Overview

Barred surfperch are common fish found in the sandy surf zone from around San Francisco, CA to Ensenada, Mexico. They're a popular sport fish that many surf anglers target from the beach and piers for the thrill of catch and release (my personal best is 13.5 inches). They're also popular for eating! One of my projects is analyzing the population genomics of the Barred surfperch for the first time using low coverage whole genome sequencing.

The Longjaw mudsucker is an estuarine fish with populations found along the Pacific coast from central California to central Baja California, with isolated populations found in the northern Sea of Cortez. It is what is known as a "disjunct" species, because it has a considerable separation between the Pacific and Sea of Cortez distributions. One of my projects is analyzing the population genomics of the Longjaw mudsucker using low coverage whole genome sequencing.

The goal of this project is to compare the physiology of the disjunct populations of the Longjaw mudsucker by measuring their acute thermal performance. I'm using the Loligo intermittent respirometry system to measure thermal performance curves for individuals from the Elkhorn Slough (Watsonville, CA) population and Estero La Choya (Puerto Peñasco, Mexico) population.