Andy Ostrowski - BS Honors student

I am originally from Lisbon, Ct, and am pursuing my Bachelor of Science while double majoring in Marine Biology and Environmental Studies-Biological, as well as completing a minor in Chemistry.  I first became interested in Fisheries while volunteering at a public aquarium in their Fish and Invertebrates department that eventually lead to a summer internship.  While at my internship, I completed an independent research project on the effects of chemical additives on the water chemistry of a live coral exhibit.  Following my junior year at UNC-Wilmington, I attended Maryland Sea Grant’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and was advised by Dr. Thomas J. Miller.  I completed another research project titled “Effects of food availability on the RNA:DNA ratio of juvenile Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, in the habitats of the Patuxent River system.”

            My honor’s research at UNCW is focused on examining the relationship between early life history traits and survival in populations of recently settled southern flounder, Parilichthyes lethostigma.  Southern flounder spawn during winter months and recently metamorphosed juveniles settle in estuarine habitats during late winter and early spring.  Most individuals that have settled are between 10 – 20mm total length and experience high mortality during post-settlement months.  I hope to determine whether early life history traits, specifically hatching date and early growth rate, are linked to survival to larger post-settlement sizes achieved by summer.  I obtained fish from winter, spring and summer sampling collections.  Taxonomic identification was completed using anal fin ray counts as well as melanophore counts and spacing to separate southern flounder from other flatfish species.  Like most fishes, southern flounder deposit daily increments on their otoliths (inner ear bones) that can be used to age individuals.  I extracted otoliths by soaking the fish in immersion oil.  The microstructure of each otolith will be analyzed using light microscopy and computer software to count daily increments and measure the spacing between them.  I will be back calculating birth dates for flounder from early and late collections by subtracting the number of daily increments counted from the date of capture.  I will also estimate early growth rate for each group of fish by measuring otolith size and relating that to fish age.  The distribution of hatch dates and growth rates will be compared between the fish collected just after settlement and those collected several months later that have survived the first few months of life.  If differences exist (for instance the survivors are made up of fish that were hatched early and grew fast), it will give us insight as to which early life history traits may have the greatest influence on recruitment success of southern flounder.

            Since graduating, Andy has been working for NOAA Fisheries as a contractor at the Beaufort, NC laboratory.  He has gained new experience rearing fishes and designing controlled experiments to evaluate feeding and growth performance.  Andy is currently working on his MS degree with Dr. Wade Watanabe at UNCW.