Dr Chris Fulton Lecturer Phone: 61 2 6125 9892 Fax: 61 2 6125 5573 Christopher.Fulton@anu.edu.au

Main Research Interests
Ecology and evolution of fishes

Background
I grew up among an extended family of farmers in the Hunter Valley. Not one for the farming life, I spent most of my childhood escaping to Port Stephens to go fishing. I became interested in fishes at an early age, which then developed into absolute obsession when I learned to dive as a teenager and could watch them behave in their natural habitats. In 1996 I moved to North Queensland to study marine biology at James Cook University, where I had the good fortune to spend 10 years doing research on fishes living on coral reefs around the world (including French Polynesia, Lizard Island, Okinawa, Papua New Guinea). After my PhD I took up a Post-doctoral job at JCU to work on algal community dynamics, which I cut short in 2006 to take up a lectureship here at the ANU. My current work involves fishes from coral and rocky reefs, as well as freshwater systems in the ACT and NSW. When I'm not chasing after fish, I take every opportunity I can to go motorcycle touring on the fantastic alpine roads around Canberra.

Research Interests
I am a functional ecologist who combines theory, lab and field observation to identify links between the environment and patterns of biological activity in aquatic ecosystems (i.e. biophysical coupling). This often requires several steps in linking the attributes of organisms to their environment, so my research projects usually employ a range of techniques taken from one or more of the following (interconnected) areas:

• Biomechanics : Combining theory with performance-testing in the lab to understand how organisms accomplish specific tasks or react to environmental forces. Current foci include the morphological basis for differences in swimming ability among fishes, and strength-flexibility trade-offs in marine and freshwater algae.
• Behavioural ecology : Investigating how behaviour can modify patterns of resource use beyond expectations based on morphology and/or performance trials. This relies heavily on good aquarium and field-based observations. A prime example is the foraging behaviour of fishes, where behavioural selection of the foraging path has a greater impact than swimming ability on the distances and areas covered during daily food-searching activities.
• Ecomorphology : Combining measures of morphology, performance and environmental parameters to match key organismal traits to patterns of ecology. For example, linking the swimming ability of fishes with their distribution patterns on reefs according to gradients of wave-induced water motion (see papers below).
• Macroecology : The search for mechanisms that underpin ecological patterns across multiple scales (local-regional-global) and ecosystem types. Using a functional approach that focused on locomotor traits, my co-workers (David Bellwood, JCU and Peter Wainwright, UC Davis) and I found similar congruent patterns of reef fish community structure in relation to physical gradients of wave energy throughout the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean, regardless of species composition or ecosystem type (coral or rocky reef).

Current Projects

• Ecomorphology and energetics of swimming in reef fishes
• Biophysical thresholds in coral reef algal communities
• Impact of environmental flows and swimming performance on upstream migration in the endangered Macquarie Perch
• Biophysical correlates of habitat-use in freshwater crayfish
• Behavioural interactions between native and pest fish species

Possible Student Projects
While I have a specific interest in the biology and ecology of fishes, I am always keen to work on a range of marine and freshwater organisms as I search for generalities in the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. I am happy to supervise student projects on any ecological question with an aquatic bias, with the only requirement that the question is both fascinating and logistically possible to answer. If you're interested in working on these topics, the first thing you can do is send me an e-mail with a brief outline of your study interests and what type of project you'd like to do - I can supervise projects as either an undergraduate Special Topics (more info here), ASC for the PhB program, a Summer Scholar project, or a full Honours/Masters/PhD research project. Some possible topics include (those requiring SCUBA diving indicated*):

• Behavioural ecology of fish swimming*
• Ecomorphology and energetics of fish swimming
• Biophysical coupling in reef fish communities*
• Biology and ecology of freshwater fishes (ACTEW Scholarships available)
• Functional ecology and conservation of coastal fish communities*
• Habitat-use in freshwater crayfish (ACTEW Scholarships available)

Current Students

• Danswell Starrs (Honours) Swimming performance in Macquarie Perch: implications for habitat-use and upstream migration.
• Katherine Humphrey (Honours) Locomotor implications of sexual dimorphism in fishes.
• Danny Wright (Honours) Impacts of wave-induced water motion on mussel mariculture.
• Andy Moore (PhD) Alien aggression: measuring the impact of invasive Gambusia on Australian native freshwater fishes.
• Richard Edmunds (PhD) The effects of thermal stress on swimming performance and LDH-B expression in Barramundi. JCU (co-supervisor)
• Jacob Johansen (PhD) Energetics of habitat use in planktivorous coral reef fishes. JCU (co-supervisor)

Past Student Projects

• Kirsty Cummin (Summer Scholar) Swimming speed performance in juvenile Macquarie Perch.
• Jacob Johansen (MSc) Flow refuging in coral reef fishes. JCU (co-supervisor)

Teaching
I am mainly involved in third-year Marine Ecology (BIOL3116), Carbonate Reef Field Studies (EMSC3019) and The Blue Planet (EMSC1006), and I offer Special Topics in Fish Biology and Fisheries (BIOL3138 - more info here). I also give guest lectures in Marine Biology (BIOL2112) and Australian Vertebrates (BIOL2111) on my favourite topic: fish biology and ecology.

Recent Publications
Johansen, J.L., Bellwood, D.R., Fulton, C.J. 2008. Coral reef fishes exploit flow refuges in high-flow habitats. Marine Ecology Progress Series 360: 219-226.

Bellwood DR, Fulton CJ (in press) Sediment-mediated suppression of herbivory on coral reefs: decreasing resilience to rising sea levels and climate-change? Limnology & Oceanography

Fulton CJ (in press) The role of swimming in reef fish ecology. In: Domenici P, Kapoor BG (eds) Fish swimming: an etho-ecological perspective. Chapter 12, Science Publishers, Enfield.

Depczynski M, Fulton CJ , Marnane MJ, Bellwood DR 2007. Life history patterns shape energy allocation among fishes on coral reefs. Oecologia 153:111-120

Johansen, J.L., Fulton, CJ , Bellwood, D.R. 2007. Avoiding the flow: refuges expand the swimming potential of coral reef fishes. Coral Reefs 26: 577-583.

Johansen JL, Fulton CJ , Bellwood DR. 2007. Estimating the sustained swimming ability of coral reef fishes. Marine and Freshwater Research 58 , 233-239.

Fulton CJ. 2007. Swimming speed performance in coral reef fishes: field validations reveal distinct functional groups. Coral Reefs 26, 217-228.

Bellwood DR, Wainwright PC, Fulton CJ , Hoey AS. 2006. Functional versatility supports coral reef biodiversity. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B   273, 101-107.

Fulton CJ , Bellwood DR, Wainwright PC. 2005. Wave energy and swimming performance shape coral reef fish assemblages. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 272, 827-832.

Fulton CJ , Bellwood DR. 2005. Wave-induced water motion and the functional implications for coral reef fish assemblages. Limnology & Oceanography 50, 255-264.

Fulton CJ , Bellwood DR. 2004. Wave exposure, swimming performance, and the structure of tropical and temperate reef fish assemblages. Marine Biology 144, 429-437.

Bellwood, DR, Wainwright PC, Fulton CJ , Hoey AS. 2002. Assembly rules and functional groups at global biogeographical scales. Functional Ecology 16, 557-562.

Fulton CJ , Bellwood DR. 2002. Ontogenetic habitat use in labrid fishes: an ecomorphological perspective. Marine Ecology Progress Series 236, 255-262.

Fulton CJ , Bellwood DR. 2002. Patterns of foraging in labrid fishes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 226, 135-142.

Fulton CJ , Bellwood DR, Wainwright PC. 2001. The relationship between swimming ability and habitat use in wrasses (Labridae). Marine Biology 139, 25-33.