Genomic and physiological responses in Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis) in the northern Gulf of Mexico have confirmed oil exposure of resident marsh fish following the Macondo blowout in 2010. Using these same fish, we evaluated otolith microchemistry as a method for assessing oil exposure history. Laser-ablation inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectrometry was used to analyze the chemical com...

Five cDNA fragments (KFH-R, -V, -G, -B and -Rh) encoding the putative visual pigments of killifish were isolated and sequenced. Judging from the deduced amino acid sequences, each cDNA falls into a different group of the five major families of vertebrate visual pigment genes. In situ hybridization localized the mRNA of KFH-R and -G to the principle and accessory members, respectively, of double...

The mangrove rivulus, Kryptolebias marmoratus (Rivulidae, Cyprinodontiformes), is phylogenetically embedded within a large clade of oviparous (egg laying) and otherwise mostly gonochoristic (separate sex) killifish species in the circumtropical suborder Aplocheiloidei. It is unique in its reproductive mode: K. marmoratus is essentially the world's only vertebrate species known to engage routine...

Despite the importance of selection against deleterious mutations in natural populations, reliable estimates of the genomic numbers of mutant alleles in wild populations are scarce. We found that, in wild-caught bluefin killifish Lucania goodei (Fundulidae) and wild-caught zebrafish Danio rerio (Cyprinidae), the average numbers of recessive lethal alleles per individual are 1.9 (95% confidence ...

The breathtaking motions of natural groups such as bird flocks and fish schools have been a major inspiration for research in the development of control algorithms for multi-robot systems. A main thrust of research in this area is to understand how the interconnections among individual behaviors result in high-performing group behaviors. In this dissertation, we are concerned with how individua...

Fundulus heteroclitus (Atlantic killifish) found at the Atlantic Wood Industries Superfund site on the Elizabeth River (ER) in Portsmouth, VA (USA), have been shown to be resistant to the teratogenic effects of creosote-contaminated sediments found at this highly contaminated site. Many of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found at the ER are known to activate the aryl hydrocarbon rec...

New Bedford Harbor (NBH), MA, is a federal Superfund site that is heavily contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (HAHs), including some potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists. A population of Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) continues to inhabit this site, despite accumulating extraordinarily high concentrations of PCBs ...