SPEA 410P, SPEA 471 (Lab)
Education
- Ph.D., University of Vermont, 2018
- M.S., University of Vermont, 2014
- B.S., Kent State University, 2012
Biography
Dr. Peter Euclide is a molecular ecologist and fisheries biologist whose research uses combination of modern genomic techniques and ecology to answer questions related to animal movement, local adaptation, and population structure. His current research is focused in several areas aimed at understanding the evolution of population substructure in the absence of physical barriers and genomic mechanism of adaptation to environmental change.
His principal research interests include:
- Molecular mechanisms underpinning ecotypic divergence
- Incorporating genetic data into management decision-making
- Engaging public audiences through outreach and science communication
- Assessing genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation
Ongoing research areas in Dr. Euclide’s lab include research into:
Molecular drivers of behavioral and ecotypic divergence
In many populations, distinct ecologies or behaviors can evolve and persist in sympatry. For example, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) have evolved distinct habitat-associated morphologies multiple times in large lakes throughout their range. These morphotypes are distinguishable via traditional ecological knowledge and generally differ in diet, depth habitat, and lipid chemistry. Dr. Euclide’s research is quantifying residual morphotypes differences among ruminant lake trout ecotypes in Lake Superior and investigating the potential plasticity of lake trout morphology and lipid chemistry in recently recovered lake trout populations in Lake Champlain. Dr. Euclide is studying similar behavior-types in other freshwater species, such as dichotomies in preferred spawning habitat and preponderance for migration.
Improving management decisions with genetic data
Dr. Euclide’s work uses genetic data to improve management decision-making of a variety of species of fish by providing precise, science-based insights into population evolution, structure, and movement. His research applies genomic tools like RAD and Rapture genotyping, GT-seq, environmental DNA sequencing, and whole-genome sequencing to:
- Identify population structure – Even when genetic differences are small, distinguishing among fish stocks or ecotypes can be helpful for understanding where populations mix and where gene flow is restricted.
- Support mixed-stock analysis – By genetically identifying the boundaries of populations, genetics can be used to determine which population, or stock individuals belong to. This allows managers can track exploitation rates and ensure that no single group is overfished.
- Detect local adaptation – High-density genomic data can reveal how populations are adapted to their environments. Protecting locally adapted groups helps maintain biodiversity and long-term resilience.
- Assess effects of stocking and fragmentation – Fisheries are often intensively stocked with individuals reared in hatcheries. Genetic data can be used to help track hatchery transplants and reconstruct historic impacts of stocking on the populations observed today.
- Inform conservation priorities – Genetic monitoring guides decisions like where to focus restoration, whether populations are at risk of inbreeding, or how to design effective management units.
- Track populations spawning and abundance – Genetic monitoring using environmental DNA can provide a non-invasive approach to record population presence and absence and track movement and reproduction through habitats of interest.
Selected Works
(updated fall 2025)
- Euclide, P. T., Larson, W. A., Shi, Y., Gruenthal, K., Christensen, K. A., Seeb, J., & Seeb, L. (2024). Conserved islands of divergence associated with adaptive variation in sockeye salmon are maintained by multiple mechanisms.. Molecular ecology, 33(24), e17126. doi:10.1111/mec.17126
- Euclide, P. T., Kuhl, H., Wilson, C. C., Scribner, K. T., Miller, L. M., Stott, W., & Larson, W. A. (2024). Human Impacts on Great Lakes Walleye Sander vitreus Structure, Diversity and Local Adaptation.. Molecular ecology, e17558. doi:10.1111/mec.17558
- Kuhl, H., Euclide, P. T., Klopp, C., Cabau, C., Zahm, M., Lopez-Roques, C., . . . Guiguen, Y. (2024). Multi-genome comparisons reveal gain-and-loss evolution of anti-Mullerian hormone receptor type 2 as a candidate master sex-determining gene in Percidae.. BMC biology, 22(1), 141. doi:10.1186/s12915-024-01935-9
- Euclide, P. T., Perry, C., Donabauer, S. B., Grier, A., & Höök, T. O. (2024). What's good for fish is good for fishes: Interspecific consistency of growth, condition, and abundance among glacial lakes. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 44(2), 319-334. doi:10.1002/nafm.10978
- Euclide, P., Larson, W., Shi, Y., Gruenthal, K., Christensen, K., Seeb, J., & Seeb, L. (2023). Is structural variation necessary to create islands of divergence in moderate gene flow species? A case study in sockeye salmon. doi:10.22541/au.168371520.09492745/v1
- Johnson, A., Zipfel, K., Hallerman, E., Massure, W., Euclide, P., & Welsh, A. (2023). Genomic evaluation of native Walleye in the Appalachian region and the effects of stocking. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 152(3), 346-360. doi:10.1002/tafs.10406
- Euclide, P. T., Larson, W. A., Bootsma, M., Miller, L. M., Scribner, K. T., Stott, W., . . . Latch, E. K. (2022). A new GTSeq resource to facilitate multijurisdictional research and management of walleye Sander vitreus.. Ecology and evolution, 12(12), e9591. doi:10.1002/ece3.9591
- Euclide, P. T., Kraus, R. T., Cook, A., Markham, J. L., & Schmitt, J. D. (2022). Genome-wide genetic diversity may help identify fine-scale genetic structure among lake whitefish spawning groups in Lake Erie. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 48(5), 1298-1305. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2022.05.020
- Euclide, P. T., Jasonowicz, A., Sitar, S. P., Fischer, G. J., & Goetz, F. W. (2022). Further evidence from common garden rearing experiments of heritable traits separating lean and siscowet lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush) ecotypes.. Molecular ecology, 31(12), 3432- 3450. doi:10.1111/mec.16492
- Thorstensen, M. J., Euclide, P. T., Jeffrey, J. D., Shi, Y., Treberg, J. R., Watkinson, D. A., . . . Jeffries, K. M. (2022). A chromosomal inversion may facilitate adaptation despite periodic gene flow in a freshwater fish.. Ecology and evolution, 12(5), e8898. doi:10.1002/ece3.8898
- Euclide, P. T., Lor, Y., Spear, M. J., Tajjioui, T., Vander Zanden, J., Larson, W. A., & Amberg, J. J. (2021). Environmental DNA metabarcoding as a tool for biodiversity assessment and monitoring: reconstructing established fish communities of north‐temperate lakes and rivers. Diversity and Distributions, 27(10), 1966-1980. doi:10.1111/ddi.13253
- Euclide, P. T., MacDougall, T., Robinson, J. M., Faust, M. D., Wilson, C. C., Chen, K. -Y., . . . Ludsin, S. (2021). Mixed-stock analysis using Rapture genotyping to evaluate stock- specific exploitation of a walleye population despite weak genetic structure.. Evolutionary applications, 14(5), 1403-1420. doi:10.1111/eva.13209
- Bootsma, M. L., Miller, L., Sass, G. G., Euclide, P. T., & Larson, W. A. (2021). The ghosts of propagation past: haplotype information clarifies the relative influence of stocking history and phylogeographic processes on contemporary population structure of walleye (Sander vitreus).. Evolutionary applications, 14(4), 1124-1144. doi:10.1111/eva.13186
- Robinson, K. F., Bronte, C. R., Bunnell, D. B., Euclide, P. T., Hondorp, D. W., Janssen, J. A., . . . Weidel, B. C. (2021). A Synthesis of the Biology and Ecology of Sculpin Species in the Laurentian Great Lakes and Implications for the Adaptive Capacity of the Benthic Ecosystem. Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture, 29(1), 96-121. doi:10.1080/23308249.2020.1782341
- Euclide, P. T., Robinson, J., Faust, M., Ludsin, S. A., MacDougall, T. M., Marschall, E. A., . . . Larson, W. A. (2021). Using Genomic Data to Guide Walleye Management in the Great Lakes. In Yellow Perch, Walleye, and Sauger: Aspects of Ecology, Management, and Culture (pp. 115-139). Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-80678- 1_5
- Euclide, P., MacDougall, T., Robinson, J., Faust, M., Wilson, C., Chen, K. -Y., . . . Ludsin, S. (2020). Mixed-stock analysis in the age of genomics: Rapture genotyping enables evaluation of stock-specific exploitation in a freshwater fish population with weak genetic structure. doi:10.1101/2020.11.10.376350
- Riginos, C., Crandall, E. D., Liggins, L., Gaither, M. R., Ewing, R. B., Meyer, C., . . . Deck, J. (2020). Building a global genomics observatory: Using GEOME (the Genomic Observatories Metadatabase) to expedite and improve deposition and retrieval of genetic data and metadata for biodiversity research.. Molecular ecology resources, 20(6), 1458- 1469. doi:10.1111/1755-0998.13269
- Euclide, P. T., Ruzich, J., Hansen, S. P., Rowe, D., Zorn, T. G., & Larson, W. A. (2020). Genetic Structure of Smallmouth Bass in the Lake Michigan and Upper Mississippi River Drainages Relates to Habitat, Distance, and Drainage Boundaries. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 149(4), 383-397. doi:10.1002/tafs.10238
- Euclide, P. T., Pientka, B., & Ellen Marsden, J. (2020). Genetic versus demographic stock structure of rainbow smelt in a large fragmented lake. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 46(3), 622-632. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2020.02.009
- Chen, K., Euclide, P. T., Ludsin, S. A., Larson, W. A., Sovic, M. G., Gibbs, H. L., & Marschall, E. A. (2020).
RAD ‐Seq Refines Previous Estimates of Genetic Structure in Lake Erie Walleye. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 149(2), 159-173. doi:10.1002/tafs.10215 - Euclide, P. T., McKinney, G. J., Bootsma, M., Tarsa, C., Meek, M. H., & Larson, W. A. (2020). Attack of the PCR clones: Rates of clonality have little effect on RAD-seq genotype calls. Molecular ecology resources, 20(1), 66-78. doi:10.1111/1755- 0998.13087
- Euclide, P. T., Kilpatrick, C. W., & Marsden, J. E. (2019). Genetic diversity and structure of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) 100 years after closure of the commercial fishery. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 45(6), 1310-1319. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2019.09.010
- Euclide, P., & Marsden, J. E. (2018). Role of drainage and barriers in the genetic structuring of a tessellated darter population. Conservation Genetics, 19(6), 1379-1392. doi:10.1007/s10592-018-1107-2
- Jude, D. J., Rudstam, L. G., Holda, T. J., Watkins, J. M., Euclide, P. T., & Balcer, M. D. (2018). Trends in Mysis diluviana abundance in the Great Lakes, 2006–2016. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 44(4), 590-599. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2018.04.006
- Euclide, P. T., Flores, N. M., Wargo, M. J., Kilpatrick, C. W., & Marsden, J. E. (2018). Lack of genetic population structure of slimy sculpin in a large, fragmented lake. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 27(3), 699-709. doi:10.1111/eff.12385
- Euclide, P. T., Hansson, S., & Stockwell, J. D. (2017). Partial diel vertical migration in an omnivorous macroinvertebrate, Mysis diluviana. Hydrobiologia, 787(1), 387-396. doi:10.1007/s10750-016-2982-5
- Euclide, P. T., & Stockwell, J. D. (2015). Effects of gut content on δ15N, δ13C and C:N of the macroinvertebrate Mysis diluviana. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 41(3), 926- 929. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2015.05.002