Meeting Abstract

111.1  Sunday, Jan. 6  Naturally occurring ranges in water quality affect early development in the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla: implications for distribution of invasive algae FUNG, JK*; FUKUNAGA, A; THOMAS, FIM; University of Hawaii, Manoa; University of Hawaii, Manoa; University of Hawaii, Manoa fithomas@hawaii.edu

Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii has undergone rapid increases in invasive algal species. Along with this increase in algae has been the loss of a major algal grazer within the bay, the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla. Numerous environmental factors could be driving the loss of T. gratilla across the bay that may act on different life history stages; however, little is known about these driving factors. Here we explore how naturally occurring differences in water across the bay influence T. gratilla fertilization. Results indicate using waters from some regions of the bay result in fertilization success that is 60% of that obtained using clean filtered seawater and water obtained in the open ocean. The data have shown that offshore onshore gradients exist in fertilization success. Fertilization in this species is sensitive to many environmental pollutants that are associated with terrestrial runoff, thus water quality may play a major role in the reproductive potential in these important grazers, which may cascade through the system resulting in increased algal cover and decreased coral reef health.