Research Projects 1998

The following research projects were carried out during 1998. Project leaders who are postgraduate students are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Factors influencing egg production rates in reef fishes (November 1997 to January 1998)
Dr Brigid Kerrigan (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Renae Partridge

Maternal and environmental factors controlling larval quality and survivorship (November 1997 to January 1998)
Dr Brigid Kerrigan (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Renae Partridge and accompanied by Greg Suosaari and Jeff Lane

Do cleaner fish "farm" parasites? (December 1997 to February 1998, May, October, November/ December 1998)
Dr Lexa Grutter (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Mark Johnson, Carley Bansemer, Maya Srinivasan and Dr Redouan Bshary

Long-term monitoring of giant clam populations (December 1997/ January 1998)
Dr David Phillips (Fenviron, UK) assisted by Jackie Robinson

Re-collection of sponges for taxonomic and pharmaceutical research (January 1998)
Dr John Hooper (Queensland Museum), Dr Russell Hill (Australian Institute of Marine Science), Dr Mark Butler and Dr Priscilla Leone (Queensland Pharmaceutical Institute) assisted by John Kennedy, Sue List-Armitage, Kirsteen Kennedy and Shane Armitage

Coral recruitment (January 1998)
*Andrew Baird (James Cook University, Townsville)
Long-term monitoring of coral communities (January 1998)
Liz Dinsdale (for Dr Terry Hughes, James Cook University, Townsville) and Brett Dinsdale, accompanied by Emma and Jenny Dinsdale

Hypodermic insemination in flatworms (January 1998)
Dr Nicolaas Michiels (Max Planck Institute, Germany) assisted by Julie Zeitlinger, Dr Ralph Tollrian and Anne Peters

Anthropogenic impacts on seabirds (transfer to Rocky Islets study site) (January, February 1998)
Assistants to Dr Emma Gyuris (James Cook University, Townsville): Kyi Bean, Sharon Marks and Mark Bennett

Role of herbivory and hydrodynamics in determining abundance and metabolism of algae (January, February, March 1998)
Dr Robert Carpenter (California State University Northridge, USA) assisted by Hedy Carpenter and Megan Liddelow

Population ecology of habitat specialised fishes (January, April/ May, November 1998)
*Phil Munday (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Gillian Goby, Tsai Sin, Melissa Schubert and Marlene Davey

Coral diseases (January/ February 1998)
Dr Arnfried Antonius (University of Vienna, Austria)

Condition and persistence of recruit damselfishes (January/ February 1998)
Dr David Booth (University of Technology, Sydney) assisted by Giglia Beretta

Functional morphology and ecology of feeding and locomotion in labrid fishes (February, April 1998)
Dr Peter Wainwright (Florida State University, USA), Dr Mark Westneat (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA), and Dr David Bellwood (James Cook University, Townsville), assisted by Jason Elliott and accompanied by Caroline, Naomi and David Wainwright

Quantification of flux rates of adult fishes across the boundaries of fisheries reserves - telemetry (February, October 1998)
Dr Dirk Zeller and Dr Garry Russ (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Peter Wolff

Quantification of flux rates of adult fishes across the boundaries of fisheries reserves - trapping (February, June/ July 1998)
*Charles Hatcher (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Sarah Omundsen and Dr Garry Russ

Chronic damage to corals by crown-of-thorns starfish (February/ March, November 1998)
*Morgan Pratchett (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Ben Carroll, Shaun Wilson, Liz Dinsdale and Jackie Wolstenholme

Factors influencing sex change in parrotfishes (February/ March 1998)
*Nick Gust (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Stuart Watson and Barbara Lukoschek

Distribution and abundance of ciliated protozoa in acanthurid fishes and ontogenetic changes in host gut physiology (March 1998)
*Tamsen Byfield (James Cook University, Townsville)

Role of caesionid fishes in the energetics of coral reefs (March, April 1998)
*Lesley Walker (James Cook University, Towsnville) assisted by Dr Brigid Kerrigan, Josh Madin and Sea Rotmann

An evaluation of herbivory in the Blennidae (March, August 1998)
*Shaun Wilson (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Ross Thomas

Growth rates and longevities in exploited reef fishes (March, December 1998)
Prof Howard Choat (James Cook University, Townsville) and Dr Kendall Clements (University of Auckland, New Zealand) assisted by John Ackerman, Samantha Adams, Selma Klanten, and accompanied by Ada, Brendan and Malcolm Choat

Gut morphology and diet in reef fishes (April, November/ December 1998)
*Jason Elliott (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Sula Blake

Molecular analysis and ecology of the green alga Halimeda (April/ May 1998)
Dr Llewellya Hillis (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama) assisted by Dr Paul Colinvaux

Behavioural and ecological aspects of the symbiosis between two free-living corals and a worm (May, July/ August 1998)
*Sea Rottman (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Dr Jason Tanner

Localization and tracking of minke whales (June, July/ August 1998)
*Jason Gedamke (University of California Santa Cruz, USA) assisted by Fleur O'Neill

Monostylid (monogenean) parasites of elasmobranchs (June 1998)
Dr Leslie Chisolm and Dr Ian Whittington (University of Queensland, Brisbane)

Chemistry and biochemistry of marine sponges (July 1998)
Prof. Mary Garson, *Jamie Simpson and *Richard Clark (University of Queensland, Brisbane)

Comparison of fishery nursery grounds (July 1998)
*Sarah Omundsen (James Cook University, Cairns) assisted by Charles Hatcher

Soft bottom invertebrate communities and the influence of fish foraging (July, October, November/ December 1998)
Dr Mark McCormick (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Bridget Green, Vimoksalehi Lukoschek, Andrew Hoey and Susie Holst

Isolation of avian influenza viruses from cloacal swabs and droppings from pelagic birds (July 1998)
Dr Graeme Laver (Australian National University, Canberra) and Dr Elspeth Garman (UK) accompanied by Catherine Garman

Integrated systems and survey techniques (July/ August 1998)
*Malcolm Cullen (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Jody Kruger and Sarah Dobbs

Vision in marine animals (July/ August 1998)
Dr Justin Marshall (University of Queensland, Brisbane), Dr Julian Partridge (University of Bristol, UK), Dr Tom Cronin and *Chuan-Chin Chiao (University of Maryland at Baltimore, USA)

Neuroethology of colour of the reef (July/ August 1998)
*Uli Siebeck (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Dr Justin Marshall

Calcareous sponges of reef caves and cryptic habitats of the Great Barrier Reef (August 1998)
Dr Gert Wörheide, Dr Sally Leys and John Kennedy (Queensland Museum, Brisbane) assisted by Nelson Lauzon

Reconstructing climate from corals and coralline sponges (August 1998)
*Stewart Fallon (Australian National University, Canberra)

Biogeography of tropical rocky shore prosobranch gastropods (August 1998)
*Benjamin Vallejo (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Juan Cruz

Biology of stomatopods (August 1998)
Prof Roy Caldwell (University of California at Berkeley, USA)

The importance of short-lived fishes to the nutrient dynamics of coral reefs (August 1998)
*Michael Marnane (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Ross Thomas

Airbourne particles near coral reefs (September 1998)
Dr Keith Bigg (Stockholm University, Sweden) assisted by Rilda Mossop

Effects of line fishing - visual surveys (September/ October 1998)
Dr Tony Ayling (Sea Research, Daintree) assisted by Dr Avril Ayling, Warren Nott and Gabriel Codina, and accompanied by Bliss Ayling, Xenica Ayling and Melba Nott

Marine mites of the Great Barrier Reef (October 1998)
Dr Jurgen Otto (Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville)

Condition and persistence of coral reef fish recruits (October 1998)
Dr David Booth (University of Technology, Sydney) assisted by Giglia Beretta

Taxonomy and biology of the Trematoda (Digenea) of teleost fish of the Great Barrier Reef (October/ November 1998)
Dr Jess Morgan as field leader for Dr Tom Cribb's project (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Steve Wesche and Ingo Ernst

Seeking an evolutionary/ ecological explanation for the diversity of gastro-intestinal helminths of acanthurid fishes
(October/ November 1998)
*Clinton Chambers (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Dr Jess Morgan, Ingo Ernst & Steve Wesche

Taxonomy, systematics and host associations of the Gyliauchenidae (Digenea) (October/ November 1998)
*Kathryn Hall (University of Queensland, Brisbane) assisted by Dr Jess Morgan, Ingo Ernst & Steve Wesche

Testing game theory models on co-operation between cleaner fish and their hosts (October/ November 1998)
Dr Redouan Bshary (Max Plank Institut fuer Verhaltensphysiologie, Germany) assisted by Dr Lexa Grutter

Long-term monitoring of coral communities (November 1998)
Dr Terry Hughes (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Liz Dinsdale and Jackie Wolstenholme

Bioerosion and encrustation of mollusc shells at Lizard Island (November 1998)
*LeAnn Southward (Otterbein College, USA & School for International Training, Cairns) assisted by Sophie Stojic

Ecology of bottom-feeding fishes (November/ December 1998)
*Vimoksalehi Lukoschek (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Elaine Vytopil

Ecological morphology of labrid fishes (November/ December 1998)
Dr David Bellwood (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Phil Osmond, Michael Marnane, Jason Elliott and Sula Blake

Survival of recently settled reef fishes (November/ December 1998)
*Andrew Hoey (James Cook University, Townsville) assisted by Susie Holst, Dr Mark McCormick and Selina Stoute

Research for book about coral reef science (November/ December 1998)
Sneed Collard (independent author, USA)

Recruitment processes influencing settlement of coral larvae (December 1998)
Dr Andrew Heyward, Dr Andrew Negri, Max Rees and *Luke Smith (Australian Institute of Marine Science, Karratha) assisted by Nicole Webster (AIMS, Townsville)

Diet evaluation of herbivorous reef fish (December 1998)
*David Crossman (University of Auckland, New Zealand) assisted by Dr Kendall Clements

Hormones and behaviour in the spiny damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus (December 1998)
Prof. Ned Pankhurst and Dr Tish Pankhurst assisted by Polly Hilder and Mark Hilder (University of Tasmania, Launceston) and accompanied by Sam and Mike Pankhurst

Larval fish behaviour (December 1998)
Dr Jeff Leis and Brooke Carson Ewart (Australian Museum) assisted by Amanda Hay and Uli Siebeck

Effectiveness of a long-term program of crown-of-thorns starfish eradication on patch reefs (all year)
Dr Lyle Vail and Dr Anne Hoggett (Lizard Island Research Station) assisted by Lance Pearce, Marianne Pearce, Bob Lamb, Sara Piddlesden and Caroline Wallenberg