BRUV video of the week! It is always fun to find moray eels like this Enelychore nigricans in the BRUV surveys. We are currently analysing the videos recorded in the last sampling round of Omali Vida Nón's BRUV surveys!. We are using Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUVs) around Principe Island (São Tomé and Príncipe) to understand the spatial patterns of fish distribution and inform management.

This octopus' meal got a bit dramatic by the end (turn the volume on!). We have started analysing the videos recorded in the last sampling round of Omali Vida Nón's BRUV surveys! We are using Baited Remote Underwater Video around Principe Island (São Tomé and Principe) to understand the spatial patterns of fish distribution and inform management.

Originally published in omaliprincipeen.weebly.com, available here.
​From July 16 to August 10 we completed the first round of BRUV surveys! BRUVs (Baited Remote Underwater Video surveys) are a non-invasive methodology used to record fish presence, relative abundance and behaviour. Sixty sampling points, randomly selected, were surveyed and over 90 hours of videos have been recorded. This constitutes the first successful sampling round of a monitoring strategy that will continue over the next five years. We are looking forward to start analysing the videos! Over the next months we will be watching the videos and recording species’ presence and abundance using the MaxN metric (maximum number of individuals per frame). This information will be used to design a potential network of Marine Protected Areas. We already got some spectacular footages and they will be available online soon!

How to annoy barracudas using Baited Remote Underwater Video. This one popped in after an hour of no fish at all, so it made me especially happy.

Originally published in omaliprincipeen.weebly.com, More info here
From the 28th of May until the 8th of June Omali Vida Nón did the first histological analysis of the gonad samples of Lutjanus fulgens that had been collected in Principe during April and May 2018. This is part of the fish maturity study conducted in partnership with Forever Principe, so as to better understand the reproductive biology of this predatory species and inform fisheries management. The histological analysis was conducted at Prof. Charles Tyler’s lab at the University of Exeter, under the supervision of Dr. Anke Lange. Samples are fixed in wax, sliced in the microtome and stained on haematoxylin-eosin, and then analysed on the microscope. Through this analysis we aim to validate the macroscopic assessment of the maturity of the gonads done in the field and understand the gonad development and maturation for this understudied species. 

Originally published in omaliprincipeen.weebly.com, know more here
In April, we started a maturity study of the Golden African Snapper (Lutjanus fulgens) in partnership with Forever Principe - a conservation tourism program by Africa's Eden. This predatory species is one of the four snapper species of the genus Lutjanus that exist in Principe’s waters, and there's no information on its growth, diet or reproductive biology. As other snappers, Lutjanus fulgens probably reproduces through spawning aggregations, which makes it especially sensitive to overfishing. Through this study, we aim to better understand the biology of this species. When fishers arrive from fishing, four traders buy the fish from them and send it to the laboratory at Belo Monte, where we take samples of the gonads, fins, otoliths and stomach content. The samples will be taken to the University of Exeter for a histological analysis, to determine the maturity stage of the fish and its age, amongst other variables. This study will be done over several months and this information will be useful for a better management of Principe’s fisheries.