CORAL GENETICS RESEARCH

Principle Investigator:

Peter Etnoyer
Graduate Research Associate
Harte Research Institute at
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, TX
peter.etnoyer@tamucc.edu

Collaborators:

FGBNMS: G.P. Schmahl, Emma Hickerson, Doug Weaver
TAMUCC: Dr. Thomas Shirley (Principal Advisor), Dr. Wes Tunnell (Committee Member), Dr. Ian MacDonald (Committee Member)
Smithonsonian NMNH: Dr. Stephen Cairns (Committee Member)

Background:

Peter Etnoyer has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Duke University. His thesis research examined the relationship between coral reefs and surface currents at study sites in the Philippines and the Caribbean for the purposes of marine protected area (MPA) network design. These experiences were later applied in the Baja to Bering region of the North Pacific, where he came to appreciate deep water scleractinia and octocorallia found on seamounts and continental shelves.

Peter came to work with the FGBNMS on the 2003 Gulf of Mexico Deep Habitats expedition. G.P. Schmahl of FGBNMS later accompanied him as a sponge expert on the 2004 Gulf of Alaska Seamount expedition. Together, they collected 13 new species of sponges and octocorals.

Research Focus:

Deep Gorgonian Fields of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

Research Summary:

Peter's project examines the taxonomy and distribution of deep gorgonian species in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary for the purposes of modeling their distribution throughout the greater Gulf of Mexico. Numerous voucher specimens have been collected and preserved, and he is using these specimens to generate scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the small calcareous sclerites found within preserved tissues. These sclerites are diagnostic to the species level. The plates are coupled with in-situ images of living colonies and referenced in a database of over 100 ROV surveys so that he may map their distribution on the banks in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The GIS will help us to formulate testable hypotheses about environmental factors driving their distribution.

Peter has learned that gorgonians are diverse (~20 spp.) and conspicuous in deep water, but absent from shallow water. This zonation may result from biotic factors like competitive exclusion, or abiotic factors like stratification, currents, and temperature.