De novo transcriptomes for two species of snappers from the Western Atlantic (Lutjanus griseus and Lutjanus synagris).

Transcriptomes are appropriate resources for studying species that lack sequenced genomes, as they can serve as references for a broad suite of genetic applications, including: phylogenetic assessments, population genomics, and evaluate responses to environmental fluctuations. Here, we present the transcriptomes of two species of marine fishes of commercial and ecological relevance in the Western Atlantic: Lutjanus griseus and L. synagris. This project represents a step forward on developing genomic resources for important species of the Atlantic Ocean.

Cold-water coral (Lophelia pertusa) response to multiple stressors: High temperature affects recovery from short-term pollution exposure.

There are numerous studies highlighting the impacts of direct and indirect stressors on marine organisms, and multi-stressor studies of their combined effects are an increasing focus of experimental work. Lophelia pertusa is a framework-forming cold-water coral that supports numerous ecosystem services in the deep ocean. These corals are threatened by increasing anthropogenic impacts to the deep-sea, such as global ocean change and hydrocarbon extraction. This study implemented two sets of experiments to assess the effects of future conditions (temperature: 8 °C and 12 °C, pH: 7.9 and 7.6) and hydrocarbon exposure (oil, dispersant, oil + dispersant combined) on coral health. Phenotypic response was assessed through three independent observations of diagnostic characteristics that were combined into an average health rating at four points during exposure and recovery. In both experiments, regardless of environmental condition, average health significantly declined during 24-hour exposure to dispersant alone but was not significantly altered in the other treatments. In the early recovery stage (24 hours), polyp health returned to the pre-exposure health state under ambient temperature in all treatments. However, increased temperature resulted in a delay in recovery (72 hours) from dispersant exposure. These experiments provide evidence that global ocean change can affect the resilience of corals to environmental stressors and that exposure to chemical dispersants may pose a greater threat than oil itself.