Gareth Fraser
Associate Professor University of Florida
- Gainesville FL
Gareth Fraser's research focuses on the diversity of fishes and how they evolve and develop their unique adaptations.
Biography
Areas of Expertise
Media Appearances
It's been 50 years since the blockbuster movie 'Jaws,' but there's more to be revealed about shark biology
PBS News online
2025-06-21
In addition to scaring many moviegoers that “it’s not safe to go in the water,” “Jaws” has over the years inspired generations of researchers, including Gareth Fraser. The scientific curiosity sparked by this horror fish flick has helped reveal so much more about what lies beneath the waves than was known 50 years ago.
Watch the hammerhead shark gets its hammer
Science online
2023-09-28
With their broad, flattened snout tipped at each end with giant google eyes, hammerhead sharks are both charismatic and easy to spot. Now, for the first time, scientists have captured step-by-step how this “hammer” forms in developing embryos.
UF researchers study ghost shark and its teeth regeneration abilities
WUFT News online
2023-08-03
University of Florida researchers explored the Pacific Northwest's deep waters this summer to learn about the mystifying ghost shark. The researchers discovered a way to locate ghost shark eggs using remotely-operated vehicles. From there, the researchers can study the shark's teeth to understand teeth regeneration better.
Social
Articles
Teeth Outside the Jaw: Evolution and Development of the Toothed Head Clasper in Chimaeras
bioRxivCohen, et al.
2025-04-05
We investigate the development of the tenaculum and its teeth throughout the ontogeny of the Spotted Ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei, to assess homology and convergence between this novel craniofacial feature and oral jaws.
Evolution, development, and regeneration of tooth-like epithelial appendages in sharks
ScienceDirectNicklin, et al.
2024-12-01
Our observations have begun to decipher the developmental and genetic shifts that separate these seemingly similar dental units, including elements of the regenerative nature in both oral teeth and the emerging skin denticles from the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) and other chondrichthyan models. Ultimately, we ask what defines a tooth at both the molecular and morphological level.
Embryonic development in the bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo), a viviparous hammerhead shark
Developmental DynamicsByrum, et al.
2023-09-28
We present the first comprehensive embryonic staging series for the Bonnethead, a viviparous hammerhead shark. Documenting the development of hard-to-access vertebrates, like this viviparous shark species, offers important information about how new and diverse morphologies arise that otherwise may remain poorly studied.
Media
