The University of Toledo

Research Publications

Selected Reprints

(GLGL researchers 2004-present in bold, *=students, teachers, and postdocs sponsored by Stepien)

• Pierce, L.R.*, J.C. Willey, E.L. Crawford, V.V. Palsule, D.W. Leaman, M. Faisal, R.K. Kim, B.S. Shepherd, L.M. Stanoszek, C.A. Stepien. 2013. A new StaRT-PCR approach to detect and quantify fish Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSv): Enhanced quality control with internal standards. Journal of Virological Methods, 189:129-142.
• Stepien C.A., J.A. Banda*, D.M. Murphy* & A.E. Haponski*. 2012. Temporal and spatial genetic consistency of walleye spawning groups. Trans Am Fish Soc 141:660-674. doi:10.1080/00028487.2012.683474 
• Sepulveda-Villet, O.J. and C.A Stepien. 2012. Waterscape genetics of the yellow perch (Perca flavescens): patterns across large connected ecosystems and isolated relict populations. Molecular Ecology. doi: 10.1111/mec.12044
• Pierce, L.R.* and C.A. Stepien. 2012. Evolution and biogeography of an emerging quasispecies: Diversity patterns of the fish Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSv). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 63:327-341. 
• Karsiotis, S.I.*, L.R. Pierce*, J.E. Brown*, C.A. Stepien. 2012. Salinity tolerance of the invasive round goby: Experimental implications for seawater ballast exchange and spread to North American estuaries, Journal of Great Lakes Research, 38:121-128.
• Kocovsky, P.M., J.A. Tallman, D.J. Jude, D.M. Murphy, J.E. Brown*, and C.A. Stepien. 2011.  Expansion and genetic characterization of tubenose gobies Proterorhinus semilunaris into western Lake Erie and potential effects on native species.  Biological Invasions, DOI 10.1007/s10530-011-9962-5
• Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.* and C.A. Stepien. 2011.  Fine-scale population genetic structure of the yellow perch Perca flavescens in Lake Erie. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 68: 1435–1453.
• Feldheim, K.A., J.E. Brown*, D.M. Murphy, and C.A. Stepien. 2011.  Microsatellite loci for dreissenid mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Dreissenidae) and relatives: Markers for assessing exotic and native populations. Molecular Ecology Resources, DOI:10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03012.x
• Neilson, M.E.* and C.A. Stepien. 2011. Historic speciation and recent colonization of Eurasian monkey gobies (Neogobius fluviatilis and N. pallasi) revealed by DNA sequences, microsatellites, and morphology. Diversity and Distributions, DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00762.x. 
• Stepien, C.A. and A.E. Haponski*. 2010. Systematics of the greenside darter Etheostoma blennioides complex: Consensus from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 57:434-447.
• Brown, J.E.* and C.A. Stepien. 2010. Population genetic history of the dreissenid mussel invasions: expansion patterns across North America. Biological Invasions, 12:3687-3710.
• Stepien, C.A., D.J. Murphy, R.N. Lohner, A.E. Haponski*, and O.J. Sepulveda-Villet*. 2010.  Status and delineation of walleye genetic stock structure across the Great Lakes.  In Status of Walleye in the Great Lakes:  proceedings of the 2006 symposium. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Technical Report, 69 pp, 189-223.
• Stepien, C.A., D.J. Murphy, R.N. Lohner, O.J. Sepulveda-Villet*, and A.E. Haponski*. 2009.Signatures of vicariance, postglacial dispersal and spawning philopatry: population genetics of the walleye Sander vitreus. Molecular Ecology 18, 3411-3428.
• Haponski, A.E.*, T.L. Bollin*, M.A. Jedlicka*, and C.A. Stepien. 2009. Landscape genetic patterns of the rainbow darter Etheostoma caeruleum: a catchment analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellites. Journal of Fish Biology 75, 2244-2268.
• Sepulveda-Villet, O.J.*, A.M. Ford*, J.D. Williams, and C.A. Stepien. 2009. Population genetic diversity and phylogeographic divergence patterns of the yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Journal of Great Lakes Research 35: 107-119.
• Feldheim, K.A., P. Willink, J.E. Brown*, D.J. Murphy, M.E. Neilson*, and C.A. Stepien. 2009. Microsatellite loci for Ponto-Caspian gobies: markers for assessing exotic invasions.  Molecular Ecology Resources 9: 639-644.
• Grzybowski, M., O.J. Sepulveda-Villet*, C.A. Stepien, D. Rosauer, F. Binkowksi, R. Klaper, B. Shepherd, and F. Goetz. 2009. Genetic variation of 17 wild yellow perch populations from the Midwest and East coastal United States using microsatellites. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 139:270-287.
• Parker, A.D., D.G. Uzarski, O.J. Sepulveda-Villet*, C.A. Stepien, C.B. Ruehl, and T.M. Burton. 2009. The interplay of phenotypic plasticity, ecological habitat, and population genetics in young yellow perch. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 138:899-914. (Credits (Credits our NSF GK-12 grant #DGE-0742395.
• Neilson, M.E.* and C.A. Stepien. 2009b. Escape from the Ponto-Caspian: Evolution and biogeography of an endemic goby species flock (Benthophilinae: Gobiidae: Teleostei). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 50:84-102. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.12.023 (Credits Stepien’s NSF project # DEB-0456972.)
• Neilson, M.E.* and C.A. Stepien. 2009a. Evolution and phylogeography of the tubenose goby genus Proterorhinus (Gobiidae: Teleostei): Evidence for new cryptic species.  Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 96: 664-684.
• Brown, J.E.* and C.A. Stepien. 2009. Invasion genetics of the round goby: Tracing Eurasian source populations to the New World. Molecular Ecology 18: 64-79.
• Brown, J.E.* and C. A. Stepien. 2008. Ancient divisions, recent expansions: Phylogeography and population genetics of the round goby Apollonia melanostoma across Eurasia. Molecular Ecology 17: 2598-2615.
• Grigorovich, I.A., Angradi, T.R., and C.A. Stepien. 2008. Occurrence of the Quagga Mussel (Dreissena bugensis) and the Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in the Upper Mississippi River System. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 23(3): 429-235.
• Haponski, A.E.* and C.A. Stepien. 2008. Molecular, morphological, and biogeographic resolution of cryptic taxa in the Greenside Darter Etheostoma blennioides complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 49: 69-83.
• Kvach, Y.* and C.A. Stepien. 2008a. The invasive round goby Apollonia melanostoma (Actinopterygii: Gobiidae) – a new intermediate host of the trematode Neochasmus umbellus (Trematoda: Cryptogonimidae) in Lake Erie, Ohio, USA. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 24: 103-105.
• Kvach, Y.* and C.A. Stepien. 2008b. Metazoan parasites of introduced round and tubenose gobies in the Great Lakes: Support for the “Enemy Release Hypothesis”. Journal of Great Lakes Research 34: 23-35.
• Haponski, A.E.*, T.M. Marth*, and C.A. Stepien. 2007. Genetic divergence across a low-head dam: A preliminary analysis using logperch and greenside darters. Journal of Great Lakes Research 33(Special Issue 2):117-126.
• Ohayon, J.L.* and C. A. Stepien. 2007. Genetic and biogeographic relationships of the racer goby Neogobius gymnotrachelus (Gobiidae: Teleostei) from exotic and native Eurasian locations. Journal of Fish Biology 71 (Supplement C):360-370.
• Strange, R.M.* and C.A. Stepien. 2007. DNA analysis distinguishes North American and Eurasian yellow perch in unknown fried fillet samples. Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 105(2):292-295.
• Strange, R.M.* and C.A. Stepien. 2007. Genetic divergence and connectivity among river and reef spawning populations of walleye (Sander vitreus) in Lake Erie. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 64:437-448.
• Stepien, C.A., D. Murphy, and R.M. Strange*. 2007. Broad- to fine-scale population genetic patterning in the smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu across the Laurentian Great Lakes and beyond: An interplay of behavior and geography. Molecular Ecology 16:1605-1624.
• Borden, C.W*. and Stepien, C.A. 2006. Discordant population genetic structuring of smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu Lacepede, in Lake Erie based on mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear DNA microsatellites. Journal of Great Lakes Research 32:242-257.
• Stepien, C.A. and M.A. Tumeo. 2006. Invasion genetics of Ponto-Caspian gobies in the Great Lakes: A “cryptic” species, absence of founder effects, and comparative risk analysis. Biological Invasions 8(1):61-78.
• Stepien, C.A., J.E. Brown*, M.E. Neilson*, and M.A. Tumeo. 2005. Genetic Diversity of Invasive Species in the Great Lakes Versus Their Eurasian Source Populations: Insights for Risk Analysis. Risk Analysis 25(4): 1043-1060.
• Stepien, C.A., C.D. Taylor, and D.W. Einhouse. 2004. An analysis of genetic risk to a native spawning stock of walleye Sander vitreus (Stizostedion vitreum) due to stocking in Cattaraugus Creek. In Proceedings of Percis III, the 3rd International Symposium on Percid Fishes, T.P. Barry and J.A. Malison, eds. University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Madison, WI. 93-94.
• Stepien, C.A., A.M. Ford*, A.K. Dillon-Klika*, and M.A. Tumeo. 2004. Risk analysis and genetic identity of the Eurasian source population for the ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus) invasion in the Great Lakes. In Proceedings of Percis III, the 3rd International Symposium on Percid Fishes, T.P. Barry and J.A. Malison, eds. University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Madison, WI. 91-92.
• Ford, A.M.* and Stepien,C.A. 2004. Genetic variation and spawning population structure in Lake Erie yellow perch, Perca flavescens: A comparison with a Maine population. In Proceedings of Percis III, the 3rd International Symposium on Percid Fishes, T.P. Barry and J.A. Malison, eds. University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Madison, WI. 131-2.
• Stepien. C.A., C.D. Taylor, I.A. Grigorovich, S.V. Shirman*, R. Wei, A.V. Korniushin, and K.A. Dabrowska*. 2003. DNA and systematic analysis of invasive and native dreissenid mussels: Is Dreissena bugensis really D. rostriformis? Aquatic Invaders 14(2):8-18.
• New Biological Books, The Quarterly Review of Biology.
• Stepien, C.A., C.D. Taylor, and K.A. Dabrowska*. 2002. Genetic variability and phylogeographic patterns of a nonindigenous species invasion: A comparison of exotic versus native zebra and quagga mussel populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15(2):314-328.
• Stepien, C.A., B. Morton, K. Dabrowska*, R. Guarnera, T. Radja, and B. Radja. 2001. Genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships of the troglodytic "living fossil" Congeria kusceri (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae). Molecular Ecology 10:1873-1879.
• Stepien, C.A., R.H. Rosenblatt, and B.A. Bargmeyer*. 2001. Phylogeography of the spotted sandbass, Paralabrax maculatofasciatus: Divergence of Gulf of California and Pacific coast populations. Evolution 55(9):64-74.
• Muss, A., D. R. Robertson, Stepien, C.A., Wirtz, P. and Bowen, B.W. 2001. Phylogeography of Ophioblennius (Blenniidae): The role of ocean currents and geography in reef fish evolution. Evolution 55(3):561-572.
• Dillon, A.K.* and C.A. Stepien. 2001. Genetic and biogeographic relationships of the invasive round (Neogobius melanostomus) and tubenose (Proterorhinus marmoratus) gobies in the Great Lakes versus Eurasian populations. Journal of Great Lakes Research 27(3):267-280.
• Stepien, C.A., A.K. Dillon*, and A.K. Patterson*. 2000. Population genetics, phylogeography, and systematics of the thornyhead rockfishes (Sebastolobus) along the deep continental slopes of the North Pacific Ocean. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57:1701-1717.
• Stepien, C.A.** 1999. Phylogeographic structure of the Dover sole Microstomus pacificus: The larval retention hypothesis and genetic divergence along the deep continental slope of the north eastern Pacific Ocean. Molecular Ecology. 8(6): 923-940.
• Stepien, C.A., A. N. Hubers*, and J. Skidmore*. 1999. Diagnostic genetic markers and evolutionary relationships among invasive dreissenoid and corbiculoid bivalves: Phylogenetic signal from mitochondrial 16S rDNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 13(1):31-49.
• Faber, J.E.* and C.A. Stepien. 1998. Tandemly repeated sequences in the mitochondrial DNA control region and phylogeography of the pike-perches Stizostedion. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 10(3):310-323.
• Stepien, C.A. and J.E. Faber*. 1998. Population genetic structure, phylogeography, and spawning philopatry in walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) from mtDNA control region sequences. Molecular Ecology. 7(12):1757-1769.
• Stepien, C.A., A.K. Dillon*, and M.D. Chandler*. 1998. Genetic identity, phylogeography, and systematics of ruffe Gymnocephalus in the North American Great Lakes and Eurasia. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 24(2):361-378.
• Molecular Systematics of Fishes, Chapters 1, 9 and 15. (1997).
• Stepien, C.A. and T.D. Kocher. 1997. Molecules and Morphology in Studies of Fish Evolution. Ch. 1, pp. 1-11 In: Kocher, T.D. and C.A. Stepien (eds.) Molecular Systematics of Fishes. Academic Press, San Diego.
• Faber, J.E.* and C.A. Stepien. 1997. The utility of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences for analyzing phylogenetic relationships among populations, species, and genera of the Percidae. Ch. 9, pp. 129-143 In: Kocher, T.D. and C.A. Stepien (eds.) Molecular Systematics of Fishes. Academic Press, San Diego.
• Stepien, C.A., A.K. Dillon*, M.L. Brooks*, K.L. Chase*, and A.N. Hubers*. 1997. The evolution of blennioid fishes based on an analysis of mitochondrial 12S rDNA sequence data. Ch.15, pp. 245-270. In: Kocher, T.D. and C.A. Stepien (eds.) Molecular Systematics of Fishes. Academic Press, San Diego.
• Stepien, C.A. and R.H. Rosenblatt. 1996. Genetic divergence in antitropical pelagic marine fishes (Trachurus, Merluccius, and Scomber) between North and South America. Copeia.1996: 586-98.
• Stepien, C.A. 1995. Population genetic divergence and geographic patterns from DNA sequences: Examples from marine and freshwater fishes. pp. 263-287. In: Nielsen, J.(ed.). Evolution and the Aquatic Ecosystem: Defining Unique Units in Population Conservation. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 17. Bethesda, Maryland.
• Stepien, C. A., J. Randall, and R.H. Rosenblatt. 1994. Genetic and morphological divergence of a circumtropical complex of goatfishes: Mulloidichthys vanicolensis, M. dentatus, and M. martinicus. Pacific Science 48:44-56.
• Stepien, C.A., M.T. Dixon, and D.M. Hillis. 1993. Evolutionary relationships of the Blennioid fish families Labrisomidae, Clinidae, and Chaenopsidae: Congruence among DNA sequence and allozyme data. Symposium on Evolution of Percomorph Fishes, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Bulletin of Marine Science 52:496-515.
• Stepien, C.A. 1992. Evolution and biogeography of the Clinidae (Kelpfishes: Teleostei: Blennioidei) Copeia 1992(2):375-392.
• Stepien, C.A., H. Phillips*, J.A. Adler*, and P.J. Mangold*. 1991. Biogeographic relationships of rocky intertidal fishes in an area of cold water upwelling off Baja California, Mexico. Pacific Science 45(1):63-71.
• Stepien, C.A. and R.H. Rosenblatt. 1991. Patterns of gene flow and genetic divergence in the northeastern Pacific Clinidae (Teleostei: Blennioidei), based on allozyme and morphological data. Copeia 1991(4):873-896.
• Stepien, C.A. 1990. Population structures, diets, and biogeographic relationships of a rocky intertidal fish assemblage in central Chile: High levels of herbivory in a temperate system. Bulletin of Marine Science 47(3):598-612.
• Stepien, C.A., M. Glattke*, and K.M. Fink*. 1988. Regulation and significance of color patterns of the spotted kelpfish, Gibbonsia elegans Cooper. Copeia 1988(1):7-15.
• Stepien, C.A. 1987. Color pattern and habitat differences between male, female, and juvenile giant kelpfish. Bulletin of Marine Science. 41(1): 45-58.
• Stepien, C.A. 1986a. Life history and larval development of the giant kelpfish, Heterostichus rostratus Girard. Fishery Bulletin, United States 84(4):809-826.
• Stepien, C.A. and R.C. Brusca. 1985. Nocturnal attacks on nearshore fishes by crustacean zooplankton. Marine Ecology Progress Series 25:91-105.
• Stepien, C.A. 1986. Regulation of color morphic patterns in the giant kelpfish, Heterostichus rostratus girard: Genetic versus environmental factors. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 100:181-208.