Bony fishes are the most diverse group of vertebrates on the planet, with coral reef fishes making up a significant proportion of that diversity. In my research, I study the biodiversity, bio/phylogeography, and taxonomy of coral reef fishes. In particular, I am interested in the high endemism found on Hawaiian reefs and the Indo-Pacific origins of those endemic species.
Relevant Publications
Hoban, ML, Walsh, CAJ, Kosaki, RK, Bowen, BW 2026. Origins and relationships of endemic Hawaiian saber-toothed blennies in the genus Plagiotremus (Blennioidei: Blenniidae). Journal of Fish Biology. In review
Coleman, R. R., Kraft, D. W., Hoban, M. L., Toonen, R. J., & Bowen, B. W. (2023). Genomic assessment of larval odyssey: self-recruitment and biased settlement in the Hawaiian surgeonfish Acanthurus triostegus sandvicensis. Journal of Fish Biology, 102(3), 581–595. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15294
Copus, Joshua M., Cameron A. J. Walsh, Mykle L. Hoban, Anne M. Lee, Richard L. Pyle, Randall K. Kosaki, Robert J. Toonen, and Brian W. Bowen. 2022. “Phylogeography of Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems: Squirrelfish and Soldierfish (Holocentriformes: Holocentridae)” Diversity 14, no. 8: 691. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14080691
Hoban ML, Williams JT. 2020. Cirripectes matatakaro, a new species of combtooth blenny from the Central Pacific, illuminates the origins of the Hawaiian fish fauna. PeerJ 8:e8852 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8852