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Shrimp

Marine Biology at Moravian

Research in this lab focuses on understanding how animal behavior (predator avoidance, foraging, social hierarchies) can be affected by changing environmental conditions and invasive species. We work with a wide range of marine invertebrate species (potentially freshwater and terrestrial as well) in the lab and the field, using a variety of experimental tools.

Interested in conducting research in this lab? Check out the Student Research page and/or email me!

My research currently examines how ocean acidification could interfere with the way animals sense their environment through chemical cues. These cues are used by organisms to find food, shelter, and mates, as well as to avoid predators and unsuitable habitats, but acidified seawater appears to diminish the ability of animals to respond to these cues. This could cause massive shifts in predator-prey relationships (imagine cats no longer running away from dogs) and marine communities.

Acidification can also change the vulnerability of snails to predation by invasive crabs. Marine snails can often produce thicker shells when predators are around (called inducible defense), but ocean acidification makes it more difficult to produce shells. This may interfere with snail defenses, or perhaps they can change the density or microstructure of their shell (or change their behavior) to minimize the effects of acidification. I am conducting lab experiments to examine this issue, by creating ocean acidification conditions in the lab, testing shell growth, and collaborating with a scientist at Cambridge University to test shell microstructure.

Mudflatsplankton netSCUBA

Previous Student Projects Have Examined:

  1. Social hierarchies in grass shrimp (published)
  2. Impact of ocean acidification on hermit crab hierarchies and feeding
  3. Review of hierarchies in marine invertebrates (published)
  4. Color change and camouflage in blue crabs
  5. Impact of acidification on snail predator avoidance (published)
  6. Effect of acidification on mud snail foraging abilities (published)
  7. Feeding rates of Asian shore crabs under hypoxic conditions
  8. Behavioral interactions between juvenile lobsters and invasive crabs (published)
  9. Comparison of invasive fouling species abundance to historical data
  10. Citizen science program to quantify global abundance of invasive fouling species (published)