Dr. Daniel E. Ruzzante, PhD

Dalhousie University

Taxonomic Focus: Fishes

Address: Biology Department, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4J1, Canada
Phone: 1 (902) 494-1688
E-mail: daniel.ruzzante@dal.ca

Research:

Research in my lab focuses on questions at the interface of population genetics, ecology, and evolution. Using molecular and phenotypic approaches, we address the broad issues of how ecological and historical processes, as well as human intervention (harvesting, stocking, etc) affect temporal and spatial patterns of genetic population structure in aquatic organisms.

The objective of our work with the native fishes of Patagonia is to understand the ecological and historical processes that are responsible for phylogeographic patterns and for the phenotypic and molecular diversity observed within (resource polymorphisms) and among populations of Percichthys and Galaxias species. Identifying the mechanisms responsible for the evolution and maintenance of this diversity is fundamental to an understanding of its origin and thus, its conservation.

Related Publications:

Ruzzante D. E., Mariani S., D. Bekkevold, C. André, H. Mosegaard, L. A. W. Clausen, T. Dahlgren, W. F. Hutchinson, EMC Hatfield, E Torstensen, J Brigham, E. J. Simmonds, L Laikre, L. C. Larsson, RJM Stet, N Ryman & G. R. Carvalho. 2006. Biocomplexity in a highly migratory pelagic marine fish, Atlantic herring. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B, 273:1459-1464. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3463.

Ryman N., S. Palm, C. André C., G. R. Carvalho, T. G. Dahlgren P. E. Jorde, L. Laikre, L. C. Larsson, A. Palme, D. E. Ruzzante. 2006. Power for detecting genetic divergence: difference between statistical methods and marker loci. Molecular Ecology, 15:2031-2045.

Buria L., S. J. Walde, M. Battini, P. J. Macchi, M. Alonso, D. E. Ruzzante, V. E. Cussac. 2006. Movement of a South American perch (Percichthys trucha) in a montane Patagonian lake during spawning and pre-spawning periods. Journal Fish Biology (in press).

Ruzzante D. E., S. J. Walde, V. E. Cussac, M. L. Dalebout, J. Seibert, S. Ortubay, E. Habit. 2006. Phylogeography of the Percichthyidae in Patagonia: roles of orogeny, glaciation, and volcanism. Molecular Ecology, 15:2949-2968.

Milano D., D. E. Ruzzante, V. E. Cussac, P. J. Macchi, R. A. Ferriz, J. P. Barriga, J. A. Aigo, M. E. Lattuca, and S. J. Walde. 2006. Latitudinal and ecological correlates of morphological variation in Galaxias platei (Pisces: Galaxiidae) in Patagonia. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 87:69–82.

Ruzzante D. E., S. J. Walde, V. E. Cussac, P. J. Macchi, M. Alonso, M. Battini. 2003. Trophic polymorphism in Pecichthys trucha (Pisces, Percichthyidae) in the Andes: phenotypic evidence for variation among lakes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 78:497-515.

Logan M. S., S. J. Iverson, D. E. Ruzzante, S. J. Walde, P. Macchi, M. Alonso, V. E. Cussac. 2000. Long term diet differences between morphs in trophically polymorphic Percichthys trucha (Pisces: Percichthyidae) populations from the southern Andes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 69:599-616.

Ruzzante D. E., S. J. Walde, V. E. Cussac, P. Macchi, M. Alonso. 1998. Trophic polymorphism, habitat and diet segregation within Percichthys trucha (Percichthyidae, Pisces) in the Andes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 65:191-214.

Academic Background:

BS (’79) Universidad Nacional Buenos Aires, Argentina
Scientist (’80–’83) – CENPAT, Argentina
MS (’86) & PhD (’91) Dalhousie University
Post-doc (’92) McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Research Associate (’94–’98) Dalhousie University
Senior Research Scientist (’98–’02) Danish Institute for Fisheries Research, Denmark
Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair, Marine Conservation Genetics, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Canada (’02–present)

Biography:

Born in Buenos Aires. I hitchhiked through Patagonia as a teenager (first time as a very green 15 year-old). Ever since then, I keep finding reasons to go back. I moved to Puerto Madryn (Chubut) and worked as a junior scientist in the Centro Nacional Patagónico in the early 1980s before moving to Canada for graduate studies. In the 1990s I moved to Denmark where I took a position at the Danish Institute for Fisheries Research. In 2002 I took my current position at Dalhousie University in Canada.

Website:

Personal: http://biology.dal.ca/us/f/ruzzante/ruzzante.htm
Lab: http://myweb.dal.ca/ruzzante