David W. Greenfield
PhD University of Washington, 1966

Professor, Department of Zoology
Department of Zoology, University of Hawai`i
2538 McCarthy Mall, Edmondson 152
Honolulu, HI 96822
808-956-8618
grenfie@hawaii.edu

Dr. Greenfield is not accepting new graduate students

Systematics of fishes; assemblage structure of small, cryptic, coral-reef fishes; niche specificity of closely related fishes

The high species diversity in coral-reef fish communities often is due to the small, cryptic species such as the blennies and gobies, yet little is known about the biology of these fishes compared to the larger, more visible species. These small fishes provide the trophic link between the invertebrate fauna of the reef and the larger fish species. My studies, and those of my students, mainly focus on these species.
Of primary interest is an investigation of the assemblage structure of these fishes in relation to specific habitat parameters. Our studies in the tropical western Atlantic have demonstrated that different fish families exhibit different levels of structure, with some forming distinctive assemblages that are strongly associated with specific habitats, some exhibiting moderate assemblage structure, and others none. Comparative studies in Hawai'i and other locations in the Pacific have suggested that there may be fundamental differences between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans even within a family. These findings suggest that fish community control mechanisms are more complex than previously thought.

What these small fishes eat, how they share space, and when and where they reproduce all are questions that need to be addressed. How do closely related species in these specific habitats coexist? Students in my laboratory are addressing various aspects of these questions.

Finally, systematic studies become linked to these ecological studies because the taxonomy of many of these small species is poorly known. Collections of these fishes have uncovered systematic problems that need to be resolved before ecological questions can be addressed.

Representative publications
Greenfield DW, Johnson RK. 1999. Assemblage sturcture and habitat associations of western Caribbean gobies (Teleoseti: Gobiidae). Copeia 1999:251-266.

Greenfield DW, Randall JE. 1999. Two new Eviota species from the Hawaiian Islands (Teleostei: Gobiidea). Copeia 1999:439-446.

Greenfield DW. 1998. Halophryne hutchinsi, a new toadfish (Batrachoididae) from the Philippine Islands and Pulau Waigeo, Indonesia. Copeia 1998:696-701.

Greenfield DW, Suzumoto AY, Chong C. 1998. Vitraria clarescens, a junior synonym of the freshwater Hawaiian goby Sicyopterus stimpsoni (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Copeia 1998:501-503.

Greenfield DW, Thomerson JE. 1997. Fishes of the Continental Waters of Belize. Gainesville: Univ Pr Florida. 311 pp.

Greenfield DW. 1997. Allenbatrachus, a new genus of Indo-Pacific toadfish (Batrachoididae). Pac Sci 51:306-313.

Randall JE, Greenfield DW. 1996. Revision of the Indo-Pacific holocentrid fishes of the genus Myripristis, with descriptions of three new species. Indo-Pac Fishes 25:1-61.

Greenfield DW. 1996. Perulibatrachus kilburni, a new toadfish from east Africa (Teleostei: Batrachoididae). Copeia 1996:901-904.

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