Current research

1) Filter performance in large pelagics

  • Whale sharks: M.S. Nicole Steplewski thesis; Dr. Karly Cohen
  • Megamouth sharks: M.S. Jordyn Neal thesis and NHMLA
  • Manta Rays: Dr. Shirel Kahane-Rapport, Dr. Karly Cohen, and M.S. Julia Teeple in collaboration with Dr. James Strother - Work supported by NSF IOS
  • Baleen Whales: Dr. Kahane-Rapport in collaboration with Drs. Karly Cohen and Adam Summers. - Work in part supported by NSF IOS and NSF PRFB funding. 

 

2) Osteoderm performance in armadillos

  • M.S. Julia Teeple thesis in collaboration with Dr. Ted Stankowich, M.S. Caitlin Stapp, and Dr. Karly Cohen. 

 

3) Hearing performance in mysticete whales

  • M.S. Maddy Wilson thesis in collaboration with Drs. Theodore Cranford and Petr Krysl - Work in part supported by CSU Violet Horn Fellowship. 

 

4)  Animal bite/jaw performance -

  • Squid - M.S. Jahnita DeMoranville thesis in collaboration with Dr. Ian Bartol

Work in part supported by CSUF Department of Biological Sciences, CSUF Pa'lante Fellowship, and Aquarium of the Pacific African American Scholarship 

  

5) Tooth fatigue and replacement in sharks (Undergraduate Ryan Le) 

 

6) Microplastics pollution and remediation in commercially important food fishes and coastal waters of the Southern California Bight

  • M.S. Chelsea Bowers thesis, undergraduates Justin Hertel and Ashley Ibrahim in collaboration with Drs. Samantha Leigh and Claire Steele

Work in part supported by CSU COAST RAPID funds, CSU COAST Graduate Funding, CSUF Coppel Funding, CSUF Jr/Sr Grant, CSUF Department of Biological Sciences, and Violet Horn Fellowship.

 

7) Function and performance of accessory reproductive organs in chimeras.

  • M.S. Katie Kern thesis in collaboration with NHMLA and Chicago Field Museum

Work supported by CSUF Department of Biological Sciences

 

8) Population genetics of Seven Gill sharks.

  • B.S. Ryan Le in collaboration with Dr. Ryan Walter. 

 

9) Investigating mesopelagic fish bones (visiting scientist Donald Davesne)

 

Previous projects

  • Evolution and development of hyperostosis in marine fishes (oarfishes) - Collaboration with Dr. Lara Ferry
  • Jaw performance in ribbonfishes - Collaboration with Dr. Lara Ferry
  • Fish scales as a model for new armor technology (armored catfish)- M.S. Andrew Lowe thesis
  • Mechanical performance and freezing of bone in tunas and their relatives - M.S. Andrew Barrios thesis
  • Manta ray filtration - M.S. Raj Divi thesis
  • Digging performance and fluidization of sand beds in sand crabs (SCERP)

Selected Publications

Paig-Tran et al. 2013
Paig-Tran et al. 2013

 

Book Chapters

  1. Kahane-Rapport, S.R. and Paig-Tran, E.W.M. Edited by Fudge. 2023. Filtration in fishes. In Encyclopedia of Fish Physiology
  2. Paig-Tran, E.W.M. Porter, M.A., Ferry, L.A., and Whitenack, L. Edited by Carrier, Simpfendorfer, Heitaus, and Yopak. (2022). How to Build a shark: Biomechanics and Bioinspiration. In Biology of sharks and their relatives III. Chapter 3. 

 

US Patent: 16240732

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Research

  1. Lowe, A.*, Kolmann, M. and Paig-Tran, E.W.M. (2023). How to survive a piranha attack. IOB. Integrative Organismal Biology. In press.   
  2. Vandenberg, M.L.*, Cohen, K.**, Reuben, B., Goldbogen, J., Summers, A.P., Paig-Tran, E.W.M., and Kahane-Rapport, S.** (2023). Formation of a fringe: a look inside baleen morphology using a multimodal visual approach. J. Morphology. doi: 10.1002/jmor.21574.
  3. Shiffman, D., Arguedas Alvarez, T., Bangley, C.B., Boyt, R., Cote, I., Daly-Engel, T.S., Davis, A.C.D., Chan Gaskins, L.C., Graham, J., Graham, R., Johri,S., Macdonald, C.C., Paig-Tran, E.W.M., Roca, A., Schwieterman, G.D.,Whitenack, L.B., Wiley,T.R., Ferry, L.A. What can Professional Scientific Societies do to Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Case Study of the American Elasmobranch Society.Frontiers in Education, STEM Education. In press.
  4. Lantsoght, E.O.L., Crepaldi, Y.T., Tavares, S., Leemans, K., and Paig-Tran, E.W.M. (2021). Challenges and opportunities for academic parents during COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology. 3353.
  5. Lowe, A., Summers, A. P., Walter, R., Walker, S., & Paig-Tran, E. M. (2021). Scale performance and composition in a small Amazonian armored catfish, Corydoras trilineatusActa Biomaterialia. 121. 359-370.
  6. Shiffman, D. S., Ajemian, M. J., Carrier, J. C., Daly-Engel, T. S., Davis, M. M., Dulvy, N. K., ... & Nash, C. S. (2020). Trends in Chondrichthyan Research: An Analysis of Three Decades of Conference Abstracts. Copeia, 108(1), 122-131.
  7. Ferry, L. A., Paig‐Tran, E. W., Summers, A. P., & Liem, K. F. (2019). Extreme premaxillary protrusion in the king‐of‐the‐salmon, Trachipterus altivelisJournal of morphology, 280(12), 1865-1870.
  8. Divi, R.V., Strother, J.A. and Paig-Tran, E.M., (2018). Manta rays feed using ricochet separation, a novel nonclogging filtration mechanism. Science Advances, 4(9), p.eaat9533.
  9. Forsgren, K.L., Jamal, H., Barrios, A. & Paig-Tran. E.W.M. (2017). Reproductive morphology of oarfish (Regalecus russellii). The Anatomical Record, 300:9. 1695-1704.
  10. Paig‐Tran, E. W., Barrios, A. S., & Ferry, L. A. (2016). Presence of repeating hyperostotic bones in dorsal pterygiophores of the oarfish, Regalecus russelliiJournal of Anatomy, 229(4), 560-567. 
  11. Hinojosa-Alvarez, S., Walter, R. P., Diaz-Jaimes, P., Galván-Magaña, F., & Paig-Tran, E. M. (2016). A potential third Manta Ray species near the Yucatán Peninsula? Evidence for a recently diverged and novel genetic Manta group from the Gulf of Mexico. PeerJ, 4, e2586.  
  12. Ferry, L.A., Paig-Tran, E., and Gibb, A. (2015). Suction, ram, and biting: deviations and limitations to aquatic prey capture. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 55:1. 97-109.
  13. Paig-Tran, E.W.M. and Summers, A.P. (2014). Comparison of the structure and composition of the branchial filters of suspension feeding elasmobranchs. The Anatomical Record.  297:4. 701-715.
  14. Paig-Tran, E.W.M., Kleinteich, T., and Summers, A.P. (2013). The filter pads and filtration mechanisms of the devil rays: variation at macro and microscopic scales (Manta Walbaum 1792 and Mobula Rafinesque 1810). J. Morph. 274:7. 1026-1043. Cover.
  15. Paig-Tran, E.W.M., Bizzarro, J.J., Strother, J.A., and Summers, A.P. (2011) Bottle as models: Predicting the effects of varying swimming speed and morphology on size selectivity and filtration efficiency in fishes. J. Exp. Biol. 214: 1643-1654. Cover.

Patent granted!

We have received a U.S. utility patent for bio-inspired manta ray filters for use in ricochet filtration. 

Paig-Tran, Strother, and Divi. 

U.S. Patent(2019): 16/240,732. 

Field Work

A portion of my research takes me to the the Yucatan Peninsula where I actively study manta rays with my collaborator Silvia Hinojosa Alvarez. This work was supported by funding from a National Geographic Society Waitts Grant. 

 

 

You can read more about this work here: http://www.proyectomantacaribe.com/  

Note: My lab is full for Fall 2024. I will not be taking additional applicants at this time. 

 

Students interested in joining the FABB lab should contact Dr. Paig-Tran directly. Include a short statement of who you are and your research interests. It is helpful to include an updated C.V. 

 

*Remember, before contacting any professor about joining their lab, make sure that you do your homework. Know what their lab does. Try to read one of their papers or at least an abstract from their papers.

 

Have a possible research question ready to discuss. This impresses P.I.s and gives you the advantage over students who have not taken the time to look into what happens in that lab.

 

Contact Misty: 

empaig-tran@fullerton.edu