Phillip Harris

Phillip M. Harris

Professor
Curator of Fishes, University of Alabama Ichthyological Collection

Education

  • PhD, Biology, Oregon State University, 2001

Research Interests

My research is involved with understanding phylogenetic and biogeographic components of biological diversity, focusing on freshwater fishes, although I am interested in other aquatic organisms. In order to address various questions, my lab uses an array of tools, including traditional (e.g., morphological, ecological, and life history) and molecular characters (e.g., DNA sequences and fragments and genomic information), historical and ecological biogeography, paleohydrology, and population genetics. Integrating these disciplines falls within the context of phylogenetics, ylogeography, and population/conservation genetics.

Selected Publications

  • Pugh, M.W., C. Depew, and P.M. Harris. Submitted. Diet of the endemic Kanawha darter (Etheostoma kanawhae) including comparisons with sympatric Fantail darters (Etheostoma flabellare). Ecology of Freshwater Fish.
  • Bagley, J.C., C.C. Johnson, M.F. Breitman, S.W. McGregor, J. Armbruster, P.M. Harris, P.E. O’Neil. Submitted. Marine and freshwater fishes of Alabama: a revised checklist and discussion of taxonomic issues. Zootaxa. Anticipated submission 3/1/23.
  • Turner, T., H. Bart Jr., F. McCormick, A. Besser, R. Bowes, K. Capps, E. DeArmon, C. Dillman, K. Driscoll, A. Dugger, G. Hamilton, P. Harris, D. Hendrickson, J. Hoffman, J. Knouft, R. Lepak, H. Lopez-Fernandez, C.G. Montana, S. Newsome, A. Pease, W. Smith, C. Taylor, and R. Welicky. Accepted. Long-term ecological research in freshwaters enabled by regional biodiversity collections, stable isotope analysis, and environmental informatics. Bioscience.
  • Ward, G.M., A.K. Ward, and P.M. Harris. Accepted. Gulf Coast Rivers of the Southeastern United States, pp. XXX-XXX. In: Benke, A.C. and C.E. Cushing (eds.), Rivers of North America, Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, Ca. Expected publication of book in Summer 2023.
  • Beshera, K. P.M. Harris, and S.K. Michael. Accepted. Relative genetic homogeneity within a phenotypically diverse group: the case of Lake Tana Labeobarbus (Cyprinidae) species flock, Ethiopia. Zootaxa.
  • Wood J.E., M.W. Pugh, P.M. Harris, S. W. McGregor, and M.W. Sandel. 2021. Range extension of Blackfin Darter and Tennessee Dace, first collection of Western Blacknose Dace from Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River in 80 years. Southeastern Naturalist 20:30-36. doi.org/10.1656/058.020.0117.
  • Bagley, J.C., R.L. Mayden, and P.M. Harris. 2018. Phylogeny and divergence times of suckers (Cypriniformes: Catostomidae) inferred from Bayesian total-evidence analyses of molecules, morphology, and fossils. PeerJ 2018 Jul 4;6:e5168. doi:10.7717/peerj.5168. eCollection 2018.
  • Piteo, M.S., M.R. Kendrick, and P.M. Harris. 2017. Life history of Labidesthes vanhyningi (Atheriniformes: Atherinopsidae; Stout Silverside) in the Black Warrior River drainage, Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 16(3):451-463. doi.org/10.1656/058.016.0311.
  • Minton, R.L., P.M. Harris, E. North, and T.V. Do. 2017. Diversity and taxonomy of Vietnamese Pollicaria (Gastropoda: Pupinidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution 93:95-104.
  • Beshera, K. and P.M. Harris. Accepted. Phylogeography of Labeobarbus intermedius (Cyprinidae) in Ethiopia. Journal of Fish Biology.
  • Fluker, B.L., B.R. Kuhajda, and P.M. Harris. In press. The effects of riverine impoundment on genetic structure and gene flow in two stream fishes in the Mobile River basin. Freshwater Biology.
  • Harris, P. M., G.K. Hubbard, and M. Sandel. In press. Catostomidae, Suckers. In: North American Freshwater Fishes: Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. M. Warren and B. M. Burr, eds. John Hopkins University Press.
  • Tang, KL; Agnew, MK; Chen, WJ; Hirt, MV; Lumbantobing, DN; Raley, ME; Sado, T; Teoh, VH; Yang, L; Bart, HL; Harris, PM; He, S; Huanzhang, L; Miya, M; Saitoh, K; Simons, A; Wood, RM; Mayden, RL. 2013. Limits and phylogenetic relationships of East Asian fishes in the subfamily Oxygastrinae (Teleostei: Cypriniformes; Cyprinidae). Zootaxa 3681:101-135.
  • Whelan, N.V., P.D. Johnson, and P.M. Harris. 2012. Rediscovery of Leptoxis compacta (Gastropoda: Cerithioidea: Pleuroceridae). PLoS One 7:e42499.
  • Whelan, N.V., P.D. Johnson, and P.M. Harris. 2012. Presence or absence of carinae in closely related populations of Leptoxis ampla (Anthony, 1854) (Gastropoda: Pleuroceridae) is not the result of ecophenotypic plasticity. Journal of Molluscan Studies 78:231-233.
  • Bagley, J.C., R.L. Mayden, K.J. Roe, W. Holznagel, and P.M. Harris. 2011. Congeneric phylogeographical sampling reveals polyphyly and novel biodiversity within black basses (Centrarchidae: Micropterus). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 104:346-363.
  • Fluker, B.L., B. Kuhajda, N. Lang, and P.M. Harris. 2010. Reduced genetic diversity and small long-term population sizes in the spring endemic watercress darter, Etheostoma nuchale: evidence from comparisons to its widespread relative E. swaini. Conservation Genetics 11:2267-2279.