Luke Tornabene

Luke Tornabene, PhD
Lab Manager, Lecturer
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Natural Resources Center, Room 3108
Email: Luke.Tornabene@tamucc.edu

GobyNet - A new and developing resource of information on gobioid fishes

Research Interests

My wider interests include the biology and evolution of fishes. I am specifically interested in how changes in morphology, ecology, life history impacts the tempo of fish diversification. I have a strong interest in phylogenomics and the use of next-generation sequencing technology to provide elegant answers to evolutionary questions at or below the species level.

My current research projects include:

- Testing hypotheses regarding mechanisms of speciation in coral reef fishes of the Indo-Malay Archipelago.

- Resolving deep phylogenetic relationships of gobies with massive NGS phylogenomic datasets obtained via targeted gene-capture

- Patterns of evolution of cryptobenthic deep sea and mesophotic reef fishes in the Caribbean.

- Evolution of microhabitat preferences of cryptobenthic reef fishes

- Evolution of unique life-history traits and reproductive strategies in gobioid fishes

- Phylogenetic relationships of gobionelline, sicydiine oxudercine and amblyopine gobies

- Systematics of dwarfgobies, genus Eviota, an ultra-diverse lineage of miniature reef fishes in the Indo-Pacific

- Character evolution, systematics and habitat association of the American seven-spined gobies (Tribe Gobiosomatini)

- Assessing extinction risk of Caribbean and tropical Eastern Pacific gobies and sleepers

Publications (email for .pdfs)

Tornabene, L., Valdiz, S., Erdmann, M., and Pezold, F. Submitted. Multi-locus sequence data reveal a new species of coral reef goby (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota), and evidence of Pliocene vicariance across the Coral Triangle.

Van Tassell, J.L., Joyeux, J.C., Macieira, R.M., and Tornabene, L. Submitted. Gobiosoma #### (Teleostei: Gobiidae) a new species of Gobiosoma from Brazil, with comments on the status of Gobiosoma hemigymnum. 

Tornabene, L., Valdez, S., Erdmann, M., and Pezold, F. 2015.  Support for a ‘Center of Origin’ in the Coral Triangle: cryptic diversity, recent speciation, and local endemism in a diverse lineage of reef fishes (Gobiidae: Eviota). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 82: 200-210.

Greenfield, D.W., and Tornabene, L. 2014. Eviota brahmi n. sp. from Papua New Guinea, with a redescription of Eviota nigriventris (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Zootaxa. 3793: 133-146.

Tornabene, L, Van Tassell, J.L. 2014. Redescription of the goby genus Gobiosoma (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Gobiosomatini), with the synonymy of the genus Enypnias. Journal of Natural History. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.840938

Tornabene, L, Ahmadia, G.N., and Williams, J.T. 2013. Four new species of dwarfgobies (Teleostei, Gobiidae, Eviota) from the Austral, Gambier, Marquesas and Society Archipelagos, French Polynesia. Systematics and Biodiversity. Systematics and Biodiversity 11(3): 363-380.

Tornabene, L, Chen, Y, and Pezold F. 2013. Gobies are deeply divided: phylogenetic evidence from nuclear DNA (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Gobiidae). Systematics and Biodiversity 11(3): 345-361.

Ahmadia, G.A., Tornabene, L., Smith, D.J., and Pezold, F. Submitted. Community assembly of cryptobenthic coral reef fishes.

Tornabene, L, Ahmadia, G.N., Berumen, M.L., Smith, D.J., Jompa, J., and Pezold, F. 2013. Evolution of microhabitat association and morphology in a diverse group of cryptobenthic coral reef fishes (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66(1): 391-400.

Tornabene, L, Van Tassell, J.L., and Robertson, D.R. 2012. Microgobius urraca (Teleostei: Gobiidae), a new species of goby from the tropical eastern Pacific. Zootaxa 3447: 41-55.

Van Tassell, J.L., Tornabene, L. and Colin, P. 2012. Review of the western Atlantic species of Bollmannia (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Gobiosomatini) with the description of a new allied genus and species. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 18(2): 61-94.

Tornabene, L., Pezold, F. 2011. Phylogenetic analysis of Western Atlantic Bathygobius (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Zootaxa 3042: 27-36.

Van Tassell, J.L., Tornabene, L. and M.S.Taylor. 2011. A History of Gobioid Morphological Systematics. In: The Biology of Gobies, R.A. Patzner, J.L. Van Tassell, M. Kovacic and B.G. Kapoor (Eds). CRC Press, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. New Delhi.

Tornabene, L., Baldwin, C., Weigt, L., Pezold, F. 2010. Exploring the diversity of western Atlantic Bathygobius (Teleostei: Gobiidae) using cytochrome-c oxidase subunit I, with descriptions of two new species. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 16 (4): 141-170.

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