Pathogenic Leptospira, the causative agents of leptospirosis, are mainly associated with tropical freshwaters, but little is known about their fate in the environment. This study analyzed the distribution of pathogenic Leptospira genomes in 22 tropical coastal streams using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Statistical analyses were conducted to understand pathogenic Leptospira ass...

Balaenoptera acutorostrata (minke whale) is a small and elusive baleen whale that is rarely sighted in the tropical waters of the North Pacific Ocean. During winter and spring, complex sounds called ”boings” are frequently detected around the Hawaiian Islands and other Pacific island regions (Norris et al. 2009 ; Thompson and Friedl 1982 ) . Although boings were described over 45 years ago (Wen...

Ocean acidification (OA) is expected to reduce the calcification rates of marine organisms, yet we have little understanding of how OA will manifest within dynamic, real-world systems. Natural CO(2), alkalinity, and salinity gradients can significantly alter local carbonate chemistry, and thereby create a range of susceptibility for different ecosystems to OA. As such, there is a need to charac...

Natural nitrogen isotopic composition (δ(15)N) of suspended particulate organic matter (POM) and nitrogen fixation rates via (15)N(2) assay were measured in surface waters along 120° E from 30° N to 30° S in the Asian marginal seas (the East/South China Seas and the Sulu/Celebes/Java Seas) and the northeastern Indian Ocean in November-December 2005 and March 2006. The POM δ(15)N values ranged f...

The present paper examines ways in which the seasonal cycle influences the evolution of El Niño in the tropical Pacific. The following hypotheses and associated physical mechanisms are investigated: (i) Hypothesis 1 (H1)—the seasonal warming of the cold tongue early in the calendar year (January–April) favors the initial growth of an event; (ii) hypothesis 2 (H2)—during an event, the warm surfa...

Siphonophores are one of the least known gelatinous zooplankters in the tropical waters of the Northwestern Atlantic. Most of the regional knowledge about their diversity and distribution is based on surface samples (0–200 m). Siphonophores were collected from oceanic waters off the Mexican Caribbean across an expanded sampling range (0–940 m) during two cruises and were taxonomically examined....

Beggiatoaceae, giant sulphur-oxidizing bacteria, are well known to occur in cold and temperate waters, as well as hydrothermal vents, where they form dense mats on the floor. However, they have never been described in tropical marine mangroves. Here, we describe two new species of benthic Beggiatoaceae colonizing a marine mangrove adjacent to mangrove roots. We combined phylogenetic and lipid a...

Shallow-water tropical reefs and the deep sea represent the two most diverse marine environments. Understanding the origin and diversification of this biodiversity is a major quest in ecology and evolution. The most prominent and well-supported explanation, articulated since the first explorations of the deep sea, holds that benthic marine fauna originated in shallow, onshore environments, and ...

Changes in mean sea levels influence the coast by affecting the height and frequency of extreme high waters. Tide-gauge records are often used to study fluctuations in the timing and severity of extreme sea levels because these records are relatively long and accessible. However, there are two main limitations to analyzing sea-level extremes using tide-gauge observations: 1) Tide gauges are oft...