Ichthyology
Our research foci lie on biodiversity, evolutionary biology and conservation with a special focus but not exclusively on Chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays and chimaeras).
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We are involved in fish species evaluation for the Norwegian IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and also contribute to the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. Using DNA-based methods, we are performing taxonomic research on Lantern Sharks (Etmopteridae) also including molecular species identification for conservation. Phylogenetic methods are used for reconstructing deep phylogenetic nodes and place fossil taxa. Further, ancient DNA methodology is applied for sequencing museum wet collection specimens.
Lab members:
- Stefanie Agne, PhD student at Potsdam University, Germany. Title: Phylogenomic assignment of orphan museum specimens. Further supervision: Assoc. Prof. Nicolas Straube, Prof. Michael Hofreiter (Potsdam University) & Prof. Ralf Tiedemann (Potsdam University).
- Melany Villate-Moreno, PhD student at Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany (LMU). Title: Molecular tools for elasmobranch identification and conservation. Supervision: Assoc. Prof. Nicolas Straube, Prof. Herwig Stibor (LMU) & Prof. Roland Melzer (LMU).
- Juergen Pollerspoeck, guest researcher, Stephansposching, Germany. Intraspecific dental morphological variation in sharks.
- Haakon Arthur Pedersen, Msc student at NTNU Trondheim & UiB Bergen, Norway. Title: Diversity and trophic ecology of fish at hydrothermal vents on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge. Supervision: Assoc. Prof. Nicolas Straube, Prof. Torkild Bakken (NTNU) & assoc. Prof. Mari Heggernes Eilertsen (UiB).
- Renate Løvlund Andersen, student at UiB BIO; BIO299: Research Practice in Biology. Title: Intraspecific dental variations in the deep-sea shark Galeus melastomus.
Students are encouraged to contact Dr. Nicolas Straube for discussions of possible MSc projects or other work on fishes.
Please see selected publications here.
