Oman, March 16 to April 1, 2013

Joseph DiBattista (KAUST), Luiz Rocha (CAS), Howard Choat (JCU), Jennifer McIlwain (Curtin University), Tane Sinclair-Taylor (KAUST), Mark Priest (KAUST), Abdulkareem (Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries, Oman)

A National Geographic society funded (award # 9024-11) shore and boat diving expedition to genetically sub-sample and preserve whole reef fish specimens at three stations on the Dhofar Coast of Oman (Salalah/Mirbat, Al Hallaniyats, Bar Al Hickman – Masirah Island) and one station in the Gulf of Oman (Muscat). We covered several thousand kilometers of coastline in two weeks by driving 4 x 4 vehicles to key regions with the aforementioned stops along the way. This represents a critical sampling region outside of Saudi Arabian waters to characterize the contemporary (and historical) effects of the major upwelling events in the Gulf of Aden on larval dispersal and the composition of marine fauna.