Prof Beth Okamura

Prof Beth Okamura

Merit Researcher

Department: Life Sciences
Division: LS Invertebrates Division
Contact: email

Summary

My interests are in the ecology and evolution animals whose life cycles contrast with those of traditionally studied and familiar animal systems. I specifically focus on two such invertebrata taxa, the Bryozoa and the Myxozoa. Bryozoans grow as colonies that spread across surfaces in freshwater and marine environments, and myxozoans are endoparasitic cnidarians that have undergone a spectacular radiation to exploit marine, freshwater and terrestrial hosts, including freshwater bryozoans. My research aims to: 1) elucidate the ecological and evolutionary consequences associated with such life cycles, and; 2) use these animals as model systems to answer general ecological and evolutionary questions. Areas of current interests and research include:

• eDNA sampling for novel endoparasite diversity

• Dispersal impacts on biodiversity, community assembly and ecosystem services

• Environmental change, emerging diseases and disease risks

• Exploitation of colonial hosts by endoparasites and host responses

• Covert infection strategies

• Diversification of freshwater bryozoans and myxozoans

• Ecology, evolution and development of active, worm-like myxozoans

• Life history responses to environmental change

Qualifications

    Degrees

  • PhD in Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, United States
  • Honours BSc in Biology, Concordia University, Canada

Employment history

    Academic

  • Merit Researcher, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2009 - ongoing
  • Research Leader, Natural, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2007 - ongoing
  • Professor, University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, 2005 - 2007
  • Leverhulme Research Fellowship, University of Reading, United Kingdom, 2002 - 2003
  • Reader, University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, 2001 - 2005
  • Lecturer, University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, 1997 - 2001
  • Lecturer, University of Bristol, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, 1993 - 1997
  • Departmental Demonstrator, University of Oxford, Zoology, United Kingdom, 1988 - 1993
  • Tutorial Fellow, Magdalen College, Oxford, United Kingdom, 1988 - 1993
  • Killam Postdoctoral Fellow, Dalhousie University, Canada, 1987 - 1988
  • Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Marine Station at Link Port, United States, 1985 - 1986
  • NATO Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom, 1984 - 1985

Grants

Hidden affiliate diversity and threats
Role: Principal investigator
Co-investigator: Bass D
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Dates: 2020 - 2023

Are endoparasitic cnidarians venomous animals? A pioneering study into an ancient lineage
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Total value £384,673 (to Museum £32,127.50)
Dates: 2016 - 2019

Hydroscape:connectivity x stressor interactions in freshwater habitats
Funding: NERC
Dates: 2015 - 2019

Unexplored parasite diversity and fisheries disease risks
Role: Principal investigator
Co-investigator: Bass D
Funding: SYNTAX
Total value £26,566 (to Museum £26,566)
Dates: 2011 - 2014

Towards the development of a vaccine for proliferative kidney disease
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: BBSRC
Total value £446,662 (to Museum £113,367)
Dates: 2007 - 2010

The influence of propagule banks on demography and genetic diversity in freshwater invertebrates and plants
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: NERC
Total value £192,786 (to Museum £192,786)
Dates: 2004 - 2007

Dispersal and biodiversity impacts on community assembly and ecosystem services in shallow lake landscapes
Role: Co-investigator
Funding: NERC
Total value £149,888.21 (to Museum £5,821)
Dates: 2013 - 2015

Ocean acidification and responses of the marine benthos in the Southern Ocean
Role: Co-investigator
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Total value £161,717 (to Museum £5,308)
Dates: 2012 - 2014

Other projects

Protists as parasites
Role: Researcher
Funding: Museum development

Parasite diversity in Thai crabs
Role: Leader
Funding: Museum development

Environmental sampling for eukaryotic endoparasite in Florida
Role: Leader
Funding: Museum development

Consultancy

Examiner for MSc and MRes in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
2009 - 2012.

Committees

Member, Zoological Society of London Scientific Awards Committee, 2014 - on going.

Member, NERC Peer Review College, 2007 - 2010.

Member, Council, Freshwater Biology Association, 2005 - 2008.

Member, Council, International Bryozoology Association, 2004 - 2007.

Member, NERC Peer Review College, 2003 - 2005.

Member, NERC Freshwater Science Review Committee, 2002 - 2003.

Editorships

Guest Editor, Freshwater Biology Special Issue: Emerging Freshwater Diseases, Wiley, 2011 - 2011.

Board member, Invertebrate Biology, Wiley, 2004 - 2009.

Board member, Experimental Parasitology, Elsevier, 2003 - 2009.

Board member, Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B, The Royal Society Publishing, 2001 - 2007.

Associate editor, The Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2000 - on going.

Publications

WOOD TS, OKAMURA B (null) Further species and range extensions of Amazonian bryozoans: chipping away at the iceberg. Zootaxa, 5169 (4) : 381 - 391. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5169.4.7

Ruggeri P, Pasternak E, Okamura B (2019) To remain or leave: Dispersal variation and its genetic consequences in benthic freshwater invertebrates. Ecology and Evolution, 9 (21) : 12069 - 12088. doi: 10.1002/ece3.5656

Jaimes-Becerra A, Gacesa R, Doonan LB, Hartigan A, Marques AC, Okamura B, Long PF (2019) “Beyond Primary Sequence”—Proteomic Data Reveal Complex Toxins in Cnidarian Venoms. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 59 (4) : 777 - 785. doi: 10.1093/icb/icz106

Salgado J, Sayer CD, Brooks SJ, Davidson TA, Baker AG, Willby N, Patmore IR, Goldsmith B, Bennion H, Okamura B (null) Connectivity and zebra mussel invasion offer short‐term buffering of eutrophication impacts on floodplain lake landscape biodiversity. Diversity and Distributions, doi: 10.1111/ddi.12938

Okamura B, Long PF, Mydlarz LD (2019) Chemical Responses to the Biotic and Abiotic Environment by Early Diverging Metazoans Revealed in the Post-Genomic Age. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 59 (4) : 731 - 738. doi: 10.1093/icb/icz125

Doonan LB, Hartigan A, Okamura B, Long PF (2019) Stress-Free Evolution: The Nrf-Coordinated Oxidative Stress Response in Early Diverging Metazoans. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 59 (4) : 799 - 810. doi: 10.1093/icb/icz055

Naldoni J, Adriano EA, Hartigan A, Sayer C, Okamura B (2019) Malacosporean myxozoans exploit a diversity of fish hosts. Parasitology, 146 (07) : 968 - 978. doi: 10.1017/s0031182019000246

Sigwart JD, Bennett KD, Edie SM, Mander L, Okamura B, Padian K, Wheeler Q, Winston JE, Yeung NW (null) Measuring Biodiversity and Extinction—Present and Past. Integrative and Comparative Biology, doi: 10.1093/icb/icy113

Salgado J, Sayer CD, Brooks SJ, Davidson TA, Goldsmith B, Patmore IR, Baker AG, Okamura B (2018) Eutrophication homogenizes shallow lake macrophyte assemblages over space and time. Ecosphere, 9 (9) : e02406 - e02406. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.2406

Salgado J, Sayer CD, Brooks SJ, Davidson TA, Okamura B (2018) Eutrophication erodes inter-basin variation in macrophytes and co-occurring invertebrates in a shallow lake: combining ecology and palaeoecology. Journal of Paleolimnology, 60 (2) : 311 - 328. doi: 10.1007/s10933-017-9950-6

Okamura B, Hartigan A, Naldoni J (null) Extensive Uncharted Biodiversity: The Parasite Dimension. Integrative and Comparative Biology, doi: 10.1093/icb/icy039

Fontes I, Hartikainen H, Williams C, Okamura B (2017) Persistence, impacts and environmental drivers of covert infections in invertebrate hosts. Parasites & Vectors, 10 (1) : doi: 10.1186/s13071-017-2495-8

WOOD TS, OKAMURA B (null) New species, genera, families, and range extensions of freshwater bryozoans in Brazil: the tip of the iceberg?. Zootaxa, 4306 (3) : 383 - 383. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4306.3.5

Fontes I, Hartikainen H, Holland JW, Secombes CJ, Okamura B (2017) Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae abundance in river water. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 124 (2) : 145 - 157. doi: 10.3354/dao03116

FONTES I, HARTIKAINEN H, TAYLOR NGH, OKAMURA B (2017) Conditional persistence and tolerance characterize endoparasite–colonial host interactions. Parasitology, 144 (8) : 1052 - 1063. doi: 10.1017/s0031182017000269

Jenkins HL, Waeschenbach A, Okamura B, Hughes RN, Bishop JDD (null) Phylogenetically Widespread Polyembryony in Cyclostome Bryozoans and the Protracted Asynchronous Release of Clonal Brood-Mates. PLOS ONE, 12 (1) : e0170010 - e0170010. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170010

ADRIANO EA, OKAMURA B (2017) Motility, morphology and phylogeny of the plasmodial worm, Ceratomyxa vermiformis n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxozoa: Myxosporea). Parasitology, 144 (2) : 158 - 168. doi: 10.1017/s0031182016001852

Hartikainen H, Bass D, Briscoe AG, Knipe H, Green AJ, Okamura B (2016) Assessing myxozoan presence and diversity using environmental DNA. International Journal for Parasitology, 46 (12) : 781 - 792. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.07.006

Caplat P, Edelaar P, Dudaniec RY, Green AJ, Okamura B, Cote J, Ekroos J, Jonsson PR, Löndahl J, Tesson SVM, Petit EJ (2016) Looking beyond the mountain: dispersal barriers in a changing world. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14 (5) : 261 - 268. doi: 10.1002/fee.1280

Hartigan A, Wilkinson M, Gower DJ, Streicher JW, Holzer AS, Okamura B (2016) Myxozoan infections of caecilians demonstrate broad host specificity and indicate a link with human activity. International Journal for Parasitology, 46 (5-6) : 375 - 381. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.02.001

Okamura B (2016) Hidden Infections and Changing Environments. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 56 (4) : 620 - 629. doi: 10.1093/icb/icw008

Okamura B (2016) Covert infections, host tolerance and environmental change. INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY 56 : E164 - E164.

van Hardenbroek M, Leuenberger M, Hartikainen H, Okamura B, Heiri O (2016) Bryozoan stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes: relationships between the isotopic composition of zooids, statoblasts and lake water. Hydrobiologia, 765 (1) : 209 - 223. doi: 10.1007/s10750-015-2414-y

Okamura B, Gruhl A (2016) Myxozoa + Polypodium : A Common Route to Endoparasitism. Trends in Parasitology, 32 (4) : 268 - 271. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2016.01.007

Gruhl A, Okamura B (2015) Tissue characteristics and development in Myxozoa, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 155 - 174.

Hartikainen H, Okamura B (2015) Ecology and evolution of malacosporean-bryozoan interactions, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 201 - 216.

Okamura B, Gruhl A (2015) Myxozoan affinities and route to endoparasitism, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 23 - 44.

Okamura B, Gruhl A, Reft AJ (2015) Cnidarian origins of Myxozoa, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 45 - 68.

Okamura B, Okamura , Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (2015) An introduction to myxozoan evolution, ecology and development, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 1 - 20.

Fiala I, Bartasova-Sojkova P, Okamura B, Hartikainen H (null) Adaptive radiation and evolution within the Myxozoa, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 69 - 84.

Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (2015) Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development. Springer : 441.

Hartikainen H, Filippenko D, Okamura B, Vasemägi A (2015) First microsatellite loci of the myxozoan parasite Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, the causative agent of proliferative kidney disease (PKD). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 113 (1) : 85 - 88. doi: 10.3354/dao02833

Tesson SVM, Okamura B, Dudaniec RY, Vyverman W, Löndahl J, Rushing C, Valentini A, Green AJ (2015) Integrating microorganism and macroorganism dispersal: modes, techniques and challenges with particular focus on co-dispersal. Écoscience, 22 (2-4) : 109 - 124. doi: 10.1080/11956860.2016.1148458

McClelland HLO, Taylor PD, O'Dea A, Okamura B (2014) Revising and refining the bryozoan zs-MART seasonality proxy. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 410 : 412 - 420. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.06.011

Hartikainen H, Gruhl A, Okamura B (2014) Diversification and repeated morphological transitions in endoparasitic cnidarians (Myxozoa: Malacosporea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 76 : 261 - 269. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.03.010

ABD-ELFATTAH A, FONTES I, KUMAR G, SOLIMAN H, HARTIKAINEN H, OKAMURA B, EL-MATBOULI M (2014) Vertical transmission ofTetracapsuloides bryosalmonae(Myxozoa), the causative agent of salmonid proliferative kidney disease. Parasitology, 141 (4) : 482 - 490. doi: 10.1017/s0031182013001650

Filippenko D, Hartikainen H, Okamura B, Vasemägi A (2014) Characterisation of polymorphic microsatellite loci for the bryozoan Fredericella sultana, the primary host of the causative agent of salmonid proliferative kidney disease. Conservation Genetics Resources, 6 (2) : 481 - 482. doi: 10.1007/s12686-013-0133-0

Hartikainen H, Stentiford GD, Bateman KS, Berney C, Feist SW, Longshaw M, Okamura B, Stone D, Ward G, Wood C, Bass D (2014) Mikrocytids Are a Broadly Distributed and Divergent Radiation of Parasites in Aquatic Invertebrates. Current Biology, 24 (7) : 807 - 812. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.02.033

Hartikainen H, Ashford OS, Berney C, Okamura B, Feist SW, Baker-Austin C, Stentiford GD, Bass D (2014) Lineage-specific molecular probing reveals novel diversity and ecological partitioning of haplosporidians. The ISME Journal, 8 (1) : 177 - 186. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2013.136

Hartikainen H, Humphries S, Okamura B (null) Form and metabolic scaling in colonial animals. Journal of Experimental Biology, doi: 10.1242/jeb.093484

Ragazzola F, Taylor PD, Bazzicalupo P, Okamura B, Schmidt DN (2014) A new species of the cheilostome bryozoan Chiastosella in the Southern Ocean, past and present. Polar Biology, 37 (6) : 773 - 779. doi: 10.1007/s00300-014-1478-x

Okamura B, O'Dea A, Taylor P, Taylor A (2013) Evidence of El Niño/La Niña–Southern Oscillation Variability in the Neogene-Pleistocene of Panama Revealed by a New Bryozoan Assemblage-Based Proxy. Bulletin of Marine Science, 89 (4) : 857 - 876. doi: 10.5343/bms.2012.1041

HARTIKAINEN H, FONTES I, OKAMURA B (2013) Parasitism and phenotypic change in colonial hosts. Parasitology, 140 (11) : 1403 - 1412. doi: 10.1017/s0031182013000899

Okamura B, Ayres K, Salgado J, Davidson TA, Shaw RF, Stephens TW, Hoare D, Sayer CD (2013) Shallow lake sediments provide evidence for metapopulation dynamics: a pilot study. Aquatic Ecology, 47 (2) : 163 - 176. doi: 10.1007/s10452-013-9432-5

Hartikainen H, Waeschenbach A, Wöss E, Wood T, Okamura B (2013) Divergence and species discrimination in freshwater bryozoans (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 168 (1) : 61 - 80. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12025

Gruhl A, Okamura B (2012) Development and myogenesis of the vermiform Buddenbrockia (Myxozoa) and implications for cnidarian body plan evolution. EvoDevo, 3 (1) : doi: 10.1186/2041-9139-3-10

HARTIKAINEN H, OKAMURA B (2012) Castrating parasites and colonial hosts. Parasitology, 139 (4) : 547 - 556. doi: 10.1017/s0031182011002216

Okamura B, Humphries S, Gruhl A (2012) Buddenbrockia plumatellae: a novel solution to being a worm. INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY 52 : E131 - E131.

O'Dea A, Håkansson E, Taylor PD, Okamura B (2011) Environmental change prior to the K–T boundary inferred from temporal variation in the morphology of cheilostome bryozoans. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 308 (3-4) : 502 - 512. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.06.001

OKAMURA B, FEIST SW (2011) Emerging diseases in freshwater systems. Freshwater Biology, 56 (4) : 627 - 637. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02578.x

OKAMURA B, HARTIKAINEN H, SCHMIDT-POSTHAUS H, WAHLI T (2011) Life cycle complexity, environmental change and the emerging status of salmonid proliferative kidney disease. Freshwater Biology, 56 (4) : 735 - 753. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02465.x

Holland JW, Okamura B, Hartikainen H, Secombes CJ (2011) A novel minicollagen gene links cnidarians and myxozoans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278 (1705) : 546 - 553. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1301

Lister AM, Brooks SJ, Fenberg PB, Glover AG, James KE, Johnson KG, Michel E, Okamura B, Spencer M, Stewart JR, Todd JA, Valsami-Jones E, Young J (2011) Natural history collections as sources of long-term datasets. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 26 (3) : 153 - 154. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2010.12.009

Okamura B, O’Dea A, Knowles T (2011) Bryozoan growth and environmental reconstruction by zooid size variation. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 430 : 133 - 146. doi: 10.3354/meps08965

Evans NM, Holder MT, Barbeitos MS, Okamura B, Cartwright P (2010) The Phylogenetic Position of Myxozoa: Exploring Conflicting Signals in Phylogenomic and Ribosomal Data Sets. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 27 (12) : 2733 - 2746. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msq159

Riisgård HU, Okamura B, Funch P (2010) Particle capture in ciliary filter-feeding gymnolaemate and phylactolaemate bryozoans - a comparative study. Acta Zoologica, 91 (4) : 416 - 425. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2009.00417.x

Knowles T, Leng MJ, Williams M, Taylor PD, Sloane HJ, Okamura B (2010) Interpreting seawater temperature range using oxygen isotopes and zooid size variation in Pentapora foliacea (Bryozoa). Marine Biology, 157 (6) : 1171 - 1180. doi: 10.1007/s00227-010-1397-5

Clark N, Williams M, Okamura B, Smellie J, Nelson A, Knowles T, Taylor P, Leng M, Zalasiewicz J, Haywood A (2010) Early Pliocene Weddell Sea seasonality determined from bryozoans. STRATIGRAPHY, 7 (2-3) : 199 - 206.

HARTIKAINEN H, JOHNES P, MONCRIEFF C, OKAMURA B (2009) Bryozoan populations reflect nutrient enrichment and productivity gradients in rivers. Freshwater Biology, 54 (11) : 2320 - 2334. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02262.x

Tops S, Hartikainen H-L, Okamura B (2009) The effects of infection by Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae (Myxozoa) and temperature on Fredericella sultana (Bryozoa). International Journal for Parasitology, 39 (9) : 1003 - 1010. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2009.01.007

Knowles T, Taylor PD, Williams M, Haywood AM, Okamura B (2009) Pliocene seasonality across the North Atlantic inferred from cheilostome bryozoans. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 277 (3-4) : 226 - 235. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.04.006

Williams M, Haywood AM, Harper EM, Johnson ALA, Knowles T, Leng MJ, Lunt DJ, Okamura B, Taylor PD, Zalasiewicz J (2009) Pliocene climate and seasonality in North Atlantic shelf seas. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 367 (1886) : 85 - 108. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2008.0224

Canning EU, Curry A, Okamura B (2008) Early development of the myxozoan Buddenbrockia plumatellae in the bryozoans Hyalinella punctata and Plumatella fungosa, with comments on taxonomy and systematics of the Myxozoa. Folia Parasitologica, 55 (4) : 241 - 255. doi: 10.14411/fp.2008.032

Knowles T, Haywood A, Williams M, TAYLOR PD, Okamura B (2008) Palaeoseasonality in the Pliocene of the North Atlantic. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 40(6) :

Jiménez-Guri E, Philippe H, Okamura B, Holland PWH (2007) Buddenbrockia Is a Cnidarian Worm. Science, 317 (5834) : 116 - 118. doi: 10.1126/science.1142024

CANNING EU, CURRY A, HILL SLL, OKAMURA B (2007) Ultrastructure of Buddenbrockia allmani n. sp. (Myxozoa, Malacosporea), a Parasite of Lophopus crystallinus (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 54 (3) : 247 - 262. doi: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2007.00261.x

Hill SLL, Sayer CD, HAMMOND PM, Rimmer VK, Davidson TA, Hoare DJ, Burgess A, Okamura B (2007) Are rare species rare or just overlooked? Assessing the distribution of the freshwater bryozoan, Lophopus crystallinus. Biological Conservation, 135 : 223 - 234.

HILL SLL, OKAMURA B (2007) Endoparasitism in colonial hosts: patterns and processes. Parasitology, 134 (6) : 841 - 852. doi: 10.1017/s0031182007002259

Jimenez-Guri E, Okamura B, Holland PWH (null) Origin and evolution of a myxozoan worm. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 47 (5) : 752 - 758. doi: 10.1093/icb/icm026

Tops S, Lockwood W, Okamura B (2006) Temperature-driven proliferation of Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae in bryozoan hosts portends salmonid declines. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 70 : 227 - 236. doi: 10.3354/dao070227

Bell JJ, Okamura B (2005) Low genetic diversity in a marine nature reserve: re-evaluating diversity criteria in reserve design. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 272 (1567) : 1067 - 1074. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3051

Canning EU, Feist SW, Longshaw M, Okamura B, Anderson CL, Tse MT, Curry A (2005) Microgemma vivaresi n. sp. (Microsporidia, Tetramicridae), infecting liver and skeletal muscle of sea scorpions, Taurulus bubalis (Euphrasen 1786) (Osteichthyes, Cottidae), an inshore, littoral fish. The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 52 : 1 - 9.

Hill S, Okamura B (2005) A review of the ecology of Lophopus crystallinus (Plumatellida, Lophopodidae), a rare species within the U.K.. Denisia, 16 : 193 - 201.

Tops A, Curry A, Okamura (2005) Diversity and systematics of the Malacosporea (Myxozoa). Invertebrate Biology, 124 : 285 - 295.

Tops S, Okamura B (2005) Malacosporean parasites (Myxozoa, Malacosproea) of freshwater bryozoans (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata): a review. Denisia, 16 : 287 - 298.

Wood TS, Okamura B (2005) A key to the freshwater bryozoans of Europe and the British Isles with ecological notes. Freshwater Biological Association, The Ferry House, Far Sawrey, Ambleside, Cumbria, UK :

Henderson M, Okamura B (2004) The phylogeography of salmonid proliferative kidney disease in Europe and North America. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 271 (1549) : 1729 - 1736. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2004.2677

Tops S, Baxa DV, McDowell TS, Hedrick RP, Okamura B (2004) Evaluation of malacosporean life cycles through transmission studies. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 60 : 109 - 121. doi: 10.3354/dao060109

Wood TS, Okamura B (2004) Plumatella geimermassardi, a newly recognized freshwater bryozoan from Britain, Ireland, and continental Europe (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata). Hydrobiologia, 518 (1-3) : 1 - 7. doi: 10.1023/B:HYDR.0000025051.65713.85

Canning EU, Okamura B (2004) Biodiversity and evolution of the Myxozoa. Advances in Parasitology, 56 : 43 - 151.

De Kinkelin P, Okamura B, Hedrick RP, Baxa DV (2004) Malacosporean-like spores in urine of rainbow trout react with antibody and DNA probes to Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae. Parasitology Research, 92 (1) : 81 - 88. doi: 10.1007/s00436-003-0986-3

Figuerola J, Green AJ, Black K, Okamura B (2004) The influence of gut morphology on passive transport of freshwater bryozoans by waterfowl in Doñana (southwest Spain). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 82 : 835 - 840.

Freeland JR, Rimmer VK, Okamura B (2004) Evidence for a residual post-glacial founder effect in a highly dispersive freshwater invertebrate. Limnology and Oceanography, 49 (3) : 879 - 883. doi: 10.4319/lo.2004.49.3.0879

Tops S, Okamura B (2003) Infection of bryozoans by Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae at sites endemic for salmonid proliferative kidney disease. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 57 : 221 - 226. doi: 10.3354/dao057221

Okamura B, Canning EU (2003) Orphan worms and homeless parasites enhance bilaterian diversity. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 18 (12) : 633 - 639. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2003.09.017

Horton T, Okamura B (2003) Post-haemorrhagic anaemia in sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), caused by blood feeding of Ceratothoa oestroides (Isopoda: Cymothoidae). Journal of Fish Diseases, 26 (7) : 401 - 406. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2761.2003.00476.x

Freeland JR, Lodge RJ, Okamura B (2003) Sex and outcrossing in a sessile freshwater invertebrate. Freshwater Biology, 48 : 301 - 305.

Okamura B, Wood TS (2002) Bryozoans as hosts for Tetracapsula bryosalmonae, the PKX organism. Journal of Fish Diseases, 25 (8) : 469 - 475. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2761.2002.00376.x

De Meester L, Gómez A, Okamura B, Schwenk K (2002) The Monopolization Hypothesis and the dispersal–gene flow paradox in aquatic organisms. Acta Oecologica, 23 (3) : 121 - 135. doi: 10.1016/S1146-609X(02)01145-1

OKAMURA B, CURRY A, WOOD TS, CANNING EU (2002) Ultrastructure of Buddenbrockia identifies it as a myxozoan and verifies the bilaterian origin of the Myxozoa. Parasitology, 124 (2) : 215 - 223. doi: 10.1017/s0031182001001184

Canning EU, Refardt D, Vossbrinck CR, Okamura B, Curry A (2002) New diplokaryotic microsporidia (Phylum, Microsporidia) from freshwater bryozoans (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). European Journal of Protistology, 38 : 247 - 265.

Canning EU, Tops SA, Curry A, Wood TS, Okamura B (2002) Ecology, development and pathogenicity of Buddenbrockia plumatellae Schröder, 1910 (Myxozoa, Malacosporea) (syn. Tetracapsula bryozoides) and establishment of Tetracapsuloides n. gen. for Tetracapsula bryosalmonae. The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 49 : 280 - 295.

Hatton-Ellis T, Hope A, Noble LR, Okamura B (2002) Genetic variation in a freshwater bryozoan: II: The effect of increasing spatial scale. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie, 154 : 293 - 309.

Horton T, Okamura B (2002) The distribution of Ceratothoa steindachneri (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cymothoidae) parasitic in Echiichthys vipera in the north-east Atlantic. The Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 83 (415) :

Monteiro AS, Okamura (2002) Orphan worm finds a home: Buddenbrockia is a myxozoan. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 19 : 968 - 971.

Okamura B, Freeland JR (2002) Gene flow and the evolutionary ecology of passively dispersing aquatic invertebrates, In: Dispersal Ecology, Bullock JM, Kenward RE, Hails RS (Eds). Blackwell Publishing : 194 - 216.

Okamura B, Freeland JR, Hatton-Ellis T (2002) Clones and metapopulations., In: Reproductive Biology of Invertebrates. Volume XI. Progress in Asexual Reproduction, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. : 283 - 312.

Bilton DT, Freeland JR, Okamura B (2001) DISPERSAL IN FRESHWATER INVERTEBRATES. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 32 (1) : 159 - 181. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.32.081501.114016

Horton T, Okamura B (2001) Cymothoid isopod parasites in aquaculture: a review and case study of a Turkish sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and sea bream (Sparus auratus) farm. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 46 : 181 - 188. doi: 10.3354/dao046181

Okamura B, Anderson CL, Longshaw M, Feist SW, Canning EU (2001) PATTERNS OF OCCURRENCE AND 18S rDNA SEQUENCE VARIATION OF PKX (TETRACAPSULA BRYOSALMONAE), THE CAUSATIVE AGENT OF SALMONID PROLIFERATIVE KIDNEY DISEASE. Journal of Parasitology, 87 (2) : 379 - 385. doi: 10.1645/0022-3395(2001)087[0379:pooars]2.0.co;2

Feist SW, Longshaw M, Canning EU, Okamura B (2001) Induction of Proliferative Kidney Disease (PKD) in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Richardson) via the bryozoan Fredericella sultana (Blumenbach, 1779), infected with Tetracapsula bryosalmonae Canning, Curry, Feist, Longshaw & Okamura, 1999. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 45 (61) :

Freeland JR, Rimmer VK, Okamura B (2001) Genetic changes within freshwater bryozoan populations suggest temporal gene flow from statoblast banks. Limnology and Oceanography, 46 : 1121 - 1129.

Gay M, Okamura B, de Kinkelin P (2001) Evidence that infectious stages of Tetracapsula bryosalmonae for rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, are present throughout the year. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 46 : 31 - 40.

Okamura B, Harmelin J-G, Jackson JBC (2001) Refuges revisited: Enemies versus flow and feeding as determinants of sessile animal distribution and form, In: Evolutionary Patterns: Growth, Form and Tempo in the Fossil Record, Jackson JBC, Lidgard S, McKinney FK (Eds). University of Chicago Press : 61 - 93.

O'Dea A, Okamura B (2000) Intracolony variation in zooid size in cheilostome bryozoans as a new technique for investigating palaeoseasonality. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 162 (3-4) : 319 - 332. doi: 10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00136-X

Freeland , Noble , Okamura (2000) Genetic consequences of the metapopulation biology of a facultatively sexual freshwater invertebrate. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 13 (3) : 383 - 395. doi: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2000.00192.x

Anderson CL, Canning EU, Schafer SM, Yokoyama H, Okamura B (2000) Molecular confirmation of the life cycle of Thelohanellus hovorkai Achmerov, 1960 (Myxozoa: Myxosporea). Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 20 : 111 - 115.

Canning EU, Curry A, Feist SW, Longshaw M, Okamura B (2000) A new class and order of myxozoans to accommodate parasites of bryozoans with ultrastructural observations on Tetracapsula bryosalmonae (PKX organism). The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 47 : 456 - 468.

Freeland JR, Noble LR, Okamura B (2000) Genetic diversity of North American populations of Cristatella mucedo, inferred from microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Ecology, 9 : 1375 - 1389.

Freeland JR, Romualdi C, Okamura B (2000) Gene flow and genetic diversity: a comparison of freshwater bryozoan populations in Europe and North America. Heredity, 85 : 498 - 508.

O'Dea AA, Okamura B (2000) Cheilostome bryozoans as indicators of seasonality in the Neogene epicontinental seas of Western Europe. Cubilla AH, Jackson JBC (Eds). : Proceedings of the 11th International Bryozoology Association Conference Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama : 74 - 86.

O'Dea A, Okamura B (2000) Life history and environmental inference through retrospective morphometric analysis of bryozoans: a preliminary study. The Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 80 : 1127 - 1128.

Okamura B (2000) Metapopulation biology of freshwater bryozoans. Cubilla AH, Jackson JBC (Eds). Proceedings of the 11th International Bryozoology Association Conference Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama : 316 - 320.

O'Dea A, Okamura B (1999) Influence of seasonal variation in temperature, salinity and food availability on module size and colony growth of the estuarine bryozoan Conopeum seurati. Marine Biology, 135 (4) : 581 - 588. doi: 10.1007/s002270050659

Freeland JR, Jones CS, Noble LR, Okamura B (1999) Polymorphic microsatellite loci identified in the highly clonal freshwater bryozoan Cristatella mucedo.. Molecular ecology, 8 (2) : 341 - 342.

Anderson CL, Canning EU, Okamura B (1999) Molecular data implicate bryozoans as hosts for PKX (Phylum Myxozoa) and identify a clade of bryozoan parasites within the Myxozoa. Parasitology (Cambridge), 119 : 555 - 561.

Anderson CL, Canning EU, Okamura B (1999) 18S rDNA sequences indicate that PKX organism parasitizes Bryozoa.. Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 19 : 94 - 97.

Canning EU, Curry A, Anderson CL, Okamura B (1999) Ultrastructure of Myxidium trachinorum n. sp. from the gall bladder of the lesser weever fish Echiichthys vipera. Parasitology Research, 85 : 910 - 919.

Canning EU, Curry A, Feist SW, Longshaw M, Okamura B (1999) Tetracapsula bryosalmonae n.sp. for PKX organism the cause of PKD in salmonid fish. Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 19 : 203 - 206.

Longshaw M, Feist SW, Canning EU, Okamura B (1999) First identification of PKX in bryozoans from the United Kingdom - molecular evidence. Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 19 : 146 - 149.

Okamura B, Partridge JC (1999) Suspension feeding adaptations to extreme flow environments in a marine bryozoan. Biological Bulletin, 196 : 205 - 215.

Wood TS, Okamura B (1999) Asajirella gelatinosa in Panama: a bryozoan range extension in the Western Hemisphere (Ectoprocta: Phylactolaemata). Hydrobiologia, 390 : 19 - 23.

Eckman JE, Okamura B (1998) A Model of Particle Capture by Bryozoans in Turbulent Flow: Significance of Colony Form. The American Naturalist, 152 (6) : 861 - 880. doi: 10.1086/286214

HATTON‐ELLIS TW, NOBLE LR, OKAMURA B (1998) Genetic variation in a freshwater bryozoan. I: Populations in the Thames basin, UK. Molecular Ecology, 7 (11) : 1575 - 1585. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.1998.00492.x

Anderson CL, Canning EU, Okamura B (1998) A triploblast origin for Myxozoa?. Nature, 392 : 346 - 347.

Canning EU, Okamura B, Curry A (1997) A new microsporidium, Nosema cristatellae n. sp. in the bryozoan Cristatella mucedo (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 70 : 177 - 183.

Okamura B (1997) Modelling particle capture rates by encrusting bryozoans: adaptive significance of colony form. Lessios HA, McIntyre IG (Eds). Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium Panama, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama : 1077 - 1080.

Okamura B (1997) Genetic similarity, parasitism, and metapopulation structure in a cyclically clonal bryozoan, In: Evolutionary Ecology of Freshwater Animals, Streit B (Eds). Birkhauser Verlag : 294 - 320.

Okamura B (1997) The ecology of subdivided populations of a clonal freshwater bryozoan in southern England. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie, 141 : 13 - 34.

Canning EU, Okamura B, Curry A (1996) Development of a myxozoan parasite Tetracapsula bryozoides n.g., n.sp. in the body cavity of Cristatella mucedo (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). Folia Parasitologica, 43 : 249 - 261.

Okamura B (1996) Occurrence, prevalence, and effects of the myxozoan Tetracapsula bryozoides Canning, Okamura and Curry, 1996, parasitic in the freshwater bryozoan Cristatella mucedo Cuvier (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). Folia Parasitologica, 43 : 262 - 266.

Vernon JG, Okamura B, Jones CS, Noble LR (1996) Temporal patterns of clonality and parasitism in a population of freshwater bryozoans. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B, 263 : 1313 - 1318.

Okamura B, Hatton-Ellis T (1995) Population biology of freshwater bryozoans: correlates of sessile, colonial life histories in freshwater habitats. Experientia, 51 : 510 - 525.

JONES CS, OKAMURA B, NOBLE LR (1994) Parent and larval RAPD fingerprints reveal outcrossing in freshwater bryozoans. Molecular Ecology, 3 (3) : 193 - 199. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.1994.tb00052.x

Okamura B, Doolan LA (1993) Patterns of suspension feeding in the freshwater bryozoan Plumatella repens. Biological Bulletin, 184 : 52 - 56.

Okamura B, Jones CS, Noble LR (1993) Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of clonal population structure and geographic variation in a freshwater bryozoan. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B, 253 : 147 - 154.

Okamura B (1992) Microhabitat variation and patterns of colony growth and feeding in a marine bryozoan. Ecology, 73 : 1502 - 1513.

Okamura B (1990) Behavioural plasticity in the suspension feeding of benthic animals, In: Behavioural Mechanisms of Food Selection, Springer-Verlag : 637 - 660.

Okamura B (1990) Particle size, flow velocity, and suspension-feeding by the erect bryozoans Bugula neritina and B. stolonifera. Marine Biology: international journal on life in oceans and coastal waters, 105 : 33 - 38.

Okamura B (1988) The influence of neighbors on the feeding of an epifaunal bryozoan. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 120 (2) : 105 - 123. doi: 10.1016/0022-0981(88)90083-4

Okamura B, Bishop JDD (1988) Zooid size in cheilostome bryozoans as an indicator of relative palaeotemperature. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 66 (3-4) : 145 - 152. doi: 10.1016/0031-0182(88)90197-6

Okamura B (1987) Seasonal changes in zooid size and feeding activity in epifaunal colonies of Electra pilosa, In: null, Ross JRP (Eds). Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA : 197 - 204.

Okamura B (1987) Particle size and velocity induce an inferred switch in bryozoan suspension-feeding behaviour. Biological Bulletin, 173 : 222 - 229.

Okamura B (1986) Group living and the effects of spatial position in aggregations of Mytilus edulis. Oecologia, 69 (3) : 341 - 347. doi: 10.1007/BF00377054

Okamura B (1986) Formation and disruption of aggregations of Mytilus edulis in the fouling community of San Francisco Bay, California. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 30 : 275 - 282.

Okamura B (1985) The effects of ambient flow velocity, colony size, and upstream colonies on the feeding success of Bryozoa. II. Conopeum reticulum (Linnaeus), an encrusting species. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 89 (1) : 69 - 80. doi: 10.1016/0022-0981(85)90082-6

Okamura B (null) Functional and ecological consequences of aggregation and coloniality in benthic, marine suspension feeders. PhD Thesis. (Supervisor(s)) Sousa WP, Koehl MAR.

Okamura B (1984) The effects of ambient flow velocity, colony size, and upstream colonies on the feeding success of bryozoa. I. Bugula stolonifera Ryland, an arborescent species. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 83 (2) : 179 - 193. doi: 10.1016/0022-0981(84)90044-3

Contributed Publications

Okamura B (1994) Variation in local populations of the freshwater bryozoan Cristatella mucedo. Hayward PJ, Ryland JS, Taylor PD (Eds). Olsen & Olsen, Fredensborg, Denmark : 145 - 149.

(null) null .

Supervision

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Hardinge G
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Macroecological patterns in reproduction of globally distributed deep-sea jellyfish.
University of Southampton, Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
Funding: University of Southampton & Natural History Museum
1/10/2014 - 1/10/2017.

Doctorate (PhD) Co-supervisor to Fontes I
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Assessing the risk of an emerging salmonid disease
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2011 - 1/4/2014.

Doctorate (PhD) Co-supervisor to Jenkins H
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Polyembryony, brood-chamber initiation and sperm utilization in cyclostome bryozoans
Bangor University, Bangor, Bangor, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2009 - 1/4/2013.

Doctorate (PhD) Co-supervisor to Salgado J
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Historical metapopulation ecology
University College London
1/10/2007 - 3/10/2011.

Doctorate equivalent (PhD) Lead supervisor to Knowles T
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Paleaoclimate inferred from organismal remains
University of Reading, Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2005 - 1/10/2008.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Hartikainen H
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Bryozoan abundance, eutrophication and fish disease
University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2004 - 1/10/2007.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Hill S
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
The ecology and conservation of the rare freshwater bryozoan, Lophopus crystallinus
University of Reading, Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: Environment Agency, Action for Invertebrates, University of Reading
1/10/2003 - 1/10/2006.

Doctorate (PhD) Joint supervisor to Neal K
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Aspects of teh reproductive biology in the Spirorbidae (Polychaeta)
University of Reading, Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2001 - 1/10/2004.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Tops S
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Ecology, life history and diversity of malacosporeans
Funding: NERC
1/10/2001 - 1/4/2004.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Horton T
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Genus Ceratothoa in wild and farmed fish: Taxonomy, ecology and pathology
University of Reading, Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: University of Reading
1/10/1999 - 1/10/2001.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to O'Dea A
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Environmental inferences using Recent and fossil bryozoans
University of Bristol, Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
Funding: BBSRC
1/10/1996 - 1/10/1999.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Hatton-Ellis T
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
The molecular ecology of Cristatella mucedo (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata) in space and time
Funding: NERC
1/10/1994 - 1/4/1997.

Introduction

Summary

My interests are in the ecology and evolution animals whose life cycles contrast with those of traditionally studied and familiar animal systems. I specifically focus on two such invertebrata taxa, the Bryozoa and the Myxozoa. Bryozoans grow as colonies that spread across surfaces in freshwater and marine environments, and myxozoans are endoparasitic cnidarians that have undergone a spectacular radiation to exploit marine, freshwater and terrestrial hosts, including freshwater bryozoans. My research aims to: 1) elucidate the ecological and evolutionary consequences associated with such life cycles, and; 2) use these animals as model systems to answer general ecological and evolutionary questions. Areas of current interests and research include:

• eDNA sampling for novel endoparasite diversity

• Dispersal impacts on biodiversity, community assembly and ecosystem services

• Environmental change, emerging diseases and disease risks

• Exploitation of colonial hosts by endoparasites and host responses

• Covert infection strategies

• Diversification of freshwater bryozoans and myxozoans

• Ecology, evolution and development of active, worm-like myxozoans

• Life history responses to environmental change

Qualifications

    Degrees

  • PhD in Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, United States
  • Honours BSc in Biology, Concordia University, Canada

Employment history

    Academic

  • Merit Researcher, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2009 - ongoing
  • Research Leader, Natural, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2007 - ongoing
  • Professor, University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, 2005 - 2007
  • Leverhulme Research Fellowship, University of Reading, United Kingdom, 2002 - 2003
  • Reader, University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, 2001 - 2005
  • Lecturer, University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, 1997 - 2001
  • Lecturer, University of Bristol, School of Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, 1993 - 1997
  • Departmental Demonstrator, University of Oxford, Zoology, United Kingdom, 1988 - 1993
  • Tutorial Fellow, Magdalen College, Oxford, United Kingdom, 1988 - 1993
  • Killam Postdoctoral Fellow, Dalhousie University, Canada, 1987 - 1988
  • Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Marine Station at Link Port, United States, 1985 - 1986
  • NATO Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom, 1984 - 1985
Projects

Grants

Hidden affiliate diversity and threats
Role: Principal investigator
Co-investigator: Bass D
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Dates: 2020 - 2023

Are endoparasitic cnidarians venomous animals? A pioneering study into an ancient lineage
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Total value £384,673 (to Museum £32,127.50)
Dates: 2016 - 2019

Hydroscape:connectivity x stressor interactions in freshwater habitats
Funding: NERC
Dates: 2015 - 2019

Unexplored parasite diversity and fisheries disease risks
Role: Principal investigator
Co-investigator: Bass D
Funding: SYNTAX
Total value £26,566 (to Museum £26,566)
Dates: 2011 - 2014

Towards the development of a vaccine for proliferative kidney disease
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: BBSRC
Total value £446,662 (to Museum £113,367)
Dates: 2007 - 2010

The influence of propagule banks on demography and genetic diversity in freshwater invertebrates and plants
Role: Principal investigator
Funding: NERC
Total value £192,786 (to Museum £192,786)
Dates: 2004 - 2007

Dispersal and biodiversity impacts on community assembly and ecosystem services in shallow lake landscapes
Role: Co-investigator
Funding: NERC
Total value £149,888.21 (to Museum £5,821)
Dates: 2013 - 2015

Ocean acidification and responses of the marine benthos in the Southern Ocean
Role: Co-investigator
Funding: Leverhulme Trust
Total value £161,717 (to Museum £5,308)
Dates: 2012 - 2014

Other projects

Protists as parasites
Role: Researcher
Funding: Museum development

Parasite diversity in Thai crabs
Role: Leader
Funding: Museum development

Environmental sampling for eukaryotic endoparasite in Florida
Role: Leader
Funding: Museum development

Consultancy

Examiner for MSc and MRes in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
2009 - 2012.

Professional activities

Committees

Member, Zoological Society of London Scientific Awards Committee, 2014 - on going.

Member, NERC Peer Review College, 2007 - 2010.

Member, Council, Freshwater Biology Association, 2005 - 2008.

Member, Council, International Bryozoology Association, 2004 - 2007.

Member, NERC Peer Review College, 2003 - 2005.

Member, NERC Freshwater Science Review Committee, 2002 - 2003.

Editorships

Guest Editor, Freshwater Biology Special Issue: Emerging Freshwater Diseases, Wiley, 2011 - 2011.

Board member, Invertebrate Biology, Wiley, 2004 - 2009.

Board member, Experimental Parasitology, Elsevier, 2003 - 2009.

Board member, Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B, The Royal Society Publishing, 2001 - 2007.

Associate editor, The Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2000 - on going.

Publications

Publications

WOOD TS, OKAMURA B (null) Further species and range extensions of Amazonian bryozoans: chipping away at the iceberg. Zootaxa, 5169 (4) : 381 - 391. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5169.4.7

Ruggeri P, Pasternak E, Okamura B (2019) To remain or leave: Dispersal variation and its genetic consequences in benthic freshwater invertebrates. Ecology and Evolution, 9 (21) : 12069 - 12088. doi: 10.1002/ece3.5656

Jaimes-Becerra A, Gacesa R, Doonan LB, Hartigan A, Marques AC, Okamura B, Long PF (2019) “Beyond Primary Sequence”—Proteomic Data Reveal Complex Toxins in Cnidarian Venoms. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 59 (4) : 777 - 785. doi: 10.1093/icb/icz106

Salgado J, Sayer CD, Brooks SJ, Davidson TA, Baker AG, Willby N, Patmore IR, Goldsmith B, Bennion H, Okamura B (null) Connectivity and zebra mussel invasion offer short‐term buffering of eutrophication impacts on floodplain lake landscape biodiversity. Diversity and Distributions, doi: 10.1111/ddi.12938

Okamura B, Long PF, Mydlarz LD (2019) Chemical Responses to the Biotic and Abiotic Environment by Early Diverging Metazoans Revealed in the Post-Genomic Age. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 59 (4) : 731 - 738. doi: 10.1093/icb/icz125

Doonan LB, Hartigan A, Okamura B, Long PF (2019) Stress-Free Evolution: The Nrf-Coordinated Oxidative Stress Response in Early Diverging Metazoans. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 59 (4) : 799 - 810. doi: 10.1093/icb/icz055

Naldoni J, Adriano EA, Hartigan A, Sayer C, Okamura B (2019) Malacosporean myxozoans exploit a diversity of fish hosts. Parasitology, 146 (07) : 968 - 978. doi: 10.1017/s0031182019000246

Sigwart JD, Bennett KD, Edie SM, Mander L, Okamura B, Padian K, Wheeler Q, Winston JE, Yeung NW (null) Measuring Biodiversity and Extinction—Present and Past. Integrative and Comparative Biology, doi: 10.1093/icb/icy113

Salgado J, Sayer CD, Brooks SJ, Davidson TA, Goldsmith B, Patmore IR, Baker AG, Okamura B (2018) Eutrophication homogenizes shallow lake macrophyte assemblages over space and time. Ecosphere, 9 (9) : e02406 - e02406. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.2406

Salgado J, Sayer CD, Brooks SJ, Davidson TA, Okamura B (2018) Eutrophication erodes inter-basin variation in macrophytes and co-occurring invertebrates in a shallow lake: combining ecology and palaeoecology. Journal of Paleolimnology, 60 (2) : 311 - 328. doi: 10.1007/s10933-017-9950-6

Okamura B, Hartigan A, Naldoni J (null) Extensive Uncharted Biodiversity: The Parasite Dimension. Integrative and Comparative Biology, doi: 10.1093/icb/icy039

Fontes I, Hartikainen H, Williams C, Okamura B (2017) Persistence, impacts and environmental drivers of covert infections in invertebrate hosts. Parasites & Vectors, 10 (1) : doi: 10.1186/s13071-017-2495-8

WOOD TS, OKAMURA B (null) New species, genera, families, and range extensions of freshwater bryozoans in Brazil: the tip of the iceberg?. Zootaxa, 4306 (3) : 383 - 383. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4306.3.5

Fontes I, Hartikainen H, Holland JW, Secombes CJ, Okamura B (2017) Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae abundance in river water. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 124 (2) : 145 - 157. doi: 10.3354/dao03116

FONTES I, HARTIKAINEN H, TAYLOR NGH, OKAMURA B (2017) Conditional persistence and tolerance characterize endoparasite–colonial host interactions. Parasitology, 144 (8) : 1052 - 1063. doi: 10.1017/s0031182017000269

Jenkins HL, Waeschenbach A, Okamura B, Hughes RN, Bishop JDD (null) Phylogenetically Widespread Polyembryony in Cyclostome Bryozoans and the Protracted Asynchronous Release of Clonal Brood-Mates. PLOS ONE, 12 (1) : e0170010 - e0170010. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170010

ADRIANO EA, OKAMURA B (2017) Motility, morphology and phylogeny of the plasmodial worm, Ceratomyxa vermiformis n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxozoa: Myxosporea). Parasitology, 144 (2) : 158 - 168. doi: 10.1017/s0031182016001852

Hartikainen H, Bass D, Briscoe AG, Knipe H, Green AJ, Okamura B (2016) Assessing myxozoan presence and diversity using environmental DNA. International Journal for Parasitology, 46 (12) : 781 - 792. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.07.006

Caplat P, Edelaar P, Dudaniec RY, Green AJ, Okamura B, Cote J, Ekroos J, Jonsson PR, Löndahl J, Tesson SVM, Petit EJ (2016) Looking beyond the mountain: dispersal barriers in a changing world. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14 (5) : 261 - 268. doi: 10.1002/fee.1280

Hartigan A, Wilkinson M, Gower DJ, Streicher JW, Holzer AS, Okamura B (2016) Myxozoan infections of caecilians demonstrate broad host specificity and indicate a link with human activity. International Journal for Parasitology, 46 (5-6) : 375 - 381. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.02.001

Okamura B (2016) Hidden Infections and Changing Environments. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 56 (4) : 620 - 629. doi: 10.1093/icb/icw008

Okamura B (2016) Covert infections, host tolerance and environmental change. INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY 56 : E164 - E164.

van Hardenbroek M, Leuenberger M, Hartikainen H, Okamura B, Heiri O (2016) Bryozoan stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes: relationships between the isotopic composition of zooids, statoblasts and lake water. Hydrobiologia, 765 (1) : 209 - 223. doi: 10.1007/s10750-015-2414-y

Okamura B, Gruhl A (2016) Myxozoa + Polypodium : A Common Route to Endoparasitism. Trends in Parasitology, 32 (4) : 268 - 271. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2016.01.007

Gruhl A, Okamura B (2015) Tissue characteristics and development in Myxozoa, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 155 - 174.

Hartikainen H, Okamura B (2015) Ecology and evolution of malacosporean-bryozoan interactions, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 201 - 216.

Okamura B, Gruhl A (2015) Myxozoan affinities and route to endoparasitism, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 23 - 44.

Okamura B, Gruhl A, Reft AJ (2015) Cnidarian origins of Myxozoa, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 45 - 68.

Okamura B, Okamura , Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (2015) An introduction to myxozoan evolution, ecology and development, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Okamura B, Gruhl A (Eds). Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 1 - 20.

Fiala I, Bartasova-Sojkova P, Okamura B, Hartikainen H (null) Adaptive radiation and evolution within the Myxozoa, In: Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development, Springer : Cham, Switzerland. 69 - 84.

Okamura B, Gruhl A, Bartholomew JL (2015) Myxozoan Evolution, Ecology and Development. Springer : 441.

Hartikainen H, Filippenko D, Okamura B, Vasemägi A (2015) First microsatellite loci of the myxozoan parasite Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, the causative agent of proliferative kidney disease (PKD). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 113 (1) : 85 - 88. doi: 10.3354/dao02833

Tesson SVM, Okamura B, Dudaniec RY, Vyverman W, Löndahl J, Rushing C, Valentini A, Green AJ (2015) Integrating microorganism and macroorganism dispersal: modes, techniques and challenges with particular focus on co-dispersal. Écoscience, 22 (2-4) : 109 - 124. doi: 10.1080/11956860.2016.1148458

McClelland HLO, Taylor PD, O'Dea A, Okamura B (2014) Revising and refining the bryozoan zs-MART seasonality proxy. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 410 : 412 - 420. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.06.011

Hartikainen H, Gruhl A, Okamura B (2014) Diversification and repeated morphological transitions in endoparasitic cnidarians (Myxozoa: Malacosporea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 76 : 261 - 269. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.03.010

ABD-ELFATTAH A, FONTES I, KUMAR G, SOLIMAN H, HARTIKAINEN H, OKAMURA B, EL-MATBOULI M (2014) Vertical transmission ofTetracapsuloides bryosalmonae(Myxozoa), the causative agent of salmonid proliferative kidney disease. Parasitology, 141 (4) : 482 - 490. doi: 10.1017/s0031182013001650

Filippenko D, Hartikainen H, Okamura B, Vasemägi A (2014) Characterisation of polymorphic microsatellite loci for the bryozoan Fredericella sultana, the primary host of the causative agent of salmonid proliferative kidney disease. Conservation Genetics Resources, 6 (2) : 481 - 482. doi: 10.1007/s12686-013-0133-0

Hartikainen H, Stentiford GD, Bateman KS, Berney C, Feist SW, Longshaw M, Okamura B, Stone D, Ward G, Wood C, Bass D (2014) Mikrocytids Are a Broadly Distributed and Divergent Radiation of Parasites in Aquatic Invertebrates. Current Biology, 24 (7) : 807 - 812. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.02.033

Hartikainen H, Ashford OS, Berney C, Okamura B, Feist SW, Baker-Austin C, Stentiford GD, Bass D (2014) Lineage-specific molecular probing reveals novel diversity and ecological partitioning of haplosporidians. The ISME Journal, 8 (1) : 177 - 186. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2013.136

Hartikainen H, Humphries S, Okamura B (null) Form and metabolic scaling in colonial animals. Journal of Experimental Biology, doi: 10.1242/jeb.093484

Ragazzola F, Taylor PD, Bazzicalupo P, Okamura B, Schmidt DN (2014) A new species of the cheilostome bryozoan Chiastosella in the Southern Ocean, past and present. Polar Biology, 37 (6) : 773 - 779. doi: 10.1007/s00300-014-1478-x

Okamura B, O'Dea A, Taylor P, Taylor A (2013) Evidence of El Niño/La Niña–Southern Oscillation Variability in the Neogene-Pleistocene of Panama Revealed by a New Bryozoan Assemblage-Based Proxy. Bulletin of Marine Science, 89 (4) : 857 - 876. doi: 10.5343/bms.2012.1041

HARTIKAINEN H, FONTES I, OKAMURA B (2013) Parasitism and phenotypic change in colonial hosts. Parasitology, 140 (11) : 1403 - 1412. doi: 10.1017/s0031182013000899

Okamura B, Ayres K, Salgado J, Davidson TA, Shaw RF, Stephens TW, Hoare D, Sayer CD (2013) Shallow lake sediments provide evidence for metapopulation dynamics: a pilot study. Aquatic Ecology, 47 (2) : 163 - 176. doi: 10.1007/s10452-013-9432-5

Hartikainen H, Waeschenbach A, Wöss E, Wood T, Okamura B (2013) Divergence and species discrimination in freshwater bryozoans (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 168 (1) : 61 - 80. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12025

Gruhl A, Okamura B (2012) Development and myogenesis of the vermiform Buddenbrockia (Myxozoa) and implications for cnidarian body plan evolution. EvoDevo, 3 (1) : doi: 10.1186/2041-9139-3-10

HARTIKAINEN H, OKAMURA B (2012) Castrating parasites and colonial hosts. Parasitology, 139 (4) : 547 - 556. doi: 10.1017/s0031182011002216

Okamura B, Humphries S, Gruhl A (2012) Buddenbrockia plumatellae: a novel solution to being a worm. INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY 52 : E131 - E131.

O'Dea A, Håkansson E, Taylor PD, Okamura B (2011) Environmental change prior to the K–T boundary inferred from temporal variation in the morphology of cheilostome bryozoans. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 308 (3-4) : 502 - 512. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.06.001

OKAMURA B, FEIST SW (2011) Emerging diseases in freshwater systems. Freshwater Biology, 56 (4) : 627 - 637. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02578.x

OKAMURA B, HARTIKAINEN H, SCHMIDT-POSTHAUS H, WAHLI T (2011) Life cycle complexity, environmental change and the emerging status of salmonid proliferative kidney disease. Freshwater Biology, 56 (4) : 735 - 753. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02465.x

Holland JW, Okamura B, Hartikainen H, Secombes CJ (2011) A novel minicollagen gene links cnidarians and myxozoans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278 (1705) : 546 - 553. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1301

Lister AM, Brooks SJ, Fenberg PB, Glover AG, James KE, Johnson KG, Michel E, Okamura B, Spencer M, Stewart JR, Todd JA, Valsami-Jones E, Young J (2011) Natural history collections as sources of long-term datasets. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 26 (3) : 153 - 154. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2010.12.009

Okamura B, O’Dea A, Knowles T (2011) Bryozoan growth and environmental reconstruction by zooid size variation. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 430 : 133 - 146. doi: 10.3354/meps08965

Evans NM, Holder MT, Barbeitos MS, Okamura B, Cartwright P (2010) The Phylogenetic Position of Myxozoa: Exploring Conflicting Signals in Phylogenomic and Ribosomal Data Sets. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 27 (12) : 2733 - 2746. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msq159

Riisgård HU, Okamura B, Funch P (2010) Particle capture in ciliary filter-feeding gymnolaemate and phylactolaemate bryozoans - a comparative study. Acta Zoologica, 91 (4) : 416 - 425. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2009.00417.x

Knowles T, Leng MJ, Williams M, Taylor PD, Sloane HJ, Okamura B (2010) Interpreting seawater temperature range using oxygen isotopes and zooid size variation in Pentapora foliacea (Bryozoa). Marine Biology, 157 (6) : 1171 - 1180. doi: 10.1007/s00227-010-1397-5

Clark N, Williams M, Okamura B, Smellie J, Nelson A, Knowles T, Taylor P, Leng M, Zalasiewicz J, Haywood A (2010) Early Pliocene Weddell Sea seasonality determined from bryozoans. STRATIGRAPHY, 7 (2-3) : 199 - 206.

HARTIKAINEN H, JOHNES P, MONCRIEFF C, OKAMURA B (2009) Bryozoan populations reflect nutrient enrichment and productivity gradients in rivers. Freshwater Biology, 54 (11) : 2320 - 2334. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02262.x

Tops S, Hartikainen H-L, Okamura B (2009) The effects of infection by Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae (Myxozoa) and temperature on Fredericella sultana (Bryozoa). International Journal for Parasitology, 39 (9) : 1003 - 1010. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2009.01.007

Knowles T, Taylor PD, Williams M, Haywood AM, Okamura B (2009) Pliocene seasonality across the North Atlantic inferred from cheilostome bryozoans. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 277 (3-4) : 226 - 235. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.04.006

Williams M, Haywood AM, Harper EM, Johnson ALA, Knowles T, Leng MJ, Lunt DJ, Okamura B, Taylor PD, Zalasiewicz J (2009) Pliocene climate and seasonality in North Atlantic shelf seas. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 367 (1886) : 85 - 108. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2008.0224

Canning EU, Curry A, Okamura B (2008) Early development of the myxozoan Buddenbrockia plumatellae in the bryozoans Hyalinella punctata and Plumatella fungosa, with comments on taxonomy and systematics of the Myxozoa. Folia Parasitologica, 55 (4) : 241 - 255. doi: 10.14411/fp.2008.032

Knowles T, Haywood A, Williams M, TAYLOR PD, Okamura B (2008) Palaeoseasonality in the Pliocene of the North Atlantic. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 40(6) :

Jiménez-Guri E, Philippe H, Okamura B, Holland PWH (2007) Buddenbrockia Is a Cnidarian Worm. Science, 317 (5834) : 116 - 118. doi: 10.1126/science.1142024

CANNING EU, CURRY A, HILL SLL, OKAMURA B (2007) Ultrastructure of Buddenbrockia allmani n. sp. (Myxozoa, Malacosporea), a Parasite of Lophopus crystallinus (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 54 (3) : 247 - 262. doi: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2007.00261.x

Hill SLL, Sayer CD, HAMMOND PM, Rimmer VK, Davidson TA, Hoare DJ, Burgess A, Okamura B (2007) Are rare species rare or just overlooked? Assessing the distribution of the freshwater bryozoan, Lophopus crystallinus. Biological Conservation, 135 : 223 - 234.

HILL SLL, OKAMURA B (2007) Endoparasitism in colonial hosts: patterns and processes. Parasitology, 134 (6) : 841 - 852. doi: 10.1017/s0031182007002259

Jimenez-Guri E, Okamura B, Holland PWH (null) Origin and evolution of a myxozoan worm. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 47 (5) : 752 - 758. doi: 10.1093/icb/icm026

Tops S, Lockwood W, Okamura B (2006) Temperature-driven proliferation of Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae in bryozoan hosts portends salmonid declines. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 70 : 227 - 236. doi: 10.3354/dao070227

Bell JJ, Okamura B (2005) Low genetic diversity in a marine nature reserve: re-evaluating diversity criteria in reserve design. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 272 (1567) : 1067 - 1074. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3051

Canning EU, Feist SW, Longshaw M, Okamura B, Anderson CL, Tse MT, Curry A (2005) Microgemma vivaresi n. sp. (Microsporidia, Tetramicridae), infecting liver and skeletal muscle of sea scorpions, Taurulus bubalis (Euphrasen 1786) (Osteichthyes, Cottidae), an inshore, littoral fish. The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 52 : 1 - 9.

Hill S, Okamura B (2005) A review of the ecology of Lophopus crystallinus (Plumatellida, Lophopodidae), a rare species within the U.K.. Denisia, 16 : 193 - 201.

Tops A, Curry A, Okamura (2005) Diversity and systematics of the Malacosporea (Myxozoa). Invertebrate Biology, 124 : 285 - 295.

Tops S, Okamura B (2005) Malacosporean parasites (Myxozoa, Malacosproea) of freshwater bryozoans (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata): a review. Denisia, 16 : 287 - 298.

Wood TS, Okamura B (2005) A key to the freshwater bryozoans of Europe and the British Isles with ecological notes. Freshwater Biological Association, The Ferry House, Far Sawrey, Ambleside, Cumbria, UK :

Henderson M, Okamura B (2004) The phylogeography of salmonid proliferative kidney disease in Europe and North America. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 271 (1549) : 1729 - 1736. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2004.2677

Tops S, Baxa DV, McDowell TS, Hedrick RP, Okamura B (2004) Evaluation of malacosporean life cycles through transmission studies. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 60 : 109 - 121. doi: 10.3354/dao060109

Wood TS, Okamura B (2004) Plumatella geimermassardi, a newly recognized freshwater bryozoan from Britain, Ireland, and continental Europe (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata). Hydrobiologia, 518 (1-3) : 1 - 7. doi: 10.1023/B:HYDR.0000025051.65713.85

Canning EU, Okamura B (2004) Biodiversity and evolution of the Myxozoa. Advances in Parasitology, 56 : 43 - 151.

De Kinkelin P, Okamura B, Hedrick RP, Baxa DV (2004) Malacosporean-like spores in urine of rainbow trout react with antibody and DNA probes to Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae. Parasitology Research, 92 (1) : 81 - 88. doi: 10.1007/s00436-003-0986-3

Figuerola J, Green AJ, Black K, Okamura B (2004) The influence of gut morphology on passive transport of freshwater bryozoans by waterfowl in Doñana (southwest Spain). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 82 : 835 - 840.

Freeland JR, Rimmer VK, Okamura B (2004) Evidence for a residual post-glacial founder effect in a highly dispersive freshwater invertebrate. Limnology and Oceanography, 49 (3) : 879 - 883. doi: 10.4319/lo.2004.49.3.0879

Tops S, Okamura B (2003) Infection of bryozoans by Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae at sites endemic for salmonid proliferative kidney disease. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 57 : 221 - 226. doi: 10.3354/dao057221

Okamura B, Canning EU (2003) Orphan worms and homeless parasites enhance bilaterian diversity. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 18 (12) : 633 - 639. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2003.09.017

Horton T, Okamura B (2003) Post-haemorrhagic anaemia in sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), caused by blood feeding of Ceratothoa oestroides (Isopoda: Cymothoidae). Journal of Fish Diseases, 26 (7) : 401 - 406. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2761.2003.00476.x

Freeland JR, Lodge RJ, Okamura B (2003) Sex and outcrossing in a sessile freshwater invertebrate. Freshwater Biology, 48 : 301 - 305.

Okamura B, Wood TS (2002) Bryozoans as hosts for Tetracapsula bryosalmonae, the PKX organism. Journal of Fish Diseases, 25 (8) : 469 - 475. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2761.2002.00376.x

De Meester L, Gómez A, Okamura B, Schwenk K (2002) The Monopolization Hypothesis and the dispersal–gene flow paradox in aquatic organisms. Acta Oecologica, 23 (3) : 121 - 135. doi: 10.1016/S1146-609X(02)01145-1

OKAMURA B, CURRY A, WOOD TS, CANNING EU (2002) Ultrastructure of Buddenbrockia identifies it as a myxozoan and verifies the bilaterian origin of the Myxozoa. Parasitology, 124 (2) : 215 - 223. doi: 10.1017/s0031182001001184

Canning EU, Refardt D, Vossbrinck CR, Okamura B, Curry A (2002) New diplokaryotic microsporidia (Phylum, Microsporidia) from freshwater bryozoans (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). European Journal of Protistology, 38 : 247 - 265.

Canning EU, Tops SA, Curry A, Wood TS, Okamura B (2002) Ecology, development and pathogenicity of Buddenbrockia plumatellae Schröder, 1910 (Myxozoa, Malacosporea) (syn. Tetracapsula bryozoides) and establishment of Tetracapsuloides n. gen. for Tetracapsula bryosalmonae. The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 49 : 280 - 295.

Hatton-Ellis T, Hope A, Noble LR, Okamura B (2002) Genetic variation in a freshwater bryozoan: II: The effect of increasing spatial scale. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie, 154 : 293 - 309.

Horton T, Okamura B (2002) The distribution of Ceratothoa steindachneri (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cymothoidae) parasitic in Echiichthys vipera in the north-east Atlantic. The Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 83 (415) :

Monteiro AS, Okamura (2002) Orphan worm finds a home: Buddenbrockia is a myxozoan. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 19 : 968 - 971.

Okamura B, Freeland JR (2002) Gene flow and the evolutionary ecology of passively dispersing aquatic invertebrates, In: Dispersal Ecology, Bullock JM, Kenward RE, Hails RS (Eds). Blackwell Publishing : 194 - 216.

Okamura B, Freeland JR, Hatton-Ellis T (2002) Clones and metapopulations., In: Reproductive Biology of Invertebrates. Volume XI. Progress in Asexual Reproduction, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. : 283 - 312.

Bilton DT, Freeland JR, Okamura B (2001) DISPERSAL IN FRESHWATER INVERTEBRATES. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 32 (1) : 159 - 181. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.32.081501.114016

Horton T, Okamura B (2001) Cymothoid isopod parasites in aquaculture: a review and case study of a Turkish sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and sea bream (Sparus auratus) farm. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 46 : 181 - 188. doi: 10.3354/dao046181

Okamura B, Anderson CL, Longshaw M, Feist SW, Canning EU (2001) PATTERNS OF OCCURRENCE AND 18S rDNA SEQUENCE VARIATION OF PKX (TETRACAPSULA BRYOSALMONAE), THE CAUSATIVE AGENT OF SALMONID PROLIFERATIVE KIDNEY DISEASE. Journal of Parasitology, 87 (2) : 379 - 385. doi: 10.1645/0022-3395(2001)087[0379:pooars]2.0.co;2

Feist SW, Longshaw M, Canning EU, Okamura B (2001) Induction of Proliferative Kidney Disease (PKD) in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Richardson) via the bryozoan Fredericella sultana (Blumenbach, 1779), infected with Tetracapsula bryosalmonae Canning, Curry, Feist, Longshaw & Okamura, 1999. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 45 (61) :

Freeland JR, Rimmer VK, Okamura B (2001) Genetic changes within freshwater bryozoan populations suggest temporal gene flow from statoblast banks. Limnology and Oceanography, 46 : 1121 - 1129.

Gay M, Okamura B, de Kinkelin P (2001) Evidence that infectious stages of Tetracapsula bryosalmonae for rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, are present throughout the year. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 46 : 31 - 40.

Okamura B, Harmelin J-G, Jackson JBC (2001) Refuges revisited: Enemies versus flow and feeding as determinants of sessile animal distribution and form, In: Evolutionary Patterns: Growth, Form and Tempo in the Fossil Record, Jackson JBC, Lidgard S, McKinney FK (Eds). University of Chicago Press : 61 - 93.

O'Dea A, Okamura B (2000) Intracolony variation in zooid size in cheilostome bryozoans as a new technique for investigating palaeoseasonality. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 162 (3-4) : 319 - 332. doi: 10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00136-X

Freeland , Noble , Okamura (2000) Genetic consequences of the metapopulation biology of a facultatively sexual freshwater invertebrate. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 13 (3) : 383 - 395. doi: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2000.00192.x

Anderson CL, Canning EU, Schafer SM, Yokoyama H, Okamura B (2000) Molecular confirmation of the life cycle of Thelohanellus hovorkai Achmerov, 1960 (Myxozoa: Myxosporea). Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 20 : 111 - 115.

Canning EU, Curry A, Feist SW, Longshaw M, Okamura B (2000) A new class and order of myxozoans to accommodate parasites of bryozoans with ultrastructural observations on Tetracapsula bryosalmonae (PKX organism). The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 47 : 456 - 468.

Freeland JR, Noble LR, Okamura B (2000) Genetic diversity of North American populations of Cristatella mucedo, inferred from microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Ecology, 9 : 1375 - 1389.

Freeland JR, Romualdi C, Okamura B (2000) Gene flow and genetic diversity: a comparison of freshwater bryozoan populations in Europe and North America. Heredity, 85 : 498 - 508.

O'Dea AA, Okamura B (2000) Cheilostome bryozoans as indicators of seasonality in the Neogene epicontinental seas of Western Europe. Cubilla AH, Jackson JBC (Eds). : Proceedings of the 11th International Bryozoology Association Conference Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama : 74 - 86.

O'Dea A, Okamura B (2000) Life history and environmental inference through retrospective morphometric analysis of bryozoans: a preliminary study. The Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 80 : 1127 - 1128.

Okamura B (2000) Metapopulation biology of freshwater bryozoans. Cubilla AH, Jackson JBC (Eds). Proceedings of the 11th International Bryozoology Association Conference Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama : 316 - 320.

O'Dea A, Okamura B (1999) Influence of seasonal variation in temperature, salinity and food availability on module size and colony growth of the estuarine bryozoan Conopeum seurati. Marine Biology, 135 (4) : 581 - 588. doi: 10.1007/s002270050659

Freeland JR, Jones CS, Noble LR, Okamura B (1999) Polymorphic microsatellite loci identified in the highly clonal freshwater bryozoan Cristatella mucedo.. Molecular ecology, 8 (2) : 341 - 342.

Anderson CL, Canning EU, Okamura B (1999) Molecular data implicate bryozoans as hosts for PKX (Phylum Myxozoa) and identify a clade of bryozoan parasites within the Myxozoa. Parasitology (Cambridge), 119 : 555 - 561.

Anderson CL, Canning EU, Okamura B (1999) 18S rDNA sequences indicate that PKX organism parasitizes Bryozoa.. Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 19 : 94 - 97.

Canning EU, Curry A, Anderson CL, Okamura B (1999) Ultrastructure of Myxidium trachinorum n. sp. from the gall bladder of the lesser weever fish Echiichthys vipera. Parasitology Research, 85 : 910 - 919.

Canning EU, Curry A, Feist SW, Longshaw M, Okamura B (1999) Tetracapsula bryosalmonae n.sp. for PKX organism the cause of PKD in salmonid fish. Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 19 : 203 - 206.

Longshaw M, Feist SW, Canning EU, Okamura B (1999) First identification of PKX in bryozoans from the United Kingdom - molecular evidence. Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 19 : 146 - 149.

Okamura B, Partridge JC (1999) Suspension feeding adaptations to extreme flow environments in a marine bryozoan. Biological Bulletin, 196 : 205 - 215.

Wood TS, Okamura B (1999) Asajirella gelatinosa in Panama: a bryozoan range extension in the Western Hemisphere (Ectoprocta: Phylactolaemata). Hydrobiologia, 390 : 19 - 23.

Eckman JE, Okamura B (1998) A Model of Particle Capture by Bryozoans in Turbulent Flow: Significance of Colony Form. The American Naturalist, 152 (6) : 861 - 880. doi: 10.1086/286214

HATTON‐ELLIS TW, NOBLE LR, OKAMURA B (1998) Genetic variation in a freshwater bryozoan. I: Populations in the Thames basin, UK. Molecular Ecology, 7 (11) : 1575 - 1585. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.1998.00492.x

Anderson CL, Canning EU, Okamura B (1998) A triploblast origin for Myxozoa?. Nature, 392 : 346 - 347.

Canning EU, Okamura B, Curry A (1997) A new microsporidium, Nosema cristatellae n. sp. in the bryozoan Cristatella mucedo (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 70 : 177 - 183.

Okamura B (1997) Modelling particle capture rates by encrusting bryozoans: adaptive significance of colony form. Lessios HA, McIntyre IG (Eds). Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium Panama, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama : 1077 - 1080.

Okamura B (1997) Genetic similarity, parasitism, and metapopulation structure in a cyclically clonal bryozoan, In: Evolutionary Ecology of Freshwater Animals, Streit B (Eds). Birkhauser Verlag : 294 - 320.

Okamura B (1997) The ecology of subdivided populations of a clonal freshwater bryozoan in southern England. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie, 141 : 13 - 34.

Canning EU, Okamura B, Curry A (1996) Development of a myxozoan parasite Tetracapsula bryozoides n.g., n.sp. in the body cavity of Cristatella mucedo (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). Folia Parasitologica, 43 : 249 - 261.

Okamura B (1996) Occurrence, prevalence, and effects of the myxozoan Tetracapsula bryozoides Canning, Okamura and Curry, 1996, parasitic in the freshwater bryozoan Cristatella mucedo Cuvier (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata). Folia Parasitologica, 43 : 262 - 266.

Vernon JG, Okamura B, Jones CS, Noble LR (1996) Temporal patterns of clonality and parasitism in a population of freshwater bryozoans. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B, 263 : 1313 - 1318.

Okamura B, Hatton-Ellis T (1995) Population biology of freshwater bryozoans: correlates of sessile, colonial life histories in freshwater habitats. Experientia, 51 : 510 - 525.

JONES CS, OKAMURA B, NOBLE LR (1994) Parent and larval RAPD fingerprints reveal outcrossing in freshwater bryozoans. Molecular Ecology, 3 (3) : 193 - 199. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.1994.tb00052.x

Okamura B, Doolan LA (1993) Patterns of suspension feeding in the freshwater bryozoan Plumatella repens. Biological Bulletin, 184 : 52 - 56.

Okamura B, Jones CS, Noble LR (1993) Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of clonal population structure and geographic variation in a freshwater bryozoan. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B, 253 : 147 - 154.

Okamura B (1992) Microhabitat variation and patterns of colony growth and feeding in a marine bryozoan. Ecology, 73 : 1502 - 1513.

Okamura B (1990) Behavioural plasticity in the suspension feeding of benthic animals, In: Behavioural Mechanisms of Food Selection, Springer-Verlag : 637 - 660.

Okamura B (1990) Particle size, flow velocity, and suspension-feeding by the erect bryozoans Bugula neritina and B. stolonifera. Marine Biology: international journal on life in oceans and coastal waters, 105 : 33 - 38.

Okamura B (1988) The influence of neighbors on the feeding of an epifaunal bryozoan. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 120 (2) : 105 - 123. doi: 10.1016/0022-0981(88)90083-4

Okamura B, Bishop JDD (1988) Zooid size in cheilostome bryozoans as an indicator of relative palaeotemperature. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 66 (3-4) : 145 - 152. doi: 10.1016/0031-0182(88)90197-6

Okamura B (1987) Seasonal changes in zooid size and feeding activity in epifaunal colonies of Electra pilosa, In: null, Ross JRP (Eds). Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA : 197 - 204.

Okamura B (1987) Particle size and velocity induce an inferred switch in bryozoan suspension-feeding behaviour. Biological Bulletin, 173 : 222 - 229.

Okamura B (1986) Group living and the effects of spatial position in aggregations of Mytilus edulis. Oecologia, 69 (3) : 341 - 347. doi: 10.1007/BF00377054

Okamura B (1986) Formation and disruption of aggregations of Mytilus edulis in the fouling community of San Francisco Bay, California. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 30 : 275 - 282.

Okamura B (1985) The effects of ambient flow velocity, colony size, and upstream colonies on the feeding success of Bryozoa. II. Conopeum reticulum (Linnaeus), an encrusting species. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 89 (1) : 69 - 80. doi: 10.1016/0022-0981(85)90082-6

Okamura B (null) Functional and ecological consequences of aggregation and coloniality in benthic, marine suspension feeders. PhD Thesis. (Supervisor(s)) Sousa WP, Koehl MAR.

Okamura B (1984) The effects of ambient flow velocity, colony size, and upstream colonies on the feeding success of bryozoa. I. Bugula stolonifera Ryland, an arborescent species. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 83 (2) : 179 - 193. doi: 10.1016/0022-0981(84)90044-3

Contributed Publications

Okamura B (1994) Variation in local populations of the freshwater bryozoan Cristatella mucedo. Hayward PJ, Ryland JS, Taylor PD (Eds). Olsen & Olsen, Fredensborg, Denmark : 145 - 149.

(null) null .

Teaching and students

Supervision

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Hardinge G
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Macroecological patterns in reproduction of globally distributed deep-sea jellyfish.
University of Southampton, Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
Funding: University of Southampton & Natural History Museum
1/10/2014 - 1/10/2017.

Doctorate (PhD) Co-supervisor to Fontes I
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Assessing the risk of an emerging salmonid disease
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2011 - 1/4/2014.

Doctorate (PhD) Co-supervisor to Jenkins H
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Polyembryony, brood-chamber initiation and sperm utilization in cyclostome bryozoans
Bangor University, Bangor, Bangor, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2009 - 1/4/2013.

Doctorate (PhD) Co-supervisor to Salgado J
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Historical metapopulation ecology
University College London
1/10/2007 - 3/10/2011.

Doctorate equivalent (PhD) Lead supervisor to Knowles T
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Paleaoclimate inferred from organismal remains
University of Reading, Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2005 - 1/10/2008.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Hartikainen H
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Bryozoan abundance, eutrophication and fish disease
University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2004 - 1/10/2007.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Hill S
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
The ecology and conservation of the rare freshwater bryozoan, Lophopus crystallinus
University of Reading, Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: Environment Agency, Action for Invertebrates, University of Reading
1/10/2003 - 1/10/2006.

Doctorate (PhD) Joint supervisor to Neal K
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Aspects of teh reproductive biology in the Spirorbidae (Polychaeta)
University of Reading, Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: NERC
1/10/2001 - 1/10/2004.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Tops S
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Ecology, life history and diversity of malacosporeans
Funding: NERC
1/10/2001 - 1/4/2004.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Horton T
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Genus Ceratothoa in wild and farmed fish: Taxonomy, ecology and pathology
University of Reading, Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Funding: University of Reading
1/10/1999 - 1/10/2001.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to O'Dea A
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
Environmental inferences using Recent and fossil bryozoans
University of Bristol, Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
Funding: BBSRC
1/10/1996 - 1/10/1999.

Doctorate (PhD) Lead supervisor to Hatton-Ellis T
Co supervisor(s): Okamura B
The molecular ecology of Cristatella mucedo (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata) in space and time
Funding: NERC
1/10/1994 - 1/4/1997.