[All-postdocs] Biology seminar this week: Dr. Christina Pasparakis, Postdoc Research Associate, UC Davis

[Margot McKlveen]

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*Biology Department Virtual Seminar*

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Thursday, June 17 at Noon

Zoom link: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/97999427569 
<https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/97999427569>


Dr. Christina Pasparakis

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of California Davis


Embryos to Ecosystems: Effects of the DWH Oil Spill on Mahi-Mahi 
(Coryphaena hippurus)

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill of 2010 was the largest marine oil 
spill in US history- it released millions of barrels of crude oil into 
the Northern Gulf of Mexico and lasted 87 days. The timing and location 
of this spill resulted in crude oil exposure of many commercially and 
ecologically important fish species, such as mahi-mahi (Coryphaena 
hippurus), during their sensitive early life stages (ELS). Mahi produce 
positively buoyant and rapidly developing embryos. Therefore, ELS mahi 
may have been directly exposed to the cardiotoxic tricyclic PAHs 
dominating oil slicks in surface waters for a significant portion of 
their developmental period. Further, these embryos are transparent and 
are likely also exposed to simultaneous stressors occurring in surface 
waters, known to act synergistically in the presence of oil, such as 
ultraviolet radiation and increased temperatures.

DWH crude oil exposure was found to affect numerous physiological 
processes such as oxygen consumption, nitrogenous waste excretion, 
cardiac function, energy utilization and buoyancy in ELS mahi. Impacts 
were exacerbated when mahi were exposed to multiple stressors at once, 
emphasizing the importance of including additional environmentally 
realistic stressors/variables in future toxicity tests. Buoyancy change 
as a means of altering vertical distribution provides evidence that 
marine organisms once presumed immobile, such as embryos, may assert 
more control over their immediate environment than previously thought.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/97999427569 
<https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/97999427569>

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-- 
Margot McKlveen | she/her
Senior Administrative Assistant
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Redfield Building Room 305 | MS 32
266 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole, MA 02543
508-289-2334
mmcklveen at whoi.edu

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