Schedule for the 2008 Alligator Gar Working Group Meetingat the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
Thibodaux, LA
THURSDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2008
8:00 AM registration/coffee
8:30 AM Allyse Ferrara – NichollsStateUniversity, Welcome and introductory remarks. 15 minutes
8:45 AM Lee Holt – Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Update of alligator gar research efforts in theCache and White Rivers, Arkansas. 15 minutes
9:00 AM Dave Armstrong – Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Overview of the alligator gar conservation management plan for Alabama. 15 minutes
9:15AM Chris Kennedy – Missouri Department of Conservation, Update of Missouri Department of Conservation alligator gar restoration project. 60 minutes
10:15AM BREAK
10:45 AM Brian Kreiser – University of Southern Mississippi and Greg Moyer – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Developing microsatellite loci for alligator gar and their usefulness in other gar species. 30 minutes
11:15 AM Jaclyn Zelko – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Preliminary results on
the cryopreservation of alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) sperm. 15 minutes
11:30 PM Gary LaFleur – NichollsStateUniversity, Electrophysiological and phylogenetic studies on the toxicity of gar oocyte extract. 15 minutes
12:00 PM LUNCH – provided at JeanLaffiteCenter
1:15 PM Roberto Mendoza - Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, México, Multidisciplinary research for the domestication of alligator gar. 60 minutes
2:15 PM Carlos Aguilera - Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, México, Biomarkers screening in alligator gar to assess the impact of pollution. 30 minutes
2:45 PM BREAK
3:00 PM Alfonso Álvarez - Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, México, Advances in the feeding and nutrition of tropical gar Atractosteus tropicus. 30 minutes
3:30 PM Rafael Martinez – University of Arizona, Sex identification in tropical gar Atractosteus tropicus using vitellogenin levels. 30 minutes
4:00 PM BREAK
4:15 PM DISCUSSION
5:00 PM BREAK/FREE TIME
6:30 PM Crawfish boil at NSU farm
FRIDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2008
8:00 AM registration/coffee
8:30 AM Rachel Laird – NichollsStateUniversity, Antimicrobial properties of alligator gar blood. 15 minutes
8:45 AM Lindsey Lewis – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Observations of spawning and nursery habitat of the alligator gar, Atractosteus spatula, in the Fourche LaFave River, Arkansas. 15 minutes
9:00 AM Kayla DiBenedetto – LouisianaStateUniversity, Life history
characteristics of alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) in south Louisiana.15 minutes
9:15 AM Olivia Smith – NichollsStateUniversity, Histological examination of alligator gar gonads from lower Terrebonne Estuary, Louisiana. 15 minutes
9:30 AM BREAK
10:00 AM Eric Brinkman - OklahomaStateUniversity, Distribution and ecology of alligator gar in Oklahoma: A Project Overview. 30 minutes
10:30 AM Justin Bishop - University of Southern Mississippi, Movement and habitat use of Atractosteus spatula in the Hatchie River, TN. 15 minutes
10:45 AM Quenton Fontenot – NichollsStateUniversity, Preliminary design of an alligator gar production facility. 15 minutes
11:00 AM DISCUSSION
12:00 PM ADJOURN