Judith Fuchs

PhD student, Systematics and Biodiversity

Tel: 46 (0)31 786 38 27 | judith.fuchs@zool.gu.se 

Research interest

Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Swedish Bryozoa

Bryozoa or Ectoprocta, better known as moss animals, are small colonial suspension feeders which constitute some of the most abundant invertebrates in aquatic habitats. The taxon comprises approximately 5000 living species worldwide and probably some hundred species in Swedish waters. Although important from evolutionary and ecological perspectives, the taxonomy as well as the phylogenetic relationships of the Bryozoa are only little resolved.
My PhD project, which started the 1. May 2006, is supervised by Prof. Per Sundberg and PhD. Matthias Obst. The study concentrates on the revision of the Swedish bryozoan fauna and will combine taxonomic research with phylogentic analyses. Bryozoan species will be collected from Swedish marine and freshwater habitats throughout the project and preserved for DNA analyses (e.g. sequencing the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I, the nuclear gene Histone H3) and morphological analyses using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, as well as immunocytochemical techniques together with confocal microscopy. Datasets of multiple molecular and morphological characters will serve to key Swedish bryozoans and to make intra- and interphyletic inferences of Bryozoa in general.

Publications

Fuchs J, Obst M, Sundberg, P, 2009. The first comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) based on combined analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Mol Phyl Evol doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.01.021

Fuchs J, Wanninger A, 2008. Reconstruction of the neuromuscular system of the swimming-type larva of Loxosomella atkinsae (Entoprocta) as inferred by fluorescence labelling and confocal microscopy. Organisms, Diversity and Evolution, 8(4): 325-335.

Wanninger A, Fuchs J, Haszprunar G, 2007. Anatomy of the serotonergic nervous system of an entoproct creeping-type larva and its phylogenetic implications. Invertebrate Biology 126(3): 268-278.

Fuchs J, Bright M, Funch P, Wanninger A, 2006. Immunocytochemistry of the neuromuscular systems of Loxosomella vivipara and L. parguerensis (Entoprocta: Loxosomatidae). Journal of Morphology 267(7): 866-883.

Riisgård HU, Kollerup Nielsen K, Fuchs J, Fønss Rasmussen B, Obst M, Funch P, 2004. Ciliary feeding structures and particle capture mechanism in the freshwater bryozoan Plumatella repens (Phylactolaemata). Invertebrate Biology 123(2):156-167.

Popular science publications

Obst M and Fuchs J, 2007. Skönhet under luppen. Flora och Fauna 102(4):16-22.

Conference presentations

Fuchs J, Obst M, Sundberg P, 2007. Investigations on the phylogeny of Bryozoa using molecular characters./ Taxonomic studies of the Swedish Bryozoa. 14th meeting of the International Bryozoology Association. Boone, NC, USA. Talks.

Obst M, Fuchs J, Sundberg P, 2006. Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Swedish Bryozoa - an integrative approach. Systematikdagarna 2006, Göteborg. Poster.

Fuchs J, Bright M, Funch P, Wanninger A, 2005. Poster: Neuronal and muscular systems in two Loxosomatidae (Entoprocta). 40. European Marine Biological Symposium (EMBS), Vienna, Austria. Poster.