Marine Neurobiology and Behaviour

Professor Collin's research falls broadly into the field of comparative neurobiology with emphasis on the neural basis of behaviour. Using models from the extant relatives of the first vertebrates (agnathans) to elasmobranchs and teleosts, various aquatic sensory systems (including vision, olfaction and electroreception) are investigated to establish broad concepts of plasticity and adaptation to environments as diverse as coral reefs and the deep-sea. Anatomical, electrophysiological, molecular and behavioural techniques are currently being used to trace the prehistoric origins of colour vision, the visual ecology of deep-sea fishes and sharks, the regulation and patterned expression of visual pigments in the vertebrate retina and the development of sensory input to the shark and teleost brain. Recently funded projects on using sensory indicators to improve the diet and growth of finfish for the aquaculture industry and the exploration of the sensory systems of deep-sea organisms off Australia's continental shelf continue to expand the breadth of species we examine.

Awards:

Australian Carrick Teaching Award, awarded 10/9/2006
UQ Teaching Award, awarded 10/8/2006

Selected Publications:

Collin, S. P., Knight, M. A., Davies, W. L., Potter, I. C., Hunt, D. M. and Trezise, A. E. O. (2003). Ancient colour vision: multiple opsin genes in the ancestral vertebrates. Current Biology 13(22): R864-865.

Collin, S. P. and N. J. Marshall (2003). Sensory Processing of the Aquatic Environment. Springer-Verlag, New York. [Front Cover]

Collin, S. P., Hart, N. S., Shand, J. and Potter, I. C. (2003). Morphology and spectral absorption characteristics of retinal photoreceptors in the southern hemisphere lamprey (Geotria australis). Visual Neuroscience 20: 119-130.

Bailes, H. J., Robinson, S. R., Trezise, A. E. O. and Collin, S. P. (2006). Morphology, characterisation and distribution of retinal photoreceptors in the Australian lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri (Krefft, 1870). J. Comparative Neurology 494: 381-397.

Ladich F, Collin, S. P., Moller, P. and Kapoor, B. G (2006). Communication in Fishes. Science Publishers Enfield (NH) and Plymouth (UK). pp 1-880 (in 2 Volumes).

Professional Associations:

Society for Neuroscience (USA), Australian Neuroscience Society (ANS), Australian Marine Science Association (AMSA), Australian Society for Fish Biology (ASFB), J. B. Johnson Club (JBJC)

Funded Projects:

Environmental regulation of opsin expression and spectral tuning in the vertebrate retina

ARC, 2004-2006, 210,000

Purchase of a biological transmission electron microscope (TEM).

NH&MRC, 2005, 399,000

Sharks of Moreton Bay: Movement patterns and conservation status

Project Aware, 2004-2005, 2,500

The evolution of dim-light vision in vertebrates

ARC, 2005-2007, 330,000

Vision and remote sensing: using nature's technology to examine the health of the Great Barrier Reef and Moreton Bay

ARC, 2003-2007, 2,000,000

Student Projects Available:

Corneal and retinal adaptations in the "four-eyed" fish, Anableps sp.

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2008 Sem Available: 1 or 2

The characterisation of retinal cell types in the lamprey retina

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2008 Sem Available: 1 or 2

The evolution of the vertebrate cornea: Structure and function relationships

Student Level: Honours Start Year: 2008 Sem Available: 1 or 2

Research Collaborators:

TREZISE Ann - Mammalian Ion Channel Gene Expression and Function
FRITSCHES Kerstin - Vision and Visual Ecology of Pelagic Fish and Marine Turtles
HART Nathan - Ecology and evolution of visual systems
MARSHALL Justin - Colour vision, colour communication and visual ecology of coral reefs and other habitats
BARNETT Nigel - Modulating retinal glutamate transport in health and disease
BENNETT Mike - Fish Biology and Vertebrate Biomechanics
GRUTTER Lexa - Coral reef ecology
SIEBECK Ulrike - Colour communication and visual perception in reef fish

Postdoctoral Staff:

KNIGHT Maree - The University of Queensland
GREEN Kathryn - The University of Queensland

Students:

BANSEMER Carley - PhD
JACOBSEN Ian - PhD - Longline shark bycatch in tuna and billfish fisheries: Biology of bycatch species
MARSHALL Andrea - PhD
PIERCE Simon - PhD
STEAD Joanna - PhD
TAYLOR Stephen - PhD
LITHERLAND Lenore - PhD - Sensory biology of sharks and rays
THEISS Susan - PhD - Colour vision in elasmobranchs: a case study of the blue-spotted ray
HARAHUSH Blake - PhD - Visual development in elasmobranchs
SCHLUESSEL Vera - PhD
ULLMANN Jeremy - PhD - Neuroethology of feeding in Baramundi, Lates calcarifer
WUERINGER Barbara - PhD
ROGERS Sarah - BSc(Hons)
MILLS, Morena - BSc (Hons)
EVANGELISTA, Carla - BSc (Hons)
SCHRIEBER, Nicole - BSc (Hons)
SCHIEBER Nicole - BSc(Hons)
ATKINSON Carla - PhD
TALBOT Christopher - PhD
WESTHOFF Guido
TEMPLE Shelby - Evolution, ecology and ontogeny of vision in fishes
MACDONALD Clinton
NEWMAN Amy - PhD