Black Sea Bass

Fishery Bulletin publishes black sea bass diet metabarcoding study

Posted on November 23, 2024November 23, 2024 by Hannes Baumann

22 November 2024. We are happy to share that our paper on black sea bass stomach content metabarcoding has been published today in the traditional NOAA journal Fishery Bulletin. Our study used black sea bass juveniles caught in Mumford Cove to study their diet via a molecular approach known as metabarcoding. This method often detects rare or soft-bodied prey better than traditional morphological content analyses. We found that small, newly settled black sea bass eat mostly shrimp, but also many softbodied polychaetes. And weirdly, they seem to like one particular kind of (invasive) amphipod. Only larger juveniles seem to add fish to their diet.

Our study is a great first collaboration between our departments genomic experts (Ann Bucklin, Paola Batta-Lona) and the Evolutionary Fish Ecology Lab. The first product of our collaborative efforts has seen the light!

Fishery Bulletin is the 143 years old peer-reviewed journal managed and published by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It publishes Open Access at no costs to authors. Click the link below to download the paper.

Batta-Lona, P.G., Wojcicki, M.L., Zavell, M.D., Bucklin, A., and Baumann, H. (2025)
Using DNA metabarcoding to reveal prey diversity in diets of juvenile black sea bass (Centropristis striata) in Long Island Sound in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.
Fishery Bulletin 123:22-33

BSB-COI-summary-web — Composition of prey detected in samples from stomachs of juvenile black sea bass (*Centropristis striata*), collected in Mumford Cove off Connecticut in August 2020, through metabarcoding with (A) the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene region and (B) the V9 hypervariable region of 18S rRNA. Bars represent the total number of COI and V9 gene sequences identified for each of 6 and 10 major prey taxa in DNA samples from 35 and 99 stomachs, respectively. In panel A, lists / pictures of the major prey species and their relative proportions for each prey taxon are provided (modified after Figure 1 in Batta-Lona et al. 2025)

High CO2 tolerance of Black Sea Bass embryos / larvae – just out!

Posted on June 13, 2024June 13, 2024 by Hannes Baumann

12 June 2024. We are excited to share that Environmental Biology of Fishes just published our study on the CO₂ sensitivity of Black Sea Bass early life stages! The experimental work was part of Max Zavell's PhD-research and required the development of new approaches for obtaining spawning adults, new rearing methods, and new techniques for quantifying hatchlings and feeding larvae.

In the end, our research extends earlier experimental work to show that Black Sea Bass embryos and larvae are surprisingly tolerant to even extreme pCO₂ conditions - which means that this species is likely resistant to the direct (!) effects of ocean acidification. Scientifically, this is intriguing because it points to some form of pre-adaptation that adults confer to their offspring in a manner we just don't understand yet.

Congrats, Max, to another chapter of your thesis published!

The new cod – WrackLines article on our Black Sea Bass research

Posted on May 28, 2024May 28, 2024 by Hannes Baumann

A strong showing at the 47th Larval Fish Conference!

Posted on May 18, 2024May 18, 2024 by Hannes Baumann

17 May 2024. Members of our Evolutionary Fish Ecology Lab had a blast attending this years 47th Larval Fish Conference in Huron, OH. Hannes, Emma, Max and alumnus Chris Murray (now at WHOI), went on a road trip from Connecticut to Lake Eerie to present and learn about all things larval fish. On Tuesday morning, the conference crowd enjoyed excursion or recreation options, all the while catching up with good old colleagues and making new connections and friends. A particular achievement: each of us presented research on a different fish species; while Hannes showed the first data emerging from his sabbatical research on Chilean silversides, Emma talked about baby California grunion development. Max presented a poster and two talks, the first about CO₂ effects on the onset of schooling in Atlantic silversides and a second one one Black Sea Bass overwintering dynamics. Last, Chris Murray gave a fascinating first look into gene expression data from our most recent sand lance CO₂ experiment. All around, a strong showing of our lab!

Contributions from our lab to the 47th Larval Fish Conference in Huron, OH

Baumann, H., Gallardo, A., Gallardo, C., and Urbina, M. 2024. First evidence for countergradient growth variation in the Chilean silverside Odontesthes regia. Oral presentation

Siegried, E. and Johnson, D. 2024. Eyes bigger than your stomach: developmental inaccuracy in larval California grunion. Oral presentation.

Zavell, M.D., Mouland, M., Barnum, D., Matassa, C., Schultz, E.T., and Baumann, H. 2024. Overwintering dynamics of northern stock Black Sea Bass, Centropristis striata, juveniles. Oral presentation.

Zavell, M.D., O'del, J., Mouland, M., Webb, J.F., and Baumann, H. 2024. Ontogeny of larval schooling and effects of ocean acidification in Atlantic Silversides (Menidia menidia). Oral presentation.

Murray, C.S., Jones, L., Siegfried, E., Zavell, M.D., Baumann, Z., Wiley, D., Therkildsen, N., Aluru, N., and Baumann, H. 2024. Examining the effect of ocean acidification on hatching enzyme gene expression in Northern sand lance (Ammodytes dubius). Oral presentation.

Max Zavell defends his PhD thesis!

Posted on April 21, 2024April 23, 2024 by Hannes Baumann

18 April 2024. Today we are happy and proud to announce that Max Zavell has successfully defended his dissertation titled "Experimental assessment of ocean warming and acidification effects on multiple life stages of Black Sea Bass, Centropristis striata". A big, heartfelt congratulations from the entire lab!

Max Zavell had started as a PhD student in our lab in fall 2020, and his thesis research broke new ground by working experimentally with Black Sea Bass, a grouper species of great interest because of its recent, explosive increase in abundance in Long Island Sound and the larger northwest Atlantic shelf. Over two fall and winter seasons, Max conducted ambitious long-term rearing experiments on juveniles and adults to study how overwintering could be the key to understand these new dynamics. Now, after only three and a half years, Max has stepped up to the plate and showed his peers and colleagues the fruits of the work.

We were particularly delighted that all this committee members - Profs. Jacqueline Webb (URI), Catherine Matassa (UConn), and Eric Schultz (UConn) - were able to attend in person!

Well done, Max! Your team spirit and unwavering energy will be missed! We wish you all the best for your next career steps!