CURRENT AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH

Undergraduate Research

Description  of troglobitic  ophiuroid found in San Salvador, Bahamas.

This research introduced me to the world of  systematic biology and ophiuroids. George  Washington University offers summer  courses in the marine sciences. One is called "Tropical Marine  Biology in the Bahamas." While on San Salvador, one of the  professors found a brittle star which I would struggle to identify  for an independent study project. I was invited to work at the  Smithsonian Institution U.S. National Museum of Natural History by  echinoderm curator Dr. David Pawson. The collections at the museum  are the greatest in the world. However, the brittle star remains  unidentified, and is likely new to science.

Cladistic  analysis of the scolopendrina group of the genus Ophiocoma (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) -

This was  my senior honors research project, again based on work with the  collections at the  USNM, under the direction of Dr. David Pawson and Dr.  Diana Lipscomb . The work focused on the scolopendrina subgenus of the large tropical genus Ophiocoma.  This genus was previously revised by Dr. Dennis Devaney.

Dissertation Research

A  phylogenetic analysis of the Ophiolepididae (Echinodermata:  Ophiuroidea) with an evaluation of the origin of its deep-sea   members. -

After spending a year at the  University of South Alabama/Dauphin  Island Sea Lab studying  oceanography, I returned to GWU and the USNM to continue with my  ophiuroid research. I became interested, partly because of my initial  research on cave-dwelling organisms, in the origin of  deep-sea fauna.  Dr. David Pawson at USNM suggested that I begin to work on a revision  of the large genus Ophiomusium, which is one of the dominant  members of the echinoderm deep-sea fauna. When combined  with the  synonymous genera Ophiosphalma and Ophiolipus, it  contains over 80 nominal species. The genus has a worldwide  distribution, with a single species (O. lymani) considered to  be  cosmopolitan (though found in both the Atlantic and Pacific, I  don't agree that it is truly cosmopolitan). The species have very  discrete bathymetric ranges. Overall, it is a fascinating group.  Previously, Dr. Alan Baker worked on the group.

Work expanded, as it always  does, to include the entire family. When I began my dissertation,  there were more or less 15  genera comprising the family  Ophiolepididae (previously Ophiolepidinae). Many of these are  misplaced. Some are juveniles of other families. A preliminary  phylogenetic analysis of the valid genera has been carried  out.

Images: (above) ventral interradius of Ophiocoma scolopendrina. Bottom: Ophiomusium scalare, a  well known Pacific member of the deep-sea genus Ophiomusium, one of the  genera I am  studying for my dissertation research.