Bruce H. Comyns, Ph.D.

Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

Phone: (228) 872-4267

Fax: (228) 872-4204

bruce.comyns@usm.edu

Position:

• Assistant Professor - Department of Coastal Sciences, Fisheries Ecology

Education:

• Ph.D. Degree - Louisiana State University, 1997. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences.
• M.A. Degree - College of William and Mary (Virginia College of Marine Science), 1987. Marine Science.

Research Interests:

• taxonomy and early life history of marine fishes; patterns of larval and post-larval growth and survival (particularly multi-species comparisons) and subsequent effects on recruitment
• reproduction of fishes; environmental control of reproductive processes
• use of estuarine habitats by post-larval and juvenile fishes

Selected Publications:

• Comyns, B.H., R.F. Shaw and J. Lyczkowski-Shultz. 2003. Small-scale spatial and temporal variability in growth and mortality of fish larvae in the subtropical northcentral Gulf of Mexico: implications for assessing recruitment success. Fishery Bulletin. 101(1): in press.
• Comyns, B.H. and P. Bond. 2002. Preliminary guide to the identification of the early life history stages of phycid fishes of the western central North Atlantic. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-489, 19p. (book chapter to be included in "Identification Guide for the Early Life History Stages of fishes from the Western Central Atlantic Ocean.")
• Rakocinski, C.F., B.H. Comyns, M.S. Peterson and G.A. Zapfe. 2002. Field growth responses of juvenile white trout (Cynoscion arenarius) to continuous variation in physical habitat conditions. Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. 53:623-635
• Comyns, B.H., N.M. Crochet, J.S. Franks, J.R. Hendon and R.S. Waller. 2002. Preliminary assessmentof the association of larval fishes with pelagic Sargassum habitat and convergence zones in the northcentral Gulf of Mexico. Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. 53:636-645.
• Hendon, J.R., M.S. Peterson and B.H. Comyns. 2000. Seasonal distribution of gobiids in waters adjacent to estuarine marsh-edge habitats: assessing the effects of habitat alteration. Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. 52:428-441.
• Comyns, B.H. and P. Bond. 2001. Preliminary guide to the identification of the early life history stages of the fishes of the family Moridae of the western central North Atlantic. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-457, 13 p. (book chapter to be included in "Identification Guide for the Early Life History Stages of fishes from the Western Central Atlantic Ocean.")
• Hendon, J.R., M.S. Peterson and B.H. Comyns. 2000. Spatio-temporal distribution of larval Gobiosoma bosc adjacent to natural and altered marsh-edge habitats of Mississippi coastal waters. Bulletin of Marine Science 66(1): 143-156.
• Peterson, M.S., B.H. Comyns, J.R. Hendon, P.A. Bond and G.A. Duff. 2000. Habitat use by early life-history stages of fishes and crustaceans along a changing estuarine landscape: differences between natural and altered shoreline sites. Wetlands Ecology and Management 8(2/3):209-219.
• Peterson, M.S., C.F. Rakocinski, B.H. Comyns and G.L. Fulling. 2000. Laboratory growth responses of juvenile Mugil sp. to temperature and salinity: delineating optimal field growth conditions. Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute 51:341-352.
• Drass, D.M., K.L. Bootes, J. Lyczkowski-Shultz, B.H. Comyns, G.J. Holt, C.M. Riley and R.P. Phelps. 2000. Larval development of red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, with comparisons to co-occurring snapper species. Bulletin of Marine Science. 98: 507-527.
• Peterson, M.S., B.H. Comyns, C.F. Rakocinski and G.L. Fulling. 1999. Does salinity affect growth in juvenile Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus (Linnaeus)? Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 238:199-207.
• Rakocinski, C.F., B.H. Comyns and M.S. Peterson.2000. Relating environmental fluctuation and early growth of estuarine fishes: ontogenetic standardization. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 129(1): 210-221.
• Richards, W. J., K. C. Lindeman, J. L-Shultz, J. M. Leis, A. Ropke, M. E. Clarke, and B. H. Comyns. 1994. Preliminary Guide to the Early Life History Stages of Lutjanid Fishes of the Western Central Atlantic. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-345, 49 pages.
• Comyns, B. H. and G. C. Grant. 1993. Identification and Distribution of Urophycis and Phycis (Pisces, Gadidae) Larvae and Pelagic Juveniles in the Middle Atlantic Bight of the United States. Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 91: 210-223.
• Comyns, B. H., J. Lyczkowski-Shultz, D. L. Nieland, and C. A. Wilson. 1991. Reproduction of Red Drum in the North-Central Gulf of Mexico: Seasonality and Spawner Biomass. In: Fish Recruitment and Research in the Americas. Proceedings of the 13th Annual Larval Fish Conference. Merida, Mexico, 21-26 May 1989. NOAA Technical Report MNSS95.
• Comyns, B. H., J. Lyczkowski-Shultz, C. F. Rakocinski, and J. P. Steen, Jr. 1989. Age and Growth of Red Drum Larvae in the Northcentral Gulf of Mexico. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 118(2): 159-167.