POSITION

I am a postdoctoral researcher funded by a Marie Curie IEF fellowship (EU European Commission).

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECT

My current research on serrasalmid fishes examines the relationships between Weberian apparatus and swim bladder morphology, hearing, and ecology in a phylogenetic context. The Serrasalmidae is a family of South American characiform fishes with diverse feeding ecologies that include frugivory, piscivory, lepidophagy (scale feeding), and feeding on biting pieces of fin and muscle of fishes. This family includes the piranhas, pacus, silver dollars, pirapatinga, and tambaqui. This research aims to examine the role that accessory hearing morphology may play in allowing fish to detect sounds associated with food resources.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research interests are focused around questions related to the behavioral ecology, morphology, and sensory ecology of ray-finned fishes. I am especially interested in questions involving the acoustical ecology of fishes. Topics of research include diversity of communication sounds in fishes, morphology of fish sonic mechanisms, and hearing in fishes.

Publications