Tracey T. Sutton

Assistant Professor of Marine Science

Email: [[tsutton]]
Phone: (804) 684-7372
Office: Fisheries Science Lab 131, 133
Department: Fisheries Science

Education

• B.S., University of South Florida, Tampa
• Ph.D., University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg

Research Interests

Our lab studies various aspects of marine ecology, spanning multiple trophic levels (phytoplankton to sharks). We are particularly interested in biodiversity, community structure, and trophic interactions in the marine environment.

I run the VIMS Shark Research Program, continuing the pioneering work of Dr. Jack Musick, now Emeritus Faculty at VIMS. The VIMS program is one of four founding institutions of the National Shark Research Consortium. The VIMS program is one of the world's longest running elasmobranch (sharks, rays and skates) population surveys (31+ years and counting), and has played a key role in chronicling the dramatic decline in these key apex predators. Our program provides a basis for the management and (hopefully) restoration of these species. In addition to population dynamics, our group also studies various aspects of the ecology of elasmobranchs, both coastal and deep-sea, including feeding, reproduction, migratory behavior, and genetic structure.

Our lab also specializes in the study of the deep sea, particularly the fishes and invertebrates of the mesopelagic (200-1000 m depth) and bathypelagic (1000-4000 m) zones. We use a variety of sampling methods (e.g., midwater nets, submersibles, ROVs) to gain an understanding of the diversity and community structure of Earth's least known ecosystems. We are particularly interested in the development and application of multiple techniques (microscopical, genetic, and biochemical) to understand the trophic interactions in the deep sea, and how these interactions shape community structure in the open ocean "midwaters," which are by far Earth's largest and oldest ecosystems (approximately 92% of the world ocean volume).

A third major research focus in our lab involves multidisciplinary study of phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics. Plankton represent the base of marine food webs, upon which higher trophic levels depend. Understanding the spatial distribution of plankton, variability (i.e., patchiness), and biophysical coupling is essential to understanding marine ecosystem dynamics. In addition to their importance as food, the action of zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton production also affects the fate of carbon in the oceans, and thus the atmosphere, with ramifications for global climate change.

Current Research Projects

• Community and trophic structure of the pelagic nekton associated with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.  This research is part of the international Census of Marine Life project MAR-ECO, run by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. I am co-Principal Investigator of the Pelagic Nekton component (with Dr. Uwe Piatkowski, IFM-GEOMAR, Kiel, Germany). We currently coordinate 43 research projects as part of this research. Taxonomic and community analyses are ongoing in conjunction with the Bergen Museum, Norway. I lead a multi-national team investigating the food web structure over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Iceland to the Azores), using traditional, genetic (DNA fingerprinting), and biochemical (stable isotope analysis) methods to elucidate poorly known trophic interactions. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of gelatinous zooplankton as energy vectors in the deep ocean interior. I am also working closely on a large-scale hydroacoustics survey of the northern MAR (with Drs. John Horne and Cairstiona Anderson, Univ. Washington). Our research is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Biological Oceanography, OCE-0623551), as well as grants from the Census of Marine Life and the NOAA Ocean Exploration program.
•  VIMS Shark Research Program.  This program is focused on the distribution and abundance of coastal sharks, skates and rays of the Chesapeake Bay region. Key species sandbar (Carcharhinus plumbeus), dusky (C. obscurus), hammerhead (Sphyrna spp.), tiger (Galeocerdo cuvieri), and blacktip (C. limbatus) sharks, large stingrays (Dasyatis spp.), butterfly rays (Gymnura spp.), and the clearnose skate (Raja elegantoides). Captured sharks are measured, sex determined, tagged and released. Tag returns help understand the migratory patterns and habitat use of these species. Associated projects include study of the deep-water sharks of the Norfolk Canyon, study of nursery habitat of sharks and rays, and study of the effect of different gear types on catch frequency and survivorship of sharks.
•  Bathypelagic fish biodiversity in the deep Atlantic Ocean. Our lab is involved in a number of projects aimed at exploration of the pelagic fish fauna found at or below 1000 m. Current field projects include: 1) Sargasso Sea and Eastern Atlantic sampling in collaboration with the Census of Marine Zooplankton project ("CMarZ" with Drs. Ann Bucklin, Univ. Conn.; Peter Wiebe and Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.; Sigrid Schiel, AWI Bremerhaven); 2) the Reykjanes Ridge (with Dr. Thorsteinn Sigurdsson, Mar. Res. Inst., Iceland); Bear Seamount (with Dr. Michael Vecchione, Smithson. Inst./VIMS), and 4) the eastern Gulf of Mexico (with Drs. Tom Hopkins and Scott Burghart, Univ. South Florida College of Marine Science).
•  Taxonomy and molecular systematics of deep-sea fish and zooplankton. As the least known vertebrates on Earth, many deep-sea fish groups are in dire need of taxonomic and systematic revision. We have several current projects in this vein, including revision of the 'bigscale fishes' (Melamphaidae), 'the deep-sea smelts' (family Bathylagidae, with Ofer Gon, South Africa), and the dragonfishes (family Stomiidae). We also participate in CMarZ cruises, where we identify deep-sea fishes for on-board DNA sequencing.

Selected Publications

• Busch, M., S. Klempel, T.T. Sutton, and U. Piatkowski (in press) Parasites of the deep-sea smelt Bathylagus euryops (Microstomatidae, Argentinidae) from the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (CGFZ). Marine Biology Research.
• Hartel, K.E., C.P. Kenaley, J.K. Galbraith and T.T. Sutton (in press) Additional records of deep-sea fishes off greater New England. Northeast Naturalist.
• Suntsov, A.V., E.A. Widder and T.T. Sutton, (2008) Chapter 3: Bioluminescence in Larval Fishes. In: R.N. Finn (ed.), Fish Larval Physiology. University of Bergen Press. pp. 51-88.
• Sutton, T.T., F.M. Porteiro, M. Heino, I. Byrkjedal, G. Langhelle, C.I.H. Anderson, J. Horne, H. Søiland, T. Falkenhaug, O.R. Godø, and O.A. Bergstad (2008) Vertical structure, biomass and topographic association of deep-pelagic fishes in relation to a mid-ocean ridge system. Deep-Sea Research II 55 (2008): 161-184.
• Wiebe, P.H., Bucklin, A., Madin, L., Angel, M.V., Sutton, T.T., Pages, F. and Hopcroft, R.R. (in press) Integrated at-sea morphological assessment of zooplankton biodiversity in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from the surface to 5000 m. 4th Zooplankton Production Symposium, Hiroshima. Mar 2007.
• Porteiro, F.M. and T.T. Sutton (2007). Chapter 6: Midwater fish assemblages and seamounts..Pp. 101-116. In: T.J. Pitcher, T. Morato, P.J.B. Hart, M.R. Clark, N. Haggan and R.S. Santos (eds), Seamounts: Ecology, Conservation and Management. Fish and Aquatic Resources Series, Blackwell, Oxford, UK.
• Donnelly, J., T.T. Sutton and J.J. Torres (2006) Distribution and abundance of micronekton and macrozooplankton in the NW Weddell Sea: relation to a spring ice-edge bloom. Polar Biology 29: 280-293.
• Wiebe, P.H., Bucklin, A., Madin, L., Angel, M.V., Sutton, T.T., Pages, F. and Hopcroft, R.R. (2006) A census of marine zooplankton in the tropical/subtropical Atlantic from the surface to 5000 m. EOS Trans. AGU, 87(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract OS34A-07.
• Sutton, T.T. (2005) Trophic ecology of the deep-sea fish Malacosteus niger (Pisces: Stomiidae): an enigmatic feeding ecology to facilitate a unique visual system? Deep-Sea Research I 52: 2065-2076.
• Donnelly, J., J.J. Torres, T.T. Sutton, and C. Simoniello (2004) Fishes of the eastern Ross Sea, Antarctica. Polar Biology 27: 637-650.
• Sutton, T.T. and K. E. Hartel (2004) A new species of Eustomias (Teleostei: Stomiidae) from the Western North Atlantic, with a review of the subgenus Neostomias. Copeia 2004(1): 116-121.
• Sutton, T.T. (2003) Stomiiformes: Dragonfishes and Relatives. In: D. Thoney and P. Loiselle (eds.), Vol. 4. Fishes I. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Gale, New York. pp. 421-430.
• Walsh, J.J., R.H. Weisberg, D.A. Dieterle, R. He, B.P. Darrow, J.K. Jolliff, K.M. Lester, G.A. Vargo, G.J. Kirkpatrick, K.A. Fanning, T.T. Sutton, A.E. Jochens, D.C. Biggs, B. Nababan, C. Hu, and F.E. Muller-Karger (2003) The phytoplankton response to intrusions of slope water on the West Florida shelf: models and observations. Journal of Geophysical Research 108(C6): 3190, doi: 10.1029/2002JC001406.
• McEachran, J.D. and T.T. Sutton. (2002) Chiasmodontidae. Swallowers. In: K.E. Carpenter (ed.), The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 2 (Opisthognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. pp. 1742-1743.
• Samson, S., T.L. Hopkins, A. Remsen, L.C. Langebrake, T.T. Sutton, and J. Patten (2001) A System for High-Resolution Zooplankton Imaging. IEEE J. of Oceanic Engineering, 26: 671-676.
• Sutton, T.T., T.L. Hopkins, A. Remsen, and S. Burghart (2001) Multisensor sampling of pelagic ecosystem variables in a coastal environment to estimate zooplankton grazing impact. Continental Shelf Research 21: 69-87.
• Hopkins, T.L. and T.T. Sutton (1998) Midwater fishes and shrimps as competitors in low latitude oligotrophic ecosystems. Marine Ecology - Progress Series 164: 37-45.
• Sutton, T.T., T.L. Hopkins, and T.M. Lancraft (1998) Trophic diversity of a midwater fish community. In: Pelagic Biogeography ICoPB II. Proceedings of the second International Conference. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Workshop Report No. 142: 353-357.
• Hopkins, T.L., T.T. Sutton and T. M. Lancraft. (1996) Trophic structure and predation impact of a low latitude midwater fish community. Progress in Oceanography 38: 205-239.

Current Students

• Kyle Bartow (Ph.D.), advisor, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University
• Vanda Carmo (Ph.D.), co-advisor, University of the Azores
• Chip Cotton (Ph.D.), co-advisor, VIMS/College of William and Mary
• Megan Geidner (M.S.), advisor, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University
• Kristene Parsons (Ph.D.), co-advisor, VIMS/College of William and Mary
• Christopher "C.J." Sweetman (Ph.D.), VIMS/College of William and Mary

Teaching

• Fish Ecology (to be taught spring 2009)

Professional Memberships and Affiliations

• American Elasmobranch Society
• American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
• American Society of Limnologists and Oceanographers
• Marine Technology Society
• The Oceanography Society
• Research Associate, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institution (MBARI)