Teaching Interests

BSC 201/L General Zoology
BSC 404/L/504/L Caribbean Marine Biology syllabus
BSC 404/L/504/L Caribbean Marine Biology detailed schedule
BSC 421/L/521/L Marine Invertebrate Zoology
BSC 445/L/545/L Marine Biology
BSC 492/707/L Planktology

Research Interests

My research interests are in the field of marine biology and focus on biochemical and physiological aspects of marine animals, primarily crustaceans but other invertebrates as well as fishes.

One aspect of my research involves the biochemical composition and energy reserves in adults and embryos of shallow water and deep-sea crustaceans. Specifically, I am examining the contribution of maternal nutritional history and/or depth of occurrence to the pattern of energy resource utilization by the embryos. The deep-sea red crab Chaceon quinquedens was used as a model organism to answer fundamental questions concerning the energetic strategies utilized during early development of food-limited, deep-sea crustaceans. My students and I have performed similar studies using estuarine and shallow-water Gulf of Mexico crabs including the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, stone crabs Menippe spp. and xanthid crabs Armases spp. to determine whether strategies are different in habitats with abundant food.

Other research projects in my lab deal with the biochemical composition, particularly lipids and lipid classes, of little-studied crustaceans including

• the giant deep-sea isopod Bathynomus giganteus
• the copepods Aglaodiaptomus stagnalis and A. clavipoides, dominant members of the plankton in certain ephemeral freshwater ponds
• the mysids Americamysis bahia and A. alleni

I am currently collaborating with Dr. Ken Curry, a BSC colleague, on an NSF-funded project that focuses on the long-term cycling of carbon in marine sediments. We are examining the association between the microfabric signatures of clay platelets formed during polychaete fecal pellet production and the geologic preservation of organic material in the marine environment.

Current Graduate Students

Recent Graduates

• Jennifer Paul Stygles, M.S. May 2006. “Reproduction and embryonic development of Leitoscoloplos foliosus (Polychaeta, Orbiniidae).”

  This studied documented the reproductive biology of a widely distributed, but little studied, polychaete worm.

  Jennifer is employed as an Environmental Biologist for Apex Environmental Consultants, Inc. in Hattiesburg, MS and is an Adjunct Instructor of Biology for Pearl River Community College.
   

• Meagan Alma McNamara Williams, M.S. August 2004. “A biochemical analysis of developing eggs and larvae of the American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus from Delaware Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.”

  This study reported the biochemical composition of newly hatched horseshoe crab eggs collected from the New Jersey coast of Delaware Bay and the Florida and Mississippi coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and reared in the lab until hatching. Patterns of yolk composition and yolk utilization were generally similar, except for significantly higher ash in New Jersey embryos.

  Meagan is enrolled in a doctoral program at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
   

• Julie Anne Kamp, M.S. August 2004. “Comparative biochemistry of the stomatopods Squilla empusa and Squilla chydaea: ovarian composition.”

  This study compared the biochemical composition of developing ovaries in two co-occurring species of mantis shrimp collected from Texas and Louisiana waters.

  Julie is employed as the dive master at the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke, NC.

   

• Kirsten Marie Larsen, M.S. December 2006. "Utilization of marsh edge and nonvegetated bottom habitats in western Mississippi Sound by brown shrimp, Farfantepenaeus aztecus, and associated faunal assemblages"

  Kirsten is employed as the Special Assistant for Science and Technology, National Marine Fisheries Service at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
  
   

• Brian Daniel Ortman. M.S. August 2003. “Effects of temperature, salinity, feeding regime and dissolved oxygen concentration of survival and asexual budding of Aurelia aurita and Drymonema dalmatinum scyphistomae (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa).”

  This study demonstrated that cnidarian polyps have broad ranges of tolerance to physical conditions; they may be able to out-compete with other species that are less tolerant to hypoxia.

  Brian is a doctoral student in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Connecticut –Storrs.
   

• Kristin Nichole Ealy. M.S. December 2001. “Geographic assessment of blue crab Callinectes sapidus: embryo size, fecundity, and biochemical composition.”

  This study compared embryo size, fecundity, and biochemical composition of blue crab embryos among populations throughout this species’ range in US waters.

  Kristin worked for a short time as a domestic fisheries observer in Alaska and is currently employed by the National Marine Fisheries Service in Virginia.

Representative Publications

Williams, J.L. and P.M. Biesiot. 2004. Lipids and fatty acids of the benthic marine harpacticoid copepod Heteropsyllus nunni Coull during diapause: a contrast to pelagic copepods. Marine Biology 144: 335-344.

Shervette, V.R., H.M. Perry, C.F. Rakocinski, and P.M. Biesiot. 2004. Factors influencing refuge occupation by stone crab Menippe adina juveniles in Mississippi Sound. Journal of Crustacean Biology 24: 652-665.

Jacobs, J.R., P.M. Biesiot, H.M. Perry & C. Trigg. 2003. Biochemical composition of embryonic blue crabs Callinectes sapidus Rathbun 1896 (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 72: 311-324.

Biesiot, P.M., S.Y. Wang, H.M. Perry, & C. Trigg. 1999. Organic reserves in the midgut gland and fat body of the giant deep-sea isopod Bathynomus giganteus. Journal of Crustacean Biology 19: 450-458.