Thesis

This project investigates the ecology and population dynamics of the leopard shark Stegostoma fasciatum, with particular emphasis on a temporal aggregation in southeast Queensland. Leopard sharks aggregate in shallow coastal waters of southeast Queensland over the summer months annually, and to date, there is very little information on this species in the wild and the function and duration of this aggregation is unknown. A range of techniques is being used to investigate the nature of this aggregation including a direct observational mark-recapture study, acoustic telemetry and kinship and population genetic techniques.

Publications

Dudgeon C, Broderick D, & Ovenden J (2009) IUCN classification zones concord with, but underestimate, the genetic population structure of the zebra shark, Stegostoma fasciatum in the Indo-West Pacific. Molecular Ecology. In press.

Dudgeon CL, Noad MJ, and Lanyon JM (2008) Abundance and demography of a seasonal aggregation of zebra sharks Stegostoma fasciatum. Marine Ecology Progress Series 368: 269-281.

Dudgeon CL, Scott-Holland TB, Kyne PM, Pillans RD, Bennett MB (eds). (2005) Proceedings of the Inaugural Southern Queensland Elasmobranch Research Forum. Thursday 28th April 2005, Moreton Bay Research Station, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. Download pdf version

Munday PL, van Herwerden L, Dudgeon CL (2004) Evidence for sympatric speciation by host shifts in the sea. Current Biology 14 (16): 1498-1504

Dudgeon CL, Gust N, Blair D (2000) No apparent genetic basis to demographic differences in scarid fishes across continental shelf of the Great Barrier Reef. Marine Biology 137 (5-6): 1059-1066

Dudgeon CL, Feldheim K, Schick M, Ovenden JR (2007) Polymorphic microsatellite loci for the zebra shark Stegostoma fasciatum. Molecular Ecology Notes. 6: 1086-1088 Download pdf version

Dudgeon, C.L., Scott-Holland, T.B., Kyne, P.M., Pillans, R.D. & Bennett, M.B. (eds). 2005. Proceedings of the Inaugural Southern Queensland Elasmobranch Research Forum. Thursday 28th April 2005, Moreton Bay Research Station, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland.

Awards

• UQ Travelling Award (3 y Scholarship): March 2003 - December 2006.
• UQ Graduate School Research Travel Award. $628 May 2006.
• School of Integrative Biology Conference Award. $300 April 2006.
• Biological and Chemical Sciences Faculty Conference Award. $1500
• Best Student Oral Presentation Award. At the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society Conference. Queenscliff, Victoria. 22-24 Oct 2007. Prize is a 6 day trip on The Undersea Explorer.