#11 Grazers and predators mediate the post-settlement bottleneck in Caribbean octocoral forests

2024, Frontiers in Marine Science

Wells CD, Benz J, Tonra KJ, Anderson ER, Lasker HR

Fish and urchin grazing reduce octocoral recruit survival, although there are minimal effects from mesofauna, emphasizing the complex dynamics in benthic communities and the implications of grazer declines on octocoral populations.

#10 Investigating the impact of introduced crabs on the distribution and morphology of littorinid snails: Implications for the survival of the snail Littorina saxatilis

2023, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

Wells CD```, Van Volkom KS```, Edquist S, Marovelli S*, Marovelli J*

The invasive crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus has increased predation pressure on the vulnerable native snail Littorina saxatilis, already displaced from competition and predation from earlier invasions.

#9 Information legacies of early ecological studies

2022, Bulletin of Marine Science

Wells CD, Muñoz-Maravilla JD, Lasker HR, Edmunds PJ

Ecological legacy sites at risk of being lost should incorporate procedures to preserve, maintain, and archive the data; collect high-precision GPS coordinates; and install enduring site markers that will persist for decades.

#8 DNA metabarcoding provides insights into the diverse diet of a dominant suspension feeder, the giant plumose anemone Metridium farcimen

2022, Environmental DNA

Wells CD, Paulay G, Nguyen BN, Leray M

The giant plumose anemone eats a more diverse diet than originally described including terrestrial invertebrates such as ants

#7 Algal turf negatively affects recruitment of a Caribbean octocoral

2021, Coral Reefs
Wells CD, Martinez-Quintana A., Tonra KJ*, Lasker HR

Settlement and survival was heavily decreased by higher levels of turf in both laboratory and field experiments. In models, 100% turf cover lead to a 2% survival rate in two months

#6 Spawning, embryogenesis, settlement, and post-settlement development of the gorgonian Plexaura homomalla 

2021, Invertebrate Biology
Tonra KJ*```, Wells CD```, Lasker HR

Spawning and development of embryos of the black sea rod are typical when compare to other gorgonians although there was evidence of polyembryonic development (multiple embryos from one fertilization)

#5 Polyp bailout and reattachment of the abundant Caribbean octocoral Eunicea flexuosa

2021, Coral Reefs

Wells CD and Tonra KJ*

Under stressful conditions, polyps of the bent sea rod Eunicea flexuosa can jump out of their colony and reattach to the substratum

#4 Projected shifts in coral size structure in the Anthropocene

2020, Advances in Marine Biology
Pisapia C, Edmunds PJ, Moeller HV, Riegl BM, McWilliam M, Wells CD, Pratchett MS

There are many benefits gained from more comprehensive attention to the size of coral colonies in reef monitoring projects particularly in understanding demographic processes

#3 Out of the blue: The failure of the introduced sea anemone Sagartia elegans in Salem Harbor, MA

2019, Biological Bulletin
Wells CD and Harris LG

The introduced population of the European elegant anemone died out due to being a single clone that was poorly adapted to Gulf of Maine winters

#2 Individual marking of soft-bodied subtidal invertebrates in situ - a stain technique applied to the giant plumose anemone Metridium farcimen 

2017, PLOS ONE
Wells CD and Sebens KP

Neutral red and methylene blue are effective at marking anemones for prolonged times and do not affect survival and growth

#1 Invasive seaweeds transform habitat structure and increase biodiversity of associated species

2017, Journal of Ecology

Dijkstra JA, Harris LG, Mello K*, Litterer AS*, Wells CD, Ware C.

There has been a long-term shift in the Gulf of Maine to introduced algae which are more structurally complex and harbor greater biodiversity