Comparative Environmental Physiology (CEPh)

Projects

Research projects in our lab include studies in Antarctica, coastal areas of California and New Jersey, the Eastern Tropical Pacific, the Gulf of California, the Gulf of Mexico, and Tampa Bay. These studies encompass habitats from estuaries to the deep sea, and include a variety of species from the familiar, such as shrimp, lionfish, squid, and sharks, to pelagic and deep-sea species that few people have ever seen.

The video below shows members of the Seibel lab at work and some unusual and interesting animals we've encountered during our studies.

The animal in the video below is a ctenophore called a Venus' Girdle. It is found at midwater depths in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. The blue color visible along the edges of the animal is produced by bioluminescence. Credit: Tracy Shaw, USF College of Marine Science

Graduate Student Projects

Project title: Lionfish Thermal Physiology
Student: Alec Timpe

The video below shows a lionfish in a swim tunnel during a respirometry experiment. A propeller in the tunnel generates a current that the fish swims against. We use this apparatus to measure the relationship between oxygen use and exertion. Credit: Alec Timpe, USF College of Marine Science.

Project title: Metabolic physiology of coastal fish larvae
Student: Christina Welsh

Project title: Impact of ocean acidification on aerobic scope and biogeography of the invasive lionfish
Student: Bostony Braoudakis

Project title: Thermal and hypoxic sensitivity of energetics in three native coastal shark species
Student: Alyssa Andres