Nick Schizas' Lab Home Page

Department of Marine Sciences

University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Marine Genomics Lab of Nikolaos Schizas

The lab

Divers using Tri-Mix Rebreathers, Mona, Puerto Rico, 2010, Photo by N Schizas
Divers

Agaricia lamarcki, 270ft, Photo by Michael Nemeth
Agaricia corals

NEWS:

The lab in collaboration with Dr. Taras Oleksyk (Department of Biology, UPRM) secured funding to purchase an Ion-Torrent. The genome sequencer will be shared between collaborators in the Marine Science and Biology Department of UPRM.

There are several broad themes of research conducting in my lab:

NEW PROJECT

Dormancy regulation in space: Genetic Evidence from Copepod Diapause Embryos. Funded by PR-NASA Space Grant (NASA Grant No. NNX10AM80H). Use of massive parallel sequencing to uncover the molecular mechanisms of diapause (suspended development) in calanoid copepods (marine crustaceans). In collaboration with Dr. Hans Dahms (Sangmyung University). More details soon

1) Connectivity and evolution of shallow and mesophotic corals More information.

2) Infrastructure Improvement of the Museum of Marine Invertebrates in Magueyes Island (funded by NSF). Museum Web Site (under construction)

3) Biodiversity of Caribbean benthic fauna Related Publications

4) Taxonomy, population genetics, and molecular systematics of copepods Related Publications

5) Phylogeny of the shrimp family Hippolytidae and the remarkable genus Lysmata Related Publications

Contact info:
Nikolaos V. Schizas
Department of Marine Sciences
University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
Isla Magueyes Laboratories
Call Box 9000, Mayaguez, PR 00681
Mayaguez, PR 00681

E-mail: nschizas [at] gmail dot com
Tel (Office): 1-787-899-2048 ext. 242
Tel (Lab) : 1-787-899-2048 ext 225
Fax: 1-787-899-5500
Skype Me:

Extended C.V.

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications

Papers to be submitted, in Review or in Revision (*) = Papers with students

P Mege, N Schizas, J Garcia Reyes and T Hrbek. Genetic seascape of the endangered Caribbean elkhorncoral, Acropora palmata, on the Puerto Rico Shelf (Marine Ecology Progress Series, In revision)

(*)Rojas M., NV Schizas. Genetic population structure of two Caribbean brittle stars with contrasting life histories

NV Schizas. Misconceptions regarding nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts) (Aquatic Biology, In revision)

Hans-U. Dahms, N.V. Schizas. Molecular phylogeny of calanoid copepods from the high Antarctic Weddell Sea.

NV Schizas, WE Browne. Genetic patterns of polymorphism and divergence of Caribbean and Hawaiian populations of the banded coral shrimp Stenopus hispidus.

Recently Published Papers or in Press

S Chullasorn, H-U Dahms, K-W Lee, J-S Ki, N Schizas, P Kangtia, HG Park, and J-S Lee (2011) Description of Tisbe alaskensis sp. nov. (Crustacea: Copepoda) Combining Structural and Molecular Traits. Zoological Studies 50(1): 103-117 (pdf)

(*)H Torres-Pratts, T Lado-Insua, AL Rhyne, L Rodriguez-Matos, NV Schizas (2011). Two distinct, geographically overlapping lineages of the corallimorpharian Ricordea florida (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia: Ricordeidae). Coral Reefs DOI: 10.1007/s00338-010-0709-z. (pdf)
The final publication is available at www.springerlink.com

(*)DV Ruiz-Ramos, EA Hernandez-Delgado, NV Schizas (2011). Population status of the long-spined urchin Diadema antillarum in Puerto Rico 20 years after a mass mortality event. Bulletin of Marine Science. 87: 113-127 (pdf) or if you do not have access to the journal (pdf)

GC Fiedler, AL Rhyne, R Segawa, T Aotsuka, NV Schizas (2010). The evolution of euhermaphroditism in caridean shrimps: a molecular perspective of sexual systems and systematics. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2010, 10:297 (pdf)

(*)J Garcia Reyes, NV Schizas (2010). No two reefs are created equal: fine-scale population structure in the threatened coral species Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis. Aquatic Biology. doi: 10.3354/ab00254. (pdf)

PJ Milligan, EA Stahl, NV Schizas, JT Turner (2010). Phylogeography of the copepod Acartia hudsonica in estuaries of the northeastern United States. Hydrobiologia doi: 10.1007/s10750-010-0097-y (pdf) or if you do not have access to the journal (pdf)

Older papers

(Click here for pdf reprints)

Teaching

Systematics of Marine Invertebrates (CMOB 8676)

Biological Oceanography (CIMA 6618)

Special Topics: DNA data analysis (CMOB 8998)

Current topics seminar (CMOB 8785)

Lab People

Martha Ricaurte, Ph.D. student (Coral genomics)

Matt Lucas, Ph.D. student (Population genomics of mesophotic corals)

Luis Rodriguez, M.S. student (Population genetics of the octocoral Gorgonia ventalina)

Daphne Pagan, M.S. student

Alexandra Galindo, M.S. student (Co-Advisor)

Mariel Cruz, M.S. student

Alumni of the Lab

Monica Rojas, Awarded an M.S. in Marine Sciences, May 2010. (Population structure of Caribbean ophiurids)

Alexandre Jassoud, Awarded an M.S. in Marine Sciences August 2010 (Genetic structure of Caribbean and Mediterranean populations of Octopus vulgaris)

Hernan Torres-Pratts, Awarded a PhD in Marine Sciences in December 2009. Now a research scientist at a biotech company in Puerto Rico. (Molecular ecology of benthic invertebrates)

Dannise Ruiz, Awarded M.S. in Spring 2009 (Molecular ecology of Millepora). Now pursuing a PhD at Penn State

Joselyd Garcia, Awarded M.S. in Spring 2008.
Joselyd was the recipient of the 2008 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
Currently: NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources, Permits, Conservation and Education Division, F/PR1

Tania Lado-Insua, visiting student, 2007 Universidad de Vigo, Spain (Genetic variation in Caribbean Corallimorpharia)
Currently at the Univ of Rhode Island pursuing a PhD in Marine Engineering

Carlos Prada, Research Associate 2005-2008(Patterns of genetic variation in the gorgonian Plexaura flexuosa). Now pursuing a PhD at LSU