The genus Sebastes (rockfish) contains over 120 species worldwide with over 70 species native to the Northeast Pacific. Rockfish species of various types and life stages occupy almost every available pelagic and benthic habitat from the rocky intertidal to the upper continental slope. They are exploited by commercial and recreational fishers throughout the Pacific Northwest and are a major economic factor along the coast. Despite their ecological diversity, the genus Sebastes is unified by the traits of a complex mating behavior (including copulation and internal fertilization) and ovoviviparity (the internal brooding of fertilized embryos followed by the extrusion of fully developed larvae rather than eggs). It is thought that these life history traits are related to their high rates of speciation and local adaptation as well as their susceptibility to recruitment variability and overexploitation. In the first part of the talk I discuss how molecular phylogenetic approaches (primarily cytochrome b sequence data) have enabled us to examine the evolution of live-bearing Scorpaenid fishes and clarify the phylogenetic relationships within the group, and how knowledge of phylogenetic relationships informs studies of larval, juvenile, and adult biology. In the second part I discuss how population genetic markers (primarily nuclear microsatellite markers) have allowed us to examine larval dispersal patterns and the influence of ocean currents, glacial cycles, introgressive hybridization, founder effects, and assortative mating on the genetic structure of different rockfish species. Finally, I discuss how genetic information has been used specifically to address the Endangered Species Status of stocks within Puget Sound and the design and placement of Marine Reserve Networks.
Address and Position |
Supervisory Research Physiologist, GS-14 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Southwest Fisheries Science Center 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive-P. O. Box 271 La Jolla, CA 92038-0271 858-546-7125 e-mail russ.vetter@noaa.gov |
Education |
|
Government Service |
United States Peace Corps (Ethiopia, Africa), 1973-75 |
Honors and Awards |
|
Research Interests |
Population Genetics of Marine Fish |
| Molecular Genetic Responses to Environmental Stress | |
| Molecular Approaches to the Larval Biology of Marine Fishes | |
Research and Teaching Experience |
|
1992-present |
Program Leader, Genetics, Physiology and Habitat, SWFSC, NOAA |
1990-1992 |
Research Physiologist, SWFSC, NOAA |
1990-present |
Advisor, National Research Council, Research Associate Program |
1985-1992 |
Research Faculty, Scripps Institution of Oceanography |
1986-1992 |
Member, Marine Biology Curricular Group, SIO, graduate teaching faculty |
1983-1985 |
Postdoctoral Associate, with George N. Somero, Sulfur biochemistry of hydrothermal vent organisms, Scripps Institution of Oceanography |
1978-1983 |
Research Assistant, with John S. Patton, Absorption of lipid soluble carcinogens in fish, NIH, (Ph. D. research), Institute of Ecology, Univ. of Georgia. |
1975-1977 |
Research Assistant, with Donald E. Wohlschlag, Metabolic effects of salinity and temperature in estuarine fish, (M.S. research), University of Texas |
1973-1975 |
Peace Corps Volunteer, Ethiopia, Africa: Secondary science teacher and development coordinator, Dahlac Islands Marine National Park. |
Jacobson, L. D. and R. D. Vetter. 1996. Bathymetric demography and niche separation of thornyhead rockfish: Sebastolobus alascanus and Sebastolobus altivelis. Can. Jour. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 53:600-609.
Vetter, R. D. and E. A. Lynn. 1998. Bathymetric demography, enzyme activity patterns, and bioenergetics of deep-living scorpaenid fishes (genera Sebastes and Sebastolobus): paradigms revisited. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 155: 173-188.
Eitner, B, C. Kimbrell and R. D. Vetter. 1999. Sebastes moseri (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae): a new rockfish from the eastern North Pacific. Copeia, 1999: 85-92.
Rocha-Olivares, A., C.A. Kimbrell, B. J. Eitner, and R. D. Vetter. 1999. Evolution of a mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence in the species-rich genus Sebastes (Teleostei, Scorpaenidae) and its utility in testing the monophyly of the subgenus Sebastomus. Mol. Phylogenet. and Evol. 11:426-440.
Rocha-Olivares, A., R. H. Rosenblatt, and R. D. Vetter. 1999. Molecular evolution, systematics and evolution of the rockfish subgenus Sebastosomus (Sebastes, Scorpaenidae) based on mitochondrial cytochrome b and control region sequences. Mol. Phylogenet. and Evol. 11:441-458
Rocha-Olivares, A., R. H. Rosenblatt and R. D. Vetter. 1999. Cryptic species of rockfishes (Sebastes: Scorpaenidae) in the Southern Hemisphere inferred from mitochondrial lineages. J. Hered. 90: 404-411.
Rocha-Olivares, A., 1998. Multiplex haplotype-specific PCR: a new approach for species identification of the early life stages of rockfishes of the species-rich genus Sebastes Cuvier. Jour. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 231: 279-290
Rocha-Olivares, A. and R. D. Vetter. 1999. Effects of oceanographic circulation on the gene flow, genetic structure, and phylogeography of the rosethorn rockfish (Sebastes helvomaculatus). Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56: 803-813.
Buonaccorsi, V. P., C. A. Kimbrell, E. A. Lynn, and R. D. Vetter. 2002. Population structure of copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus) reflects postglacial colonization and contemporary patterns of larval dispersal Can. Jour. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 59: 1374-1384.
Narum, S. R., V. P. Buonaccorsi, C. A. Kimbrell, and R. D. Vetter. A case of incipient speciation among sympatric color morphs within a marine species flock Sebastes spp. Copia (submitted).
Rocha-Olivares,. A., R. A. Leal-Navarro, C. Kimbrell, E. Lynn, R. D. Vetter. 2003. Microsatellite variation in the Mexican rockfish Sebastes macdonaldi. Scientia Marina Int. Jour. Mar. Sci. (in press).
Buonaccorsi, V. P., L. Westerman, J. Stannard, C. Kimbrell and R. D. Vetter. Stepping stone larval dispersal in grass rockfish, Sebastes rastrelliger. Mar. Biol. (submitted).
Buonaccorsi, V. P., C. Kimbrell, E. Lynn and R. D. Vetter. Limited realized dispersal and introgressive hybridization influence genetic structure and conservation strategies for brown rockfish, Sebastes auriculatus. Cons. Gen. (submitted)