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REEF Director of Science, Dr. Christy Pattengill-Semmens, and Grouper Moon Scientists, Dr. Brice Semmens (NOAA) and Dr. Scott Heppell (Oregon State University), participated in the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) meeting earlier this month in the Dominican Republic. This annual meeting brings together scientists, fishermen, resource agency managers, and marine conservation organizations to present and discuss current topics and emerging findings on coral reef resources of the tropical western Atlantic waters.
In response to requests from the scientific community, we are adding a new species to monitor on REEF surveys in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) - Diadema antillarum, the Long-Spined Sea Urchin. In the early 1980s, a large die-off of Diadema occurred throughout the TWA. This has had a significant and long-lasting impact on coral reefs in the region because Diadema is (was) one of the primary grazers on Caribbean coral reefs (keeping rocks clear for baby corals to establish and keeping algae from overgrowing established corals).
Introducing our April Fish of the Month, the Chalk Bass (Serranus torturgarum)!
Survey Regions: The Chalk Bass is found in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) survey region. Click here to see the REEF database report for this species.
Size: They grow to about 3-4 inches.
Cozumel: The Next 13 Fish
Not just Cozumel - This session will cover more of the most commonly seen fish in the Tropical Western Atlantic region and will show you how to ID them. It is not necessary to have attended the first session of this series, "Cozumel's Dirty Dozen" - so come anyway and join in the fun!
Instructor: Jonathan Lavan, REEF Instructor and fish geek
Although the courses are free, you must register for each session you'd like to attend.
For more than 20 years, REEF has been conserving marine ecosystems through education, service, and research. It’s an exciting time for REEF as we work hard to extend the reach of our innovative marine conservation programs. One way REEF is doing this is by inviting diverse leaders to the Board of Trustees to help guide the foundation, including these three new members:
REEF Fishinars are fun, live, interactive webinars, open to anyone who wants to learn about ocean life. At the beginning of May, we presented a beginner's course covering 60 most commonly seen fish species in the Tropical Western Atlantic (the survey region including Florida, the Caribbean and the Bahamas). Each session of this four-part series was recorded, so if you missed them or want to watch them again, you can view them any time online.
Please join REEF for another fun FISHY HOUR with a game of Fishardy - a fish Jeopardy-style game. This version will be for fish found in our Tropical Western Atlantic region!
It's back to school time, and our August Fish of the Month is the Schoolmaster, Lutjanus apodus!
Survey Regions: Schoolmasters are common throughout REEF's Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) survey region, and can also be found as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Brazil. Click here to see a distribution report for this species in the TWA region.
Earlier this week, on March 3rd, 2009, the number of REEF surveys conducted by volunteers in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) region (incl. the US East Coast, Caribbean, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico) topped 100,000! The REEF Volunteer Survey Project database as a whole (including all regions) reached this benchmark in October 2006. The 100k surveys have been conducted by 8,582 volunteers at 6,203 sites in the TWA region.
We proudly announce our Volunteer of the Year for 2012, Jonathan Lavan. Jonathan joined REEF in 2004 and since then, he has logged 324 REEF fish surveys and become a member of REEF's Advanced Assessment Teams for both the Tropical Western Atlantic and Pacific Coast survey regions. He has submitted surveys in five of REEF's six regions. Jonathan's involvement with REEF has been instrumental in spreading the word about REEF and its programs.