Titlebar-imagery

37. Black Sea Bass - The "new cod" in Long Island Sound?

Baumann BSB CTSGJan
Poster about our labs black sea bass research. CT SeaGrant external evaluation event, Branford House, 7 January 2025

36. Atlantic sturgeon in Long Island Sound and the Connecticut River

Baumann sturgeon CTSGJan2024
Poster about our labs research on Atlantic sturgeon. CT SeaGrant external evaluation event, Branford House, 7 January 2025

35. Metabarcoding of juvenile black sea bass stomach contents

BSB-COI-summary-web
Prey taxa detected in juvenile black sea bass stomachs 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 Batta-Lona et al. 2025)

34. Increase in Black Sea Bass

Fig01---BSB-CTDEEP-trawl-survey-count_new-copy
Black Sea Bass have rapidly increased in abundance particularly in Long Island Sound (LIS Trawl survey data, from Zavell et al. TAFS 2023)

33. Winter growth of Black Sea Bass juveniles

Fig04---Exp2-DTL_DwW
Individual length and weight growth of Black Sea Bass juveniles over the course of 6 months (from Zavell et al. TAFS 2023)

32. Black Sea Bass stomach content analysis

stomach-prelim
Preliminary analyses of opportunistically sampled adult BSB stomachs from LIS-TS in spring 2022 and fall 2021. Inner circles depict the proportion of fish with full vs. empty stomachs. Outer circles show proportions of nominal prey items. Red = decapods (Mantis shrimp, crab, lobster, hermit crab); Green = bivalves (razor clam, others); Blue = fish; Grey = squid; Missing slice = unidentified (CTSG preliminary proposal; Riser et al. unpublished data).

31. Dissolved oxygen conditions in Mumford Cove

MatLab animation of high-frequency dissolved oxygen (blue, 13-152%) measurements between 10 July - 31 August 2022 in Mumford Cove. Tick marks along the X-axis correspond to 5 days. Environmental monitoring 2015-22

30. Mumford Cove Environmental monitoring 2015-22

Fig01---Mumford-Cove-sketch
Schematic section of the upper part of Mumford Cove, showing the deployed probe (blue) between the bottom anchor (grey) and a subsurface float (orange), marked by a surface float (white).

29. Mumford Cove Environmental monitoring 2015-22

Fig03---pH-perc-prob
Overview of seasonal pH conditions in Mumford Cove based on 114,631 measurements between April 2015 – December 2022. Contours show the percentage of values in each week × 0.05 pH grid cell interpolated by kriging (each week sums to 100%). Solid black lines depict 5th, 25th, 50th (empty circles), 75th, and 95th percentiles. Grey circles show the number of weekly observations.

28. Genetic separation of A. dubius

Jones-et-al. Fig1-3comb
Northwest Atlantic where Northern sand lance were sampled, with red and blue circles denoting locations comprising the southern and northern population clusters as revealed by low coverage whole genome sequencing (insert). Contours depict a proxy for winter temperature, while black arrows illustrate surface currents (Jones et al. IJMS 2022).

27. Separation of 3 sand lance species based nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (Jones et al. ICES JMS 2022)

Fig02---PCA+haplo_data
(A) Principal component analysis of SNP-based, individual-level covariance matrices with superimposed FST values for each interspecies comparison. The asterisk denotes 5 likely misidentified A. americanus specimens from the Northern GSL (B) Mitochondrial haplotype network of all analyzed specimens, with the number mutations separating congeners.

26. CO2-dependent hatching success of sand lance in the context of regional pCO2 projections. (Baumann et al. MEPS 2022)

FIg08---SB-pCO2-predictions
(A) Model domain including Gulf of Maine and adjacent Northwest-Atlantic shelf; subsampled for Stellwagen Bank (square), (B) Sand lance hatching success in experiments used via linear regression to infer future pCO2-induced reductions, (C) Seasonal pCO2 predictions for Stellwagen Bank (0-40m) in years 2050 and 2100, based on three different models (black dotted and dashed lines, average = red line). Shading and isolines refer to the normalized hatching success of sand lance (HSN). “Mean” denotes projected average pCO2 during the mean embryo season of sand lance.

25. Temperature-dependent effects of high CO2 on silverside fecundity after whole-life rearing (Concannon et al. ICES JMS 2021)

24. 44th Larval Fish Conference 2021 - Iconography


23. Logo of the Automated Larval Fish Rearing System (ALFiRiS)

ALFiRS2

22. Scientific illustrations for Chapter 11: Fish Ecology (Marine Biology, eds. Pan, J. & Pratolongo, P.D). in press

21. Otolith-based sex-specific reconstruction of silverside hatch dates

Fig03---temp-hatch-spawning-mismatch
This graph shows reconstructed hatch distributions of male and female Atlantic silversides sampled in fall 2015. Counting daily otolith increments, young-of-year fish caught in October could be reliably aged, whereas those from November and December where likely underaged because water temperatures had already decreased below their growth threshold. This graph compbines previous knowledge, environmental monitoring and results of otolith microstructure analysis.

Pringle, J. & Baumann, H. (2019) Otolith-based growth reconstructions in young-of-year Atlantic silversides (Menidia menidia) and their implications for sex-selective survival. MEPS 632: 193-204

20. Design sketch for Atlantic sturgeon outreach signage (CTSG grant)

Atlantic sturgeon signage-T

19. Commemoration plaque for Frank Bohlen Seminar

Bohlen-plaque

18. Conference Banner designs for the Department of Marine Sciences

DMS-conference-banner-right_11s---final
DMS-conference-banner-left06s-final

17. Robust quantification of fish early life CO2 sensitivities via serial experimentation

Baumann-etal-BiolLett2018---Fig01
This figure shows the summary of early life responses to high CO2 conditions in Atlantic silversides across all experiments conducted between 2012-2017. Effect size was estimated using the log-transformed response ratio (A-D). Error bars are 95% confidence intervals. The responses are considered significant if the confidence interval does not include zero. Panels E-F: seasonal decomposition of response ratios, showing that silverside early life stages are most sensitive to high CO2 at the beginning and end of their spawning season.

Baumann-etal-BiolLett2018---Fig02
This graph plots the difference in M. menidia embryo survival between high and control CO2 treatments for 20 published experiments against the degrees of freedom (a measure of replication), overlaying a probability surface derived from a t-distribution. It shows that serial experimentation can detect CO2 effects that would individually be considered non-significant

Baumann, H., Cross, E.L., and Murray, C.S. Robust quantification of fish early life CO2 sensitivities via serial experimentation. Biology Letters 14:20180408

16. Always look on the silverside of life - Lab T-Shirts

LabTShirts

15. Ocean variability and Stage Duration hypothesis: a genesis

Ocean-Variability-hypothesis_web
Illustration of the hypothesis that the general sensitivity of marine organisms to ocean acidification depends on contemporary CO2 variability in a species habitat and its rate of development, particularly throughout the most vulnerable early life stages. (A) Early sketches wrestling with single vs. multiple panel layouts (B) Single panel concept to depict the attenuation of CO2 variability from near- to offshore (C) finished illustration

14. Four key areas of advances in experimental ocean acidification research

breakthrough-themes
At the 4th Ocean Acidification PI meeting in Portland, OR, Hannes talked about advances in (1) methods and confounding factors, (2) the importance of existing CO2 variability in space and time, (3) the recognition of OA as one of many stressors in a future ocean, and (4) breakthroughs in mechanistic understanding of CO2 effects

13. Iconography used in the OA PI summary talk

methods-cliparts-feedingmethods-cliparts-coral

12. Friends of Marine Sciences - logo and outreach slide

FMSlogo_white_sm

Friends-of-Marine-Slide_sm

11. Multistressor title art (L&O e-lectures)

Multistressor-art-eL&O

10. Seasonal covariation of pH and dissolved oxygen in a temperate tidal salt marsh (aka "The turkeys")

ESCO-Flax-Pond-publication-presentation1
ESCO-Flax-Pond-publication-presentation2

Scientific graphs often get used for different purposes. In a publication (left side), the focus is on clarity, simplicity, and the use of colors is often constrained. But when the same data are used in a presentation, for example at a conference, the graphs are best reworked and adapted so that they capture the audience attention. Here, the use of the background sets the stage for the particular habitat the study is talking about, whereas the graphs are combined, colored and annotated. In a presentation, nobody can read a figure caption!

9. Mumford Cove biweekly beach seine survey and environmental monitoring (2015-2018)

TL-distribution-52-collections
This graph compiles our lab's heroic multi-year effort of collecting and measuring Altantic silversides (Menidia menidia) in Mumford Cove, where we also maintain a continuous monitoring station to record temperature, oxygen and pH. Any single survey is fun, but may not tell much, but in combination, this allows tracing cohorts from their birth, juvenile phase, to the mature spawners.

8. CO2 sensitivity of fish embryos and larvae from different mothers (aka "The dancing men")

Fig2 - dancing men
This graph shows the different responses of Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia) offspring obtained from different mothers to high CO2. (A) embryo and larval survival; (B) overall survival; (C) SL at hatch; and (D) final SL (16 dph). Ambient and high CO2 treatments are denoted by red and blue colors, respectively. Small symbols depict replicate survival (A,B) or replicate average size (C,D), while large symbols depict CO2 treatment averages for each female. Black lines connect average response for each female (letters A to E). Modified from Snyder et al. JEMBE 2018

7. Depicting interannual trends in temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen in 16 nearshore estuaries

Fig05---yearly-T-DOpct-pH-anomalies_upd
Interannual trends in temperature (red bars), dissolved oxygen (%, blue bars) and pH (green bars) at 16 US NERRS sites, shown as yearly anomalies derived from averaging monthly anomalies for each variable, site, and year. Black trend lines were derived by LOESS smoothing (50% bandwidth) - Baumann, H. and Smith, E. 2017. Quantifying metabolically-driven pH and oxygen fluctuations in US nearshore habitats at diel to interannual time-scales Estuaries & Coasts (published online 2 Oct 2017).

6. Graphical recording of Hannes' talk at Columbia University by Tracey Berglund

Graphical recording of H. Baumann's keynote lecture
Graphical recording of H. Baumann's keynote lecture "Combined effects of ocean acidification and its co- stressors on marine organisms" (Artist: Tracey Berglund, tra4art.com)

5. Outreach material for the Mumford Cove Association

Mumford Cove Ass_probe

Mumford Cove Ass_silversides

4. Climate change effects on zooplankton and its potential for mismatches with higher trophic levels - a genesis

Main-effects---white-board-genesis
The result of an initial brainstorming session on the whiteboard

Main-effects---notebook-genesis
Scribbling early concepts in a notebook. Drawing is still the best way of developing a visual idea.

Figure02---main-effects_basic-cone1
The illustration visualizes direct and indirect effects of climate change on zooplankton, which potentially shift in phenology, behavior etc. This in turn results in a number of potential mismatches with fish, particularly the early life stages that most rely on the timely occurrence of the right kind of zooplankton (April 2015).

3. Illustration of the structure of a research proposal

proposal-structure_2parts
It is often a great idea to give reviewers of a research proposal a quick, visual idea of the main parts and overall objectives of the proposed research (Oct 2015)

2. Ocean acidification: challenges on each level of organization - a genesis

OA-challenges_genesis1OA-challenges_genesis1
The idea of using cubes to visualize the hierarchical levels of organization came while contemplating the mess in my kids' room, in particular the alphabet cubes strewn on the floor ..."

OA-challenges
This schematic illustrates how a stressor like ocean acidification impacts processes on different levels of organization, from the chemical properties of seawater and whole ecosystem down to cellular and molecular levels. So far, OA research has largely focused on individuals, with major knowledge gaps remaining in most of the other domains (Feb 2015).

1. Ocean acidification effects on externally vs. internally calcifying organisms

Calcifyers-vs-Noncalcifyers
This unfinished concept illustrates different research aspects that are investigated for externally vs. internally calcifying marine organisms