and Florida Keys, and Halichoeres socialis, a small species known only from mangrove islands of Belize. Unlike its close relatives, the male Mardi Gras wrasse has well-developed tusks believed to be used in courtship and territorial defense.

Weaver, D. C. and L. A. Rocha. 2007. A New Species of Halichoeres (Teleostei: Labridae) from the Western Gulf of Mexico. Copeia 2007(4): 798-807.

Peter Etnoyer
The Bulletin of Marine Science published a new paper by HRI doctoral fellow Peter Etnoyer in November. It was one of eighteen articles selected for the primary volume of the Proceedings of the Third International Deep-sea Coral Symposium. Peter is a PhD student in Dr. Thomas Shirley’s Biodiversity and Conservation Laboratory. Oceana’s Jon Warrenchuk is co-author. Jon is a former master’s student from Tom’s lab in Alaska.

The new paper is the first to document a deep catshark nursery in-situ. Prior to this, only a few isolated occurrences of catshark egg cases existed on deep-corals. Catsharks are a speciose group of small benthic sharks. Six species occur in the Gulf of Mexico. They are popular in marine aquaria because of their size.

Peter first identified deep-corals as nursery habitat while studying museum archives. He never expected to retrieve his own specimens from 1,800 feet below. “This is a good example of something you don’t plan to find when you go exploring in the deep sea.”

The paper is important because it provides a direct connection between deep corals and fish. Peter continues to study the relationship because he believes catsharks have few alternatives for attachment substrate in the deep-sea. He will present new findings on the phenomenon at the Texas Academy of Science meeting in March.

Etnoyer, P. and J. Warrenchuk. 2007. A catshark nursery in a deep gorgonian field in the Mississippi Canyon, Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science. 81(3): 553-559.