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Project Manager: Shana Goffredi
Lead Scientist: Bob Vrijenhoek

We aim to develop and employ molecular markers to study ecological and evolutionary processes in marine and aquatic organisms. Our main project extends ongoing studies of gene flow and species diversity at deep-sea hydrothermal vents to biological communities associated with cold-water sulfide/hydrocarbon seeps along western margin of North America (e.g., Monterey Bay). Vent and seep communities share numerous faunal and microbial similarities that stem from chemoautotrophic primary production. Molecular evidence suggests that the dominant vent taxa (clams, mussels, shrimp, and possibly tubeworms) have diversified recently (i.e., Cenozoic) and that seep-dwelling relatives may be their evolutionary ancestors. Our goal is to develop a better understanding of the evolutionary and ecological relationships between vent and seep communities on a global scale.

We focus our studies on relationships between vent and seep communities along the western American coastal margin, ranging from the Northeast pacific (i.e., Juan de Fuca Ridge, Oregon Subduction Zone, Eel River, Mendocino Fracture, etc.) to the Gulf of California and 21°N on the East Pacific Rise (Guaymas Basin and Tamaya Fracture Zone). The Monterey Bay seep communities provide an anchor point for these studies because the seep organisms are accessible with current assets, and long-term studies provide a depth of physiological and ecological knowledge. Additionally, cryopreserved specimens from many of these sites are housed at MBARI, and new specimens will have been collected during expeditions to the Juan de Fuca/Gorda Ridge and Gulf of California during tenure of this project. The principle foci of our studies are:

1. We will use a combined genealogical and biogeographic approach (a.k.a. phylogeography) to assess patterns and modes of dispersal within species of vesicomyid clams, mussels, vestimentiferan tubeworms, and their endosymbiotic bacteria from seeps and vents along the western North American coastal margin. 
2. We will continue our studies of endosymbiont acquisition and diversity by the tubeworm Lammellibrachia barhami from Monterey Bay. 
3. We will use local organisms as a model system to develop molecular markers for the identification of larval stages of clams and tubeworms in the water column. This research piggybacks on current Environmental Sample Processor development by Chris Scholin's group. 

Additionally, we will continue studies of the evolutionary and ecological consequences of various breeding systems in animals. For the first year research will continue to focus on our colony of freshwater fish that clone. In subsequent years, the statistical and molecular methods developed for studying these fish will be extended to other asexually reproducing organisms in the local near-shore marine environment.