American Museum of Natural History

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John S. Sparks

Assistant Curator (Ichthyology)

Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2001.

RESEARCH

Dr. Sparks studies the systematics, biogeography, and evolutionary morphology of tropical freshwater and marine fishes. Current projects that he is working on include:

Systematics and biogeography of Madagascar's freshwater and nearshore marine fishes
Phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of cichlids
Biogeography of the Western Indian Ocean.
Evolution and diversification in bioluminescent teleost fishes.
Evolution, phylogeny, biogeography, evolutionary morphology, co-evolution, and signaling behavior of ponyfishes.

RECENT SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS

Sparks, J.S. in press. Phylogeny of the cichlid subfamily Etroplinae and taxonomic revision of the Malagasy cichlid genus Paretroplus (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.

Chakrabarty, P. and J.S. Sparks. 2007. Relationships of the New World cichlid genus Hypsophrys Agassiz 1859 (Teleostei: Cichlidae), with diagnoses for the genus and its species. Zootaxa 1523, 59-64.

Chakrabarty, P., and J.S. Sparks. 2007. Phylogeny and taxonomic revision of Nuchequula Whitley 1932 (Teleostei: Leiognathidae), with the description of a new species. American Museum Novitates 3588, 1-25.

Smith, W.L., and J.S. Sparks. 2007. Gobius lagocephalus: Pallas 1770 (currently Sicyopterus lagocephalus: Teleostei, Gobiidae): Proposed suppression of the specific name. Bulletin of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature 64, 1-5.

Sparks, J.S., and P. Chakrabarty. 2007. A new species of ponyfish (Teleostei: Leiognathidae: Photoplagios) from the Philippines. Copeia 2007, 622-629.

Sparks, J.S., and M.L.J. Stiassny. in press. Les poissons d'eaux douce. In S.M. Goodman and J. P. Benstead (editors), Histoire Naturelle de Madagascar, 1-28. Paris, Publications Scientifiques Museum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN).

Smith, W.L., and J.S. Sparks. 2007. Gobius lagocephalus: the world's most widespread nomen dubium. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43, 696-698.

Sparks, J.S. 2007. Coastal fishes. Copeia 2007, 238.

Sparks, J.S. 2006. A new species of ponyfish (Teleostei: Leiognathidae: Photoplagios) from Madagascar, with a phylogeny for Photoplagios and comments on the status of Equula lineolata Valenciennes. American Museum Novitates 3526, 1-20.

Sparks, J.S. 2006. Leiognathus longispinis (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1835), a senior synonym of Leiognathus smithursti (Ramsay and Ogilby, 1886) (Teleostei: Leiognathidae). Copeia 2006, 539-543.

Stiassny, M.L.J., and J.S. Sparks. 2006. Phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the endemic Malagasy cichlid genus Ptychochromis (Teleostei: Cichlidae), with the description of five new species and a diagnosis for Katria, new genus. American Museum Novitates. 3535, 1-55.

Sparks, J.S., and Smith, W.L. 2006. Sicyopterus lagocephalus: Widespread species, species complex, or neither? a critique on the use of molecular data for species identification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40, 900-902.

Sparks, J.S., P.V. Dunlap, and W.L. Smith. 2005. Evolution and diversification of a sexually dimorphic luminescent system in ponyfishes (Teleostei: Leiognathidae), including diagnoses for two new genera. Cladistics 21, 305-327.

Ng, H.H., and J. S. Sparks. 2005. Revision of the endemic Malagasy catfish family Anchariidae (Teleostei: Siluriformes), with descriptions of a new genus and three new species. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 16, 303-323.

Sparks, J.S., and L.M.R. Rush. 2005. A new rainbowfish (Teleostei: Melanotaenioidei: Bedotiidae) from the southeastern highlands of Madagascar, with comments on the biogeography of Bedotia. Zootaxa, 1051, 39-54.

Sparks, J.S., and K.J. Riseng. 2005. Water quality and chemistry, benthic macroinvertebrates, and zooplankton communities of the Consuelo and Warany Regions of the Pastaza River, Ecuador: limnological survey. In P.W. Willink, B. Chernoff, and J. McCullough (editors), A rapid biological assessment of the aquatic ecosystems of the Pastaza River Basin, Ecuador and Peru. Conservation International and the Aquatic Rapid Assessment Program (AquaRap), Washington, D. C. Bulletin of Biological Assessment 33, 56-62 and Appendixes 5-6, 140-143.

Sparks, J.S., and W.L. Smith. 2005. Freshwater fishes, dispersal ability, and non-evidence: "Gondwana Life Rafts" to the rescue. Systematic Biology 53, 11-19.

Sparks, J.S., and M.L.J. Stiassny. 2005. Madagascar's freshwater fishes, an imperiled treasure. Pp. In M.L. Thieme, R. Abell, M.L.J. Stiassny, B. Lehner, P. Skelton, G. Teugals, E. Dinerstein, A. Kamdem Toham, N. Burgess, and D. Olson (editors), Freshwater Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment, 62-70. Washington, D.C., Island Press.

Sparks, J.S. 2005. Madagascar Ecoregion: Eastern lowlands; Eastern highlands; Northwestern basins; Western basins; Southern basins. In M.L. Thieme, R. Abell, M.L.J. Stiassny, B. Lehner, P. Skelton, G. Teugals, E. Dinerstein, A. Kamdem Toham, N. Burgess, and D. Olson (editors), Freshwater Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment, 218-219; 252-254; 307-309; 343-344. Washington, D.C., Island Press.