Kathleen S. Cole

Evolution of behavior, morphology and developmental biology

in marine fishes My interests focus on the evolution of behavioral, morphological and developmental processes among vertebrates, with a concentrated interest in reef fishes. My research program currently encompasses all three. In the area of behavior, I'm currently engaged in a broad-based study on the evolution of reproductive and sexual patterns in tropical marine fish taxa, in the context of behavioral, ecological and life history factors. My morphological interests are centered on comparative gonad morphology among functionally hermaphroditic fish species, and the application of gonad characters to elucidate underlying phylogenetic relationships.

My developmental interests focus on larval development in marine fishes, particularly in the areas of skeletal and nervous system development. Presently, I am carrying out two focused studies, including: the effect of loading, through swimming action, on rates of ossification in newly metamorphosed fish larvae; and the effect of modeled microgravity, using a ground-based analogue, on the development of the skeletal and nervous systems in a small, mangrove fish, Rivulus marmoratus. In addition, I am also carrying out a study of temporal patterns of larval fish community composition, a project that has been ongoing in Belize for three years.

Representative publications

Mundy, B.C., Cole, K.S., Chave, E.H., Moffitt, R.B. 2011. Two deep-sea spiny eels, Notacanthus abbotti and Lipogenys gillii (Albuliformes: Notacanthidae), from the Hawaiian Archipelago and Emperor Seamounts with notes on their identification and biogeography. Ichthyological Research 58:263–271. DOI 10.1007/s10228-011-0225-3

Cole, K.S. 2011. Patterns of reproductive morphology in the genus, Gobiodon (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes. DOI: 10.1007/s10641-011-9842-y

Cole, K.S. 2010. Gonad morphology in hermaphroditic gobies. In: Reproduction and Sexuality in Marine Fishes (K.S. Cole, ed), University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 117-162

Cole, K.S. 2009. Modifications of the reproductive complex and implications for the reproductive biology of Gobiodon oculolineatus (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes 84:261-273

Cole, K.S. 2008. Transient ontogenetic expression of hermaphroditic gonad morphology within the Gobiosoma group of the Neotropical seven-spined gobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Marine Biology 154:943-951

Cole, K.S. 2003. Hermaphroditic characteristics of gonad morphology and inferences regarding reproductive biology in Caracanthus (Teleostei, Scorpaeniformes). Copeia 2003 (1):68-80

Thacker, C. & Cole, K.S. 2002. Phylogeny and evolution of the gobiid genus Coryphopterus. Bulletin of Marine Science 70(3): 837-850

Cole, K.S. 2002. Gonad morphology, sexual development and colony composition in the obligate coral-dwelling damselfish Dascyllus aruanus. Marine Biology 140: 151-163