Carmelo Fruciano Research Pages

I am currently a CNRS Researcher (Postdoc) at the Ecole Normale Superieure (Paris, France), in Helene Morlon's lab, where I am working on phenotypic evolution (with a special focus on phenotypic integration).

Previously I had obtained a Doctorate in Evolutionary Biology (2010) and some post-doctoral experience at the University of Catania (Catania, Italy) under the guidance of my PhD advisor, Professor Venera Ferrito, and in the research group lead by Professor Concetta Tigano.
My doctoral thesis dealt with patterns of molecular and morphological variation at the Mediterranean scale in a small and common (at least in most of the Mediterranean Sea) fish species: Coris julis (Teleostei, Labridae).
Later, I did about four years of postdoc (under different positions and different funding schemes) in the Axel Meyer Lab at the University of Konstanz, working mainly on sympatric speciation of Nicaraguan cichlid fish.
This was followed by a second postdoc (2015-2017) at the Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia), in the Matt Phillips Lab, working on macroevolutionary topics such as the timing of evolution of Placental Mammals and Birds in relation to the Cretaceous/Paleogene transition.

My research interests are quite various. For personal reasons (my long-standing interest in fish as an hobbyist fishkeeper) I like working with fish but, apart from this, I get fascinated by various topics.
In general, I tend to be interested in the relationships between phenotype, genotype and environment.
I'm also broadly interested in the factors producing the extraordinary diversity of life on Earth.
I explore such relationships with various tools like the analysis of DNA sequences, environmental variables and geometric morphometrics.
In particular, my perspective tends often to be phenotype-centered and I have an enthusiastic interest in geometric morphometrics that goes well beyond its use as a simple tool in research.

Education

2010 – PhD in Evolutionary Biology – University of Catania (Catania, Italy)
2006 – BSc/MSc in Natural Sciences – University of Catania (Catania, Italy)

Academic positions held to date

2018-current: CNRS Researcher (Postdoc). Ecole Normale Superieure, IBENS/CNRS (Paris, France).
2015-2017: Postdoctoral Fellow. Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia), School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences
2013-2015: Marie Curie IEF Fellow. University of Konstanz (Konstanz, Germany), Department of Biology
2012-2013: Post-doc. University of Konstanz (Konstanz, Germany), Department of Biology
2012: DAAD Postdoctoral Fellow. University of Konstanz (Konstanz, Germany), Department of Biology
2011-2012: Post-doc. University of Konstanz (Konstanz, Germany), Department of Biology
2011-current – Honorary Fellow (“Cultore”) in Ethology - University of Catania (Catania, Italy)
2010-current – Honorary Fellow (“Cultore”) in: Comparative Anatomy, Evolutionary Biology of Vertebrates, Ecology – University of Catania
2010; 2012 – Post-doctoral research contract – University of Catania (Catania, Italy) – Department of Animal Biology
2009 – Tutor in Comparative Anatomy – University of Catania (Catania, Italy) – Ecological Sciences and Environmental Education BSc course
2007 – Research Assistant – State University of New York at Stony Brook (Stony Brook, USA) – Department of Ecology and Evolution

Publications in peer-reviewed journals

*=equal contribution

Franchini, P.*, Xiong, P.*, Fruciano, C., Schneider, R., Woltering, J. Meyer, A. in press. MicroRNA gene regulation in extremely young and parallel adaptive radiations of crater lake cichlid fish. Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Fruciano, C., Schmidt, D., Ramirez Sanchez, M.M., Morek, W., Avila Valle, Z.A., Talijancic, I., Pecoraro, C., Schermann, A. in press. Tissue preservation can affect geometric morphometric analyses: a case study using fish body shape. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Fruciano, C., Meyer, A., Franchini, P. 2019. Divergent allometric trajectories in gene expression and coexpression produce species differences in sympatrically speciating Midas cichlid fish. Genome Biology and Evolution 11(6): 1644–1657.
Celik, M., Dodt, W., Cascini, M., Haouchar, D., Evans, A.R., Bunce, M., Fruciano, C., Phillips, M.J. 2019. A molecular and morphometric assessment of the systematics of the Macropus complex clarifies the tempo and mode of kangaroo evolution. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 186(3): 793-812.
Phillips, M.J., Fruciano, C. 2018. The soft explosive model of placental mammal evolution. BMC Evolutionary Biology 18: 104.
Raffini, F.*, Fruciano, C.*, Meyer, A. 2018. Morphological and genetic correlates in the left–right asymmetric scale-eating cichlid fish of Lake Tanganyika. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 124(1): 67-84.
Chiozzi, G., Stiassny, M.L.J., De Marchi, G., Lamboj, A., Fasola, M., Fruciano, C. 2018. A diversified kettle of fish: phenotypic variation in the endemic cichlid genus Danakilia of the Danakil Depression of northeastern Africa. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 124(4): 690-705.
Jones, J.C., Fruciano, C., Marchant, J., Hildebrand, F., Bork, P., Engel, P., Hughes, W.O.H. 2018. The gut microbiome is associated with behavioural task in honey bees. Insectes Sociaux 65(3): 419-429.
Raffini, F., Fruciano, C., Meyer, A. 2018. Gene(s) and individual feeding behavior: exploring eco-evolutionary dynamics underlying left-right asymmetry in the scale-eating cichlid fish Perissodus microlepis. Ecology and Evolution 8(11): 5495-5507.
Marcy, A., Fruciano, C., Phillips, M., Mardon, K., Weisbecker, V. 2018. Low resolution scans can provide a sufficiently accurate, cost- and time-effective alternative to high resolution scans for 3D shape analyses. PeerJ 6:e5032.
Jones, J.C., Fruciano, C., Hildebrand, F., Al Toufalilia, H., Balfour, N.J., Bork, P., Engel, P., Ratnieks, F.L.W., Hughes, W.O.H. 2018. Gut microbiota composition is associated with environmental landscape in honey bees. Ecology and Evolution 8(1): 441-451.
Fruciano, C., Celik, M.A., Butler, K., Dooley, T. Weisbecker, V., Phillips, M.J. 2017. Sharing is caring? Measurement error and the issues arising from sharing 3D morphometric datasets. Ecology and Evolution 7(17): 7034-7046.
Raffini, F., Fruciano, C., Franchini, P., Meyer, A. 2017 Revealing the genetic basis of mouth asymmetry in the scale-eating cichlid Perissodus microlepis. Molecular Ecology 26(1): 77-91.
Pappalardo, A.M., Francisco, S.M., Fruciano, C., Lima, C.S., Pulvirenti, V., Tigano, C., Robalo J.I., Ferrito, V. 2017. Mitochondrial and nuclear intraspecific variation in the rusty blenny (Parablennius sanguinolentus, Blenniidae). Hydrobiologia 802(1): 141-154.
Ferrante, M., Pappalardo, A.M., Ferrito, V., Pulvirenti, V. Fruciano, C., Grasso, A., Sciacca, S., Tigano, C., Copat, C. 2017. Bioaccumulation of metals and biomarkers of environmental stress in Parablennius sanguinolentus (Pallas, 1814) sampled along the Italian coast. Marine Pollution Bulletin 122(1-2):288-296.
Fruciano, C.*, Franchini, P.*, Kovacova, V., Elmer, K., Henning, F., Meyer, A. 2016. Genetic linkage of adaptive traits in sympatrically speciating Midas cichlid fish. Nature Communications 7: 12736
Fruciano, C. 2016. Measurement error in geometric morphometrics. Development Genes and Evolution 226(3): 139-158.
Fruciano, C., Franchini, P., Raffini, F., Fan, S., Meyer, A. 2016. Are sympatrically speciating Midas cichlid fish special? Patterns of morphological and genetic variation in the closely related species Archocentrus centrarchus. Ecology and Evolution 6(12):4102-4114
Franchini, P., Xiong, P., Fruciano, C., Meyer, A. 2016. The role of microRNAs in the repeated parallel diversification of lineages of Midas cichlids from Nicaragua. Genome Biology and Evolution 8(5): 1543-1555.
Franchini, P., Colangelo, P., Meyer, A., Fruciano, C. 2016. Morphometric variation in parapatric Robertsonian races of the house mouse Mus muscuslus domesticus. Ecology and Evolution 6(5): 1353-1362.
Jones, J.C., Fruciano, C., Keller, A., Schartl, M., Meyer, A. 2016. The male intromittent organ: key to species diversification in live-bearing fishes? Ecology and Evolution 6: 7207-7220
Schmieder, D.A., Benitez, H.A., Borissov, I.M., Fruciano, C.. 2015. Bat species comparisons based on external morphology: a test of traditional versus geometric morphometric approaches. Plos One 10(5):e0127043.
Fruciano, C., Pappalardo, A.M., Tigano, C., Ferrito, V. 2014. Phylogeographic relationships of Sicilian brown trout and the effects of genetic introgression on morphospace occupation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 112:387-398.
Franchini, P.*, Fruciano, C.*, Frickey, T., Jones, J.C., Meyer, A. 2014. The gut microbial community of Midas cichlid fish in repeatedly evolved limnetic-benthic species pairs. Plos One 9:e95027.
Franchini, P.*, Fruciano, C.*, Spreitzer, M.L., Jones, J.C., Elmer, K.R., Henning, F., Meyer, A. 2014. Genomic architecture of ecologically divergent body shape in a pair of sympatric crater lake cichlid fishes. Molecular Ecology 23(7): 1828-1845.
Gunter, H., Xiong, F., Fan, S., Franchini, P., Fruciano, C., Meyer, A. 2013. Shaping development through mechanical strain: the transcriptional basis of diet-dependent phenotypic plasticity in Astatoreochromis alluaudi. Molecular Ecology 22:4516-4531.
Fruciano, C., Franchini, P., Meyer, A., 2013. Resampling-based approaches to study variation in morphological modularity. Plos One 8(7):e69376.
Fruciano, C., Tigano, C., Ferrito, V., 2012. Body shape variation and colour change during growth in a protogynous fish. Environmental Biology of Fishes 94(4):615-622. [Self-archived PDF] [Published version]
Fruciano, C., Tigano, C., Ferrito, V., 2011. Geographic morphological variation within and between colour phases in Coris julis (L. 1758), a protogynous marine fish. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 104:148-162. [Self-archived PDF] [Published version]
Fruciano, C., Hanel, R., Debes, P.V., Tigano, C., Ferrito, V., 2011. Atlantic-Mediterranean and within-Mediterranean molecular variation in Coris julis (L. 1758) (Teleostei, Labridae). Marine Biology 158(6):1271-1286. [Self-archived PDF] [Published Version]
Fruciano, C., Ferrito, V., Tigano, C., 2011. Traditional and geometric morphometrics detect morphological variation of lower pharyngeal jaw in Coris julis (Teleostei, Labridae). Italian Journal of Zoology 78(3):320-327. [Self-archived PDF] [Published version]
Ferrito, V., Pappalardo, A.M., Fruciano, C., Tigano, C. 2009. Morphology of scale lepidonts in the genus Aphanius (Teleostei, Cyprinodontidae) using SEM. Italian Journal of Zoology 76(2):173-178.

Invited seminars

2018 - An informal look at measurement error in geometric morphometrics – Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, France
2014 - Genomic bases of sympatrically diverging adaptive traits – Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom
2014 - Genomic bases of sympatric divergence in ecologically-relevant adaptive traits – University of Sussex, United Kingdom
2014 - Genomic bases of sympatrically diverging adaptive traits in Midas cichlid fish – Imperial College London, United Kingdom
2014 - Genomic bases of variation in an important adaptive trait – Zukunftskolleg Workshop on Future Research Directions – University of Konstanz, Germany
2013 - New approaches to the study of morphological modularity – University of Catania, Italy – organized by the Doctoral program in Evolutionary and Environmental Biology
2011 - Studies on intraspecific variation, fisheries science and the promise of a few analytical methods - King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia

Editorial Boards

Zoomorphology
Frontiers in Marine Science
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Courses

2019: Geometric morphometrics (Physalia Courses, Berlin)
2018: Geometric morphometrics (Physalia Courses, Berlin)