About Us :: People
Steve W. Ross, Research Associate Professor
Ph.D., Zoology, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, 1992
M.S., Zoology, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 1978
B.S., Zoology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 1974
South Annex | (910) 395-3905 | Center for Marine Science,
5600 Marvin K. Moss Ln,
Wilmington, NC 28409
rosss AT uncw DOT edu
Dr. Ross has spent most of his career involved in the marine sciences of the southeastern US region. He was the Research Coordinator for the NC Coastal Reserve Program for 13 years. He is currently a research faculty at UNCW and is also a project leader for the US Geological Survey. He holds graduate adjunct faculty status at NC State University and UNC Wilmington. His area of specialization is ichthyology, particularly ecology and life history (age, growth, feeding, and reproduction). He has conducted numerous, diverse projects in estuaries and offshore waters and has served as chief scientist on many cruises, including those using submersibles. The current work of Dr. Ross and his team involves assessment of the communities of unique deep water habitats. They are examining energy flow (trophodynamics) and relationships of animals to various habitats, including deep coral banks, canyon systems, and rocky areas. One ultimate goal of these studies is to provide information that will facilitate management and protection of these poorly known, productive habitats.
Recent publications from Dr. Ross’s Lab
Ross, S.W. and F.C. Rohde. 2004. The gobioid fishes of North Carolina (Pisces: Gobioidei). Bull. Mar. Sci. 74: 287-323.
Necaise, A.M.D., S.W. Ross and J.M. Miller. 2005. Estuarine habitat evaluation measured by growth of juvenile summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, in a North Carolina estuary. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 285: 157-168.
H.S. Meister, D.M. Wyanski, J.K. Loefer, S.W. Ross, A.M. Quattrini and K.J. Sulak. 2005. Further evidence for the invasion and establishment of Pterois volitans (Teleostei: Scorpaenidae) along the Atlantic coast of the United States. SE Nat. 4: 193-206.
Casazza, T.L., S.W. Ross, A.M. Necaise and K.J. Sulak. 2005. Reproduction and mating behavior of the Atlantic flyingfish, Cheilopogon melanurus (Exocoetidae), off North Carolina. Bull. Mar. Sci. 77: 363-375.
Quattrini, A.M. and S.W. Ross. 2006. Fishes associated with North Carolina shelf-edge hardbottoms and initial assessment of a proposed marine protected area. Bull. Mar. Sci. 79: 137-163.
Williams, B., M.J. Risk, S.W. Ross and K.J. Sulak. 2006. Deep-water Antipatharians: proxies of environmental change. Geol. 34: 773-776.
Ross, S.W., T.L. Casazza, A.M. Quattrini and K.J. Sulak. 2007. Anguilliform larvae collected off North Carolina. Mar. Biol. 150: 681-695.
Caruso, J.H., S.W. Ross, K.J. Sulak and G.R. Sedberry. 2007. Deep-water chaunacid and lophiid anglerfishes (Pisces: Lophiiformes) off the Southeastern United States. J. Fish Biol. 70: 1015-1026.
Ross, S.W. and A.M. Quattrini. 2007. The Fish Fauna Associated with Deep Coral Banks off the Southeastern United States. Deep-Sea Research Part I 54: 975-1007.
Brooks, R.A., M.S. Nizinski, S.W. Ross and K.J. Sulak. 2007. Sublethal injury rate in a deepwater ophiuroid, Ophiacantha bidentata, an important component of Western Atlantic Lophelia reef communities. Mar. Biol. 152: 307-314.
Ross, S.W. and M.S. Nizinski. 2007. State of Deep Coral Ecosystems in the U.S. Southeast Region: Cape Hatteras to southeastern Florida. p. 233-270, Ch 6 In: Lumsden, S.E., T.F. Hourigan, A.W. Bruckner and G. Dorr (eds.). The State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States. NOAA Tech. Memo. CRCP-3. Silver Spring, MD. 365 pp.
McCosker, J.E. and S.W. Ross. 2007. A new deepwater species of the snake eel genus Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophicthidae), from North Carolina. Copeia 2007: 783-787.
Williams, B., M.J. Risk, S.W. Ross and K.J. Sulak. 2007. Stable isotope data from deep-water Antipatharians: 400-year records from the southeastern coast of the United States of America. Bull. Mar. Sci. 81: 437-447.
Ross, S.W. 2007. Unique deep-water ecosystems off the southeastern United States. Oceanography 20: 130-139.
Partyka, M.L., S.W. Ross, A.M. Quattrini, G.R. Sedberry, T.W. Birdsong, J. Potter. 2007. Southeastern United States deep sea corals (SEADESC) initiative: a collaborative effort to characterize areas of habitat-forming deep-sea corals. NOAA Tech. Memo. OAR OER 1. Silver Spring, MD. 176 pp.
Gartner, J.V., Jr., K.J. Sulak, S.W. Ross and A-M. Necaise. 2008. Persistent near-bottom aggregations of mesopelagic animals along the North Carolina and Virginia continental slopes. Mar. Biol. 153: 825-841.
Henry, L-A., M.S. Nizinski and S.W. Ross. 2008. Occurrence and biogeography of hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from deep-water coral habitats off the southeastern United States. Deep-Sea Res. Part I 55: 788-800.
Messing, C.G., J.K. Reed, S.D. Brooke and S.W. Ross. 2008. Deep-Water Coral Reefs of the United States. p. 763-787. In: Riegl, B. & R.E. Dodge (eds.). Coral Reefs of the USA. Springer. 802 pp.
Cassaza, T.L. and S.W. Ross. 2008. Fishes associated with pelagic Sargassum and non-structured, open-water habitats in the Gulf Stream off North Carolina, USA. Fish. Bull. 106: 348-363.
Ross, S.W. and A.M. Quattrini. 2009. Deep-sea reef fish assemblage patterns on the Blake Plateau (Western North Atlantic Ocean). Mar. Ecol. 30: 74-92.
Nielsen, J.G., S.W. Ross and D.M. Cohen. 2009. Atlantic occurrence of the genus Bellottia (Teleostei, Bythitidae) with two new species from the Western North Atlantic. Zootaxa 2018: 45-57.
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