Professor Morrissey is a marine biologist and textbook author who studies the biology of sharks and rays.
Courses Taught
BIOL 111 - Introduction to Organisms
BIOL 112 - Introduction to Cells
BIOL 113 - Introductory Laboratory Techniques
BIOL 117 - The Biology of Superheroes
BIOL 147 - Human Anatomy and Physiology I
BIOL 209 - Marine Biology
BIOL 210 - Evolution
BIOL 230 - Comparative Vertebrate Morphology
BIOL 247 - Human Anatomy and Physiology II
BIOL 326 - Comparative Animal Physiology
BIOL 351 - Independent Research
Publications
- J. F. Morrissey, Sumich, J. L., and Pinkard-Meier, D. R. 2018. Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life, 11th edition, Jones and Bartlett, Massachusetts.
- Carney, S. L., D. McVeigh, J. B. Moss, M. D. Ferrier, and J. F. Morrissey. 2017. Insights on Mitochondrial Genetic Variation in Chesapeake Bay Summer-Resident Cownose Rays. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 146(3): 478-484.
- Morson, J. and J. F. Morrissey. 2007. Variation in the morphology of the electric organ in the Little Skate, Leucoraja erinacea, and its possible role in courtship. Environmental Biology of Fishes 80(2-3): 267-275.
- McLaughlin, D. M. and J. F. Morrissey. 2005. Reproductive biology of Centrophorus cf. uyato from the Cayman Trench, Jamaica. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 85: 1185-1192.
- McLaughlin, D. M. and J. F. Morrissey. 2004. New records of elasmobranchs from the Cayman Trench, Jamaica. Bulletin of Marine Science 73(3): 481-485.
- Sundström, L. F., S. H. Gruber, S. M. Clermont, J. P. S. Correia, J. R. C. de Marignac, J. F. Morrissey, C. R. Lowrance, L. Thomassen, and M. T. Oliveira.2001. Review of elasmobranch behavioral studies using ultrasonic telemetry with special reference to the lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris, around Bimini Islands, Bahamas. Environmental Biology of Fishes 60: 225-250.
- Morrissey, J. F. and E. T. Elizaga. 1999. Capture of megamouth 11 in the Philippines. The Philippine Scientist 36: 143-147.
- Yano, K. and J. F. Morrissey. 1999. Confirmation of blacktip shark, Carcharhinus limbatus, in the Ryukyu Islands and notes on possible absence of C. melanopterus in Japanese waters. Ichthyological Research 46(2): 193-198.
- Tang, K. L., P. B. Berendzen, E. O. Wiley, J. F. Morrissey, R. Winterbottom, and G. D. Johnson. 1999. The phylogenetic relationships of the suborder Acanthuroidei (Teleostei: Perciformes) based on molecular and morphological evidence. Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution 11(3): 415-425.
- Yano, K., J. F. Morrissey, Y. Yabumoto, and K. Nakaya. 1997. Biology of the Megamouth Shark. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan, xv+203 pp.
- Morrissey, J. F., K. A. Dunn, and F. Mulé. 1997. The phylogenetic position of Megachasma pelagios inferred from mtDNA sequence data. pp. 33-37 in: Biology of the Megamouth Shark (K. Yano, J. F. Morrissey, Y. Yabumoto, and K. Nakaya, eds.). Tokai University Press.
- Dunn, K. A. and J. F. Morrissey. 1995. Molecular phylogeny of elasmobranchs. Copeia 1995(3): 526-531.
- Morrissey, J. F. and S. H. Gruber. 1993. Home range of juvenile lemon sharks. Copeia 1993(3): 393-402.
- Morrissey, J. F. and S. H. Gruber. 1993. Habitat selection by juvenile lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris (Poey). Environmental Biology of Fishes 38: 311-319.
- Gruber, S. H., D. R. Nelson, and J. F. Morrissey. 1988. Patterns of activity and space utilization of lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris, in a shallow Bahamian lagoon. Bulletin of Marine Science 43(1): 61-76.
Professor Morrissey, a lifetime member of the American Elasmobranch Society, studies the natural history of sharks, skates and rays, including the investigation of their reproduction, behavioral ecology, age and growth, feeding, visual adaptations, and more. He and his students have studied lemon sharks in the Bahamas, a new species of gulper shark from the Cayman Trench (between Jamaica and Cuba), the cownose rays in Chesapeake Bay, and chain catsharks in his lab. He is also the senior author of the bestselling textbook “Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life”.