@article{cope_holliman_kwak_oakley_lazaro_shea_augspurger_law_henne_ware_et al._2011, title={Assessing water quality suitability for shortnose sturgeon in the Roanoke River, North Carolina, USA with an in situ bioassay approach}, volume={27}, ISSN={["0175-8659"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-78751690460&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1111/j.1439-0426.2010.01570.x}, abstractNote={Summary 
 
The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of water quality in the Roanoke River of North Carolina for supporting shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum, an endangered species in the United States. Fathead minnows Pimephales promelas were also evaluated alongside the sturgeon as a comparative species to measure potential differences in fish survival, growth, contaminant accumulation, and histopathology in a 28-day in situ toxicity test. Captively propagated juvenile shortnose sturgeon (total length 49 ± 8 mm, mean ± SD) and fathead minnows (total length 39 ± 3 mm, mean ± SD) were used in the test and their outcomes were compared to simultaneous measurements of water quality (temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, total ammonia nitrogen, hardness, alkalinity, turbidity) and contaminant chemistry (metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides, current use pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls) in river water and sediment. In the in situ test, there were three non-riverine control sites and eight riverine test sites with three replicate cages (25 × 15-cm (OD) clear plexiglass with 200-μm tear-resistant Nitex® screen over each end) of 20 shortnose sturgeon per cage at each site. There was a single cage of fathead minnows also deployed at each site alongside the sturgeon cages. Survival of caged shortnose sturgeon among the riverine sites averaged 9% (range 1.7–25%) on day 22 of the 28-day study, whereas sturgeon survival at the non-riverine control sites averaged 64% (range 33–98%). In contrast to sturgeon, only one riverine deployed fathead minnow died (average 99.4% survival) over the 28-day test period and none of the control fathead minnows died. Although chemical analyses revealed the presence of retene (7-isopropyl-1-methylphenanthrene), a pulp and paper mill derived compound with known dioxin-like toxicity to early life stages of fish, in significant quantities in the water (251–603 ng L−1) and sediment (up to 5000 ng g−1 dry weight) at several river sites, no correlation was detected of adverse water quality conditions or measured contaminant concentrations to the poor survival of sturgeon among riverine test sites. Histopathology analysis determined that the mortality of the river deployed shortnose sturgeon was likely due to liver and kidney lesions from an unknown agent(s). Given the poor survival of shortnose sturgeon (9%) and high survival of fathead minnows (99.4%) at the riverine test sites, our study indicates that conditions in the Roanoke River are incongruous with the needs of juvenile shortnose sturgeon and that fathead minnows, commonly used standard toxicity test organisms, do not adequately predict the sensitivity of shortnose sturgeon. Therefore, additional research is needed to help identify specific limiting factors and management actions for the enhancement and recovery of this imperiled fish species.}, number={1}, journal={JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY}, author={Cope, W.G. and Holliman, F.M. and Kwak, T.J. and Oakley, N.C. and Lazaro, P.R. and Shea, Damian and Augspurger, T. and Law, J.M. and Henne, J.P. and Ware, K.M. and et al.}, year={2011}, month={Feb}, pages={1–12} }
 @article{holliman_davis_bogan_kwak_cope_levine_2008, title={Magnetic resonance imaging of live freshwater mussels (Unionidae)}, volume={127}, ISSN={["1744-7410"]}, DOI={10.1111/j.1744-7410.2008.00143.x}, abstractNote={Abstract.  We examined the soft tissues of live freshwater mussels, Eastern elliptio Elliptio complanata, via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), acquiring data with a widely available human whole‐body MRI system. Anatomical features depicted in the profile images included the foot, stomach, intestine, anterior and posterior adductor muscles, and pericardial cavity. Noteworthy observations on soft tissue morphology included a concentration of lipids at the most posterior aspect of the foot, the presence of hemolymph‐filled fissures in the posterior adductor muscle, the presence of a relatively large hemolymph‐filled sinus adjacent to the posterior adductor muscle (at the ventral‐anterior aspect), and segmentation of the intestine (a diagnostic description not reported previously in Unionidae). Relatively little is known about the basic biology and ecological physiology of freshwater mussels. Traditional approaches for studying anatomy and tissue processes, and for measuring sub‐lethal physiological stress, are destructive or invasive. Our study, the first to evaluate freshwater mussel soft tissues by MRI, clarifies the body plan of unionid mussels and demonstrates the efficacy of this technology for in vivo evaluation of the structure, function, and integrity of mussel soft tissues.}, number={4}, journal={INVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY}, author={Holliman, F. Michael and Davis, Denise and Bogan, Arthur E. and Kwak, Thomas J. and Cope, W. Gregory and Levine, Jay F.}, year={2008}, pages={396–402} }