Dissertation Research: Phylogenetics and phylogeography of moray eels (Muraenidae): The first coral reef fishes with panmictic populations throughout the entire Indo-Pacific

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This project investigates the evolutionary history of a diverse group of ecologically important and evolutionarily diverse coral reef fishes known as moray eels (Family Muraenidae). Approximately 150 species of moray eels inhabit the Indian and Pacific Oceans, all exhibiting similar widespread geographic distributions, diet, and ecologies. Typically, species that are closely related and similar to one another do not live in the same place at the same time, nor fill the same ecological niche. Understanding the evolutionary history of moray eels will potentially explain this enigmatic pattern. 150 species of moray eels living in the Indian and Pacific Oceans will be sampled for genetic and morphological characteristics that can be used in a phylogenetic analysis of the group. Additionally, four species of moray eels will be intensively sampled throughout their range to estimate levels of migration and gene flow between populations of the same species. This project will increase our understanding of the evolutionary history of moray eels and of the causes of their unusual ecological distribution. Understanding the levels of migration and gene flow between populations of moray eels will determine whether population genetic structure exists over the broad geographic regions inhabited by these species, and will also inform broader conservation efforts that seek to maintain connectivity between marine protected areas.