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Vanessa Thompson
PhD StudentEnrolled at: Zoology Department, University of Melbourne
v.thompson@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au
Determining the mechanisms of self-recruitment in Australian coral reef fishes: A comparison of the life-history, evolutionary relationships and population genetics of endemic and non-endemic species.
The focus of my PhD research is to examine the mechanisms of population self-replenishment in coral reef fishes. I aim to determine if species that are capable of self-recruitment (returning to the reef where they were spawned after their pelagic larval phase) possess a specialized set of early life history characteristics that facilitate this. I have compared a number of early life history traits of a suite of species from 5 different families endemic to Lord Howe Island to species in the same genera with a wide distribution that encompasses LHI. I am also using molecular techniques to investigate population connectivity and the phylogenetic relationships between some of the endemic and non-endemic species.
Publications
Thompson VJ, Munday PL and Jones GP 2007. Habitat patch size and mating system as determinants of social group size in coral-dwelling fishes. Coral reefs 26:165-174Non Peer-reviewed articles
Thompson VJ 2005. Determining the mechanisms of self-replenishment in coral reef fishes. AMSA Bulletin 169 September 2005.
Thompson VJ 2005. How do isolated groups survive? Fisheries Research and Development Corporation R & D News Volume 13 October 2005