G. W. Rouse

This study performs the first phylogenomic analysis of sea cucumbers, finding that genome-scale discordance prevents resolving relationships among Neoholothuriida clades.

The paper identifies a dynamic epibiont community of Campylobacterales on Osedax worms that shift over time as whale carcasses decompose, showing metabolic transitions and genetic features suggesting long-term host interactions.

This study uses phylogenomic data to revise the evolutionary history of echinoids, revealing their origin in the Permian and a Cretaceous origin for sand dollars, conflicting with their fossil record.

This paper describes a new chemosynthetic symbiosis in a deep-sea anemone, Ostiactis pearseae, found at hydrothermal vents, showing its reliance on intracellular bacteria for nutrition.

The paper identifies new deep-sea annelid-bacterial symbioses that actively consume methane, expanding the known spatial extent of methane seeps and their ecological impact.

This study resolves the phylogenetic relationships within echinoids using transcriptomes, revealing discrepancies with current classifications and resolving uncertainties about deep-sea lineages and sand dollar relatives.