2012 BELIZE
PARROTFISH RESEARCH
Sheridan Bishop and Jessica Silk
WHAT ARE WE INTERESTED
IN?
Is there a correlation between damaged corals on
a reef to the present population of parrotfish?
 Is the coral experiencing damage from
parrotfish? How much? What species is most
abundant?
WHAT DO WE EXPECT TO
FIND?
 If there is an abundant amount of parrotfish located on a
reef, there will be greater damage to stony corals.
 Damage has been reported frequently on Montastraea
annularis (Lobed Star Coral), Montastraea faveolata
(Mountainous Star Coral), and Colpophyllia natans
(Boulder Brain Coral)
 Bites are distinct from coral diseases because they
remove the skeleton and form abrasions and lesions
HOW DO PARROTFISH ENDANGER
A REEF?
Focused biting is the process where
parrotfish repeatedly bite a given area of
coral depleting the top layers of the
skeleton and living tissue.
WHAT PARROTFISH COMMONLY
GRAZE?
Sparisoma viride
(Stoplight)
Scarus guacamaia
(Rainbow)
Scarus Vetula
(Queen)
HOW WILL WE COLLECT OUR
DATA?
While conducting our point count we will
also be looking at coral for any signs of
parrotfish damage.
We will record the approximate number
of coral affected, measure the
length/width/depth, and use our fellow
Nauts on fish count surveys to see how
many parrotfish were spotted.
Correlations Between Fish and
Reef Type
Connor Waugh
Colin Cassick
Connor Waugh
Colin Cassick
Senior 1st Class
7 year veteran
Age: 18
Senior at East
Lake High School
Other interests:
Art , Chorus
Senior 1st Class
4 year veteran
Age: 16
Junior at East Lake
High School
Other interests:
Outdoor activities
Question
How does reef type effect fish
population and diversity?
Hypothesis
Abundance of fish as well as diversity
of species is similar on Patch reefs
and Spur and Groove reefs, but is
lower on Wall environments.
Other Information
 We chose this topic because we would like to utilize
the data we collect during fish counts already
conducted on the dives.
 We suspect that Wall environments will have
substantially lower abundance and diversity of fish.
While Spur and Groove and Patch reef
environments will have a greater number.
 We hope to learn whether or not there is a
difference between diversity and abundance of fish
based on reef environments.
Questions?
Thank You!!
Without the support and
encouragement of people like
you SCUBAnauts would not
be as successful as it is today!
Belize Science Project 2012
Disease and Bleaching VS. Depth
Conner Hutchisson
Senior First Class
Master Diver
11th Grade- East Lake
Brooke Liston
Master Naut
Master Diver
12th Grade- Palm Harbor
Hypothesis:
If a coral is located at a shallower
depth, it will be more likely to have
disease or bleaching.
Objectives
• Use data collected daily by coral survey
groups and collect our own during free
time to determine whether there is a
correlation between
depth and percent
of corals with
disease or
bleaching present.
Surveyor: Conner Hutchisson
Site Name:
Date:
Day #:
Start Time:
1
AGRRA Code: Yes
Site #:1
Subzone/Habitat:
o
Latitude:
o
Longitude:
Selection Method:
Reef Type:
Patch
Reef Zone:
Site Comments:
Area Surveyed (m2): 10 Transect Comments:
Start Depth:
ft/
m
End Depth:
ft/
m Area Tallied (m2): 10
Abund./Condn. of any MALC, PAL, GOR, SPO, Other:
All Corals
All Corals
All Colonies and Clumps (no Fragments)
All Colonies and Clumps (no Fragments)
# Isolates, or
# Isolates, or
Mortality: Comments
Mortality: Comments
Maximum (cm)
Maximum (cm)
Species
Bleach:
Species
Bleach:
put CLUMP
Disease
put CLUMP
Disease
NM, TM, + LOOSE;
NM, TM, + LOOSE;
Code
P, BL
Code
P, BL
or FRAG Length Width Height
WEDGE
or FRAG Length Width Height
WEDGE
OM, SD
OM, SD
% of coral surveyed with
disease or bleaching present
Disease or Bleaching VS. Depth
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0-15
16-30
31-60
Depth located (ft.)
60-90
By: Danny Alaniz
Jeremy Koch
About Us

Danny Alaniz
17, East Lake High, Engineering
4 years in SCUBAnauts
Senior 1st Class

Jeremy Koch
17, St. Petersburg High School, IB
1 year in SCUBAnauts
D<60
Objective

Examine the variable environmental conditions
both inside and outside of the atoll in a
quantitative manner.

Make a qualitative correlating assumption
relating to the population densities of coral
recruits and fisheries present in the two
experimental locations.
Data to be interpreted

We will examine the following environmental
parameters for comparison:
 pH, Turbidity, Temperature (air and water), Dissolved
Oxygen, Salinity, Water Flow.

To make the qualitative assumptions for this
experiment we will make use of other groups’
data.
 Fish count
 Point count data.
We hypothesize that…

Differences in pH will highly affect concentrations of
fisheries and coral recruits

Differences in rate of water flow will highly affect
concentrations of corals

Differences in temperature will affect fish populations

Turbidity, salinity, dissolved oxygen) will bear little to
affect on the concentrations of the fish and corals.
Why this is important
Our oceans are going through drastic changes.
 Ocean acidification is a very real.

 Potential to destroy equilibriums of both fish and coral.

The same is true for temperature.
 Ideally these species exist within a specific range of
environmental factors. These species can be
incredibly fragile and slight changes to said
environmental factors can cause severe effects on
the populations.
Why it is interesting??

If there are significant quantitative differences in the
values of the environmental factors between the two
locations,

And there is a visible difference between the wildlife
present there,

Then we can make a correlation and associate which
specific factors cause the biggest discrepancies.

We understand that the environmental factors are
important, but through this we can see their outward
effect.
Pictures of Environmental Tests
Makenzie Burrows: 11th Grade at Seminole High School
Diver In Training-1.5 years with SNI
Sebastian DiGeronimo: 11th Grade at Lakewood High School
Diver In Training-1.5 years with SNI
Research Question: How does dissolved oxygen,
turbidity, temperature, and depth affect the amount
and type of organisms in sediment?
Hypothesis: The amount of plant-like
microorganisms (algae, diatoms, etc.) in sediment
will be more abundant at shallower depths than
animal like microorganisms (crustaceans, organism
larvae etc.) at deeper depths.
Project mentioned during Belize Meeting
Appealing, fun, interesting idea
Wanted to make it our own
Looking for organisms in sand is a lot more
exciting than measuring sediment size.
Microorganisms are cool
Larval forms of
Crustaceans,
other Marine
Organisms and
Copepods
Diatoms
Foraminifera
Algae
Radiolarian
Hope to find out if our hypothesis is correct
or incorrect
Find types of organisms at different depths
Use experience for future reference
Learn to share and analyze data
Perfect the experiment and question
Share information with others
Thank you so much for being a part of Scubanauts
and letting us have opportunities like this one! It is
such an awesome way to prepare for college and
career choices, along with pure enjoyment. We
couldn’t do this without you.
Thank you: Carol Martin, NASA, Gulfstream National Gas
Systems, Able Body, Salvat Studios, Lake Shore Camera
Exchange, Lenders Consulting, Inc., Island Divers, Ocean
Optics, Team W, Johnson Services.com, Inc. and many more.
How
cute am
I ?!
GOBIES (Gobiidae)
By: Sofia Alaniz & Ashley Hilbert
Gobies in Pictures:
Peppermint Goby
Spotlight Goby
Why are they important?
• Clean off Corals and Sponges.
• Clean different species; such as the Moray eel, Lizard fish,
or many different Grouper.
• Gobies clean parasite off of the fish that need it.
• The Neon Goby specifically can clean 100 small parasites
per hour off of fish.
About the Project Team:
Sofia Alaniz
• Freshman at East Lake High
School
• In the Engineering program
• 15 years old
• 156 dives
• Senior 1st class
• Rescue diver, working on
Master Diver
• With SCUBAnauts for 3 years
Ashley Hilbert
• Junior at Palm Harbor High
School
• In the Medical program
• 16 years old
• 106 dives
• Senior 1st class
• Master Diver
• With SCUBAnauts for 3 years
Most Common (to Belize):
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bridled Goby
Glassed(Masked) Goby
Peppermint Goby
Neon Goby
Dash Goby
Sharknose Goby
Orange Sided Goby
Cleaning Goby
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pallid Goby
Colon Goby
Goldspot Goby
Yellowline Goby
Barsnout Goby
Crested Goby
Broad Stripe Goby
About Our Project:
Our project:
• Hypothesis: The number and species of
Gobies at shallower depths will be greater
than at deeper depths.
• Research Questions:
• What are the types of Gobies at different
depths?
• What are the different species of Gobies on
the different living surfaces (coral, sponge,
sand, etc.)?
• What we hope to find: We hope we will find
a broader range of species in shallower
depths and maybe on similar surfaces
(coral, sponge, sand, etc.).
• We are very excited to see and experience
everything we discover about these petite
fish.
What we will be looking at:
• Water depth
• Living environment
(Coral; Sponge; etc.)
• Species
• Location
• Time of day
• How many Gobies per
surface (coral, sponge,
sand, etc.)
THANK YOU
SO MUCH
FOR YOUR
SUPPORT!!!!