Frederic H [Ric] Martini, PhD
A full list of my research publications and contributions appears below. My PhD studies focused on the effects of stress and starvation on sharks as compared with other vertebrates. That work, which began at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, was initially supported by a grant to train dolphin to keep sharks away from divers. The rest of my graduate thesis work was done at the Shoals Marine Laboratory in southern Maine, where I spent the summers from 1971-1975. My next research project was with dugongs, marine mammals (related to manatees) that live in the tropical Indo-Pacific.
Over the last 30 years my research work has focused on hagfishes, which are best known for (a) slime and (b) consuming carrion on the sea floor. They are admittedly a big change from dolphins, sharks, and dugongs, and I blame my fascination with hagfish on the Shoals Marine Laboratory. I returned to teach at the Shoals Lab every summer from 1980-1993, lecturing on marine vertebrates. When I first saw live hagfish, collected as part of the course, they were so bizarre, and so different from the pickled specimens I was familiar with, that I just had to study them. Many research papers and articles in public science magazines have followed over the years.
The hagfish work has involved deep submersible dives in the Alvin, the Johnson SeaLink, Pisces IV, and Pisces V, to depths of over 2000 meters. It has also involved remote operated vehicles ranging in size from a 1.5 ton monster carried by an oceanographic research vessel to a 30 pound ROV that can be deployed from a small boat. I am listed as a NOAA Ocean Explorer, and have been a reviewer for Zoological Studies, the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Fisheries Research, the Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Science, and the Journal of Fish Biology.
Martini, F. H. and Beulig, A. (2013) Morphometrics and gonadal development of the hagfish Eptatretus cirrhatus in New Zealand; PLOSone: www.plosone.org 8(11) e78740, 19pp
Martini, F. H. (2008) Overview of hagfish ecology, in Proceedings of a Workshop on Canadian Science and Management Strategies for Atlantic Hagfish, DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Proceed. Ser. 2009/009, pp 1-4.
Martini, F. H. (2008) Global overview of hagfish fisheries and resource assessment, in Proceedings of a Workshop on Canadian Science and Management Strategies for Atlantic Hagfish, DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Proceed. Ser. 2009/009, pp 4-6.
Martini, F. H., S. Grant, and B. Hatcher (2008) Conceptual models for hagfish science and management, in Proceedings of a Workshop on Canadian Science and Management Strategies for Atlantic Hagfish, DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Proceed. Ser. 2009/009, pp 16-18.
Martini (2008) Clinical Problems Involving Cardiovascular Changes at Birth, Back 2 Basics column in Physician License and Practice Today, pp. 52-53
Martini, F. H. and D. Flescher, (2002) Hagfishes. in Fishes of the Gulf of Maine, second edition, Bruce Collette ed, US Govt Printing Office
D. Flescher and Martini, F. H., (2002) Lampreys. in Fishes of the Gulf of Maine, second edition, Bruce Collette ed, US Govt Printing Office
Martini, F. H. and Tallitsch, R. B. (2001) The Digital Cadaver Project , FASEB (LB): 88
Martini, F. H. (2000) The evidence for, and potential significance of, cutaneous respiration in hagfishes, , The FASEB Journal, 14(4):A436
Martini, F. H. (2000) A digital cadaver for student exploration in traditional or web-based anatomy courses The FASEB Journal, 14(4):A800
Martini, F. H. (1998) The Ecology of Hagfishes, in The Biology of Hagfishes, J. M. Joergenson ed, Chapman and Hall Pubs., London
Martini, F. H., Heiser, J. B., and Lesser, M. P. (1997) A Population Profile for Hagfish, Myxine glutinosa L., in the Gulf of Maine: I. Morphometrics and Reproductive State. Fishery Bulletin 95:311-320
Lesser, M. P., Martini, F. H., and Heiser, J. B (1996) Ecology of Hagfish, Myxine glutinosa, L., in the Gulf of Maine. I.. Metabolic rates and energetics. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 208: 215-225
Martini, F. H., Lesser, M. P., and Heiser, J. B. (1997) Ecology of Hagfish, Myxine glutinosa, L., in the Gulf of Maine: II. Potential Impacts on Benthic Communities and Commercial Fisheries. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 214:97-106
Martini, F. H. and Lesser, M. P. (1998) A Population Profile for Hagfish, Myxine glutinosa L., in the Gulf of Maine: II. Morphological variation in populations of Myxine in the North Atlantic. Fishery Bulletin 96:516-524
Heiser, J.B. and Martini, F., On the existence of the cavum ventrale in mysticetes. Marine Mammal Science, Nov. 1992
Heiser, J.B. and Martini, F., The Skinney on Wallets: An examination of Eelskin used in the Learther Industry. American Zoologist, Nov. 1991
Martini, F. and Heiser, J.B, A Population Profile for a Community of Hagfish, Myxine glutinosa. American Zoologist, Nov. 1991
Martini, F. and Heiser, J.B. Field Observations on the Atlantic Hagfish, Myxine glutinosa, in the Gulf of Maine. American Zoologist, Nov. 1989
Martini, F., The Poison Injection Mechanism of the Saber-Toothed Blenny, Meiacanthus atrodorsalis. American Zoologist, Nov. 1988
Martini, F.H. and K. Welch (1982) A Report on a Non-Fatal Shark Attack in the Hawaiian Islands; Pacific Science 35(3): 237-240
Welch, K. and F.H. Martini (1981) A non-fatal shark attack at Maui; Hawaii Medical Journal 40(4): 95-96
Martini, F.H. (1978) The Effects of Fasting Confinement on Squalus acanthias, in Sensory Biology Of Sharks, Skates, And Rays; Hodgson and Matthewson, eds.; ONR Department of the Navy, US Government Printing Office: p.609-646
Gilbert, P.W.; Irvine, B.; and F.H. Martini (1971) Shark-Porpoise Behavioral Interactions, American Zoologist 11(4)
Gilbert, P.W.; Irvine, B.; and F.H. Martini (1971) Behavioral interactions between bottlenose dolphins and sharks in captivity, Bull. Ecol. Soc. Amer. 54:55
Research Publications
