Estefania Rodriguez and Luciana Gusmão

Associate Curator, Cnidaria, Crustacea, Other Invertebrate Phyla, Division of Invertebrate Zoology
Principal Investigator, Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics
Associate Professor, Richard Gilder Graduate School

Dr. Estefania Rodriguez is a systematist with a fundamental interest in understanding morphological diversity, systematics, evolutionary history, and ecology of sea anemones (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria). Sea anemones are among the most diverse and successful members of the anthozoan subclass Hexacorallia, being found in all marine benthic habitats at all depths and latitudes. Despite their morphological simplicity as tissue level organisms, sea anemones are an ancient lineage whose members have remarkably diverse life history strategies, including all reproductive strategies. Sea anemones play an important role in benthic-pelagic coupling as part of the benthic suspension feeding community, transferring energy to the benthos from the water column and releasing metabolites, gametes, and offspring into the water column. Their ecological success is undoubtedly facilitated by their propensity for engaging in symbiotic relationships with other animals, including hermit crabs, mollusks, and clown fish. From the perspective of phylogenetic systematics and evolutionary biology, their long evolutionary history and remarkable diversity poses problems of broader theoretical or methodological consequence. Dr. Rodriguez’s research on sea anemones combines monographic systematics with phylogenetics and empirical studies of biogeography, reproduction, and ecology.

• Official AMNH page for Estefania Rodriguez

---

Post-doctoral Researcher, Division of Invertebrate Zoology

Dr. Luciana Gusmão is a marine biologist specialized in the systematics of sea anemones (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria). Luciana has worked on different groups of anemones, including those symbiotic with hermit crabs and molluscs, but has lately focused on shallow and deep-sea water anemones off the coast of her native Brazil. In order to identify, classify and understand the diversity of anemones and how morphological features have evolved over time in the group, Luciana has used a variety of morphological and molecular techniques, including micro-CT scanning and 3D modeling, histology, DNA cloning and sequencing, among others.

• Analyzing Anemones: Students Discover New Species