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- Purple marsh crabs are significantly disrupting carbon cycling in salt marshes along the East Coast of the U.S., according to a study led by Batten School & VIMS scientists.
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- National TRAP Program funds large-scale cleanup of discarded fishing gear, first round of subawards totaling more than $1.4M supports 11 projects focused on removing derelict fishing gear from coastal waters in nine U.S. states and Palau.
  
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- As an expression of parental pride in their daughter, Taylor Spencer ‘83 and Martha Spencer recently established an undergraduate field research endowment at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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Red hake

Urophycis chuss

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size To about 50 cm, commonly 30 to 40 cm.
Diagnostic characters
Habitat, biology, and fisheries Lives on or near bottom at depths from near shore to more than 550 m depth, most abundant at 110 and 130 m; juveniles live in shallow waters along coast, migrating to deeper waters with increasing size. Juveniles live commensually in scallops (Placopecten magellanicus), then in the vicinity of scallop beds until their second year of life. Matures in two years at about 30 cm; moves inshore from spring to summer to spawn, and spends winter offshore in deeper waters; depth and distribution highly dependent on temperature. Feeds primarily on crustaceans, but also on squid and fishes. Of variable commercial importance, but of minor importance in Area 31. Taken in trawls; marketed fresh and frozen; smaller fish used in animal feeds.
Distribution From southern Nova Scotia to North Carolina.
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.