Marine Biology & Aquaculture

Tom Lloyd

Tom Lloyd

Alys Young

Alys Young

William Arlidge

William Arlidge

Anna Wilson

Anna Wilson

Kelly Condon

Kelly Condon

Graeme Cumming

Graeme Cumming

Takahiro Shimada

Takahiro Shimada

Peter Doll

Peter Doll

Michela Mitchell

Michela Mitchell

Jan Strugnell

Jan Strugnell

Road map to coastal restoration assessment (Old ID 27594)
Nathan Waltham
28 Jan 2022 - 31 Mar 2022
Coastal wetlands are under threat from a range of past land use changes. Efforts to restore the value back into wetlands is underway in many places, and demonstrating the success of these efforts requires access to scientific data. This project examines through stakeholder participation the elements of a national road map to coastal and marine restoration. The project outcome will be a framework to implement a national road map for restoration that can be used by stakeholders in planning and completing restoration around Australia.
Genetic audit of Cygnet Bay Pearls’ Akoya oyster broodstock (Old ID 27738)
Dean Jerry
01 Jul 2022 - 30 Jun 2023
This Project will examine genetic diversity in Cygnet Bay’s current Akoya oyster breeding populations, design mating pairs for a spawning followed by analysis of the genetic diversity in the offspring.
NQBP and JCU Research and Monitoring Partnership – Ambient Marine Water Quality Studies. (Old ID 27000)
Nathan Waltham
11 Sep 2020 - 10 Sep 2025
Ports are essential for economic trade and prosperity, and vital for the day-to-day function of modern society. TropWATER has provided services to complete an ambient marine water quality-monitoring program for North Queensland Bulk Ports (NQBP) at the Port of Mackay and Port of Hay Point since 2014. This program has expanded to include the other two major port facilities (Port of Abbot Point and Port of Weipa) administered by NQBP. The ambient marine water quality program includes deployment, maintenance and analysis of water quality data generated from high frequency loggers positioned on the sea floor, ambient water quality for metals, nutrients and herbicides. Data will be used by the port authority for strategic planning of operations.
Coastal wetland restoration techniques and evaluation ready for up-scaling (Old ID 26542)
Nathan Waltham
12 Jun 2019 - 31 Jul 2022
First component examines how fish move around floodplains that are impacted following land use conversions. The River herring (Chesapeake Bay) needs access to freshwater and the ocean; population numbers are low because of migration barriers (roads, degraded habitat, dams). The project will include a collaborative study with the Smithsonian Institute to understand how fish access critical habitat during life-stages. The river herring is analogous to the barramundi and mangrove jack in north Queensland: both are highly prized and migrate across catchments and floodplains between freshwater and ocean that have been modified following agricultural expansion and urban sprawl. The second involves investigating how catchment nutrients contribute to coastal hypoxia-fish kills. Like the GBR catchments, nutrient loads in Chesapeake Bay is worsening. The project will include collaborative research on coastal hypoxia and determining the susceptibility of coastal oyster reefs and fisheries to diseases and death (a topic of national interest following a large fish kill in Murray Darling Basin).
NESP 3.8 Carbon abatement & biodiversity enhancements through controlling feral ungulate disturbance in wetlands. (Old ID 28970)
Nathan Waltham
01 Jan 2023 - 20 Dec 2025
Ungulates (pigs, buffalo, cattle) damage the landscape in northern Australia. This impact is particularly evident in coastal wetlands, that provide a range of ecosystem services such as carbon abatement, biodiversity and water quality. Attempts to control ungulates have required expensive mitigation action, with mixed levels of success. In this project we examine the carbon and biodiversity services that controlling ungulates has in coastal areas. Importantly, this research contributes to the development of new methodologies to attract market investments from big businesses, such as blue carbon and biodiversity certificates.
ARC Research Hub for advanced breeding to transform prawn aquaculture (Old ID 21529)
Dean Jerry
01 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2020
Project Seadragon will establish the world's largest black tiger prawn farm, significantly boosting the Australian aquaculture sector. To operate with maximum efficiency and maintain international competitiveness, Project Seadragon will require transformative technologies in advanced animal breeding to produce high-yielding, genetically improved, farm strains. The ARC ITRH will coalesce world-leading animal geneticists, research and service providers, and Australia's largest prawn farm, and gather the genomic resources, commercial phenotypic data, and apply cutting-edge genetic and genomic selection methodologies, leading to the most advanced and industry transformative improvement program for any aquaculture species globally.
IUCN Situation Analysis – Asian Coastal Wetlands (Old ID 27372)
Nicholas Murray
11 Oct 2021 - 31 May 2022
The Yellow Sea ecosystem of intertidal wetlands, associated habitats and the biodiversity that depends on them, encompassed by People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (RoK), is among the ecological wonders of the world. It represents the largest area of intertidal flats on the planet. In 2012, the IUCN Species Survival Commission commissioned an independent report “The IUCN situation analysis on East and Southeast Asian intertidal habitats” that I co-authored. The report was highly influential and led to improved conservation and world heritage listing of tidal flats in the region. Given the impact of the first report, IUCN now wishes the original consultancy team to conduct an update. Therefore, this project is a short contribution to a desktop review and interviews with relevant site managers, government officials, academics, NGO representatives, and other relevant stakeholders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the state of wetlands in the Yellow Sea region. As one of three authors, I will lead the technical analysis of the report.
Viral load in APF prawn stocks (Old ID 23597)
Dean Jerry
07 Aug 2017 - 06 Aug 2018
This project will test viral load in new broodstock brought into Aussie Prawn Farms so they can identify broodstock to not spawn from and to know what viruses are coming on farm.
Connectivity in pinnacle reef fishes (Old ID 26726)
Benjamin Cresswell
01 Jan 2020 - 31 Mar 2023
My project focuses on distributions and movements of predator fish species across a range of coastal habitats in Kimbe Bay, PNG and how these might interact with a variety of environmental drivers including anthropogenic stressors. Specifically, I am investigating communities of predator fishes inhabiting a group of pinnacle reefs in the bay and how these unique structures may support abundant and diverse assemblages, potentially conferring resilience to regional fish populations in the face of climate change, overfishing and near-shore habitat degradation. My project aims to include how these distinct habitats can be incorporated into management plans for regional fisheries.
Taxonomic assessment of corals in the Australian Indian Ocean Territory (Old ID 28958)
Tom Bridge
08 Mar 2023 - 30 May 2024
Document the species richness of the coral fauna of Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) islands (Australian Indian Ocean Territory), with a focus on identifying new species, species endemic to the region or vulnerable to threats due to low abundance or limited distributions.

Antisense RNA mediated protection from white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection in Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Immunological cross-reactivity between four distant parvalbumins-Impact on allergen detection and diagnostics

Auto-induction for high yield expression of recombinant novel isoallergen tropomyosin from King prawn (Melicertus latisulcatus) for improved diagnostics and immunotherapeutics

Diagnosing the dangerous demography of manta rays using life history theory

Projected near-future CO2 levels increase activity and alter defensive behaviours in the tropical squid Idiosepius pygmaeus

Multiple drivers of decline in the global status of freshwater crayfish (Decapoda: Astacidea)

Large‐scale spatial variation in epilithic algal matrix cryptofaunal assemblages on the Great Barrier Reef

Benthic Crustacea on coral reefs: a quantitative survey

Influence of industrial light pollution on the sea-finding behaviour of flatback turtle hatchlings

Development of genome-wide microsatellite genetic resources in a commercially important African freshwater fish species – the Nile perch, Lates niloticus

Title: JCU reef scientist goes global after plumbing the depths, Townsville Bulletin
Reseracher: Gemma Galbraith (AIMS@JCU Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Reef Connectivity)
Start Date: 10 Nov 2024
Title: Deep dive: How I use robots to survey coral reefs, Nature
Reseracher: Gemma Galbraith (AIMS@JCU Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Reef Connectivity)
Start Date: 31 Mar 2025
Title: Wet Tropics Management Authority - Scientific Advisory Committee
Reseracher: Nathan Waltham (Associate Professor, Blue Carbon)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2024
Title: Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF), Australia
Reseracher: Simon Das (Research Fellow - Grouper Nutrition)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2024
End Date: 01 Jan 2027
Title: Australian Coral Reef Society
Reseracher: Morgan Pratchett (Professor, Marine Biology & Aquaculture)
Title: International Coral Reef Society
Reseracher: Morgan Pratchett (Professor, Marine Biology & Aquaculture)
Title: BSc Ecology, University of Cape Town
Reseracher: Mark Cyrus (Senior Lecturer Aquaculture Macroalgae)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2004
End Date: 01 Jan 2006
Title: BSc Honours, University of Cape Town
Reseracher: Mark Cyrus (Senior Lecturer Aquaculture Macroalgae)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2007
End Date: 01 Jan 2007
Title: PhD, James Cook University
Reseracher: Leo Nankervis (Associate Professor, Aquaculture)
Start Date: 01 Jan 2002
End Date: 01 Jan 2005
Title: BSc(Hons), James Cook University
Reseracher: Leo Nankervis (Associate Professor, Aquaculture)
Start Date: 01 Jan 1996
End Date: 01 Jan 1999