Chris Rohner

Marine Biology

I got my PhD from the University of Queensland in 2013 and I currently work with the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) on saving ocean giants from extinction. As a scientist, my primary aim is finding out things we don't know yet about cool animals. Working with threatened species means this job is also really important for their conservation.

 

My publications

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Publishing for scientists is like

“If it is not published, you did not do it”

Scientific publishing is therefore easy to understand for social media savvy kids because it is similar to experiences that don’t count unless the picture of it is on facebook. For scientists, however, it actually makes a lot of sense to publish findings. After all, sharing your new knowledge spurs further discoveries by colleagues around the world.

You can read all papers that I wrote or contributed to here, and for any questions feel free to drop me a line.

Collecting zooplankton during my PhD field work in Mozambique.

Chris Rohner, Roy Bealey, Bernerd Fulanda, Jason Everett, Anthony Richardson & Simon Pierce (2021) Movement ecology of black marlin Istiompax indica in the Western Indian Ocean, Journal of Fish Biology.

Chris Rohner, Roy Bealey, Bernerd Fulanda & Simon Pierce (2020) Movement and habitat use of striped marlin Kajikia audax in the Western Indian Ocean, Journal of Fish Biology.

Chris Rohner, Jesse Cochran, Fernando Cagua, Clare Prebble, Stephanie Venables, Michael Berumen, Baraka Kuguru, Jason Rubens, Juerg Brunnschweiler & Simon Pierce (2020) No place like home? High residency and predictable seasonal movement of whale sharks off Tanzania, Frontiers in Marine Science.

Chris Rohner, Anthony Richardson, Fabrice Jaine, Mike Bennett, Scarla Weeks, Geremy Cliff, David Robinson, Katie Reeve-Arnold and Simon Pierce (2018) Satellite tagging highlights the importance of productive Mozambican coastal waters to the ecology and conservation of whale sharks, PeerJ.

Chris Rohner, Katherine Burgess, Joshua Rambahiniarison, Joshua Stewart, Alessandro Ponzo, Anthony Richardson (2017) Mobulid rays feed on euphausiids in the Bohol Sea, Royal Society Open Science.

Chris Rohner, Amelia Armstrong, Simon Pierce, Clare Prebble, Fernando Cagua, Jesse Cochran, Michael Berumen & Anthony Richardson (2015) Whale sharks target dense prey patches of sergestid shrimp off Tanzania, Journal of Plankton Research.

Chris Rohner, Anthony Richardson, Clare Prebble, Andrea Marshall, Mike Bennett, Scarla Weeks, Geremy Cliff, Sabine Wintner & Simon Pierce  (2015) Laser photogrammetry improves size and demographic estimates for whale sharks, Peer J.

Chris Rohner, Lydie Couturier, Anthony Richardson, Simon Pierce, Clare Prebble, Mark Gibbons & Peter Nichols (2013) Diet of whale sharks Rhincodon typus inferred from stomach content and signature fatty acid analyses, Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Chris Rohner, Simon Pierce, Andrea Marshall, Scarla Weeks, Mike Bennett & Anthony Richardson (2013) Trends in sightings and environmental influences on a coastal aggregation of manta rays and whale sharks, Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Chris Rohner & Thomas Cribb (2013) Opecoelidae (Digenea) in northern Great Barrier Reef goatfishes (Perciformes Mullidae), Systematic Parasitology.

Chris Rohner, Anthony Richardson, Andrea Marshall, Scarla Weeks & Simon Pierce (2011) How large is the world’s largest fish Measuring whale sharks Rhincodon typus with laser photogrammetry, Journal of Fish Biology.

Samantha Reynolds, Brad Norman, Craig Franklin, Steffen Bach, Francesco Comezzi, Stella Diamant, Mohammed Jaidah, Simon Pierce, Anthony Richardson, David Robinson, Chris Rohner & Ross Dwyer (2021) Regional variation in anthropogenic threats to Indian Ocean
whale sharks, Global Ecology and Conservation.

Stella Diamant, Simon Pierce, Chris Rohner, Rachel Graham, Arthur Guillemain d’Echon, Tanguy Guillemain d’Echon, Elina Sourisseau, Léonce Costika Fidiarisandratra, Gisèle Bakary, Sylvia Trélanche, Fanja Andriananrisoa & Jeremy Kiszka (2021) Population structure, residency, and abundance of whale sharks in the coastal waters off Nosy Be, north-western Madagascar, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 

David Robinson, Kevin Hyland, Gerhard Beukes, Abdulkareem Vettan, Aneeshkumar Mabadikate, Rima Jabado,  Chris Rohner, Simon Pierce & Warren Baverstock (2021) Satellite tracking of rehabilitated sea turtles suggests a high rate of short-term survival following release, PLOS ONE.

Stephanie Venables, Daan van Duinkerken, Chris Rohner & Andrea Marshall (2020) Habitat use and movement patterns of reef manta rays Mobula alfredi in southern Mozambique, Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Elitza Germanov, Andrea Marshall, Gede Hedrawan, Ryan Admiraal, Chris Rohner, Janis Argeswara, Raka Wulandari, Mahardika Himawan & Neil Loneragan (2019) Microplastics on the menu: Plastics pollute Indonesian manta ray and whale shark feeding grounds, Frontiers in Marine Science.

Nuno Queiroz, Nicolas Humphries, [many others], Chris Rohner, Simon Pierce, [many others] & David Sims (2019) Global spatial risk assessment of sharks under the footprint of fisheries, Nature.

Cindy Bessey, Simon Jarman, Michael Stat, Chris Rohner, Michael Bunce, Adam Koziol, Matthew Power, Joshua Rambahiniarison, Alessandro Ponzo, Anthony Richardson & Oliver Berry (2019) DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines, Ecology and Evolution.

Clare Prebble, Chris Rohner, Simon Pierce, David Robinson, Mohammed Jaidah, Steffen Bach & Clive Trueman (2018) Limited latitudinal range of juvenile whale sharks in the Western Indian Ocean suggests the existence of regional management units, Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Joshua Rambahiniarison, Mary-Jane Lamoste, Chris Rohner, Ryan Murray, Sally Snow, Gonzo Araujo & Alessandro Ponzo (2018) Life history, growth, and reproductive biology of four mobulid species in the Bohol Sea, Philippines, Frontiers in Marine Science.

Gonzo Araujo, Chris Rohner, Jessica Labaja, Segundo Conales, Sally Snow, Jessica Labaja, Ryan Murray, Simon Pierce and Alessandro Ponzo (2018) Satellite tracking of juvenile whale sharks in the Sulu and Bohol Seas, Philippines, PeerJ.

Stella Diamant, Chris Rohner, Jeremy Kiszka, Tanguy Guillemin-d’Echon, Arthur Guillemin-d’Echon, Elina Sourisseau and Simon Pierce (2018) Horizontal movements and habitat use of satellite-tagged whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) off western Madagascar, Endangered Species Research.

Brad Norman, [many others], Simon Pierce, Clare Prebble, Chris Rohner, [many others] (2017) Undersea constellations: the global biology of an endangered marine megavertebrate further informed through citizen science, BioScience.

Joshua Stewart, Chris Rohner, Gonzalo Araujo, Jose Avila, Daniel Fernando, Kerstin Forsberg, Alessandro Ponzo, Joshua Rambahiniarison, Carolyn Kurle & Brice Semmens (2017) Trophic overlap in mobulid rays: insights from stable isotope analysis, Marine Ecology Progress Series.

David Robinson, Mohammed Jaidah, Steffen Bach, Chris Rohner, Rima Jabado, Rupert Ormond & Simon Pierce (2017) Some like it hot: Repeat migration and residency of whale sharks within an extreme natural environment, PLoS ONE.

David Robinson, Rima Jabado, Chris Rohner, Simon Pierce, Kevin Hyland & Warren Baverstock (2017) Satellite tagging of rehabilitated green sea turtles Chelonia mydas from the United Arab Emirates, including the longest tracked journey for the species, PLoS ONE.

Jess Williams, Simon Pierce, Chris Rohner, Mariana Fuentes & Mark Hamann (2017) Spatial distribution and residency of green and loggerhead sea turtles using coastal reef habitats in southern Mozambique, Frontiers in Marine Science.

David Robinson, Mohammed Jaidah, Steffen Bach, Katie Lee, Rima Jabado, Chris Rohner, Abi March, Simone Caprodossi, Aaron Henderson, James Mair, Rupert Ormond & Simon Pierce (2016) Population structure, abundance and movement of whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, PLoS ONE 11(6): e0158593.

Fernando Cagua, Jesse Cochran, Chris Rohner, Clare Prebble, Tane Sinclair-Taylor, Simon Pierce & Michael Berumen (2015) Acoustic telemetry reveals cryptic residency of whale sharks, Biology Letters doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0092.

Fabrice Jaine, Chris Rohner, Scarla Weeks, Lydie Couturier, Mike Bennett, Kathy Townsend & Anthonny Richardson (2014) Movement and habiat use of reef manta rays off eastern Australia offshore excursions, deep diving and eddy affinity, Marine Ecology Progress Series, 510: 73-86.

Peter Haskell, Andrew McGowan, Anna Westling, Adriana Mendex-Jimenez, Chris Rohner, Kym Collins, Marcela Rosero-Caicedo, Jodi Salmond, Ara Monadjem, Andrea Marshall & Simon Pierce (2014) Monitoring the effects of tourism on whale shark Rhincodon typus behaviour in Mozambique, Oryx x doi:10.1017/S0030605313001257.

Lydie Couturier, Chris Rohner, Anthony Richardson, Andrea Marshall, Fabrice Jaine, Mike Bennett, Kathy Townsend, Scarla Weeks & Peter Nichols (2013) Stable isotope and signature fatty acid analyses suggest reef manta rays feed on demersal zooplankton, PLoS ONE 8(10): e77152.

Lydie Couturier, Chris Rohner, Anthony Richardson, Simon Pierce, Andrea Marshall, Fabrice Jaine, Kathy Townsend, Mike Bennett, Scarla Weeks & Peter Nichols (2013) Unusually high levels of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in whale sharks and reef manta rays, Lipids doi 10.1007/s11745-013-3829-8.