My lab studies the physiology and ecology of pelagic species. We are interested in a wide variety of taxa, including the crustaceans, gelatinous organisms, and fishes, and have focused on sizes from 2 mm on up to several cm. Our main concerns lie in how open-ocean species acquire and use energy and how they have adapted to the temperatures and oxygen levels that typify their habitat. Field work takes place aboard research vessels and our sampling includes multiple opening and closing nets and blue water SCUBA diving. Many of our physiological measurements are done on board ship; shipboard measurements are complemented by a suite of bioChemical analyses that are done in our home lab. Most recently, we have been a part of the Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics program (SO-GLOBEC) that is examining the overwintering strategies of the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, on the western Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf.

Selected Publications

Bishop, R.E., Torres J.J., Crabtree R.E. 2000. Leptocephalus energetics: Chemical composition and growth indices. Marine Biology 137: 205-214.

Geiger, S.P., J.J. Torres and R.E. Crabtree. 2000. Air breathing and gill ventilation frequencies in juvenile tarpon, Megalops atlanticus: responses to changes in dissolved oxygen, temperature, hydrogen sulfide, and pH. Environmental Biology of Fishes 59: 181-190.

Geiger, SP, Torres JJ, Donnelly, J. 2000. The effect of the receding ice edge on the condition of midwater fishes in the Northwestern Weddell Sea: results from bioChemical assays with notes on diet. Marine Biology 137: 1091-1104.

Bishop, R.E., Torres J.J. 2001. Leptocephalus energetics: Assembly of the energetics equation. Marine Biology 138: 1093-1098

Kawall, HG, Geiger, SP, Torres, JJ . 2001. The effects of the ice edge bloom and season on the metabolism of copepods in the Weddell Sea. Hydrobiologia: in press.

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