- University of Guam, Marine Laboratory, Department Memberadd
- Speciation, Hermit Crab Biology, Barnacle biology, Crustacean biology, taxonomy, systematics and biogeography, Coral Reefs, Marine biodiversity, and 9 moreInvertebrate Biology, Biodiversity, Phylogenetics, Phylogeography, Coral Reef Biology, Larval Biology, Marine Speciation, Connectivity, and Marineedit
Cobia, Rachycentron canadum, is the only species in the family of Rachycentridae. Cobia is typically characterized as having 26–33 dorsal-fin rays. However, an investigation of specimens collected from Western Visayas waters revealed a... more
Cobia, Rachycentron canadum, is the only species in the family of Rachycentridae. Cobia is typically characterized as having 26–33 dorsal-fin rays. However, an investigation of specimens collected from Western Visayas waters revealed a wider variation in dorsal-fin ray count than previously reported, with some specimens having 35–36 dorsal-fin rays. Suspecting a possible cryptic species, we compared the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) sequence for specimens with 35–36 dorsal-fin rays with those having the more typical 26–33 dorsal-fin rays. The sequences revealed no genetic differences between the two morphs. Morphometric measurements and meristic counting likewise found no significant differences. This is the first report of phenotypic variability in the dorsal-fin rays in Cobia. As a result of the phenotypic and genotypic characterization presented in this work, fisheries scientists and ichthyologists will be more aware of the existence of phenotypic variability i...
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We describe three new species of hermit crab of the pagurid genera, Catapagurus A. Milne-Edwards, 1880, Nematopagurus A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1892 and Pagurixus Melin, 1939, on the basis of material collected during the scientific... more
We describe three new species of hermit crab of the pagurid genera, Catapagurus A. Milne-Edwards, 1880, Nematopagurus A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1892 and Pagurixus Melin, 1939, on the basis of material collected during the scientific cruise to the Northern Mariana Islands conducted by the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2015. Catapagurus tenuilamina n. sp., referred to the C. ensifer Henderson, 1893 species group, appears close to C. granulatus Edmondson, 1951, but differs from the latter in the more slender ultimate article of the antennular peduncle, more slender dactyli of pereopods 2 and 3, and the possession of two dorsal subdistal spines in the meri of the pereopods. Nematopagurus marianicus n. sp. resembles N. gardineri Alcock, 1905 and N. lewinsohni Türkay, 1986, but is distinguished from the latter two by the characteristic dense setation on the upper part of the left cheliped carpus and by the elongate dactyli of pereopods 2 and 3 that...
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A new record of the diogenid hermit crab Dardanus callichela Cook 1989 is described from the Visayan Sea, Central Philippines. Four specimens of D. callichela were caught in fish traps deployed at depths of about 30–40 m adjacent to... more
A new record of the diogenid hermit crab Dardanus callichela Cook 1989 is described from the Visayan Sea, Central Philippines. Four specimens of D. callichela were caught in fish traps deployed at depths of about 30–40 m adjacent to islands to the north (Nagarao Island, Masbate) and south (Baliguian Island, Iloilo) of the Visayan Sea. The morphological description and colour photographs are provided. Partial sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) are provided for two specimens and deposited in GenBank. This new record brings the total number of known Dardanus in the Philippines to 16 species.
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The diogenid hermit crab genus Pseudopaguristes McLaughlin, 2002 is currently represented by 15 species worldwide. In this study, we describe a new species of the genus, P. flavioculus, based on a unique male holotype from off Sarigan,... more
The diogenid hermit crab genus Pseudopaguristes McLaughlin, 2002 is currently represented by 15 species worldwide. In this study, we describe a new species of the genus, P. flavioculus, based on a unique male holotype from off Sarigan, Northern Mariana Islands, Micronesia, at depth of 131–133 m. The new species appears similar to the type species of the genus, P. janetkae McLaughlin, 2002, but the lack of conspicuous spines on the dorsal face of the right cheliped carpus, the possession of a median row of tiny spines on the dorsal face of the left cheliped carpus, and different colour pattern of the cephalic appendages and the ambulatory legs distinguish P. flavioculus n. sp. from P. janetkae. Pseudopaguristes has been differentiated from the two allied genera, Paguristes Dana, 1851 and Areopaguristes Rahayu, 2012, by the possession of eight functional pairs of gills (versus 13 pairs in Paguristes and 12 pairs in Areopaguristes), but our examination of the new species and three othe...
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Earth Sciences, Genomics, Phylogeography, Biology, and 13 moreEnvironmental Monitoring, Biological Sciences, Software, Population structure, Sampling, Environmental Sciences, Microsatellites, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Computer Programs, Adaptations, Discordance, Genotypes, and Nucleotide sequence
Malay, Maria Celia (Machel) D., Rahayu, Dwi Listyo, Chan, Tin-Yam (2018): Hermit crabs of the genera Calcinus Dana, Clibanarius Dana, and Dardanus Paul'son from the PANGLAO 2004 Expedition, with description of a new species and a... more
Malay, Maria Celia (Machel) D., Rahayu, Dwi Listyo, Chan, Tin-Yam (2018): Hermit crabs of the genera Calcinus Dana, Clibanarius Dana, and Dardanus Paul'son from the PANGLAO 2004 Expedition, with description of a new species and a checklist of the hermit crabs of the Philippines (Crustacea: Anomura: Paguroidea). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 66: 23-65
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Grow-out culture of sea urchins in sea cages was developed as a means to enhance the recovery ofdepleted natural populations and to provide a supplemental source of income for fisherfolk. To improvereproductive output and commercial value... more
Grow-out culture of sea urchins in sea cages was developed as a means to enhance the recovery ofdepleted natural populations and to provide a supplemental source of income for fisherfolk. To improvereproductive output and commercial value of hatchery-produced ...
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The Mariana Islands consist of two volcanic island arc chains, one volcanically inactive frontal arc in the Southern Marianas and a younger, volcanically active arc in the Northern Marianas. Given their extreme remoteness, the hermit crab... more
The Mariana Islands consist of two volcanic island arc chains, one volcanically inactive frontal arc in the Southern Marianas and a younger, volcanically active arc in the Northern Marianas. Given their extreme remoteness, the hermit crab fauna of the uninhabited northern islands are little-known. In this study we collected and examined hermit crabs from two scientific cruises to the Northern and Southern Marianas conducted in 2003 and 2015. We report 39 species from these field efforts, including 5 new records and 6 undescribed species. The updated checklist of the hermit crabs of the Marianas now includes 79 species.
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Echinometra mathaei is a species complex with its constituent reproductively-isolated species informally called A, B, C and D based on studies done in Okinawa and the Red Sea. Little research has been done on this genus, and to our... more
Echinometra mathaei is a species complex with its constituent reproductively-isolated species informally called A, B, C and D based on studies done in Okinawa and the Red Sea. Little research has been done on this genus, and to our knowledge no studies have been done on the E. mathaei complex in the Philippines. To help clarify species delineations in the E. mathaei complex, a comparative study was done between two localities in Western Visayas, Philippines: the Taklong Island National Marine Reserve, in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras and Barangay Unidos in Nabas, Aklan. Morphological characteristics (spine color, milled rings, and skin around the peristome) and tubefeet and gonad spicules were observed. Two or possibly three species of Echinometra were found in the two sites based on their morphology and spicules, namely: Echinometra sp. A, Echinometra sp. C, and Echinometra affinity C, which resembles sp. C but differs in the milled rings and gonad spicules. Echinometra sp. C and E. aff...
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We report the semi-terrestrial shrimp Merguia oligodon (De Man, 1888) (Merguiidae Christofferson, 1987) from surveys of the mangrove forests fringing Taklong Island, Guimaras, Western Visayas, Philippines. This remarkable species is... more
We report the semi-terrestrial shrimp Merguia oligodon (De Man, 1888) (Merguiidae Christofferson, 1987) from surveys of the mangrove forests fringing Taklong Island, Guimaras, Western Visayas, Philippines. This remarkable species is capable of walking and even jumping on dry land. We found that the Taklong Island population is fully nocturnal, and during night-time low tides the shrimp are found in small aggregations under logs well above the water line, while during night-time high tides they occur singly just above the water line or about a centimeter below the water surface. Observations of sexual characters indicate that M. oligodon is likely a protandric hermaphrodite, which has implications for the probable ancestral condition in caridean shrimps. Live color patterns appear to change ontogenetically and are not identical with other reported populations elsewhere in the Indo-West Pacific. The mangroves of Taklong Island were heavily impacted by the 2006 M/T Solar I oil spill, a...
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Sea urchins are keystone herbivores that greatly influence primary productivity, algal abundance and scleractinian coral recruitment. The long-spined black sea urchin Diadema setosum is widespread and abundant in reef flats throughout the... more
Sea urchins are keystone herbivores that greatly influence primary productivity, algal abundance and scleractinian coral recruitment. The long-spined black sea urchin Diadema setosum is widespread and abundant in reef flats throughout the Philippines. Prior studies regarding the feeding preference of D. setosum have been conducted overseas, but little is known about the impact of the echinoid herbivory on reef flat communities in the Philippines. Feeding preferences of D. setosum on four common marine plant species, Halimeda macroloba, Ceratodictyon spongiosum, Padina sp., and Enhalus acoroides were investigated at the University of the Philippines Visayas Marine Biological Laboratory, located in Taklong Island National Marine Reserve (TINMR), Guimaras. Two food choice experiments were conducted; choice feeding and no-choice feeding. The outcome of choice feeding experiments, expressed as consumption (in g) and percent consumption (%), were used to determine its feeding preferences....
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The PANGLAO 2004 expedition in the central Visayas region of the Philippines revealed the occurrence of 43 species of diogenid hermit crabs of the genera Calcinus, Clibanarius, and Dardanus in the Philippines. Using morphological, colour... more
The PANGLAO 2004 expedition in the central Visayas region of the Philippines revealed the occurrence of 43 species of diogenid hermit crabs of the genera Calcinus, Clibanarius, and Dardanus in the Philippines. Using morphological, colour pattern, and mitochondrial DNA evidence, the Dardanus lagopodes (Forskål, 1775) complex is revised with the validation of D. sanguinolentus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) and the addition of one new species, Dardanus balhibuon. Eight species represent new records for the Philippine Archipelago. For each reported species, a list of the total number of specimens collected during the expedition is presented, and the geographic range and habitat are discussed. Colour photographs are provided for most species. A checklist of all hermit crab species recorded from the Philippines is presented, and species of these three genera previously reported from the Philippines but not found during the PANGLAO 2004 expedition are discussed.
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Coral-dwelling pyrgomatid barnacles (subfamily Ceratoconchinae) were widely dispersed throughout the Paratethys and Mediterranean seas as well as the Atlantic Ocean during the Neogene, but today are limited to the Western Atlantic.... more
Coral-dwelling pyrgomatid barnacles (subfamily Ceratoconchinae) were widely dispersed throughout the Paratethys and Mediterranean seas as well as the Atlantic Ocean during the Neogene, but today are limited to the Western Atlantic. Herein, the paleobiogeographic origin and dispersal of the genus Ceratoconcha is studied based on a combination of field, taxonomic, and literature studies. The first confirmed appearances of Ceratoconcha occur in lower Miocene strata (Burdigalian) with two closely related species on both sides of the Atlantic in western France and Florida. Fossils from the Miocene of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and Pleisto-cene of Maio in the Cape Verde islands extend the known geographical and temporal range of the Ceratoconcha barnacles in the eastern Atlantic. During the Neogene, dispersal of marine taxa was a two-way process due to tec-tonic changes both influencing oceanic circulation and appearance and disappearance of oceanic islands. During the early Miocene, gyre formation was weak and the Atlantic Ocean mid-latitudes were warmer than today. This resulted in increased hurricane activity and the expansion of hermatypic coral hosts farther north in the North Atlantic. Normal ocean circulation transported barnacle larvae from east to west, but currents generated by hurricanes may have transported them in the opposite direction towards the margins of the northeastern Atlantic. Islands in between abetted barnacle contact and dispersal. The temporal range for Ceratoconcha is extended considerably in the eastern Atlantic from the early Pliocene to the Pleistocene. The hermatypic host corals of Ceratoconcha suffered a severe decline in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean after the Miocene. Corals were present during the Pliocene and Pleistocene in the Cape Verde Islands. This suggests that the southernmost oceanic islands acted as a tropical refuge for host corals and their likely barnacle symbionts.