John E. Graves

Professor of Marine Science

Email: [[graves]]
Phone: (804) 684-7352
Office: Chesapeake Bay Hall N207
Department: Fisheries Science

Education

• B.A., University of California, San Diego
• Ph.D., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD

Research Interests

Fisheries Genetics Program

My research interests are broadly focused on the processes of molecular evolution in the marine environment. In particular, my research program is directed toward 1) the use of molecular techniques to elucidate the population structure of marine organisms, with an emphasis on pelagic fishes; 2) the application of techniques in molecular genetics to help resolve problems in fishery science; and 3) the use of molecular genetic data to infer the evolutionary relationships. In addition, we have recently focused our research efforts to estimate the survival of billfish released from recreational and commercial fishing gear, and to devise means of reducing incidental bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery.

Current Projects

• Population structure of Atlantic bluefin tuna
• Phylogeny of istiophorid billfishes
• Population structure of istiophorid billfishes
• Genetic relationships of western Atlantic shorefishes
• Post-release survival and habitat utilization of istiophorid billfishes
• Population structure of Atlantic menhaden

Selected Publications

(*graduate student, **undergraduate student):

• Graves, J.E., A.Z. Horodysky, and R.J. Latour. Use of pop-up satellite archival tag technology to study postrelease survival and habitat utilization of estuarine and coastal fishes: an application to striped bass. Fish. Bull., in press.
• *Portnoy, D.S., J.R. McDowell, C.T. McCandless, J.A. Musick, and J.E. Graves. Effective size closely approximates the census size in the heavily exploited western Atlantic population of sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus. Conservation Genetics, in press.
• *Gray, K.N., J.R. McDowell, B.B. Collette, and J.E. Graves. 2009. A molecular phylogeny of the remoras and their relatives. Bull. Mar. Sci. 84:183-198.
• *Gray, K.N., J.R. McDowell, B.B. Collette, and J.E. Graves. 2009. An investigation of the global population structure of the marlinsucker (Remora osteochir) inferred from mitochondrial control region DNA sequences. Bull. Mar. Sci. 84:25-42.
• Kerstetter, D.W., and J.E. Graves. 2008. Post-release survival of sailfish caught by commercial pelagic longline gear in the southern Gulf of Mexico. N. Am. J. Fish. Management 28: 1578-1586.
• *Chandler, E.A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2008. Genetically monomorphic invasive populations of the rapa whelk, Rapana venosa. Molecular Ecology 17: 4079-4091.
• McDowell, J.R., and J.E. Graves. 2008. Population structure of striped marlin (Kajikia audax) in the Pacific Ocean based on analysis of microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 65:1307-1320.
• *Brendtro, K.S., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2008. Population genetic structure of escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum). Mar. Biol. 155:11-22.
• Graves, J.E., and *A.Z. Horodysky. 2008. Does Hook Choice Matter? Effects of three circle hook models on post-release survival of white marlin. N. Am. J. Fish. Management 28:471-480.
• *Paine, M.A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2008. Specific identification using CO1 sequences analysis of scombrid larvae collected off the Kona coast of Hawaii. Ichthyological Research 55:7-16.
• *Paine, M.A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Specific identification of western Atlantic Ocean scombrids using mitochondrial DNA cyytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene region sequences. Bull. Mar. Sci., 80:353-367.
• McDowell, J.R., J.E.L. Carlsson, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Genetic analysis of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) stock structure in the Atlantic Ocean. Gulf and Caribbean Research 19(2): 75-82.
• *Horodysky, A.Z., *D.W. Kerstetter, R.J. Latour, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Habitat utilization and vertical movements of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) released from commercial and recreational fishing gears in the western North Atlantic Ocean: inferences from short-duration pop-up archival satellite tags (PSATS). Fisheries Oceanography 16: 240-256.
• Carlsson, J., J.R. McDowell, J.E.L. Carlsson, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Genetic identity of YOY bluefin tuna from the eastern and western Atlantic spawning areas. J. Heredity 98:23-28.
• *Portnoy, D.S., A.N. Piercy, J.A. Musick, G.H. Burgess, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Genetic polyandry and sexual conflict in the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus, in the western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Molecular Ecology 16:187-197.
• Graves, J.E., and J.R. McDowell. 2006. Genetic analysis of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) stock structure. Bull. Mar. Sci. 79:469-482.
• Collette, B.B., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2006. Phylogeny of Recent billfishes (Xiphioidei). Bull. Mar. Sci. 79:455-468.
• Carlsson, J., J.R. McDowell, J.E.L. Carlsson, D. Olafsdottir, and J.E. Graves. 2006. Genetic heterogeneity of Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 63:1111-1117.
• *Portnoy, D.S., J.R. McDowell, **K. Thompson, J.A. Musick and J.E. Graves. 2006. Isolation and characterization of five dinucleotide microsatellite loci in the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus. Molecular Ecology Notes, 6:431-433.
• *Kerstetter, D.W., and J.E. Graves. 2006. Survival of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) released from commercial pelagic longline gear in the western North Atlantic. Fishery Bulletin, 104:434-444.
• *Kerstetter, D.W., and J.E. Graves. 2006. Effects of size 16/0 circle versus size 9/0 J-style hooks on target and non-target species in a pelagic longline fishery. Fisheries Research, 80:239-250.
• *Horodysky, A.Z., and J.E. Graves. 2005. Application of pop-up satellite archival tag technology to estimate postrelease survival of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) caught on circle and straight-shank ("J") hooks in the western North Atlantic recreational fishery. Fishery Bulletin, 103:84-96.
• Carlsson, J., J.R. McDowell, P. Diaz-Jaimes, J.E.L. Carlsson, S.B. Boles, J.R. Gold, and J.E. Graves. 2004. Microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analyses of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus thynnus) population structure in the Mediterranean Sea. Molecular Ecology 13:3345-3356.
• *Kerstetter, D.W., J.J. Polovina, and J.E. Graves. 2004. Evidence of shark predation and scavenging of fishes equipped with pop-up satellite archival tags. Fish. Bull. 102:750-756.
• *Kerstetter, D.W., B.E. Luckhurst, E.D. Prince, and J.E. Graves. 2003. Use of pop-up satellite archival tags to demonstrate survival of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) released from pelagic longline gear. Fish. Bull. 101:939-948
• Graves, J.E., and J.R. McDowell. 2003. Stock structure of the world's istiophorid billfishes: a genetic perspective. Marine and Freshwater Res. 54:287-298.
• *Cordes, J.F., and J.E. Graves. 2003. Investigation of congeneric hybribization in and stock structure of weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) inferred from analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA loci. Fish. Bull. 101:443-450.
• *Bostrom, M.A., B.B. Collette, B.E. Luckhurst, K.S. Reece, and J.E. Graves. 2002. Hybridization between two serranids, the coney (Cephalopholis fulva) and the creole fish (Paranthias furcifer), at Bermuda. Fishery Bulletin 100:651-661
• *McDowell, J.R., P. Diaz-Jaimes, and J.E. Graves. 2002. Isolation and characterization of seven tetra-nucleotide microsatellite loci from Atlantic northern bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus thynnus. Molecular Ecology Notes 2:214-216.
• *Orrell, T., K Carpenter, J. Musick, and J.E. Graves. 2002. Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of the Sparidae (Perciformes: Percoidei) from cytochrome b sequences. Copeia 2002:618-631.
• *McDowell, J.R., and J.E. Graves. 2002. Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers for specific identification of istiophorid and xiphiid billfishes. Fishery Bulletin 100:537-544.
• *Falterman, B., and J.E. Graves. 2002. A comparison of the relative mortality and hooking efficiency of circle and straight shank ("J") hooks used in the pelagic longline industry. Amer. Fish. Soc. Symp. 30:80-87.
• Graves, J.E., B.E. Luckhurst, and E.D. Prince. 2002. An evaluation of pop-up satellite tags for estimating postrelease survival of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) from a recreational fishery. Fish. Bull. 100:134-142.
• Reece, K.S., D. Bushek, K.L. Hudson, and J.E. Graves. 2001. Geographic distribution of Perkinsus marinus strains along the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Marine Biology 139:1047-1055.
• *Cordes, J.F., S.L.Armknecht, **E.A. Starkey, and J.E. Graves. 2001. Forensic identification of sixteen species of Chesapeake Bay sportfishes using mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Estuaries 24:49-58.
• *Buonnacorsi, V.P., *J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2001. Reconciling patterns of inter-ocean molecular variance from four classes of molecular markers in blue marlin (Makaira nigricans). Molecular Ecology 10:1179-1196.
• *Buonaccorsi, V.P., **E.A. Starkey, and J.E. Graves. 2001. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analysis of population subdivision among young-of-the-year Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) from the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Marine Biology 138: 37-45.

Current Students

• Ana Verissimo, Ph.D. Program.
• Dan Dutton, M.S. Program.
• Laurie Sorenson, M.S. Program.

Past Students

Post-Doctoral Fellows

• David Kerstetter, 2005
• Pindaro Diaz-Jaimes, 2000 - 2001
• David Carlini, 1998 - 1999
• Kimberly Reece, 1994 - 1998

Ph.D. Students

• Dave Portnoy, 2008
• David Kerstetter, 2005
• Jan McDowell, 2002
• Tom Orrell, 2000
• Jan Cordes, 2000
• Vince Buonaccorsi, 1998
• David Carlini, 1998
• Daniel Scoles, 1994
• Ed Heist, 1994

M.S. Students

• Abigail Lynch, 2008
• Emily Chandler, 2007
• Kirsten Brendtro, 2006
• Melissa Paine, 2006
• Kurtis Gray, 2005
• Andrij Horodysky, 2004
• Kelly Johnson, 2003
• David Kerstetter, 2001
• Arminda Gensler, 2001
• Felipe Arzayus, 2000
• Meredith Bostrom, 2000
• Brett Falterman, 1999
• Jeff Norrgard, 1995
• Catherine O’Neil Goodbred, 1995
• Sandra Blake Boles, 1994
• Lee Morgan, 1992

Courses Taught/Teaching

• BIO 204 Principles of Biology: Organisms, Evolution, Ecology (William & Mary)
• MS 548 Marine Fisheries Science and Management (Summer course for high school teachers)
• MS 601 Seminar in Marine Science- Fisheries
• MS 673 Marine Molecular Genetics (lecture)
• MS 674 Marine Molecular Genetics (lab)
• MS 698 Evolutionary Biology (seminar)

Awards

• 2006 - NOAA Fisheries Service Special Recognition Award
• 2004 - Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award
• 2001 - NOAA Team Member of the Month
• 1995 - The Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, College of William & Mary
• 1992 - The Outstanding Teacher Award, School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary

Professional Memberships

• American Fisheries Society
• American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
• Society for the Study of Evolution

Advisory Service

• Chairman, U.S. Advisory Committee to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
• Member National Marine Fisheries Service Billfish Advisory Panel
• Member National Marine Fisheries Service Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel