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

该项目研究了一组具有重要生态意义和进化多样性的珊瑚礁鱼类的进化史，这些鱼类被称为海鳗（海鳗科）。大约有150种海鳗生活在印度洋和太平洋，它们都表现出相似的广泛的地理分布、饮食和生态。通常情况下，亲缘关系密切、彼此相似的物种不会同时生活在同一个地方，也不会占据同一个生态位。了解海鳗的进化史将有可能解释这种神秘的模式。将对生活在印度洋和太平洋的150种海鳗进行遗传和形态特征取样，这些特征可用于该群体的系统发育分析。此外，将对四种海鳗在其分布范围内进行集中采样，以估计同一物种种群之间的迁移水平和基因流动。这个项目将增加我们对海鳗进化史的了解，以及它们不同寻常的生态分布的原因。了解海鳗种群之间的迁移水平和基因流动将决定这些物种居住的广泛地理区域是否存在种群遗传结构，并将为更广泛的保护工作提供信息，以寻求保持海洋保护区之间的连通性。

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.