Dr. Kent E. Carpenter

Professor of Biological Sciences

Education:

Ph.D. Zoology, 1985
University of Hawaii, Honolulu

B.S. Biology, Marine Biology Major, 1975
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida

Biol 420/520, Ichthyology
Biol 232, Marine Biology
Biol 720/820, Systematic Ichthyology

Research Interests:

I am primarily interested in the systematics and evolution of marine fishes. In systematics I have a wide range of interests including alpha taxonomy of fishes, phylogenetic inference, and theory of classification. Most of my background is in morphological studies for constructing phylogenies of percoid fishes. However, I have set up a molecular systematics laboratory and my students typically sequence DNA in order to infer a phylogeny. The goal is to compare morphological and molecular results to corroborate cladograms. The genes we typically use are mitochondrial cytochrome b and nuclear RAG 1. The fishes I am most interested in are the sparoid (porgies, emperor snappers, and threadfin breams) and lutjanoid (snappers and fusiliers) fishes. I am also interested in marine biogeography particularly for the Indian and West Pacific Oceans. This has led to work in marine conservation and comparative phylogeography using population genetics, with a special interest in the Philippines. I have a long-term collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Species Identification and Data Programme for Fisheries. This has had me involved with the production of identification guides for regions such as the western Pacific, western Atlantic, and eastern Atlantic oceans. My graduate students have assisted me in these projects including fieldwork in places such as the Caribbean, West Africa, and the Philippines.

Alongside my other research and teaching responsibilities, I have also recently taken on the role as the Coordinator for the IUCN Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA).The GMSA intends to complete the first global review of every marine vertebrate species, and of selected marine invertebrates and plants, to determine their conservation status and possible extinction risk. The project involves compiling and analyzing all existing data on approximately 20,000 marine species. Please visit this site if you wish to know more: http://sci.odu.edu/gmsa/

Selected Publications:

Carpenter, K.E and V.G. Springer 2005. The center of the center of marine shorefish biodiversity: the Philippine Islands. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 72: 467-480. (pdf)

Orrell, T.M. and K. E. Carpenter. 2004. A phylogeny of fishes of the family Sparidae (Perciformes: Percoidei) inferred from mitochondrial sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 32: 425-434. (pdf)

Carpenter, K.E., T.M. Berra, and J. M. Humphries. 2004. The Swim Bladder and Posterior Lateral Line Nerve of the Nurseryfish, Kurtus gulliveri (Perciformes: Kurtidae), Journal of Morphology. 260: 193-200. (pdf)

Carpenter, K.E. and J. E. Randall. 2003. Lethrinus ravus, a new species of emperor fish (Perciformes: Lethrinidae) from the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans. Zootaxa. 240:1-8. (pdf)

Carpenter, K.E. (Editor) 2003. FAO Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of The Western Central Atlantic. Three volumes. FAO, Rome. 2127 p. (pdf)

Reed, D.L., K.E. Carpenter, and M. J. deGravelle. 2002. Molecular systematics of the jacks (Perciformes: Carangidae) based on mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences using parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian approaches. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 23: 513-524. (pdf)

Carpenter, K.E. and G. D. Johnson. 2002. A phylogeny of sparoid fishes (Perciformes: Percoidei) based on morphology. Ichthyological Research. 49: 114-127. (pdf)

LoGalbo, A. and K.E. Carpenter. 2002. A phylogeny of emperor snappers based on the Cytochrome b gene. Journal of Molecular Evolution. 54: 754-762. (pdf)

Orrell, T. M., K. E. Carpenter, J. A. Musik, and J. E. Graves. 2002. A Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Analysis of the Sparidae (Perciformes: Percoidei) Based on Cytochrome b Sequences. Copeia. 2002(3): 618-631. (pdf)

Reed, D, L., M. J. deGravelle, and K.E. Carpenter. 2001. Molecular systematics of Selene (Perciformes: Carangidae) based on cytochrome b sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 21(3): 468-475. (pdf)

Bianchi, G., K. E. Carpenter, J.-P. Roux, F. J. Molloy, D. Boyer, and H. J. Boyer. 1999. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. Field Guide to the Living Marine Resources of Namibia. FAO, Rome. 265 pp.

Carpenter, K. E. and J. Paxton 1999. The future of ichthyological research in the tropical Indo-Pacific. Proc. 5th Indo-Pac. Fish Conf. Noumea, 1997. [Seret, B. and J.-Y. Sire, eds.]. Paris, Soc. Fr. Ichtyol. pp. 683-693.

Carpenter, K. E. and V. H. Niem (eds). 1998-2001. FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volumes 1 to 6. FAO, Rome. pp. 1-4218.

Carpenter, K. E. 1996. Morphometric pattern and feeding mode in emperor fishes (Lethrinidae, Perciformes). In [L. F. Marcus et al., eds.] Advances in Morphometrics. NATO Advanced Science Series. Series A, vol. 284: 479-487.

Carpenter, K. E. 1996. Morphometric pattern and feeding mode in emperor fishes (Lethrinidae, Perciformes). In (L. F. Marcus et al., editors) Advances in Morphometrics. NATO Advanced Science Series. Series A, vol. 284: 479-487

Carpenter, K. E., B. B. Collette, and J. L. Russo. 1995. Unstable and stable classifications of Scombroid fishes. Bull. Mar. Sci. 56(2): 379-405.

Carpenter, K. E. 1993. Optimal cladistic and quantitative evolutionary classifications as illustrated by fusilier fishes (Teleostei: Caesionidae). Syst. Biol. 42(2): 104-111.

Carpenter, K. E. 1990. A phylogenetic analysis of the Caesionidae (Perciformes: Lutjanoidea). Copeia 1990(3): 692-717.

Carpenter, K. E. 1987. A revision of the Indo-Pacific fish family Caesionidae, with descriptions of five new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 15: 1-56.