Bluefin Tuna Larvae

Full Title: Effects of nitrogen sources and plankton food-web dynamics on habitat quality for the larvae of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico

This project is investigating the link between nutrients, food availability, and the survival of Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae, which can be used to improve stock assessments for this commercially and recreationally important species.

The Team: Trika Gerard (Lead Investigator, NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), trika.gerard@noaa.gov), John Lamkin (NOAA), Angela N. Knapp (Florida State University), Michael R. Landry (Scripps Inst. of Oceanography, University of California San Diego), Karen E. Selph (University of Hawaii at Manoa), and Michael R. Stukel (Florida State University)

Technical Monitor: Barbara Muhling (barbara.muhling@noaa.gov)

Federal Program Officer/Point of Contact: Frank Parker (frank.parker@noaa.gov)

This project began in June 2017 and will end in May 2021.

Award Amount: $1,613,288

Why it matters: The largest recreational fisheries in the U.S. occur in the Gulf of Mexico, including economically important species such as bluefin, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna. Atlantic bluefin tuna are highly migratory and spawn in the Gulf of Mexico, but are distributed as adults throughout the Atlantic Ocean. This migratory behavior, as well as year to year changes in environmental conditions at sites where Atlantic bluefin tuna spawn, makes management of the species complex. Being able to track how changes in nutrient availability impact tuna food webs and larval survival is essential to managing open ocean ecosystems.

What the team is doing: This project will investigate the impact of variability in a key nutrient, nitrogen, on lower food webs and the resulting availability of zooplanktonic food resources for Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae in the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. This information will allow for improvement in Atlantic bluefin tuna stock assessments by making it possible to forecast the feeding, growth, and survival of Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae based on ocean conditions. To accomplish their objectives, the investigators will determine the sources of nitrogen to the ecosystem and measure plankton biomass and rates of primary productivity. They will also assess the abundance, stomach contents, feeding selectivity, age and growth rates of Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae.

Expected Outcome: This project will improve Atlantic bluefin tuna stock assessments and ultimately improve understanding of open-water ecosystems and how variations in productivity impact bluefin tuna.

From the seminar “Effects of nitrogen sources and plankton food-web dynamics on habitat quality for the larvae of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico”
Presenter: Dr. Michael Stukel, Florida State University

Other Resources

Products, Datasets, and Reports

Inverse Model Product: The goal of this code was to develop and approach sufficient to constrain an underdetermined ecosystem model for the open-ocean Gulf of Mexico with a specific focus on trophic pathways of larval Atlantic bluefin tuna that live in the upper euphotic zone.

Peer Reviewed Publications

Kelly, T.B., Knapp, A.N., Landry, M.R., Selph, K.E., Shropshire, T.A., Thomas, R.K. and Stukel, M.R. (2021). Lateral advection supports nitrogen export in the oligotrophic open-ocean Gulf of Mexico. Nature Communications, 12(1): 1-7.

Landry, M.R. and Swalethorp, R. (2021). Mesozooplankton biomass, grazing and trophic structure in the bluefin tuna spawning area of the oceanic Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Plankton Research.

Stukel, M.R., Gerard, T., Kelly, T.B., Knapp, A.N., Laiz-Carrión, R., Lamkin, J.T., Landry, M.R., Malca, E., Selph, K.E., Shiroza, A. and Shropshire, T.A. (2021). Plankton food webs in the oligotrophic Gulf of Mexico spawning grounds of Atlantic Bluefin tuna. Journal of Plankton Research.

Stukel, M.R., Kelly, T.B., Landry, M.R., Selph, K.E. and Swalethorp, R. (2021). Sinking carbon, nitrogen, and pigment flux within and beneath the euphotic zone in the oligotrophic, open-ocean Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Plankton Research.

Landry, M.R., Selph, K.E., Stukel, M.R., Swalethorp, R., Kelly, T.B., Beatty, J.L. and Quackenbush, C.R. (2021). Microbial food web dynamics in the oceanic Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Plankton Research.

Shiroza, A., Malca, E., Lamkin, J.T., Gerard, T., Landry, M.R., Stukel, M.R., Laiz-Carrión, R. and Swalethorp, R. (2021). Active prey selection in developing larvae of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in spawning grounds of the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Plankton Research.

Selph, K., Swalethorp, R., R Stukel, M., B Kelly, T., N Knapp, A., Fleming, K., Hernandez, T. and R Landry, M. (2021). Phytoplankton community composition and biomass in the oligotrophic Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Plankton Research.

Shropshire, T. A., Morey, S.L., Chassignet, E. P., A. Bozec, Coles, V.J., Landry, M.R., Swalethorp, R. Zapfe, G., Stukel, M.R. (2019). Quantifying spatiotemporal variability in zooplankton dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico with a physical-biogeochemical model. Biogeosciences. 17:3385-3407.

Swalethorp, R., Aluwihare, L., Thompson, A., Ohman, M., Landry, M. (2020). Errors associated with compound‐specific δ15N analysis of amino acids in preserved fish samples purified by high‐pressure liquid chromatography. Limnology and Oceanography Methods. 18(6): 259-270

Stukel, M.R., Decima, M. Landry, M.R., and Selph, K.E. (2018). Nitrogen isotope flows through the Costa Rica Dome upwelling ecosystem: The crucial mesozooplankton role in export flux. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 32(12):1815-1832, 10.1029/2018GB005968

Landry, M.R., Beckley, L.E., and Muhling, B.A. (2018). Climate sensitivities and uncertainties in food-web pathways supporting larval bluefin tuna in subtropical oligotrophic oceans. ICES Journal of Marine Science. 76(2): 359-369, 10.1093/icesjms/fsy184