Eric J. Hilton

Assistant Professor of Marine Science

Email: [[ehilton]]
Phone: (804) 684-7178
Office: Fisheries Science Lab 123/125
Department: Fisheries Science

Education

• B.S., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D. C.
• Postdoctoral Research Scientist, The Field Museum, Chicago

Research Interests

I use a multidisciplinary approach to study the evolution of fishes, drawing on the principles and techniques of comparative anatomy, developmental biology, biogeography, histology, paleontology, molecular evolution, and phylogenetic systematics. Rigorous specimen-based research is critical to the construction of sound phylogenetic hypotheses, and provides the empirical basis for studying all aspects of organisms, from their evolutionary history to the construction of conservation and management plans.

I am particularly interested in the morphological structure (emphasizing the skeleton) and evolution of a wide variety of groups of ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii), ranging from relatively basal forms, such as sturgeons, to highly derived groups of percomorph fishes. I also have interests in (and on-going projects on) the anatomy of other groups of vertebrate animals, as well as the history of ichthyology and systematic comparative anatomy generally. Please contact me to discuss potential graduate student opportunities in my lab.

Also, I am in charge of the maintenance and growth of the Ichthyological Collection at VIMS , which houses significant holdings of taxa from Chesapeake Bay, as well as Atlantic deep-sea fishes and freshwater fishes from the central Appalachians. If you wish to borrow material from VIMS or for any other inquiries about our holdings, please contact myself (ehilton@vims.edu) or Paul Gerdes, Collection Manager (arete@vims.edu).

Current Projects

• Osteology and phylogenetic systematics of fossil and living sturgeons, including a monographic description of the skeletal anatomy and ontogeny of the shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum; with L. Grande (The Field Museum) & W. E. Bemis (Cornell University).
• Molecular systematics and evolution of sturgeons; with C. Dillman (St. Louis University) & R. Wood (St. Louis University).
• Redescription of the primitive acipenseriform †Chondrosteus acipenseroides, from the Lower Lias of England; with P. L. Forey (The Natural History Museum, London).
• Molecular phylogeography, comparative anatomy, and evolution of pricklebacks (Stichaeidae) and gunnels (Pholidae) from the intertidal zone of the Pacific coast of North America; multiple projects and collaborators, including K. Feldheim (The Field Museum).
• Ontogeny and taxonomic distribution of dorsal fin 'spines' in minnows (Cyprininae); with K. Conway (St. Louis University).
• Comparative anatomy, phylogeny, and biogeography of bony-tongue fishes; multiple projects and collaborators, including P. L. Forey (The Natural History Museum, London) and R. Britz (The Natural History Museum, London).
• Comparative osteology and systematics of jacks and their allies, with particular reference to the Indo-Pacific genus Parastromateus; with G. D. Johnson (Smithsonian Institution) & W. F. Smith-Vaniz (U. S. Geological Survey).
• David Starr Jordan's "vacation tramps" through the South and natural history education in the late 1800's.
• Comparative osteology and morphology of the pelvis of snakes; with N. J. Kley (Stony Brook University) & A. M. Richmond (University of Massachusetts).
• Description of a new well-preserved fossil snapping turtle from the Eocene Green River Formation of southwestern Wyoming; with O. Rieppel (The Field Museum) & L. Grande (The Field Museum).
• Descriptive and developmental osteology of the Medium Ground Finch, Geospiza fortis, and the comparative anatomy of Darwin's Finches; with A. Herrel (University of Antwerp), S. K. Huber (University of Utah), & J. Podos (University of Massachusetts).

Selected Publications

• Hilton, E. J. & W. E. Bemis. 1999. Skeletal variation in shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) from the Connecticut River: implications for comparative osteological studies of fossil and living fishes. Pages 69-94 in Mesozoic Fishes 2 - Systematics and Fossil Record. G. Arratia & H.-P. Schultze (eds.). Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, Germany.
• Hilton, E. J. 2001. Tongue-bite apparatus of osteoglossomorph fishes: variation of a character complex. Copeia 2001: 372-381.
• Hilton, E. J. 2002. Observations on the rostral canal bones of two species of Acipenser (Actinopterygii, Acipenseriformes). Copeia 2002: 213-219.
• Hilton, E. J. 2002. Osteology of the extant North American fishes of the genus Hiodon Lesueur 1818 (Teleostei: Osteoglossomorpha: Hiodontiformes). Fieldiana (Zoology), new series 100: 1-142.
• Hilton, E. J. 2003. Comparative osteology and phylogenetic systematics of fossil and living bony-tongue fishes (Actinopterygii, Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 137: 1-100.
• Bemis, W. E., E. J. Hilton, B. Brown, R. Arrindell, A. M. Richmond, C. Little, L. Grande, P. L. Forey, & G. J. Nelson. 2004. Methods for preparing dry, partially articulated skeletons of osteichthyans, with notes on making Ridewood dissections of the cranial skeleton. Copeia 2004: 603-609.
• Hilton, E. J. 2004. The caudal skeleton of Acipenseriformes (Actinopterygii: Chondrostei): recent advances and new observations. Pages 599-617 in Recent Advances in the Origin and Early Radiation of Vertebrates. G. Arratia, M. V. H. Wilson, & R. Cloutier (eds.). Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, Germany.
• Hilton, E. J., L. Grande, & W. E. Bemis. 2004. Morphology of †Coccolepis bucklandi Agassiz, 1843 (Actinopterygii) from the Solnhofen lithographic limestone deposits (Upper Jurassic, Germany). Pages 209-238 in Mesozoic Fishes 3 - Systematics, Paleoenvironments and Biodiversity. G. Arratia & A. Tintori (eds.). Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, Germany.
• Hilton, E. J. 2005. Observations on the skulls of sturgeons (Acipenseridae): shared similarities of Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni and juvenile specimens of Acipenser stellatus. Environmental Biology of Fishes 72: 135-144.
• Hilton, E. J. & P. L. Forey. 2005. Contributions of Walter G. Ridewood to systematic comparative anatomy, especially of the osteology of "lower" vertebrates. Journal of Natural History 39: 641-655.
• Hilton, E. J. & N. J. Kley. 2005. Osteology of the quillfish, Ptilichthys goodei (Perciformes: Zoarcoidei: Ptilichthyidae). Copeia 2005: 571-585.
• Hilton, E. J. & W. E. Bemis. 2005. Grouped tooth replacement in the oral jaws of the tripletail, Lobotes surinamensis (Perciformes, Lobotidae), with a discussion of its proposed relationship to Datnioides. Copeia 2005: 665-672.
• Hilton, E. J. & L. Grande. 2006. Review of the fossil record of sturgeons, family Acipenseridae (Actinopterygii: Acipenseriformes), from North America. Journal of Paleontology 80: 672-683.
• Grande, L. & E. J. Hilton. 2006. An exquisitely preserved skeleton representing a primitive sturgeon from the Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana (Acipenseriformes: Acipenseridae: n. gen. and sp.). Journal of Paleontology, Memoir 65, supplement to 80(4): 1-39.
• Hilton, E. J. & C. Cox Fernandes. 2006. Sexual dimorphism in Apteronotus bonapartii (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae). Copeia 2006: 826-833.
• Hilton, E. J., R. Britz, G. D. Johnson, & P. L. Forey. 2007. Clarification of the occipito-vertebral region of Arapaima gigas (Osteoglossomorpha: Osteoglossidae) through developmental osteology. Copeia 2007: 218-224.
• Hilton, E. J. & G. D. Johnson. 2007. When two equals three: developmental osteology and homology of the caudal skeleton in carangid fishes (Perciformes: Carangidae). Evolution and Development 9: 178-189.
• Hilton, E. J., C. Cox Fernandes, J. P. Sullivan, J. G. Lundberg, & R. Campos-da-Paz. 2007. Redescription of Orthosternarchus tamandua (Boulenger, 1898) (Gymnotiformes, Apteronotidae), with reviews of its ecology, electric organ discharges, external morphology, osteology, and phylogenetic affinities. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 156:1-25.
• Mabee, P., G. Arratia, M. Coburn, M. Haendel, E. J. Hilton, J. G. Lundberg, R. L. Mayden, N. Rios & M. Westerfield. 2007. Connecting evolutionary morphology to genomics using ontologies: a case study from cypriniforms including zebrafish. Journal of Experimental Biology: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 308B: 655-668.

Current Students

• Pat McGrath (Ph.D.), co-advisor, studies on the natural history of longnose gar

Courses Taught/Teaching

• MS 666 Systematic Ichthyology (to be taught spring 2008)

Professional Memberships and Affiliations

• American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists

• The Linnean Society of London, fellow

• Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

• Sociedade Brasileira de Ictiologia

• Chelonian Research Foundation

• International Society for History and Bibliography of Herpetology

• Research Associate, The Field Museum, Geology Department