Author Archives: Jenny Ovenden

Genetics defines Australian east coast pink snapper stocks

MFL research associate Jess Morgan has been working on pink snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) with colleagues from the Queensland Government. Jess’ work has estimated of the number of populations of snapper and how they overlap. This new information is essential for the sustainable exploitation of this popular commercial and recreational species. More information can be found here. […]

MFL provides new information for sustainable management of longnose skates

A team of MFL researchers, led by PhD student Ms. Carolina Vargas-Caro, has published new information to assist with the sustainable exploitation of Chilean skates. As a fishery resource, skates are susceptible to overexploitation. They often occur in shallow inshore areas making them easily accessible to fishers. Their rate of reproduction is slow and the number of […]

Apply now for funding for research on marine vertebrates

The SeaWorld Research and Rescue Foundation funds Australian-based research on marine vertebrates. The funds are ideal for postgraduate research, but are also popular amongst academic and government researchers. Applications for funds are assessed in a two-step process; an expression of interest (EOI, due 1 April 2017) then a full proposal if the EOI is assessed favourably […]

World pays attention to research on shark reproduction

The recent article on switch from sexual to asexual reproduction in zebra sharks has achieved a high altimetric attention score. It was in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altimetrics. Christine Dudgeon’s achievement shows that workers who divide their time between science and family duties can make important contributions to both. Photo: Chris and […]

Detecting and solving fraud in snapper markets

MFL was happy to host a visit by Dr Donna Cawthorn from the Mariani MolEcoLab, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, UK. Donna is a Marie-Curie Fellow working on snappers (Lutjanidae), which are the most highly prized and important fisheries resources throughout the warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. But […]

Shark mother produces pups with mate then without.

Published today, Christine Dudgeon’s new paper shows that a female Stegastoma fasciatum (leopard, zebra shark) alternated between sexual and asexual reproduction in the Townsville aquarium. In the absence of her mate, genotyping confirmed a batch of pups were not the result of sperm storage and sexual reproduction as expected. Three juvenile sharks were homozygous for maternal alleles […]

Contemporary and retrospective genomic analyses of tiger and white sharks

Thanks to the Brisbane Times for an accurate summary of a new project starting at MFL in Jan 2017 funded by the Australian Research Council. The project will use detailed genomic analyses on living and long-dead tiger and white sharks to provide new information about the spatial and temporal dimensions of populations to inform conservation and […]

Two new publications about sharks and fisheries management

Mol Fish Lab has contributed to an important study by Grant Johnson (Northern Territory, Australia) on blacktip sharks. Six key measurements, as well as fin markings, can be used to identify two cryptic, closely related shark species (C. tilstoni and C. limbatus) that co-occur and hybridise in waters in northern Australia. In another recent paper, Jenny […]