Gulf sturgeon are anadromous, spawning in freshwater and returning to the marine environment to feed. Herein, we document the marine distribution and timing of movement in and out of the marine environment of Gulf sturgeon natal to the Pascagoula and Pearl rivers (MS and LA). From 1999 to 2004, we attached sonic transmitters to 194 fish averaging 151 (MS) to 160 (LA) cm in fork length. We located 56 different Gulf sturgeon in the estuarine or marine environments, some multiple times. Fish were distributed nonrandomly, being found primarily in shallow water (mean=3.9 m) in barrier island passes. Benthic samples taken at Gulf sturgeon telemetry location sites were dominated by Florida lancelets, sand dollars, annelids, haustoriid amphipods, and mollusks-all docu-

Patients with end-stage liver disease frequently need invasive cardiac procedures in preparation for liver transplantation. As a consequence of impaired hepatic function these patients often have a prolonged prothrombin time (PT) and elevated International Normalized Ratio (INR). To determine whether an abnormal PT/INR is predictive of bleeding complications from invasive cardiac procedures, we reviewed retrospectively, for bleeding complications, the databases and case records of our series of patients with advanced cirrhosis who underwent cardiac catheterization. One hundred and fifty-seven patients underwent isolated right heart catheterization (RHC), and 83 underwent left (LHC) or combined left and right sided heart catheterization. INRs ranged from 0.93-2.35. There were no major procedure-related complications. Several patients in each group required blood transfusion for gastrointestinal bleeding, but not for procedure-related bleeding. There was no significant change in hemoglobin after RHC or LHC, and no correlation between pre-procedure INR and change in post-procedure hemoglobin. When comparing patients with normal (≤1.5) and elevated (>1.5) INRs, no significant difference in hemoglobin post-procedure was found in either group. In conclusion, despite an elevated INR, patients with end-stage liver disease can safely undergo invasive cardiac procedures. INR elevation does not predict catheterization-related bleeding complications in this patient population.

Effects of pollution on biotic integrity are difficult to identify when correlations occur between environmental gradients and contaminant effects, as they do in estuaries. In this broad-scale study, we used canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) to distinguish influences of natural and contaminant-related gradients on macrobenthic community structure among 319 sites from estuaries throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. Natural gradients in salinity, depth, and sediment composition obscured the detection of macrobenthic responses to sediment contamination. After adjusting for natural environmental variability, however, partial CCA revealed important macrobenthic variation in relation to sediment contamination. A rotated principal component analysis (PCA) distinguished five composite environmental factors, each largely reflecting contaminant or natural variation. Two complex gradients in sediment contamination identified by the PCA diverged in partial CCA space and correlated with different macrobenthic indicator taxa. Contaminant gradients represented variation in two different classes of sediment contaminants: trace metals and organic chemicals. Dispersion patterns of CCA site coordinates enabled cross validation of implied contamination-related variation in community function and the utility of several interpretive or management metrics. Trophic diversity decreased with sediment contamination, linking shifts in macrobenthic community function and community structure along contaminant gradients. The CCA model complemented an earlier benthic index developed from these data to examine biotic integrity, but the benthic index could not discern macrobenthic responses to the different contaminant gradients. Neither was the benthic index useful for showing transitions in macrobenthic community structure commensurate with different levels of contamination. Ampelisca amphipod sediment bioassays were inadequate for identifying contaminant effects on biotic integrity, whereas Mysidopsis mysid sediment bioassays conservatively reflected sediment contamination and associated macrobenthic indicators.

Cystacanths of Hexaglandula corynosoma were discovered in the fiddler crabs Uca spinicarpa and Uca rapax collected in Mississippi and Florida. Adults were present in yellow-crowned night herons, Nyctanassa violacea, collected in Florida. Cystacanths are very similar to adults, varying only in size and state of development. This is the first record of H. corynosoma from the United States and the first record of an intermediate host for any species of the genus. Cystacanths of Arhythmorhynchus frassoni were present in U. rapax from Florida. The proboscis size, shape, and armature of the cystacanths are identical to those of adults from clapper rails (Rallus longirostris) collected in several southeastern states. This is the first report of an intermediate host for A. frassoni. Profilicollis altmani cystacanths were collected from mole crabs (Emerita talpoida) at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. These specimens, together with adults obtained from shore birds in Louisiana and Mississippi, are consistent with the view that P. altmani, Profilicollis kenti, and Profilicollis texensis are synonyms, with P. altmani having nomenclatural priority.

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