marine biological research

Marine Biology

Boston University has a world-class program in marine biology that is active in training students at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The Marine Biology research group includes professors who are leaders in their subdisciplines, including evolutionary and conservation genetics of marine organisms, sensory biology, ichthyology, evolution and development of marine organisms, marine microbial ecology, marine community ecology, and marine conservation science.

Marine Biology faculty and their students are actively engaged in such exciting research topics as biomimicry, functional genomics, ocean exploration, and marine conservation, and are working at the cutting edge of scientific efforts to combat overfishing, global climate change, and marine species extinction. Our research is strengthened by close ties between Biology faculty and colleagues from the Department of Earth & Environment . In addition, both faculty and students enjoy the benefits of Boston University’s formal partnerships with the New England Aquarium , the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary , the Sea Education Association , and a variety of government and non-governmental marine conservation organizations.

Faculty with Related Research

Peter Buston , Associate Professor of Biology; Director of the BU Marine Program

Evolutionary Ecology, Animal Behavior, Marine Ecology and Biological Oceanography.

Sarah W. Davies , Associate Professor of Biology

ecological genomics, population genetics, molecular ecology, coral ecology, climate change, symbiosis

Ethan Deyle , Research Assistant Professor of Biology

Quantitative Ecology, Environmental Data Science, Nonlinear Dynamics, Applied Complex Systems, Marine Ecology

John R. Finnerty , Associate Professor of Biology

Evolutionary and ecological developmental biology; evolutionary and ecological genomics; marine biodiversity; global change biology; coral conservation.

Robinson W. Fulweiler , Professor of Biology (jointly with Earth & Environment)

Biogeochemistry and Marine Ecology

Thomas Gilmore , Professor of Biology

molecular biology, cell biology, signal transduction, cancer, molecular ecology

Les Kaufman , Professor of Biology

marine biology, evolutionary ecology, and conservation biology

Phillip S. Lobel , Professor of Biology

ichthyology; behavioral ecology and taxonomy of fishes

Ranjan Muthukrishnan , Research Assistant Professor

community ecology, marine ecology, coral reefs, invasive species, ecological modeling

EBE and Marine Biology

Randi Rotjan , Research Associate Professor of Biology; Senior Lecturer; Director of Masters Studies

Marine ecology, conservation biology, behavioral ecology, organismal physiology, coral reefs

2025 Advanced Research Training Course Applications Are Now Open!

The Marine Biological Laboratory is a world-renowned scientific institution, and scientists and students come to the MBL throughout the year to pursue research and education in diverse areas of fundamental biological discovery.

The Division of Research encompasses all research programs at the Laboratory, including the development and management of research services, research budgets, the assignment of research space, the disbursement of research awards and fellowships, training and education for the responsible conduct of scientific research, IACUC, IRB, and guidance for graduate and postdoctoral trainees.

The Division also works closely with the Office of the President/Director to develop new strategic research initiatives and to manage all faculty appointments, promotions, and mentoring.

Our Research Centers

Research at the MBL takes place throughout the year in a number of research centers:

Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology & Evolution

Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering

The Ecosystems Center

Whitman Center

Research resources to support ongoing discovery at the MBL.

Marine Resources Center

National Xenopus Resource (NXR)

The Microbiome Center

Imaging Resources

Central Microscopy Facility

The newly established joint program between the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and the University of Chicago (UChicago) leverages the unique partnership between two leading research institutions and combines the best of both worlds – access to a collaborative and expansive research environment that spans the scales of biological discovery at the MBL in Woods Hole, MA and the first-class resources of the University of Chicago. 

MBL has several funding opportunities for those who wish to come to the MBL to do research either collaboratively or individually throughout the year:

Whitman Center Fellowships

Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust Fellowship

Grass Foundation Fellowships

Faculty and Whitman Scientists

Researchers and Support Staff

MBL Fellows

MBL Postdoctoral Association

Everything you need to get started at the MBL.

Campus Information

Come Back to the MBL

Animal Care and Support

Equipment, Supplies and Facilities

Research Policies and Procedures

Order An Organism

Research Administration

Office of Sponsored Programs

Health and Safety

MBLWHOI Library

Scientific Publications

Captured by MBL Hibbitt Fellow Caroline Albertin, this video shows California two-spot octopuses (Octopus bimaculoides) emerging from their egg casings.

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Marine biology articles within Scientific Reports

Article 11 November 2024 | Open Access

Enhancing reef carbonate budgets through coral restoration

• Emily Esplandiu
• , John Morris
•  &  Diego Lirman

Article 03 November 2024 | Open Access

Desert dust improves the photophysiology of heat-stressed corals beyond iron

• Katherine Amorim
• , R. Grover
•  &  Christine Ferrier-Pagès

Article 02 November 2024 | Open Access

Development of a method for estimating asari clam distribution by combining three-dimensional acoustic coring system and deep neural network

• Tokimu Kadoi
• , Katsunori Mizuno
•  &  Kei Terayama

Investigating the potential effect of Holothuria scabra extract on osteogenic differentiation in preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells

• Sineenart Songkoomkrong
• , Siriporn Nonkhwao
•  &  Prateep Amonruttanapun

Article 01 November 2024 | Open Access

Noninvasive, epigenetic age estimation in an elasmobranch, the cownose ray ( Rhinoptera bonasus )

• D. Nick Weber
• , Jennifer T. Wyffels
•  &  David S. Portnoy

Article 29 October 2024 | Open Access

Seaweed functional strategies, functional groups, and taxon dynamics through a 213-year historical series of Rio De Janeiro Bay

• João P. G. Machado
•  &  Vinícius P. Oliveira

Article 28 October 2024 | Open Access

Population changes in a Southern Ocean krill predator point towards regional Antarctic sea ice declines

• Matthew Germishuizen
• , Marcello Vichi
•  &  Els Vermeulen

Article 22 October 2024 | Open Access

Seabird nutrients increase coral calcification rates and boost reef carbonate production

• Ines D. Lange
•  &  Cassandra E. Benkwitt

Acute copper stress showed toxic effects on the physiological metabolism of Ulva lactuca , a common green macroalgae

• Weimin Chen
•  &  Manying Sun

Article 17 October 2024 | Open Access

Hydromechanical properties of metachronal swimming in polychaetes

• Brad J. Gemmell
• , Sean P. Colin
•  &  John H. Costello

Article 16 October 2024 | Open Access

Bacterial and Symbiodiniaceae communities’ variation in corals with distinct traits and geographical distribution

• Livia Bonetti Villela
• , Arthur Weiss da Silva-Lima
•  &  Paulo Sergio Salomon

Article 12 October 2024 | Open Access

Vertebrate endocrine disruptors induce sex-reversal in blue mussels

• K. Garrett Evensen
• , Emily Rusin
•  &  Helen C. Poynton

Article 10 October 2024 | Open Access

Factors shaping pelagic-benthic coupling in the process of settlement in an Arctic fjord

• Marta Ronowicz
• , Piotr Balazy
•  &  Agata Weydmann-Zwolicka

Article 09 October 2024 | Open Access

Acoustic radiation characteristics of shark skin inspired surface modified plates

•  &  Ritwik Ghoshal

Integrated physiological response by four species of Rhodophyta to submarine groundwater discharge reveals complex patterns among closely-related species

• Veronica L. Gibson
• , Angelene Dedloff
•  &  Celia M. Smith

Article 06 October 2024 | Open Access

Sex-specific vertical movements of spawning atlantic cod in coastal habitats inferred from acoustic telemetry

• J. E. Skjæraasen
• , E. M. Olsen
•  &  L. D. Sivle

Article 03 October 2024 | Open Access

Physalia gonodendra are not yet sexually mature when released

• Kohei Oguchi
• , Gaku Yamamoto
•  &  Casey W. Dunn

Article 28 September 2024 | Open Access

Endemic, cosmopolitan, and generalist taxa and their habitat affinities within a coastal marine microbiome

• Chase C. James
• , Andrew E. Allen
•  &  Andrew D. Barton

Population genomic structure of the sea urchin Diadema africanum , a relevant species in the rocky reef systems across the Macaronesian archipelagos

• Marc Peralta-Serrano
• , José Carlos Hernández
•  &  Rocio Pérez-Portela

The distribution of seaweed forms and foundational assumptions in seaweed biology

Article 27 September 2024 | Open Access

Establishing complexity targets to enhance artificial reef designs

• Elisabeth Riera
• , Benjamin Mauroy
•  &  Cédric Hubas

Determination of biogeochemical properties in sea waters using the inversion of the three-stream irradiance model

• Paolo Lazzari
• , Mirna Gharbi Dit Kacem
•  &  Vincenzo Vellucci

Article 20 September 2024 | Open Access

Oceanographical-driven dispersal and environmental variation explain genetic structure in an upwelling coastal ecosystem

• Lívia Peluso
• , Juan Faúndez
•  &  Pablo Saenz-Agudelo

Article 18 September 2024 | Open Access

A portable multi-taxa phenotyping device to retrieve physiological performance traits

• Hadley England
• , Andrei Herdean
•  &  Emma F. Camp

Article 17 September 2024 | Open Access

Diverse baleen whale acoustic occurrence around two sub-Antarctic islands: A tale of residents and visitors

• Fannie W. Shabangu
• , Tessa Munoz
•  &  Tarron Lamont

Fisheries shocks provide an opportunity to reveal multiple recruitment sources of sardine in the Sea of Japan

• Tatsuya Sakamoto
• , Motomitsu Takahashi
•  &  Toyoho Ishimura

Article 15 September 2024 | Open Access

Availability to predators and a size structure of the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba in the 48.1 CCAMLR subarea

• Anna Panasiuk
• , Gabriela Gic-Grusza
•  &  Małgorzata Korczak-Abshire

Article 13 September 2024 | Open Access

Physiological resilience of intertidal chitons in a persistent upwelling coastal region

• Carolina Fernández
• , María Josefina Poupin
•  &  Marco Antonio Lardies

Article 08 September 2024 | Open Access

Leveraging deep learning and computer vision technologies to enhance management of coastal fisheries in the Pacific region

• George Shedrawi
• , Franck Magron
•  &  Neil L. Andrew

Article 06 September 2024 | Open Access

From ctenophores to scyphozoans: parasitic spillover of a burrowing sea anemone

• Anastasiia Iakovleva
• , Arseniy R. Morov
•  &  Tamar Guy-Haim

Article 04 September 2024 | Open Access

Predicting 3D and 2D surface area of corals from simple field measurements

• Josie F. Chandler
• , Will F. Figueira
•  &  Morgan S. Pratchett

Article 31 August 2024 | Open Access

Struggling with fish age, a comparison of otolith preparation techniques to unravel age and growth of boarfish, Capros aper (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Maria Inês Silva
• , Rui Martins
•  &  Ana Rita Vieira

Article 29 August 2024 | Open Access

Sex-specific differences in the growth and population characteristics of Sand crab Ovalipes punctatus (De Haan, 1833) in coastal waters of Korea

• Hyeon Gyu Lee
• , Jae Mook Jeong
•  &  Youn Hee Choi

Article 28 August 2024 | Open Access

Customized digestion protocols for copepods, euphausiids, chaetognaths and fish larvae facilitate the isolation of ingested microplastics

• Imke Podbielski
• , Thea Hamm
•  &  Mark Lenz

Article 26 August 2024 | Open Access

Insights into aging mechanisms from comparative genomics in orange and silver roughies

• Dido Carrero
• , Maria Pascual-Torner
•  &  Carlos López-Otín

Multi-marker DNA metabarcoding for precise species identification in ichthyoplankton samples

• André O. Ferreira
• , Olga M. Azevedo
•  &  Filipe O. Costa

Article 20 August 2024 | Open Access

Habitat for Coilia nasus in southern Zhejiang Province, China, based on a maximum entropy model

•  &  Weicheng Liu

Article 19 August 2024 | Open Access

Genetics and ontogeny are key factors influencing thermal resilience in a culturally and economically important bivalve

• Natalí J. Delorme
• , Nick King
•  &  Norman L. C. Ragg

Article 11 August 2024 | Open Access

Epiphytic microbiome associated with intertidal seaweeds in the Mediterranean Sea: comparative analysis of bacterial communities across seaweed phyla

• , Álvaro Israel
•  &  Tal Luzzatto-Knaan

Article 10 August 2024 | Open Access

Functional prediction based on 16S rRNA metagenome data from bacterial microbiota associated with macroalgae from the Peruvian coast

• Bianca E. Vigil
• , Francisco Ascue
•  &  Danilo E. Bustamante

Article 03 August 2024 | Open Access

Sterolysin from a 1950s culture of Karlodinium veneficum (aka Gymnodinium veneficum Ballantine) forms lethal sterol dependent membrane pores

• Allen R. Place
• , Josefina Ramos-Franco
•  &  Mark T. Hamann

Article 30 July 2024 | Open Access

Response of hypoxia to future climate change is sensitive to methodological assumptions

• Kyle E. Hinson
• , Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs
•  &  Hanqin Tian

Article 29 July 2024 | Open Access

Mark-recapture validates the use of photo-identification for the widely distributed blue-spotted ribbontail ray, Taeniura lymma

• Ashlie J. McIvor
• , Collin T. Williams
•  &  Michael L. Berumen

Article 20 July 2024 | Open Access

Vertical and horizontal environmental DNA (eDNA) patterns of fish in a shallow and well-mixed North Sea area

• Nergiz Dukan
• , Isolde Cornelis
•  &  Sofie Derycke

Article 15 July 2024 | Open Access

Personal electric deterrents can reduce shark bites from the three species responsible for the most fatal interactions

• Thomas M. Clarke
• , Adam Barnett
•  &  Charlie Huveneers

Article 02 July 2024 | Open Access

Effects of microplastics on reproductive characteristics and mechanisms of the marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis

• Taekyoung Seong
• , Sae Yamamoto
•  &  Hee-Jin Kim

Article 01 July 2024 | Open Access

Ocean warming and acidification adjust inter- and intra-specific variability in the functional trait expression of polar invertebrates

• Thomas J. Williams
• , Adam J. Reed
•  &  Martin Solan

Article 27 June 2024 | Open Access

Marine heatwaves alter the nursery function of coastal habitats for juvenile Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod

• Hillary L. Thalmann
• , Benjamin J. Laurel
•  &  Jessica A. Miller

Article 24 June 2024 | Open Access

The absence of canonical respiratory complex I subunits in male-type mitogenomes of three Donax species

• Artur Burzyński
• , Beata Śmietanka
•  &  Marek Lubośny

Article 17 June 2024 | Open Access

Spatial prioritization of dugong habitats in India can contribute towards achieving the 30 × 30 global biodiversity target

• , Sharad Bayyana
•  &  Jeyaraj Antony Johnson

Browse broader subjects

• Ocean sciences

Quick links

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Articles on Marine biology

Displaying 1 - 20 of 180 articles.

As the oceans warm, deep-living algae are thriving – with major potential effects for the marine ecosystem

Johan Viljoen , University of Exeter ; Bob Brewin , University of Exeter , and Xuerong Sun , University of Exeter

Sharks and rays leap out of the water for many reasons, including feeding, courtship and communication

A. Peter Klimley , University of California, Davis

Whales are recovering from near extinction, but industrial fishing around Antarctica competes for their sole food source

Matthew Savoca , Stanford University

Squid have tiny teeth in their suckers − scientists could use their unique properties to make self-healing materials

Abdon Pena-Francesch , University of Michigan

Sea lions wearing cameras and trackers map new habitats

Nathan Angelakis , University of Adelaide

Oceans without sharks would be far less healthy – new research

Michael Heithaus , Florida International University

From glowing corals to vomiting shrimp, animals have used bioluminescence to communicate for millions of years – here’s what scientists still don’t know about it

Danielle DeLeo , Florida International University and Andrea Quattrini , Smithsonian Institution

Climate change is causing marine ‘coldwaves’ too, killing wildlife

Nicolas Benjamin Lubitz , James Cook University and David Schoeman , University of the Sunshine Coast

Sex, birth and whalesong: life on the humpback highway

Vanessa Pirotta , Macquarie University

As climate change and pollution imperil coral reefs, scientists are deep-freezing corals to repopulate future oceans

Mary Hagedorn , Smithsonian Institution

How do halibut migrate? Clues are in their ear bones

Charlotte Gauthier , Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)

Surviving fishing gear entanglement isn’t enough for endangered right whales – females still don’t breed afterward

Joshua Reed , Macquarie University ; Leslie New , Ursinus College ; Peter Corkeron , Griffith University , and Rob Harcourt , Macquarie University

Rare access to hammerhead shark embryos reveals secrets of its unique head development

Gareth J. Fraser , University of Florida

‘Jaws’ portrayed sharks as monsters 50 years ago, but it also inspired a generation of shark scientists

Gavin Naylor , University of Florida

Not all underwater reefs are made of coral − the US has created artificial reefs from sunken ships, radio towers, boxcars and even voting machines

Avery Paxton , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and D'amy Steward , University of Guam

I set out to investigate where silky sharks travel − and by chance documented a shark’s amazing power to regenerate its sabotaged fin

Chelsea Black , University of Miami

What happens to the ocean if we take out all the fish? A marine ecologist explains the complex roles fish play in their ecosystem

Kory Evans , Rice University

Shipwrecks teem with underwater life, from microbes to sharks

Avery Paxton , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

As seas get warmer, tropical species are moving further from the equator

Karolina Zarzyczny , University of Southampton

Australian dolphins have the world’s highest concentrations of ‘forever chemicals’

Chantel Foord , RMIT University

Related Topics

• Biodiversity
• Climate change
• Conservation
• Coral reefs
• Marine conservation
• Marine ecosystems
• Marine life

Top contributors

Professor, Macquarie University

Executive Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences & Education and Professor of Biological Sciences, Florida International University

Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Museums Victoria Research Institute

Professor of Marine Botany, The University of Western Australia

Faculty Research Associate in Marine Biology, Arizona State University

Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Sheffield

Founding Professor of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research centre, The University of Western Australia

Postdoctoral associate, University of Florida

Assistant Professor, University of Rhode Island

Professor, Marine Biology, University of Adelaide

Lecturer and Researcher in Behavioural ecology and Cephalopod Biology, Anglia Ruskin University

Director, Florida Program for Shark Research, University of Florida

PhD Researcher in Marine Ecology, University of Exeter

Professor of Biology and Director, Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of Hawaii

Professor in marine ecology, UNSW Sydney

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Marine Biology Research

Subject Area and Category

• Aquatic Science
• Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
• Oceanography

Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Publication type

17451000, 17451019

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The set of journals have been ranked according to their SJR and divided into four equal groups, four quartiles. Q1 (green) comprises the quarter of the journals with the highest values, Q2 (yellow) the second highest values, Q3 (orange) the third highest values and Q4 (red) the lowest values.

The SJR is a size-independent prestige indicator that ranks journals by their 'average prestige per article'. It is based on the idea that 'all citations are not created equal'. SJR is a measure of scientific influence of journals that accounts for both the number of citations received by a journal and the importance or prestige of the journals where such citations come from It measures the scientific influence of the average article in a journal, it expresses how central to the global scientific discussion an average article of the journal is.

Evolution of the number of published documents. All types of documents are considered, including citable and non citable documents.

This indicator counts the number of citations received by documents from a journal and divides them by the total number of documents published in that journal. The chart shows the evolution of the average number of times documents published in a journal in the past two, three and four years have been cited in the current year. The two years line is equivalent to journal impact factor ™ (Thomson Reuters) metric.

Evolution of the total number of citations and journal's self-citations received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. Journal Self-citation is defined as the number of citation from a journal citing article to articles published by the same journal.

Evolution of the number of total citation per document and external citation per document (i.e. journal self-citations removed) received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years. External citations are calculated by subtracting the number of self-citations from the total number of citations received by the journal’s documents.

International Collaboration accounts for the articles that have been produced by researchers from several countries. The chart shows the ratio of a journal's documents signed by researchers from more than one country; that is including more than one country address.

Not every article in a journal is considered primary research and therefore "citable", this chart shows the ratio of a journal's articles including substantial research (research articles, conference papers and reviews) in three year windows vs. those documents other than research articles, reviews and conference papers.

Ratio of a journal's items, grouped in three years windows, that have been cited at least once vs. those not cited during the following year.

Evolution of the percentage of female authors.

Evolution of the number of documents cited by public policy documents according to Overton database.

Evolution of the number of documents related to Sustainable Development Goals defined by United Nations. Available from 2018 onwards.

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