Matthew J Vucko

James Cook University - based in Ottawa Canada working remotely

The macroalga Asparagopsis taxiformis is an effective antimethanogen in ruminants due to the presence of bromoform. To date, research on the effects of A. taxiformis on methanogenesis has used freeze-dried material without an understanding of alternative post-harvest processing methods. Therefore, A. taxiformis was processed using a factorial desig...

The purpose of this study was to quantify and model the combined effects of dietary concentration of astaxanthin (32.5-102.5 ppm) and time of supplementation (29-69 days) on the growth, survival, and colouration of Penaeus monodon (Black tiger prawn), using natural (Haematococcus pluvialis) and synthetic (Carophyll Pink®) astax-anthin. A model was...

The viability of land-based seaweed cultivation is linked to high areal productivity of biomass and best suited for species that grow vegetatively and unattached. To develop optimised strategies for cultivation in land-based systems for attached species characterised by short growth cycles with periodic reproduction, ropes were seeded with zoids of...

Liquid biostimulants made from macroalgae have traditionally been based on the processing of brown seaweeds collected from the wild. In this study, liquid extracts were produced from the freshwater green macroalga Oedogonium intermedium, cultivated in a land-based system. The first part of the study was aimed at selecting extraction conditions to m...

Approximately 70% of the aquatic-based production of animals is fed aquaculture, whereby animals are provided with high-protein aquafeeds. Currently, aquafeeds are reliant on fish meal and fish oil sourced from wild-captured forage fish. However, increasing use of forage fish is unsustainable and, because an additional 37.4 million tons of aquafeed...

Extracts produced from marine macroalgal biomass promote plant growth, improve yield, and increase the tolerance of plants to physiological stressors. Most of these extracts are produced with dried macroalgal biomass as their stock material, and use processing techniques that cause considerable modification to the original biomass and require a sub...

Asparagopsis taxiformis (Asparagopsis) inhibits the production of enteric methane in ruminants. A next critical step in the implementation of this technology is the delivery of a naturally-derived product that maximises the concentration and longer-term retention of bromoform. This study (1) quantified the effects of solvent (water or oil), initial...

Sub-sampling large-scale, land-based macroalgal cultures to estimate stocking densities is time-consuming, labour-intensive, and inaccurate. Therefore, the development of innovative methods to monitor stocking densities are required to maximise macroalgal productivity. In this study the spectral reflectance of a range of biomass densities (0.5–12.0...

Hydrophobicity is common in plants and animals, typically caused by high relief microtexture functioning to keep the surface clean. Although the occurrence and physical causes of hydrophobicity are well understood, ecological factors promoting its evolution are unclear. Geckos have highly hydrophobic integuments. We predicted that, because the grou...

New sources of protein are required to supplement current animal- and plant-protein. Here, we quantify the quality and yield of four protein-enriched biomass products (PEB-I to PEB-IV) and a protein isolate (PI) from the commercially produced seaweed Ulva ohnoi. To decrease the content of components of the biomass that may be undesirable in feed, w...

This study quantifies the effects of astaxanthin concentration as a dietary supplement (25, 50, 75, and 100 ppm) and supplementation time (0, 14, 28, 42, 56, and 70 days) on the colouration of the marine ornamental fish Pseudochromis fridmani (Orchid dottyback), using natural (as vegetative Haematococcus pluvialis) and synthetic (as Carophyll Pink®...

Response surface methodology was used to determine the effects of the solvent pH, the temperature of extraction, and the duration of extraction on the yield, purity, molecular weight, viscosity, and total metal content of ulvan extracted from U. ohnoi. Quadratic models identified the optimised responses for yield (72.6%) purity (68.2% w/w), molecul...

A first step in examining factors influencing trait evolution is demonstrating associations between traits and environmental factors. Scale microstructure is a well‐studied feature of squamate reptiles (Squamata), including geckos, but few studies examine ecology the of microstructures, and those focus mainly on toe pads. In this study, the ecomorp...

The macroalga Oedogonium intermedium has a diverse elemental profile, high energy potential, high lipid content, a high proportion of essential amino acids and a total concentration of protein with the potential to meet the nutritional requirements of herbivorous fishes. The aim of this study was to assess growth, condition, colouration and reprodu...

Freshwater macroalgae are an attractive treatment option for waste streams that have very high concentrations of nutrients. However, the long water residence times required in these scenarios will result in carbon becoming a limiting nutrient that negatively impacts the rate of biomass productivity and, subsequently, the potential for nutrient upta...

Cutaneous sensilla of 27 species of Dipldactylidae and Carphodactylidae are plotted on a supertree reconstructed from published data to examine their evolution

Livestock feed modification is a viable method for reducing methane emissions from ruminant livestock. Ruminant enteric methane is responsible approximately to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. Some species of macroalgae have antimethanogenic activity on in vitro fermentation. This study used in vitro fermentation with rumen inoculum to...

Contribution of ruminants to total greenhouse gas emissions in Australia is approximately 10% and likely to increase with demand for livestock products, thus an efficient method of mitigation must be implemented. The red marine macroalgae Asparagopsis taxiformis reduces enteric methane production by up to 99% in vitro. Other macroalgae with less po...

The dynamic relationship between the settlement behaviour of marine biota (cells, spores, larvae) and the longevity of an entrapped air layer (plastron) on submersed superhydrophobic surfaces was systematically investigated. Plastron lifetime decreased with increasing hydrophobic polymer loadings, and was correlated with the settlement rate of a ra...

Particles of copper, bronze and zinc were embedded into a polymer using cold-spray technology to produce loading density gradients of metal particles. The gradients were used to identify the species with the highest tolerance to the release of copper and zinc ions. The gradients also established the minimum effective release rates (MERRs) of copper...

The antifouling efficacy of a series of 18 textured (0.2-1000 μm) and non-textured (0 μm) polydimethylsiloxane surfaces with the profiles of round- and square-wave linear grating was tested by recording the settlement of fouling organisms in the laboratory and in the field by monitoring the recruitment of a multi-species fouling community. In labor...

Polydimethylsiloxane surfaces textured with a square-wave linear grating profile (0, 20, 200, 300 and 600 μm), and embedded with a range of photocatalytic titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle loadings (3.75, 7.5, 11.25 and 15 wt.%), were used to test the combined efficacy of these technologies as antifouling materials. Settlement of the fouling bry...

Cold spray metal embedment is an innovative antifouling (AF) technology that delivers metal particles with AF properties into many thermoplastic polymers. AF efficacy was quantified for low (22.1 ± 4.8 g m(-2)) and high (101.1 ± 10.8 g m(-2)) densities of copper particles embedded into polyurethane (PU) seismic streamer skins, which are used in geo...

Fouling-release (FR) coatings minimise the adhesion strength of fouling organisms. This study describes improved technologies to control the settlement and adhesion of the important fouling organism Mytilus galloprovincialis by incorporating the nanofillers titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrice...

The study demonstrates that embedment of copper particles into thermoplastic polymers (polymers) using cold spray technology is an effective deterrent against fouling organisms. Two polymers, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and nylon were metallised with copper powder using cold spray technology. After 250 days in the field, Cu-embedded HDPE and c...

Surface wettability and microtopography can either enhance or deter larval settlement of many sessile marine organisms. This study quantifies the effect of these surface properties on the settlement of pediveligers of Mytilus galloprovincialis, using polymers spanning a range of wettability and microtextured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Furthermore...

The mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis is a common aquaculture species, and also a major fouling organism that has negative economic impacts. There are no standard assay conditions for this important species and therefore, this study quantified the effect of key factors on the settlement of pediveligers and plantigrades. Density dependent settlement...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a powerful tool used in the study of lizard skin morphology and has allowed researchers to gain insight into the intricate structure of complex epidermal layers, an interesting part of which Is the outer layer or oberhautchen. Methods involved In the preparation of samples for SEM are Invasive and usually invol...