Rochelle CHAN Honours Student Email: A0131142(AT)u.nus.edu

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Project

The example of sea anemones and its clownfish often first come to mind when many think of mutualistic relationships, made famous by Disney Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”. In Singapore, many Periclimenes shrimps form commensal relationships with Haddon’s carpet anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni). Using Sanger and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques, I hope to investigate the relationship of S. haddoni populations at different sites around Singapore, and possibly its populations in relation to its commensal.

If possible, similar techniques will also be employed to investigate the population genetics of the bubble-tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor), which hosts the tomato anemonefish (Amphiprion frenatus), in order to further understand relationships between sea anemones and their (non-photosynthetic) partners.