Thurman D. Kitchin Professor of Biology (Emeritus)
B.A., University of New Hampshire (1965)
M.S., Florida State University (1967)
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara (1970)
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Areas of Interest
Invertebrate Zoology, Physiological Ecology
Research
I am broadly interested in the behavioral and physiological ecology of aquatic invertebrates and the mechanisms by which these organisms are affected by significant environmental factors. Recent projects include host/symbiont interactions between bivalve molluscs and aquatic (unionicolid) mites, functional morphology of gills and pallial organs of adult bivalves, and the behavior and physiology of juvenile freshwater mussels. Current work is focused on juvenile freshwater mussels that we raise in the laboratory both by in vitro culturing techniques and by infecting fish with parasitic glochidia larvae. This work also involves immunological aspects of the host-fish/larval-mussel association. Our work has implications for problems associated with the ‘invasion’ of the European zebra mussel and for the overall conservation of the highly endangered molluscan family Unionidae.
Selected Publications
RV Dimock, Jr. 2012. Heterodonta. In Stefan Malmoli (Ed.), McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology (11th edition) 8:529-531.RV Dimock, Jr. 2012. Paleoheterodonta. In Stefan Malmoli (Ed.), McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology (11th edition) 8:767-769.
RV Dimock, Jr and DA Aldridge. 2012. Fish tales and mussels: role reversal in a fish-mussel symbiosis. p. 59 Proceedings of the Biology and Conservation of Freshwater Bivalves. Polytechnic Institute of Braganca, Portugal
MP White, EC Johnson, and RV Dimock, Jr. 2012. Expression of HSP70 by Utterbackia imbecillis (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in response to copper. p.100 Proceedings of the Biology and Conservation of Freshwater Bivalves. Polytechnic Institute of Braganca, Portugal.
CL Rogers-Lowery, RV Dimock, Jr, and RE Kuhn. 2007. Antibody response of bluegill sunfish during development of acquired resistance against the larvae of the freshwater mussel Utterbackia imbecillis. Developmental and Comparative Immunology 31:143-155
MP Pilarczyk, PM Stewart, DN Shelton, HN Blalock-Herod and JD Williams. 2006. Current and recent historical freshwater mussel assemblages in the Gulf Coastal Plains. Southeastern Naturalist 5:205-226
BJ Dodd, MC Barnhart, CL Rogers-Lowery, TB Fobian, and RV Dimock, Jr, 2006. Persistence of host response against glochidia larvae in Micropterus salmoides. Fish & Shellfish Immunology 21:473-48
GR Fisher and RV Dimock, Jr. 2006. Indicators of physiological condition in juvenile Utterbackia imbecillis (Bivalvia: Unionidae): a comparison of rearing techniques. American Malacology Bulletin 21:23-29
CL Rogers-Lowery and RV Dimock, Jr. 2006. Encapsulation of attached ectoparasitic larvae of freshwater mussels by epithelial tissue on fins of naive and resistant host fish. Biological Bulletin 210:51-63