Rebecca Blanton Johansen

Contact Information

P.O. Box 4718
Clarksville, TN 37044
Office: SSC D116
Phone: 931-221-7774
Fax: 931-221-6372
E-mail: johansenr@apsu.edu

Lab Webpage

Research Areas

 Systematics, phylogeography, conservation, and population genetics of freshwater fishes; inventories of aquatic fauna and assessments of water and habitat quality using indicator species.

Current Projects

An examination of the systematic and phylogeographic relationships of several southeastern fishes including, the Fantail Darter complex, the Slender Madtom, and Black Basses among others; these studies also include taxonomic revisions in which several new species are being described.  An investigation of the effects of anthropogenic river modifications to movement and gene flow in benthic stream fishes and assessment of the relative contributions of life history and habitat availability to gene flow and migration.  An investigation of the methods and approaches for species delineation in freshwater organisms, including an assessment of the challenges in understanding species relationships and diversity in the presence of introgressive hybridization in aquatic communities.

Recent Publications

Baker, W. H., R. E. Blanton, & C. E. Johnston.  2013. Diversity within the Redeye Bass, Micropterus coosae (Perciformes: Centrarchidae) species complex, with descriptions of four new species.  Zootaxa, 3635 (4): 379-401.

Blanton, R.E., L.M. Page, & S.A. Hilber.  2013. Timing of clade divergence and discordant estimates of genetic and morphological diversity in the Slender Madtom, Noturus exilis (Ictaluridae).  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66: 679-693.

Blanton, R.E., L.M. Page, & B.M. Ennis.  2011. Phylogenetic relationships of Opsopoeodus emiliae (Cyprinidae), with comment on the taxonomic implications of discordance among datasets. Copeia (1) 82-92.

Bart, H.L., Jr., M.D. Clements, R.E. Blanton, K.R. Piller, & D.L. Hurley.  2010. Discordant morphological  and molecular evolution in buffalofishes (Catostomidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56: 808-820.

Blanton, R.E. & G.A. Schuster.  2008. Taxonomic status of Etheostoma brevispinum (Coker), the Carolina Fantail Darter. Copeia 4:844-857.

Blanton, R.E. & R.E. Jenkins. 2008. Three new darter species of the federally-endangered Etheostoma percnurum species complex (Percidae, subgenus Catonotus) from the Tennessee and Cumberland river drainages. Zootaxa 1963:1-24.

Dr. Johansen discusses some of her current research here.