MSU Electric Fish Lab

Current Projects

The links below represent our current areas of research focus. Don’t see something here you think ought to be here? Inquire about joining our lab!

Fieldwork

We have ongoing projects to survey the diversity of macroinvertebrates and electric fish from various streams throughout Gabon, West-Central Africa.

Evolution and Development of Electric Organs

Electric organs have evolved from skeletal muscle or skeletal-muscle precursors more than six times within vertebrates. What are the genetic and transcriptional changes needed to evolve electric organs?

Genomic, Transcriptomic and Functional Tools

We build tools to enable genotype-to-phenotype studies in weakly electric fish. Check out all of our datasets and tools at our sister site!

Evolution of Electric Signal Diversity

What are the proximate and ultimate causes of electric signal evolution within mormyrid electric fish?

Electric Fish Reproduction

Our newest set of projects focuses on the unusual reproduction of mormyrid fish, and their mechanisms of sex determination. Stay tuned!