Associate Professor Karen Cheney
UQ Amplify Associate Professor
School of the Environment
+61 7 336 57071
Researcher biography
A/ Prof. Karen Cheney is a marine ecologist employing a multidisciplinary approach to explore predator-prey interactions, animal signalling, and the fundamental principles behind the evolution and function of animal colour patterns. Her research spans sensory, behavioral, and chemical marine ecology, with a particular focus on marine fish and molluscs. She co-leads the Marine Sensory Ecology Group at UQ.
She is also the Academic Director of the Moreton Bay Research Station, where she is oversees the teaching and research conducted at the station. She also co-leads research projects on understanding the ecosystem services of shellfish reef restoration, and the conservation of the threatened seahorse, Hippocampus whitei, in SE Queensland. She is also the Deputy Director of the Centre for Marine Science.
Animal Signalling: She focuses on the evolution of animal signals in the marine environment, particularly those used for camouflage and warning signals (aposematism). Her research employs spectrophotometry, theoretical vision models, phylogenetic comparative analysis, and a novel method using a calibrated underwater camera system to analyse complex animal colour patterns. This innovative approach enables simultaneous in-situ collection of spatial and spectral properties of animals and their backgrounds. She specifically investigates the diversity of colour signals displayed by nudibranch molluscs, examining how these patterns are perceived by potential predators and their relationship to the unpalatability and toxicity of the molluscs' stored chemical defences.
Colour Vision: She studies the visual performance of coral reef fish using behavioural assays inspired by tests used to screen for human color vision deficiencies. By relating behavioural data to theoretical visual modelling, she assesses the accuracy of these models. More broadly, she explores the sensory, neural, and cognitive foundations of colour perception and investigates the genetic basis for the diversification of visual systems.
Publications
Book Chapters
Marshall, Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2013). Vision and body colouration in marine invertebrates. The New Visual Neurosciences. (pp. 1165-1178) edited by John S. Werner and Leo M. Chalupa. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press.
Marshall, N.J. and Cheney, K. (2011). Color vision and color communication in reef fish. Encyclopedia of fish physiology: From genome to environment. (pp. 150-158) edited by A. P. Farrell. San Diego, CA, United States: Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-374553-8.00095-2
Cheney, Karen L. (2009). Interspecific relationships in blennies. The biology of blennies. (pp. 379-494) edited by R. A. Patzner, E. Goncalves, P. Hastings and B. G. Kapoor. Enfield, NH, United States: Science Publishers.
Cheney, Karen L. (2009). Interspecific relationships in blennies. The Biology of Blennies. (pp. 379-404) CRC Press. doi: 10.1201/b10301
Journal Articles
van den Berg, Cedric P., Santon, Matteo, Endler, John A., Drummond, Leon, Dawson, Bethany R., Santiago, Carl, Weber, Nathalie and Cheney, Karen L. (2024). Chemical defences indicate bold colour patterns with reduced variability in aposematic nudibranchs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291 (2027) 20240953, 20240953. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0953
van den Berg, Cedric P, Santon, Matteo, Endler, John A and Cheney, Karen L (2024). Highly defended nudibranchs ‘escape’ to visually distinct background habitats. Behavioral Ecology, 35 (5) arae053, arae053. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arae053
Mitchell, Laurie J., Tettamanti, Valerio, Rhodes, Justin S., Marshall, N. Justin, Cheney, Karen L. and Cortesi, Fabio (2024). Correction: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated generation of biallelic F0 anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris) mutants. PLoS One, 19 (6) e0305644. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305644
Mitchell, Laurie J., Phelan, Amelia, Cortesi, Fabio, Marshall, N. Justin, Chung, Wen-sung, Osorio, Daniel C. and Cheney, Karen L. (2024). Ultraviolet vision in anemonefish improves colour discrimination. Journal of Experimental Biology, 227 (7) ARTN jeb247425. doi: 10.1242/jeb.247425
van den Berg, Cedric P., Condon, Nicholas D., Conradsen, Cara, White, Thomas E. and Cheney, Karen L. (2024). Automated workflows using Quantitative Colour Pattern Analysis (QCPA): a guide to batch processing and downstream data analysis. Evolutionary Ecology, 38 (3), 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s10682-024-10291-7
van den Berg, Cedric P., Endler, John A. and Cheney, Karen L. (2023). Signal detectability and boldness are not the same: the function of defensive coloration in nudibranchs is distance-dependent. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290 (2003) 20231160, 20231160. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1160
Kikuchi, David W., Allen, William L., Arbuckle, Kevin, Aubier, Thomas G., Briolat, Emmanuelle S., Burdfield-Steel, Emily R., Cheney, Karen L., Daňková, Klára, Elias, Marianne, Hämäläinen, Liisa, Herberstein, Marie E., Hossie, Thomas J., Joron, Mathieu, Kunte, Krushnamegh, Leavell, Brian C., Lindstedt, Carita, Lorioux-Chevalier, Ugo, McClure, Melanie, McLellan, Callum F., Medina, Iliana, Nawge, Viraj, Páez, Erika, Pal, Arka, Pekár, Stano, Penacchio, Olivier, Raška, Jan, Reader, Tom, Rojas, Bibiana, Rönkä, Katja H. ... Exnerová, Alice (2023). The evolution and ecology of multiple antipredator defences. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 36 (7), 975-991. doi: 10.1111/jeb.14192
Mitchell, Laurie J., Cortesi, Fabio, Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2023). Higher ultraviolet skin reflectance signals submissiveness in the anemonefish, Amphiprion akindynos. Behavioral Ecology, 34 (1) arac089, 19-32. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arac089
van den Berg, Cedric P., Endler, John A., Papinczak, Daniel E. J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2022). Using colour pattern edge contrast statistics to predict detection speed and success in triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). Journal of Experimental Biology, 225 (23) jeb244677. doi: 10.1242/jeb.244677
Green, Naomi F., Guevara, Emily, Osorio, Daniel C., Endler, John A., Marshall, N. Justin, Vorobyev, Misha and Cheney, Karen L. (2022). Color discrimination thresholds vary throughout color space in a reef fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). Journal of Experimental Biology, 225 (7) jeb243533. doi: 10.1242/jeb.243533
Winters, Anne E., Chan, Weili, White, Andrew M., van den Berg, Cedric P., Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2022). Weapons or deterrents? Nudibranch molluscs use distinct ecological modes of chemical defence against predators. Journal of Animal Ecology, 91 (4), 831-844. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13643
Cheney, Karen L., Hudson, Jemma, de Busserolles, Fanny, Luehrmann, Martin, Shaughnessy, Abigail, van den Berg, Cedric, Green, Naomi F., Marshall, N. Justin and Cortesi, Fabio (2022). Seeing Picasso: an investigation into the visual system of the triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus. Journal of Experimental Biology, 225 (7) jeb243907. doi: 10.1242/jeb.243907
Hamilton, Brett R., Chan, Weili, Cheney, Karen L., Sullivan, Robert K. P., Floetenmeyer, Matthias, Garson, Mary J. and Wepf, Roger (2022). Cryo-ultramicrotomy and mass spectrometry imaging analysis of nudibranch microstructures. Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 33 (3) jasms.1c00254, 1-6. doi: 10.1021/jasms.1c00254
Mitchell, Laurie J., Tettamanti, Valerio, Rhodes, Justin S., Marshall, N. Justin, Cheney, Karen L. and Cortesi, Fabio (2021). CRISPR/Cas9-mediated generation of biallelic F0 anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris) mutants. PLoS One, 16 (12) e0261331, e0261331. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261331
Forster, Louise C., Clegg, Jack K., Cheney, Karen L. and Garson, Mary J. (2021). Expanding the repertoire of spongian-16-One derivatives in Australian nudibranchs of the genus Goniobranchus and evaluation of their anatomical distribution. Marine Drugs, 19 (12) 680, 1-14. doi: 10.3390/md19120680
Mitchell, Laurie J, Cheney, Karen L, Lührmann, Martin, Marshall, Justin, Michie, Kyle and Cortesi, Fabio (2021). Molecular evolution of ultraviolet visual opsins and spectral tuning of photoreceptors in anemonefishes (Amphiprioninae). Genome Biology and Evolution, 13 (10) evab184. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evab184
Harris, Richard J., Youngman, Nicholas J., Chan, Weili, Bosmans, Frank, Cheney, Karen L. and Fry, Bryan G. (2021). Getting stoned: Characterisation of the coagulotoxic and neurotoxic effects of reef stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa) venom. Toxicology Letters, 346, 16-22. doi: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2021.04.007
Chan, Weili, Shaughnessy, Abigail E. P., van den Berg, Cedric P., Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2021). The validity of brine shrimp (Artemia sp.) toxicity assays to assess the ecological function of marine natural products. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 47 (10-11), 834-846. doi: 10.1007/s10886-021-01264-z
Powell, Samuel, Mitchell, Laurie J., Phelan, Amelia M., Cortesi, Fabio, Marshall, Justin N. and Cheney, Karen L. (2021). A 5‐channel LED display to investigate UV perception. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 12 (4) 2041-210X.13555, 602-607. doi: 10.1111/2041-210x.13555
van den Berg, Cedric P., Hollenkamp, Michelle, Mitchell, Laurie J., Watson, Erin J., Green, Naomi F., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2020). More than noise: context-dependant luminance contrast discrimination in a coral reef fish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). The Journal of Experimental Biology, 223 (21) jeb232090, jeb.232090. doi: 10.1242/jeb.232090
Santiago, Carl, Green, Naomi F., Hamilton, Nadia, Endler, John A., Osorio, Daniel C., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2020). Does conspicuousness scale linearly with colour distance? A test using reef fish. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287 (1935) 20201456, 20201456. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1456
Matchette, S. R., Cuthill, I. C., Cheney, K. L., Marshall, N. J. and Scott-Samuel, N. E. (2020). Correction to ‘Underwater caustics disrupt prey detection by a reef fish’. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287 (1931) 20201572, 20201572. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1572
Grutter, Alexandra S., Bejarano, Sonia, Cheney, Karen L., Goldizen, Anne W., Sinclair-Taylor, Tane and Waldie, Peter A. (2020). Effects of the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus on grazing fishes and coral reef benthos. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 643, 99-114. doi: 10.3354/meps13331
Luehrmann, Martin, Cortesi, Fabio, Cheney, Karen L., Busserolles, Fanny and Marshall, N. Justin (2020). Microhabitat partitioning correlates with opsin gene expression in coral reef cardinalfishes (Apogonidae). Functional Ecology, 34 (5), 1041-1052. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13529
Narbutas, Patrick T., Clegg, Jack K., Pierens, Gregory K., Cheney, Karen L., Ganderton, Anna M. and Garson, Mary J. (2020). Arenaran sesquiterpenes from the nudibranch Chromodoris strigata and its dietary sponge Acanthodendrilla sp. 2510: spectroscopic and computational studies. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 73 (10), 948-955. doi: 10.1071/ch19540
Matchette, S. R., Cuthill, I. C., Cheney, K. L., Marshall, N. J. and Scott-Samuel, N. E. (2020). Underwater caustics disrupt prey detection by a reef fish. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287 (1924) 20192453, 20192453. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2453
da Silva, Carmen R. B., van den Berg, Cedric P., Condon, Nicholas D., Riginos, Cynthia, Wilson, Robbie S. and Cheney, Karen L. (2020). Intertidal gobies acclimate rate of luminance change for background matching with shifts in seasonal temperature. Journal of Animal Ecology, 89 (7), 1735-1746. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13226
Cortesi, Fabio, Mitchell, Laurie J., Tettamanti, Valerio, Fogg, Lily G., de Busserolles, Fanny, Cheney, Karen L. and Marshall, N. Justin (2020). Visual system diversity in coral reef fishes. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 106, 31-42. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2020.06.007
van den Berg, Cedric P., Troscianko, Jolyon, Endler, John A., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2019). Quantitative Colour Pattern Analysis (QCPA): A comprehensive framework for the analysis of colour patterns in nature. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 11 (2) 2041-210X.13328, 316-332. doi: 10.1111/2041-210x.13328
Escobar-Camacho, Daniel, Taylor, Michaela A., Cheney, Karen L., Green, Naomi F., Marshall, N. Justin and Carleton, Karen L. (2019). Color discrimination thresholds in a cichlid fish: Metriaclima benetos. Journal of Experimental Biology, 222 (17) jeb201160, jeb201160. doi: 10.1242/jeb.201160
Luehrmann, Martin, Carleton, Karen L., Cortesi, Fabio, Cheney, Karen L. and Marshall, N. Justin (2019). Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) show visual system adaptations typical of nocturnally and diurnally active fish. Molecular Ecology, 28 (12), 3025-3041. doi: 10.1111/mec.15102
Winters, Anne E., White, Andrew M., Cheney, Karen L. and Garson, Mary J. (2019). Geographic variation in diterpene-based secondary metabolites and level of defence in an aposematic nudibranch, Goniobranchus splendidus. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 85 (1), 41-47. doi: 10.1093/mollus/eyy057
Cheney, Karen L., Green, Naomi F., Vibert, Alexander P., Vorobyev, Misha, Marshall, N. Justin, Osorio, Daniel C. and Endler, John A. (2019). An Ishihara-style test of animal colour vision. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 222 (1) jeb189787, jeb189787. doi: 10.1242/jeb.189787
Marshall, N.J., Cortesi, F., De Busserolles, F., Siebeck, U.E. and Cheney, K.L. (2018). Colours and colour vision in reef fishes: past, present and future research directions. Journal of Fish Biology, 95 (1) jfb.13849, 5-38. doi: 10.1111/jfb.13849
Wilson, Nerida G., Winters, Anne E. and Cheney, Karen L. (2018). Correction: Tropical range extension for the temperate, endemic South-Eastern Australian nudibranch Goniobranchus splendidus (Angas, 1864). Diversity 2016, 8, 16. Diversity, 10 (3) 57, 57. doi: 10.3390/d10030057
Luehrmann, Martin, Stieb, Sara M., Carleton, Karen L., Pietzker, Alisa, Cheney, Karen L. and Marshall, N. Justin (2018). Short term colour vision plasticity on the reef: changes in opsin expression under varying light conditions differ between ecologically distinct reef fish species. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 221 (22), jeb.175281. doi: 10.1242/jeb.175281
White, A. M., Dao, K., Vrubliauskas, D., Konst, Z. A., Pierens, G. K., Mándi, A., Andrews, K. T., Skinner-Adams, T. S., Clarke, M. E., Narbutas, P. T., Sim, D. C.-M., Cheney, K. L., Kurtán, T., Garson, M. J. and Vanderwal, C. D. (2018). Correction to catalyst-controlled stereoselective synthesis secures the structure of the antimalarial isocyanoterpene pustulosaisonitrile-1. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 83 (16), 9571-9572. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.8b01819
Green, Naomi F., Urquhart, Holly H., van den Berg, Cedric P., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L (2018). Pattern edges improve predator learning of aposematic signals. Behavioral Ecology, 29 (6), 1481-1486. doi: 10.1093/beheco/ary089
Winters, Anne E., Wilson, Nerida G., van den Berg, Cedric P., How, Martin J., Endler, John A., Marshall, N. Justin, White, Andrew M., Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2018). Toxicity and taste: unequal chemical defences in a mimicry ring. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285 (1880) 20180457, 20180457. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0457
Winters, Anne E., White, Andrew M., Dewi, Ariyanti S., Mudianta, I. Wayan, Wilson, Nerida G., Forster, Louise C., Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2018). Distribution of defensive metabolites in nudibranch molluscs. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 44 (4), 384-396. doi: 10.1007/s10886-018-0941-5
Forster, Louise C., White, Andrew M., Cheney, Karen L. and Garson, Mary J. (2018). Oxygenated Terpenes from the Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs Goniobranchus splendidus and Goniobranchus collingwoodi. Natural Product Communications, 13 (3), 299-302. doi: 10.1177/1934578x1801300309
Cheney, Karen L. and Wilson, Nerida G. (2018). Nudibranchs. Current Biology : CB, 28 (1), R4-R5. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.060
Dewi, Ariyanti S., Pierens, Gregory K., Cheney, Karen L., Blanchfield, Joanne T. and Garson, Mary J. (2018). Chromolactol, an Oxygenated Diterpene from the Indo-Pacific Nudibranch Goniobranchus coi: Spectroscopic and Computational Studies. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 71 (10), 798-803. doi: 10.1071/CH18243
Mitchell, Laurie, Cheney, Karen L., Cortesi, Fabio, Marshall, N. Justin and Vorobyev, Misha (2017). Triggerfish uses chromaticity and lightness for object segregation. Royal Society Open Science, 4 (12) 171440, 1-10. doi: 10.1098/rsos.171440
White, Andrew M., Dao, Kathy, Vrubliauskas, Darius, Könst, Zef A., Pierens, Gregory K., Mándi, Attila, Andrews, Katherine T., Skinner-Adams, Tina S., Clarke, Mary E., Narbutas, Patrick T., Sim, Desmond C.-M., Cheney, Karen L., Kurtán, Tibor, Garson, Mary J. and Vanderwal, Christopher D. (2017). Catalyst-Controlled Stereoselective Synthesis Secures the Structure of the Antimalarial Isocyanoterpene Pustulosaisonitrile-1. Journal of Organic Chemistry, 82 (24) acs.joc.8b01819, 13313-13323. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.7b02421
Grutter, A. S., de Brauwer, M., Bshary, R., Cheney, K. L., Cribb, T. H., Madin, E. M.P., McClure, E. C., Meekan, M. G., Sun, D., Warner, R. R., Werminghausen, J. and Sikkel, P. C. (2017). Parasite infestation increases on coral reefs without cleaner fish. Coral Reefs, 37 (1), 1-10. doi: 10.1007/s00338-017-1628-z
Sim, Desmond C.-M., Wayan Mudianta, I., White, Andrew M., Martiningsih, Ni Wayan, Loh, Jasmine J. M., Cheney, Karen L. and Garson, Mary J. (2017). New sesquiterpenoid isonitriles from three species of phyllidid nudibranchs. Fitoterapia, 126, 69-73. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2017.10.003
Cheney, Karen L., Cortesi, Fabio and Nilsson Sköld, Helen (2017). Regulation, constraints and benefits of colour plasticity in a mimicry system. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 122 (2), 385-393. doi: 10.1093/biolinnean/blx057
Winters, Anne E., Green, Naomi F., Wilson, Nerida G., How, Martin J., Garson, Mary J., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2017). Stabilizing selection on individual pattern elements of aposematic signals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284 (1861) 20170926, 20170926. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0926
Phillips, Genevieve A. C., How, Martin J., Lange, Julia E., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2017). Disruptive colouration in reef fish: does matching the background reduce predation risk?. Journal of Experimental Biology, 220 (11), 1962-1974. doi: 10.1242/jeb.151480
Forster, Louise C., Pierens, Gregory K., White, Andrew M., Cheney, Karen L., Dewapriya, Pradeep, Capon, Robert J. and Garson, Mary J. (2017). Cytotoxic spiroepoxide lactone and its putative biosynthetic precursor from Goniobranchus Splendidus. ACS Omega, 2 (6), 2672-2677. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.7b00641
Casewell, Nicholas R., Visser, Jeroen C., Baumann, Kate, Dobson, James, Han, Han, Kuruppu, Sanjaya, Morgan, Michael, Romilio, Anthony, Weisbecker, Vera, Mardon, Karine, Ali, Syed A., Debono, Jordan, Koludarov, Ivan, Que, Ivo, Bird, Gregory C., Cooke, Gavan M., Nouwens, Amanda, Hodgson, Wayne C., Wagstaff, Simon C., Cheney, Karen L., Vetter, Irina, van der Weerd, Louise, Richardson, Michael K. and Fry, Bryan G. (2017). The Evolution of Fangs, Venom, and Mimicry Systems in Blenny Fishes (vol 27, pg 1184, 2017). Current Biology, 27 (10), 1549-1550. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.009
Forster, Louise C., Winters, Anne E., Cheney, Karen L., Dewapriya, Pradeep, Capon, Robert J. and Garson, Mary J. (2017). Spongian-16-one Diterpenes and their Anatomical Distribution in the Australian Nudibranch Goniobranchus collingwoodi. Journal of Natural Products, 80 (3), 670-675. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.6b00936
Casewell, Nicholas R., Visser, Jeroen C., Baumann, Kate, Dobson, James, Han, Han, Kuruppu, Sanjaya, Morgan, Michael, Romilio, Anthony, Weisbecker, Vera, Ali, Syed A., Debono, Jordan, Koludarov, Ivan, Que, Ivo, Bird, Gregory C., Cooke, Gavan M., Nouwens, Amanda, Hodgson, Wayne C., Wagstaff, Simon C., Cheney, Karen L., Vetter, Irina, van der Weerd, Louise, Richardson, Michael K. and Fry, Bryan G. (2017). The evolution of fangs, venom, and mimicry systems in blenny fishes. Current Biology, 27 (8), 1184-1191. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.067
Giordano, Giuseppe, Carbone, Marianna, Ciavatta, Maria Letizia, Silvano, Eleonora, Gavagnin, Margherita, Garson, Mary J., Cheney, Karen L., Mudianta, I Wayan, Russo, Giovanni Fulvio, Villani, Guido, Magliozzi, Laura, Polese, Gianluca, Zidorn, Christian, Cutignano, Adele, Fontana, Angelo, Ghiselin, Michael T. and Mollo, Ernesto (2017). Volatile secondary metabolites as aposematic olfactory signals and defensive weapons in aquatic environments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114 (13), 3451-3456. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1614655114
Newport, Cait, Green, Naomi F., McClure, Eva C. , Osorio, Daniel C., Vorobyev, Misha, Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2017). Fish use colour to learn compound visual signals. Animal Behaviour, 125, 93-100. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.01.003
Dewi, Ariyanti S., Cheney, Karen L., Urquhart, Holly H., Blanchfield, Joanne T. and Garson, Mary J. (2016). The sequestration of oxy-polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the nudibranchs Miamira magnifica and Miamira miamirana. Marine Drugs, 14 (11) 198, 198. doi: 10.3390/md14110198
Simpson, Elisha E., Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2016). Coral reef fish perceive lightness illusions. Scientific Reports, 6 (1) 35335, 35335.1-35335.5. doi: 10.1038/srep35335
Cortesi, Fabio, Musilova, Zuzana, Stieb, Sara M., Hart, Nathan S., Siebeck, Ulrike E., Cheney, K. L., Salzburger, Walter and Marshall, N. Justin (2016). From crypsis to mimicry: changes in colour and the configuration of the visual system during ontogenetic habitat transitions in a coral reef fish. Journal of Experimental Biology, 219 (16), 2545-2558. doi: 10.1242/jeb.139501
Wilson, Nerida G., Winters, Anne E. and Cheney, Karen L. (2016). Tropical range extension for the temperate, endemic South-Eastern Australian Nudibranch Goniobranchus splendidus (Angas, 1864). Diversity, 8 (3) 16, 16.1-16.8. doi: 10.3390/d8030016
White, Andrew M., Dewi, Ariyanti S., Cheney, Karen L., Winters, Anne E., Blanchfield, Joanne T. and Garson, Mary J. (2016). Oxygenated diterpenes from the Indo-Pacific nudibranchs Goniobranchus splendidus and Ardeadoris egretta. Natural Product Communications, 11 (7), 921-924. doi: 10.1177/1934578X1601100714
Sun, D., Cheney, K.L., Werminghausen, J., McClure, E.C., Meekan, M.G., McCormick, M.I., Cribb, T.H. and Grutter, A.S. (2016). Cleaner wrasse influence habitat selection of young damselfish. Coral Reefs, 35 (2), 427-436. doi: 10.1007/s00338-015-1391-y
Cheney, Karen L., White, Andrew, Mudianta, I. Wayan, Winters, Anne E., Quezada, Michelle, Capon, Robert J., Mollo, Ernesto and Garson, Mary J. (2016). Choose your weaponry: selective storage of a single toxic compound, Latrunculin A, by closely related nudibranch molluscs. PLoS One, 11 (1) A1222, 1-16. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145134
Sköld, Helen Nilsson, Aspengren, Sara, Cheney, Karen L. and Wallin, Margareta (2016). Fish chromatophores—from molecular motors to animal behavior. International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology, 321, 171-219. doi: 10.1016/bs.ircmb.2015.09.005
White, Andrew M., Pierens, Gregory K., Forster, Louise C., Winters, Anne E., Cheney, Karen L. and Garson, Mary J. (2015). Rearranged Diterpenes and Norditerpenes from Three Australian Goniobranchus Mollusks.. Journal of Natural Products, 79 (3), 477-483. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b00866
Sun, Derek, Cheney, Karen L., Werminghausen, Johanna, Meekan, Mark G., McCormick, Mark I., Cribb, Thomas H. and Grutter, Alexandra S. (2015). Presence of cleaner wrasse increases the recruitment of damselfishes to coral reefs. Biology Letters, 11 (8) 20150456, 1-5. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0456
Cortesi, Fabio, Feeney, William E., Ferrari, Maud C. O., Waldie, Peter A., Phillips, Genevieve A. C., McClure, Eva C., Skold, Helen N., Salzburger, Walter, Marshall, N. Justin and Cheney, Karen L. (2015). Phenotypic Plasticity Confers Multiple Fitness Benefits to a Mimic. Current Biology, 25 (7), 949-954. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.02.013
Yong, Ken W. L., Mudianta, I. Wayan, Cheney, Karen L., Mollo, Ernesto, Blanchfield, Joanne T. and Garson, Mary J. (2015). Isolation of norsesterterpenes and spongian diterpenes from Dorisprismatica (= Glossodoris) atromarginata. Journal of Natural Products, 78 (3), 421-430. doi: 10.1021/np500797b
Cortesi, Fabio, Musilová, Zuzana, Stieb, Sara M., Hart, Nathan S., Siebeck, Ulrike E., Malmstrøm, Martin, Tørresen, Ole K., Jentoft, Sissel, Cheney, Karen L., Marshall, N. Justin, Carleton, Karen L. and Salzburger, Walter (2015). Ancestral duplications and highly dynamic opsin gene evolution in percomorph fishes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112 (5), 1493-1498. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1417803112
Cheney, Karen L., Grutter, Alexandra S. and Bshary, Redouan (2014). Geographical variation in the benefits obtained by a coral reef fish mimic. Animal Behaviour, 88, 85-90. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.11.006
Cheney, K. L., Cortesi, F., How, M. J., Wilson, N. G., Blomberg, S. P., Winters, A. E., Umanzor, S. and Marshall, N. J. (2014). Conspicuous visual signals do not coevolve with increased body size in marine sea slugs. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 27 (4), 676-687. doi: 10.1111/jeb.12348
Mudianta, I. Wayan, Challinor, Victoria L., Winters, Anne E., Cheney, Karen L., De Voss, James J. and Garson, Mary J. (2013). Synthesis and determination of the absolute configuration of (-)-(5R,6Z)-dendrolasin-5-acetate from the nudibranch Hypselodoris jacksoni. Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry, 9 (1), 2925-2933. doi: 10.3762/bjoc.9.329
Cheney, Karen L. (2013). Cleaner fish coloration decreases predation risk in aggressive fangblenny mimics. Behavioral Ecology, 24 (5), 1161-1165. doi: 10.1093/beheco/art043
Cheney, Karen L., Newport, Cait, McClure, Eva C. and Marshall, N. Justin (2013). Colour vision and response bias in a coral reef fish. Journal of Experimental Biology, 216 (15), 2967-2973. doi: 10.1242/jeb.087932
Welicky, Rachel L., Cheney, Karen L., Coile, Ann Marie, McCammon, Amber and Sikkel, Paul C. (2013). The relationship between lunar periodicity and activity of fish-parasitic gnathiid isopods in the Caribbean. Marine Biology, 160 (7), 1607-1617. doi: 10.1007/s00227-013-2213-9
Cheney, Karen L. (2012). Cleaner wrasse mimics inflict higher costs on their models when they are more aggressive towards signal receivers. Biology Letters, 8 (1), 10-12. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0687
Clague, Gillian E., Cheney, Karen L., Goldizen, Anne W., McCormick, Mark I., Waldie, Peter A. and Grutter, Alexandra S. (2011). Long-term cleaner fish presence affects growth of a coral reef fish. Biology Letters, 7 (6), 863-865. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0458
Waldie, Peter A., Blomberg, Simon P., Cheney, Karen L., Goldizen, Anne W. and Grutter, Alexandra S. (2011). Long-term effects of the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus on coral reef fish communities. PLoS One, 6 (6) e21201, e21201-1-e21201-7. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021201
Cortesi, F. and Cheney, K. L. (2010). Conspicuousness is correlated with toxicity in marine opisthobranchs. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23 (7), 1509-1518. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02018.x
Cheney, Karen L. (2010). Multiple selective pressures apply to a coral reef fish mimic: A case of Batesian-aggressive mimicry. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 277 (1689), 1849-1855. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.2218
Cheney, Karen L., Grutter, Alexandra S., Blomberg, Simon P. and Marshall, N. Justin (2009). Blue and yellow signal cleaning behaviour in coral reef fishes. Current Biology, 19 (15), 1283-1287. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.06.028
Lettieri, L, Cheney, K.L, Mazel, CH, Boothe, D, Marshall, NJ and Streelman, JT (2009). Cleaner gobies evolve advertising stripes of higher contrast. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY, 212 (14), 2194-2203. doi: 10.1242/jeb.025478
Cheney, K. L. and Marshall, Justin (2009). Mimicry in coral reef fish: How accurate is this deception in terms of color and luminance?. Behavioral Ecology, 20 (3), 459-468. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arp017
Cheney, Karen L., Skogh, Charlotta, Hart, Nathan S. and Marshall, N. Justin (2009). Mimicry, colour forms and spectral sensitivity of the bluestriped fangblenny, Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 276 (1662), 1565-1573. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.1819
Cheney, Karen L., Bshary, Redouan and Grutter, Alexandra S. (2008). Cleaner fish cause predators to reduce aggression toward bystanders at cleaning stations. Behavioral Ecology, 19 (5), 1063-1067. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arn067
Cheney, K. L. (2008). The role of avoidance learning in an aggressive mimicry system. Behavioral Ecology, 19 (3), 583-588. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arn001
Cheney, K. L. (2008). Non-kin egg cannibalism and group nest-raiding by Caribbean sergeant major damselfish (Abudefduf saxatilis). Coral Reefs, 27 (1), 115-115. doi: 10.1007/s00338-007-0324-9
Cheney, K. L. and Eckes, M. (2008). Cleaners Clean Cleaner Mimics. Coral Reefs, 27 (3), 527-527. doi: 10.1007/s00338-008-0360-0
Cheney, Karen L., Grutter, Alexandra S. and Marshall, N. Justin (2008). Facultative mimicry: Cues for colour change and colour accuracy in a coral reef fish. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 275 (1631), 117-122. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0966
Cote, Isabelle M. and Cheney, Karen L. (2007). A protective function for aggressive mimicry?. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 274 (1624), 2445-2448. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0797
Cheney, K. L. and Cote, I. M. (2007). Aggressive mimics profit from a model-signal receiver mutualism. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Containing Papers of a Biological Character, 274 (1622), 2087-2091. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0543
Côté, Isabella M. and Cheney, Karen L. (2005). Animal mimicry: Choosing when to be a cleaner-fish mimic. Nature, 433 (7023), 211-212. doi: 10.1038/433211a
Cheney, K. L. and Cote, I. M. (2005). Frequency-dependent success of aggressive mimics in a cleaning symbiosis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Containing Papers of a Biological Character, 272 (1581), 2635-2639. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3256
Cheney, KL and Cote, IM (2005). Mutualism or parasitism? The variable outcome of cleaning symbioses. Biology Letters, 1 (2), 162-165. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2004.0288
Cote, IM and Cheney, KL (2004). Distance-dependent costs and benefits of aggressive mimicry in a cleaning symbiosis. Proceedings of The Royal Society of London Series B-biological Sciences, 271 (1557), 2627-2630. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2004.2904
Sikkel, PC, Cheney, KL and Cote, IM (2004). In situ evidence for ectoparasites as a proximate cause of cleaning interactions in reef fish. Animal Behaviour, 68 (2), 241-247. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.10.023
Cheney, K. L. and Cote, I. M. (2003). Costs and benefits of a cleaning mutualism. Journal of Fish Biology, 63 (s1), 228-228. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2003.0216f.x
Cheney, K. L. and Cote, I. M. (2003). Do ectoparasites determine cleaner fish abundance? evidence on two spatial scales. Marine Ecology-progress Series, 263, 189-196. doi: 10.3354/meps263189
Cheney, K. L. and Cote, I. M. (2003). Indirect consequences of parental care: sex differences in ectoparasite burden and cleaner-seeking activity in longfin damselfish. Marine Ecology-progress Series, 262, 267-275. doi: 10.3354/meps262267
Cheney, KL and Cote, IM (2003). The ultimate effect of being cleaned: does ectoparasite removal have reproductive consequences for damselfish clients?. Behavioral Ecology, 14 (6), 892-896. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arg079
Cheney, KL and Cote, IM (2003). Habitat choice in adult longfin damselfish: territory characteristics and relocation times. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology And Ecology, 287 (1), 1-12. doi: 10.1016/S0022-0981(02)00500-2
Cheney, KL and Cote, IM (2001). Are Caribbean cleaning symbioses mutualistic? Costs and benefits of visiting cleaning stations to longfin damselfish. Animal Behaviour, 62 (5), 927-933. doi: 10.1006/anbe.2001.1832
Kaiser, MJ, Cheney, K, Spence, FE, Edwards, DB and Radford, K (1999). Fishing effects in northeast Atlantic shelf seas: patterns in fishing effort, diversity and community structure VII. The effects of trawling disturbance on the fauna associated with the tubeheads of serpulid worms. Fisheries Research, 40 (2), 195-205. doi: 10.1016/S0165-7836(98)00212-4
Conference Papers
Bouchat, J., Cortesi, F., Cheney, K., Vukusic, P., Justin Marshall, N., Deparis, O. and Mouchet, S. R. (2023). Quasi-ordered photonic structures colour the bluespotted ribbontail ray. 13th International Conference on Metamaterials, Photonic Crystals and Plasmonics, Paris, France, 18-21 July 2023. Paris, France: META Conference.
Bouchat, Julien, Cortesi, Fabio, Cheney, Karen, Vukusic, Peter, Marshall, N. Justin, Deparis, Olivier and Mouchet, Sébastien R. (2022). Bluespotted ribbontail ray colored by quasi-ordered natural photonic structures. SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, San Diego, CA United States, 21-26 August 2022. Bellingham, WA United States: SPIE. doi: 10.1117/12.2646127
Pimentel-Elardo, Sheila, Cheney, Karen, Garson, Mary and Nodwell, Justin (2020). Bugs from slugs: Exploring the bacterial Ddversity of Nudibranchs by metagenomics. XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products|XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products, Peniche, Portugal, September 1-5, 2019. Basel, Switzerland: MDPI. doi: 10.3390/md18010040
Chan, Weili, Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2020). The chemical ecology of Chromodoris Nudibranchs. XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products|XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products, Peniche, Portugal, September 1-5, 2019. Basel, Switzerland: MDPI. doi: 10.3390/md18010040
Forster, Louise C., Pierens, Gregory K., Cheney, Karen L. and Garson, Mary J. (2020). Inconspicuous carbon NMR signals and fluxional effects complicate the structural elucidation of Noriterpenes from Goniobranchus coi. XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products|XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products, Peniche, Portugal, September 1-5, 2019. Basel, Switzerland: MDPI. doi: 10.3390/md18010040
Mudianta, I. Wayan, White, Andrew M., Suciati, Katavic, Peter L., Krishnaraj, Rahul R., Winters, Anne E., Mollo, Ernesto, Cheney, Karen L. and Garson, Mary J. (2014). Chemoecological studies on marine natural products: terpene chemistry from marine mollusks. IUPAC 2013: 44th World Chemistry Congress, Istanbul, Turkey, 11-16 August, 2013. Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/pac-2013-1111
Data Collections
Cedric P. van den Berg, Gabriel Hassler, Simone Blomberg, Nerida G. Wilson, Marc A. Suchard and Karen L. Cheney (2024). Data for 'Diel Activity Correlates with Colour Pattern Morphology of Heterobranch Sea Slugs'. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/a36c277
van den Berg, Cedric P., Condon, Nicholas D., Conradsen, Cara I., Aparicio, Alfonso A., White, Thomas E. and Cheney, Karen L. (2023). Data for worked examples in: Automated workflows using Quantitative Colour Pattern Analysis (QCPA): A guide to batch processing and downstream data analysis.The original files were replaced with updated ones on 17 January 2024.. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/3cdcc1f
Cedric P. van den Berg, Santon, Matteo, John A. Endler, Leon Drummond, Bethany Dawson, Carl Santiago, Nathaly Weber and Karen L. Cheney (2023). Data for: 'Chemical defences indicate distinct colour patterns with reduced variability in aposematic nudibranchs'. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/a596710
van den Berg, Cedric P., Santon, M, Endler, John A. and Cheney, Karen L. (2023). Data for: Highly defended nudibranchs’ escape’ to visually distinct background habitats. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/8f7b70e
Cedric P. van den Berg, John A. Endler and Karen L. Cheney (2023). Data for the manuscript "Signal detectability and boldness are not the same: the function of defensive colouration in nudibranchs is distance-dependent".. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/03c56dd
Cheney, Karen , de Busserolles, Fanny, Luehrmann, Martin , Shaughnessy, Abigail , van den Berg, Cedric, Green, Naomi , Marshall, Justin and Cortesi, Fabio (2022). Data for: Seeing Picasso: an investigation into the visual system of the triggerfish, Rhinecanthus aculeatus. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/bb0f237
Mitchell, Laurie J. , Cortesi, Fabio, Marshall, Justin N. and Cheney, Karen L. (2022). Higher ultraviolet skin reflectance signals submissiveness in the anemonefish, Amphiprion akindynos. Dryad. (Dataset) doi: 10.5061/dryad.kwh70rz6t
van den Berg, Cedric, Endler, John A., Papinczak, Daniel E. J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2022). Data for the article "Using colour pattern edge contrast statistics to predict detection speed and success in triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus)" published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, 2022.. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/05034f4
Cortesi, Fabio, Dunn, Simon, Cheney, Karen, Powell, Samuel, Tettamanti, Valerio, Mitchell, Laurie, Luehrmann, Martin, van den Berg, Cedric, Green, Naomi and Mailer, Chelsea (2021). Gene-editing in anemonefish. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/ddf0baa
Winters, Anne E. , Chan, Weili , White, Andrew M. , van den Berg, Cedric , Garson, Mary J. and Cheney, Karen L. (2021). Data from: Weapons or deterrents? Nudibranch molluscs use distinct ecological modes of chemical defence against predators. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/088a9c5
Cortesi, Fabio, Dunn, Simon, Cheney, Karen, Powell, Samuel, Tettamanti, Valerio, Mitchell, Laurie, Luehrmann, Martin, van den Berg, Cedric, Green, Naomi and Mailer, Chelsea (2021). GBE anemonefish visual gene supporting data. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/673b710
Powell, Samuel, Mitchell, Laurie J., Phelan, A. M. , Cortesi, Fabio, Marshall, Justin N. and Cheney, Karen L. (2020). A 5-channel LED display to investigate UV perception. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/3e1e21e