Connaughton homepage

Martin A. Connaughton

Associate Professor of Biology
& Department Chair
Washington College

BIO 399: Community Ecology of Coastal Maine

See images from the first trip, summer '00
Course was offered again this past summer
- '02 web page is under construction

Professor Connaughton is on leave during the Fall '02 semester.

General Information

Office: 116 Dunning
Phone: Ext. 7727
e-mail: mconnaughton2@washcoll.edu
Office Hours: Tue. 1:30 - 3:30 and by appointment or drop-in.

Academics - much of the lecture material here dated because it is now being kept on Prof. Connaughton's BlackBoard course pages. The BlackBoard material is accessible only to students enrolled in Prof. Connaughton's courses. This links below, however, still provide access to course syllabi and photos of field trips.

Fall courses
- BIO 206: Ecology
- CNW 101-26: The Evolution and Diversity of Life in the Chesapeake Region (alternating years 1998, 2000, etc.)
- BIO 415: Evolution (alternating years 1999, 2001, etc.)
- BIO 000: Biology Seminar
Spring courses
- BIO 112: General Biology
- BIO 309: Marine and Estuarine Biology
  (alternating years 1999, 2001, etc.; alternating with Dr. Munson, the course is offered every spring)
- BIO 336: Ichthyology
  (alternating years 1998, 2000, etc.)
- BIO 000: Biology Seminar
Summer courses
- ENV 399: Summer Experience in Ecuador
  (1998; lead by Dr. Munson in other years)
- BIO 399: Community Ecology of Coastal Maine - offered alternating years in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in Maine (2000, 2002, 2004)
Senior Theses

Departmental pages

Biology Department home page
BBB - biology honors society
Biology alumni page
Graduate School Advising and Biology Careers

Research and Accomplishments

Recent Publications
- Connaughton, M.A., M.L. Lunn, M.L. Fine, and M.H. Taylor. 2002. Characterization of sounds and their use in two sciaenid species: weakfish and Atlantic croaker. MIT Sea Grant Special Report, in press.
- Vance, T.L, Hewson, J.M., Modla, S. and M.A Connaughton. 2002. Variability in sonic muscle size and innervation among three sciaenids: spot, Atlantic croaker and weakfish. Copeia, in press.
- Connaughton, M.A., M.L. Fine, and M.H. Taylor. 2002. Weakfish sonic muscle: influence of size, temperature and season. Journal of Experimental Biology, 205: 2183-2188.
- Connaughton, M.A., M.L. Fine, and M.H. Taylor. 2002. Use of sound for localisation of spawning weakfish in Delaware Bay and effects of fish size, temperature and season on sound parameters. Bioacoustics, 12(2/3): 294-296.
- Connaughton, M.A., M.H. Taylor, and M.L. Fine. 2000. Effects of fish size and temperature on weakfish disturbance calls: implications for the mechanism of sound generation. Journal of Experimental Biology 203: 1503-1512.
- Rome, L.C., C. Cook, D.A. Syme, M.A. Connaughton, M. Ashley-Ross, A. Klimov, B. Tikunov, Y.E. Goldman. 1999. Trading force for speed: Why superfast crossbride kinetics leads to super low force. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 96(10): 5826-5831.
- Connaughton, M.A. and K. Aida. 1998. Female Reproductive System, Fish. In Encyclopedia of Reproduction (eds. E. Knobil and J. Neill), Vol. 2, pp. 193-204. Academic Press, San Diego.
Research Interests and Summary
Curriculum vitae
Student research publications:
- Theresa Vance, Jennifer Hewson and Shannon Modla, along with myself, in press in Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
  - Vance, T.L, Hewson, J.M., Modla, S. and M.A Connaughton. 2002. Variability in sonic muscle size and innervation among three sciaenids: spot, Atlantic croaker and weakfish. Copeia, in press.
- Theresa Vance - 1998 summer research project was published in Bios, a pubication of TriBeta, the national undergraduate honors society.
  - Vance, T.L. 2000 "Variability in stridulatory sound production in the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus." Bios, 71 (3): 79-84.
- Christopher Petrone
  - Petrone, C.J. 2001. Copepod diversity and density at the mouth of the Delaware Bay. Bios 72(3): 92-99
Student research project titles and presentations at local or national conferences:
- 2002
  J. Drummond.
  Sound Production in Atlantic Croaker: Fish Size, Sex, and Sonic Muscle Condition.
  Summer 2002
  Presented at: 2002 Washington College Summer Research Colloquium, July, 2002.
- 2001-2002
  L. Marini.
  Do croaker sonic muscle fibers hypertrophy or atrophy during the spawning season?
  Senior thesis
  Presented at: Tri-Beta North East District 2 Convention, Washington College, April 2002
- B. Neal.
  Whole-mount clearing and staining determination of croaker sonic muscle innervation patterns.
  Senior thesis
  Presented at: Tri-Beta North East District 2 Convention, Washington College, April 2002
- 2001
  S. Modla.
  Seasonal variability in the sonic muscles of the Atlantic croaker.
  Summer 2001
  Presented at: Tri-Beta North East District 2 Convention, Washington College, April 2002
- 2000-2001
  J. Hewson.
  An examination of sciaenid sonic muscle innervation.
  Summer 2000, BIO 495: Ind. Research SP 2001
  Presented at: Tri-Beta North East District 2 Convention, The College of New Jersey, March 2001.
  Presented in part at: The 81st annual meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Penn State University, State College, PA, 2001. Title: A comparison of the sonic muscle innervation patterns of three Sciaenids: the spot, weakfish and Atlantic croaker. Co-authors: Vance, T.L., M.A. Connaughton.
  Published along with work by Vance and Modla in Copeia, see above.
- M. Lunn.
  Comparison of Atlantic croaker fright response and courtship sound production.
  Senior thesis
  Presented in part at: International Workshop on the Application of Passive Acoustics in Fisheries. Brooks Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dedham, MA, April 2002. Title: Characterization of sounds and their use in two sciaenid species: weakfish and Atlantic croaker. Co-authors, Connaughton, M.A., M.L. Fine, and M.H. Taylor.
- 2000
  M. Lunn.
  Seasonal variability in Atlantic croaker sonic muscle mass.
  Summer 2000
  Presented at: Tri-Beta North East District 2 Convention, The College of New Jersey, March 2001.
- 1999-2000
  C. Petrone.
  Species Diversity and Density of Copepods at the Mouth of the Delaware Bay, USA.
  Presented at: Fifth Annual Centennial Conference Student Research Colloquium, April 2000, Dickinson College.
  Published in Bios, see above.
- T.L. Pyhel.
  Androgen sensitivity in croaker sonic muscles.
  Senior thesis, Summer 1999
  Presented at: Fifth Annual Centennial Conference Student Research Colloquium, April 2000, Dickinson College.
- T.L. Vance.
  A comparative study of sonic muscle innervation patterns of three sciaenids: spot, croaker and weakfish.
  Senior thesis.
  Presented at: Fifth Annual Centennial Conference Student Research Colloquium, April 15, 2000, Dickinson College.
  The 81st annual meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Penn State University, State College, PA, 2001. Title: A comparison of the sonic muscle innervation patterns of three Sciaenids: the spot, weakfish and Atlantic croaker. Co-authors: Hewson, J.M., M.A. Connaughton.
  Published along with work by Hewson and Modla in Copeia, see above.
- 1998
  T.L. Vance
  An anatomical study of the Weberian apparatus in the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus.
  Summer 1998
  Presented at: Fourth Annual Centennial Conference Student Research Colloquium, April 1999, Washington College.
- T.L. Vance Sound production via pectoral stridulation in the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus.
  Summer 1998
  Presented at: Fourth Annual Centennial Conference Student Research Colloquium, April 1999, Washington College.
  Published in Bios, see above.

Other

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