Research Projects 2008

The following research projects were carried out during 2008. Project leaders who are postgraduate students are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Diurnal cycles in coral growth
*Michael Holcomb (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; October 2007 to January)

Olfactory behaviour and response to coloured light of larval fishes
*Adel Heenan (University of Edinburgh, October 2007 to January)

Selectivity of predation on juvenile tropical reef fish
*Tom Holmes (James Cook University, October 2007 to January)

Female benefits of multiple matings in simultaneous hermaphroditic sea slugs
*Dennis Sprenger (University of Tuebingen, November 2007 to January)

Density effects on mating behaviour in Chelidonura sandrana
*Rolanda Lange (University of Tuebingen, November 2007 to February)

Identification of haemogregarine blood parasites in coral reef fishes and their effect on host fish physiology
*Lynda Curtis (University of Queensland, November 2007 to February, March)

Fish/ algal interactions: the role of herbivory in structuring algal communities across an exposure gradient
*Andrew Hoey (James Cook University, December 2007 to January, September/ October, December/ January 2009)

Effect of temperature on respiration and reproduction in coral reef fish
Prof. Goran Nilsson (University of Oslo, January, December/ January 2009)

Climate change and coral reef fishes
*Natalie Crawley (James Cook University, January)

Social structure of Centropyge
*Tzo Zen Ang (University of Cambridge, January to March, December)

Causes and consequences of fish diversity loss on coral reefs
*Vanessa Messmer (James Cook University, January/ February, April, November to February 2009)

The importance of attitude: behaviour and performance in the ultimate test
Dr Mark McCormick (James Cook University, January)

Ecological significance of coral disease on the Great Barrier Reef
Prof. Bette Willis (James Cook University, January/ February, August)

Orientation in fish larvae
Dr Jeff Leis (Australian Museum) and Dr Claire Paris (University of Miami) (January/February)

Bookkeeping in cleaner wrasse and their clients: image scoring and indirect reciprocity in cleaning mutualism
*Ana Pinto (University of Neuchatel, February/ March)

Mutualism in the cleaner wrasse Labroides bicolor
*Jenny Oates (University of Cambridge, February to April)

Energetics of habitat choice in planktivorous coral reef fishes
*Jacob Johansen (James Cook University, March/ April, August, December)

Shark population assessments using a portable video-acoustic system
*Jason Pallot (Macquarie University, March/ April)

Energetics of labriform locomotion
Dr Christopher Fulton (Australian National University, March/ April)

Prey selection and digestive efficiency in four species of planktivorous damselfish
*Jimmy O'Hare (School for International Training, March/April)

Cleaner wrasse behaviour in relation to territory size and reef type
*Natalie Davis (School for International Training, March/April)

CReefs - Census of Marine Life
Dr Julian Caley, Dr Katharina Fabricius, Dr Laetitia Plaisance (Australian Institute of Marine Science), Dr John Huisman (Murdoch University), Dr Fred Gurgel (University of Adelaide), Charlotte Watson, Dr Chris Glasby (Northern Territory Museum), Dr Phil Bock (independent researcher), Magda Blazcwicz (Museum Victoria), Merrick Ekins (Queensland Museum), Dr Niel Bruce (Museum of Tropical Queensland) and *Joanna Brown (Griffith University) (April)

Effect of chronic fish predation on reef building corals
*Andrew Cole (James Cook University, April/May)

Effects of coral bleaching on coral-dwelling fishes
*Darren Coker (James Cook University, April/May, November)

Patterns of trophic transmission of digenean trematodes in fishes of the Great Barrier Reef
*Abigail Downie (University of Queensland, April/May)

Prevalence survey of anisakids (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in fish at Lizard Island
*Albert Eisenbarth (RMIT University, April/May)

Monorchiids in chaetodontids
*Marissa McNamara (University of Queensland, April/May)

Host-parasite interactions between pomacentrid fishes and kudoid parasites
*Mieke Burger (University of Queensland, April/ May)

The diversity of Ceratomyxa on the Great Barrier Reef
*Nicole Gunter (University of Queensland, April/ May)

Myxosporean parasites of elasmobranchs
*Ricky Gleeson (University of Queensland, April/ May)

Biogeography of Great Barrier Reef fish trematodes
Dr Thomas Cribb (University of Queensland) and Dr Rod Bray (The Natural History Museum London) (April/ May)

Ecology of cryptobenthic reef fish assemblages in the Great Barrier Reef
*Alonso Gonzalez Cabello (James Cook University, May, December/ January 2009)

Influence of herbivorous fishes on the benthic community structure of the Great Barrier Reef
*Roberta Bonaldo (James Cook University, May/June, September/ October, December/ January 2009)

Influence of climate change on symbioses between marine invertebrates and zooxanthellae
*Maren Ziegler (University of Hannover, May/ June)

Light adaptation in foraminiferal species housing different types of photosynthetic endosymbionts
*Maren Ziegler (University of Hannover, May/ June)

Carbon and nitrogen cycling in soft coral and nudibranchs with Symbiodinium
*Carmela Carrasco (University of New Mexico, May/ June)

Effects of climate change on Symbiodinium symbionts of nudibranchs, corals and forams
*Katie Liberatore (University of New Mexico, May/ June)

Viral expression and community structure in the Phyllodesmium lizardensis/ Symbiodinium system
*Shannon Fitzpatrick (University of New Mexico, May/ June)

Raising nudibranchs and octocorals
*Stephanie Moquin (University of New Mexico, May/ June)

Coral reef ecological stoichiometry
Prof. Catherine Lovelock, Dr John Pandolfi and Dr Ruth Reef (University of Queensland, June/ July)

Investigatation of cleaner fish functions and mutualism on host fish and fish parasite populations
Nadia Aurisch (for Dr Alexandra Grutter, University of Queensland, July)

Identification & characterisation of novel venom peptides in Conus sp
Dr Richard Lewis (University of Queensland, July/ August)

Sunscreen in coral reef fish; are MAA sunscreens exploited in the cleaner/client mutualism?
*Maxi Eckes (University of Queensland, August, December/ January 2009)

Colour polymorphism and bleaching tolerance in Acropora millepora
Dr Line Bay (James Cook University, August)

Biogeography and phylogeny of the family Retronectidae, Catenulida
*Harald Gruber ( University of Vienna, August/ September)

Interstitial marine nematodes with bacterial symbionts:distribution and diversity
Prof Dr Joerg Ott (University of Vienna, August/ September)

Symbiont transmission and trophosome development in Paracatenula
*Ulrich Dirks (University of Vienna, August/ September)

Lizard Island community metabolism study
Dr Ken Caldeira, Dr Jack Silverman, Dr Josh Chan, Dr Ken Schneider (Carnegie Institution at Stanford University), Dr Jonathon Erez, Dr Boaz Lazar (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Dr Tanya Rivlin (Inter-University Institute Eilat) and David Kline (University of Queensland) (September)

Barcoding of a coral reef fish community
Dr Dirk Steinke, Jay Cossey, Oliver Lucanus (University of Guelph), Amanda Hay, Sally Reader (Australian Museum), Dr Peter Last, Dr Bob Ward (CSIRO), Glenn Moore (Murdoch University), Dr Martin Gomon (Museum Victoria), Dr Jeff Johnson (Queensland Museum) and Dr David Hardie (Dalhousie University) (September)

Inventory and barcode library of Lizard Island's Lepidoptera
Jeremy De Waard (University of British Columbia, September)

Symbiodinium diversity of inshore corals, soft corals and other Symbiodinium-bearing organisms on the Great Barrier Reef
Dr Linda Tonk (University of Queensland, September/ October)

Marine resilience workshop
Prof. Terry Hughes (James Cook University), Dr Marten Scheffer and Dr Egbert van Nes (Wageningen University) (September)

Impact of climate change factors on different zooxanthellate symbioses
Dr Ingo Burghardt (University of Bochum) (September/ October)

Evolution of aposematic marine organisms
Dr Karen Cheney (University of Queensland, October/ November)

Pilot study for sea urchin project
*Matthew Young (James Cook University, October)

Non-lethal influence of predators on juvenile fishes
*Alex Vail (James Cook University, October to December)

Evolution of defensive structures and use of photosynthetic units
Prof Dr Heike Waegele (University of Bonn, October/ November)

Determining the behavioural consistency of newly settled Pomacentrus amboinensis
*Caelum Mero (James Cook University, October to December)

Effect of body condition and ontogeny on the response of coral reef fishes to chemical alarm cues and their use as secondary predator attractants
*Oona Lonnstedt (James Cook University, October to December)

Selectivity in predation of coral reef fishes
Dr Mark McCormick (James Cook University) and Dr Mark Meekan (Australian Institute of Marine Science) (October/ November, November/ December, December/ January 2009)

Hydrodynamic disturbances on coral reefs
Dr Joshua Madin (Macquarie University, November)

Coral demography
Dr Sean Connolly, Dr Maria Dornelas and Dr Andrew Baird (James Cook University, November)

Are corallivorous fishes vectors of coral disease?
*Karen Chong-Seng (James Cook University, November/ December)

Effects of coral depletion on reef fishes
Dr Morgan Pratchett (James Cook University, November)

Ecological versatility of butterflyfishes vs susceptibility to disturbance
*Rebecca Lawton (James Cook University, November/ December)

How do baby fish find a home?
Dr Jeff Leis (Australian Museum), Dr Claire Paris and Dr Jean-Olivier Irisson (both of University of Miami, November/ December)

Bioerosion of dead coral
Dr Morgan Pratchett (James Cook University, November)

Nutritional ecology of butterflyfishes
Dr Michael Berumen (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, November)

Resources and fitness of coral-feeding butterflyfishes
Dr Michael Berumen (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, November)

Coral bleaching susceptibility: a hierarchy of causes and consequences
*Dominique Bradbury (James Cook University, November/ December)

Growth and metabolic correlates of personality traits in damselfish
Dr Peter Biro (University of Technology Sydney, November/ December)

Underwater sound at Lizard Island
Dr Andrew Jeffs (University of Auckland, November/ December, December/ January 2009)

Personality, performance, persistence: a case study on reef fish
*Crystal Neligh (James Cook University, November/ December, December/ January 2009)

Orientation of larval reef fish to natural sources of underwater sound
*Jenni Stanley (University of Auckland, November/ December)

Maternal effects and ocean acidification effects on the development of coral reef fishes
Dr Monica Gagliano (James Cook University, December)

Physiology of reef algae
*Kyra Hay (University of Queensland, December)

Role and function of eyespots in coral reef fishes
Dr Monica Gagliano (James Cook University, December)

Intra reef genetic connectivity of Pocillolporidae
*Pim Bongaerts (University of Queensland, December)

Threats to coral reef biodiversity due to climate induced coral bleaching and ocean acidification
*Jessica Stella (James Cook University, December/ January 2009)

The ecological role of sediments on coral reefs
*Christopher Goatley (James Cook University, December/ January 2009)