Yale University, 1972 Ph.D.
Professor
Research Interests
Evolutionary Biology (theoretical scenarios for the origin of major groups). Nitrogen metabolism (physiological roles of urea in fishes).
Selected Publications
Stephen, B.J. and R.W. Griffith (2001). Excretion of ammonia and urea during development in the oyster toadfish, Opsanus tau. Mar. Fresh. Behav. Physiol. 34: 257-264
Griffith, R.W. (1994) The life of the first vertebrates. Bioscience 44: 408-417.
Griffith, R.W. (1991) Guppies, toadfish, lungfish, coelacanths and frogs: a scenario for the evolution of urea retention in fishes. Environ. Biol. Fishes. 32: 199-218.
Griffith, R.W. (1981) Blood chemistry of deep-sea fishes. Biol. Bull., 160: 250-264.
Griffith, R.W. (1980) Chemistry of the body fluids of the coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae. Proc. Roy. Soc. (London), B208: 329-347.
Completed Master’s Theses of Former Graduate Students
Barrett, S. (2001) Reproductive status and ecology of the osprey Pandion haliaetus in Westport, Massachusetts. (94 pp).
Morss, M.S. (1998) Cell proliferation in larval fish and zooplankton. (120 pp).
Stephen, B.J. (1994) Excretion and body concentration of urea during development in the oyster toadfish Opsanus tau (Linnaeus). (61 pp).
Baird, M.P. (1993) Urea and its role in the osmoregulatory strategy of the euryhaline teleost Opsanus tau (Linnaeus). (68 pp).
MacQueen, A. N. (1993) The effect of chlordane on macrophage aggregations in winter flounder (Pleuronectes americanus). (45 pp).
Oliveira, K. (1989) The effects of recombinant salmon growth hormone on hypophysectomized male Fundulus heteroclitus. (60 pp).
Rusek, T.F. (1989) Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) in striped bass, Morone saxatilis (Walbaum) of Buzzards Bay and the Acushnet River. (92 pp).
Myohanen, L. (1987) The effects of lowered blood pH on some blood parameters in the golden shiner, Notemigonus chrysoleucas. (54 pp).
Courses Taught
- Environmental Physiology of Marine Animals (BIO 540)
- Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (BIO 415)
- Biology of Organisms Lab (BIO 131, 132)
- General Biology I and II ( BIO 101, 102)
