Biology

Liliana Lettieri: Ph.D. student

Biography

In my dissertation research, I study the evolution of interspecific mutualisms in Caribbean fishes. By uncovering the evolutionary steps leading from antagonistic interactions to reciprocally altruistic ones, biologists may better understand the circumstances and pathways that lead to cooperative behavior, an evolutionary conundrum.

In the Caribbean, a lineage of over 20 species has evolved from non-mutualist sponge-dweller goby fishes to obligate "cleaners" which derive the majority of their food by cleaning parasites from the skin of visiting "client" fishes. Using this information, and the fact that convergent behavior and coloration patterns have evolved in the Indo-Pacific cleaner wrasse, I have set out to test the function of color stripes in mediating behaviors of cooperative intent to potential clients within the Caribbean genus Elacatinus goby lineage in a comparative manner.

By using spectrophotometric analyses, visual modeling, and fish color sensitivity information, I ask how fishes see color signals on coral and sponge microhabitat environments and then use this information to test the function and performance of differently colored patterns and species in these environments.

As a graduate student, I have had the opportunity to travel internationally to Australia as an NSF-EAPSI fellow and to The Republic of Panama as an NSF-IGERT fellow.