UMass Boston

Areas of Expertise

Evolution and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates

Degrees

PhD, Harvard University, 1987 (Biology).
BA summa cum laude University of Massachusetts Boston, 1980 (Biology).

Professional Publications & Contributions

  • Jennings R.J. and Etter R.J. 2011. Exon-Primed, Intron-Crossing (EPIC) loci for five nuclear genes in deep-sea protobranch bivalves: primer design, PCR protocols, and locus utility. Molecular Ecology Resources DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03038.x.
  • Etter, R.J., E.E. Boyle, A. Glazier, R. M. Jennings, E. Dutra, and M. R. Chase 2011. Phylogeography of a pan-Atlantic abyssal protobranch bivalve: Implications for evolution in the deep Atlantic. Molecular Ecology 20:829-843.
  • Miller, R.J. and R.J. Etter. 2011. Rock walls: diversity hotspots in the subtidal Gulf of Maine. Marine Ecology Progress Series 425: 153-165.
  • Boyle, EE and RJ Etter. 2011. Evidence of an ancient origin for double uniparental inheritance of mitochondria in Bivalvia. (in review)
  • Rex, M.A. and R.J. Etter. 2010. Deep-Sea Biodiversity: Pattern and Scale. 354 pp. Harvard University Press.
  • Rex, M.A., C.T. Stuart, R.J. Etter and C.R. McClain. 2010. Biogeography of the deep-sea gastropod Oocorys sulcata Fischer, 1884. British Journal of Conchology 40:287-290.
  • McClain, CR, MA Rex and R.J. Etter. 2009. Patterns in deep-sea macroecology. pp 65-100. In Marine Macroecology. K. Roy and J Witman eds. University of Chicago Press.
  • Miller, R.J. and R.J. Etter. 2008. Shading facilitates sessile invertebrate dominance in the rocky subtidal Gulf of Maine. Ecology 89:452-462.
  • Avery, R. and R.J. Etter. 2006. Microstructural differences in reinforcing a gastropod shell against predation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 323:159-170.
  • Zardus, J.D., R.J. Etter, M.R. Chase, M.A. Rex, and E.E. Boyle. 2006. Bathymetric and geographic population structure in the pan-Atlantic deep-sea bivalve Demininucula atacellana (Schenck 1939). Molecular Ecology 15:639-651.

Research Interests

We are exploring the ecology and evolution of marine organisms to determine the forces that control the origin and maintenance of biodiversity in the oceans and identify reasonable conservation strategies. Current projects include:

  • Experimental studies on the forces that shape patterns of diversity in the deep sea.
  • Population genetic analyses of shallow and deep water organisms to investigate dispersal, gene flow, population differentiation and speciation.
  • Exploring the relative importance of local and regional processes in controlling the species richness of subtidal rock wall and coral reef communities.
  • The influence of wave energy on the biology, ecology and evolution of intertidal organisms.
  • Theoretical metapopulation models of patch dynamics.