Research Projects 2001

Behavioural capabilities of tropical reef fish larvae (November 2000/ January 2001, November/ December 2001)
*Rebecca Fisher (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Pernille Hansen, Rochelle Ferris, Damian Allen, Kate Hutson, Steve Golding, Heidy Parks, Shaun Wilson and Dustin Fisher

Functional feeding morphology of Pomacanthidae and Chaetodontidae (December 2000/ January 2001)
*Nicolai Konow (James Cook University, Townsville)

Trophic states of blennies (December 2000/ January 2001)
*Shaun Wilson (James Cook University, Townsville)

Effect of cleaner fish on parasite virulence (December 2000/ February 2001)
Dr Alexandra Grutter (University of Queensland, Townsville) assisted by Fabian Grutter, Marie-Lise Schlaeppy and Mark Johnson

Species boundaries in scleractinian corals (January, February, December 2001)
*Jackie Wolstenholme (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Jonas Sternstrom, Paul Detwiler, Margaret Brown, Zoe Richards and Xavier Pochon

Long-term effect of cleaning on gnathiid isopods (January, April, August 2001)
*Jan-Maree Murphy (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Kendra Coufal, Kylie Jennings, Stephen Beacham and Christine Fury

Growth and allometry of shallow water crinoids (January 2001)
*Paul Detwiler (San Diego State University, USA)

Larval fish behaviour (January/ February 2001)
Dr Jeff Leis (Australian Museum, Sydney) assisted by Brooke Carson Ewart, Tove Lemberget and Amanda Hay

Recruitment dynamics of tropical fishes (January/ February 2001)
Dr Mark McCormick (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Paul Costello and Shawn Smith

Butterflyfish population studies (January 2001)
*Michael Berumen (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Danielle de Vere and Matt Williams

Demography and life history traits of some serranid fishes: implications for fisheries and conservation management (January, February, December 2001)
*Rachel Pears (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Russell Kelley and Paul Costello

Ecological morphology of labrid fishes (January 2001)
Dr David Bellwood (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Andrew Hoey and Chris Fulton

Evolutionary implications of resource specialisation (January 2001)
Dr Phil Munday and Dr Julian Caley (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Marie-Lise Schlaeppy

Evolutionary relationships between Pacific and Indian Ocean reef fishes: a molecular approach (January, February 2001)
Prof Howard Choat (James Cook University, Townsville) and Dr Tony Ayling (Sea Research, Daintree)

Geographic variation in size at age of the family Labridae: a contribution to life history theory (January 2001)
*John Ackerman (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Prof Howard Choat

Ontogenetic changes in habitat utilisation in the common fusilier (January/ February 2001)
Dr Brigid Kerrigan (James Cook University, Townsville)

Growth and life history characteristics of north Queensland elasmobranchs (January, February 2001)
*Will Robbins (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Prof Howard Choat

Neuroethology of colour on the reef (January/ February, June 2001)
*Ulricke Siebeck (University of Queensland, Townsville) assisted by Guy Wallis and Goslik Schepers and accompanied by Waltraut Siebeck and Dorothea Thudium

Large-scale patterns of coral demography on the Great Barrier Reef (February, May 2001)
Morgan Prachett as field leader for Prof Terry Hughes' project (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Matt Williams and Deborah Gibson and Dr Shaun Connolly

Evolution and dietary habits in the genus Naso (February 2001)
*Selma Klanten (James Cook University, Townsville)

Bi-directional sex change in coral-dwelling gobies (April, September, October 2001)
Dr Phil Munday (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Katherine Munday, Michael Caldwell, Melanie-Jane Underwood and Mikaela Bergenius

Colour polymorphism, sex allocation and mating systems in the family Pseudochromidae (April 2001)
*Peter Eyre (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Steve Whalan

Condition and persistence of coral reef fish recruits (April/ May 2001)
Dr David Booth (University of Technology, Sydney) assisted by Ralph Alquezar

Genome size in tropical fishes (April 2001)
*David Hardie (University of Guelph, Canada)

Habitat structure, social organisation and reproductive biology of group-dwelling gobies (April, May 2001)
*Vanessa Thompson (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Mike Emslie and Ashley Schreiber

Predator-prey interactions in coral reef fish communities (April/ June, October, December 2001)
*Ameer Abdulla (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Chico Birrell, Casey Wilkinson, Rohan Arthur and Heather Patterson

The structural integrity and distribution of reef corals in the hydrodynamic environment (May, October/ November 2001)
*Joshua Madin (James Cook University, assisted by Anthony Dell

Density of burrowing clams in Porites - a test of island biogeography theory (May 2001)
*Kate Smith (University of New Mexico, USA) assisted by Jean Smith

Growth rates of Holothuria nobilis (June 2001)
Dr Sven Uthicke (Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville) assisted by David Welch

Chemistry of Great Barrier Reef sponges (July 2001)
Dr Mary Garson (University of Queensland, Brisbane)

Combining morphological, biochemical and DNA sequence data from nudibranchs: can this improve an evolutionary model? (July 2001)
*Shireen Fahey (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Robert Mann

Crustacean Conference Workshop (July 2001)
Dr Penny Berents (Australian Museum, Sydney), Dr Henrik Glenner (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Dr Stefan Richter (Universitaet zu Berlin, Germany), Dr Sara Le Croy (USM College of Marine Sciences, USA) and Dr Vania Coelho (Columbia University, USA) accompanied by Natalie Berents and Kim Parsons

Effect of isopods on mate choice in cardinalfish (September/ October 2001)
*Lynda Curtis (University of Queensland, Brisbane)

Effects of line fishing - visual surveys of coral trout (September 2001)
Dr Tony Ayling (Consultant to CRC Reef, Townsville) assisted by Chris Ryan and Gabriel Codina and accompanied by Dr Avril Ayling, Bliss Ayling, Zenica Ayling, Melba Nott and Emma Ryan

Ontogeny of sexual development in a coral-dwelling goby, Gobiodon histrio (September, October/ November 2001)
*Jean-Paul Hobbs (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by John Claydon, Michael Caldwell and Peter Cumming

Ultraviolet cues and mate choice in reef fish (September/ October 2001)
Dr Sara Ostlund-Nilsson (University of Queensland, Brisbane)

Distribution and habitat selection of nudibranchs on midshelf and fringing reefs (October 2001)
*Soeren Schubert (University of Kiel, Germany)

Taxonomic and ecological studies on the Caprellidea (Crustacea: Amphipoda) (October 2001)
Dr Jose Guerra-Garcia (Universidad de Sevilla, Spain) assisted by Steve Keable

Behavioural and ecological relevance of colour vision in mantis shrimp (October/ November 2001)
*Alex Cheroske (University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA)

Evolution of geographic ranges in tropical reef fish (October, November 2001)
*Karin Buechler (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Andreas Boesch, Tim Prior, Paul Costello and Andrew Halford

Why are reef fish colourful? (October/ November 2001)
Dr Justin Marshall (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Kylie Jennings

Light and visual signaling in the marine environment (October/ November 2001)
Dr Tom Cronin (University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA) Reconnaissance for future project (October 2001)
Dr Soyoka Muko (visitor to James Cook University, Townsville)

Phylogeny of Crinoidea (November 2001)
Dr Greg Rouse and Dr Lars Jermiin (University of Sydney) and Dr Charles Messing (Nova Southeastern University, USA)

Egg size, larval ecology and development in the brittlestar genus Macrophiothrix (November 2000/ January 2001)
*Jon Allen (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) assisted by Damian Allen

Are pre-settlement reef fish attracted to reef sounds? (November, December 2001)
*Steve Simpson (University of York, UK)

Larval fish and sound (November, December 2001)
*Olivia Haine and Dr Nicholas Tolimieri (University of Auckland, New Zealand) assisted by Christine Dudgeon

Chemoreception in gobies (November 2001)
Prof Kjell Doving (University of Oslo, Norway) assisted by Vanessa Thompson

Interactions between cleaner shrimp and fishes: is this mutualism? (November/ December 2001)
*Justine Becker (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Dr Alexandra Grutter and Rosa Garcia

Isotopes, early life history, and potential self-recruitment of coral reef fishes (November/ December 2001)
*Heather Patterson (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Ameer Abdulla, Julian Hughes and Prof Mike Kingsford

Reproductive endocrinology of spiny and staghorn damselfishes (November 2001)
Prof Ned Pankhurst (University of Tasmania, Launceston) assisted by Dr Tish Pankhurst, David Foster, Elizabeth Cox, Harry King and Quinn Fitzgibbon

The effect of stress on damselfish offspring (November 2001/ February 2002)
Dr Mark McCormick (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Shawn Smith, Martial Depczynski and Johan Larson

How many reef checks does it take to characterise a reef? (November 2001)
*Monique Myers (Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville) assisted by Sara Pausina and Jodi Salmond

Plasticity of larval skeletal growth in response to food conditions in ophiuroids (December 2001/ January 2002)
*Justin McAlister (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)

Evolution of gamete characteristics in the brittlestar genus Macrophiothrix (December 2001/ January 2002)
Dr Bob Podolsky (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) assisted by Lucy Haycock and Elizabeth Hawkins

Molecular identification of Symbiodinium-like endosymbiotic dinoflagellates among soritid foraminifera (December 2001)
*Xavier Pochon (University of Geneva, Switzerland)

Elemental fingerprints of Acanthochromis polyacanthus (December 2001)
Prof Michael Kingsford (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Julian Hughes

Post-recruitment swimming performance in reef fishes: the ecological implications (December 2001)
*Chris Fulton (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Sitthixay Ditthavong

Reef fishes and ecosystem function (December 2001)
Dr David Bellwood (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Andrew Hoey