Lessios, Harilaos

Senior Scientist

Molecular evolution and population genetics of marine organisms; ecology of coral reefs

Background And Education

Education And Training

M.Phil., Yale University
Ph.D., Yale University
A.B. in Biology, Harvard University , School of Arts and Sciences 1969 - 1973

Awards And Honors

Secretary's Research Prize, conferred by Office of the Secretary, 2017
Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Award, conferred by Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Awards, 2017

Research And Grants

Co-principal Investigator On

Adaptation to Ocean Acidification on Evolutionary Scales awarded by Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Awards

Investigator On

Publications

Selected Publications

Article
- Carrier, Tyler J., Schwob, Guillaume, Ketchum, Remi N., Lessios, Harilaos A., and Reitzel, Adam M. 2024. "Divergence between sea urchins and their microbiota following speciation." Marine Biology, 171, (6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-024-04442-1. 2024
- Touchon, Justin C., McMillan, W. O., Ibáñez, Roberto, and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2024. "Flexible oviposition behavior enabled the evolution of terrestrial reproduction." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121, (31). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2312371121. 2024
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2024. "Introgression of the gamete recognition molecule, bindin, in the sea urchin Diadema." Integrative And Comparative Biology, https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icae069. 2024
- Hewson, Ian, Ritchie, Isabella T., Evans, James S., Altera, Ashley, Behringer, Donald, Bowman, Erin, Brandt, Marilyn, Budd, Kayla A., Camacho, Ruleo A., Cornwell, Tomas O., Countway, Peter D., Croquer, Aldo, Delgado, Gabriel A., DeRito, Christopher, Duermit-Moreau, Elizabeth, Francis-Floyd, Ruth, Gittens, Samuel, Henderson, Leslie, Hylkema, Alwin, Kellogg, Christina A., Kiryu, Yasunari, Kitson-Walters, Kimani, Kramer, Patricia, Lang, Judith C., Lessios, Harilaos et al. 2023. "A scuticociliate causes mass mortality of Diadema antillarum in the Caribbean Sea." Science Advances, 9, (16). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg3200. 2023
- Davidson, Phillip L., Lessios, Harilaos A., Wray, Gregory A., McMillan, W. Owen, and Prada, Carlos. 2023. "Near-Chromosomal-Level Genome Assembly of the Sea Urchin Echinometra lucunter, a Model for Speciation in the Sea." Genome Biology and Evolution, 15, (6). https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evad093. 2023
- Courville, Erwan, Poulin, Elie, Saucede, Thomas, Mooi, Rich, Lessios, Harilaos A., Salinas, Andrea Martínez, and Diaz, Angie. 2023. "Taxonomic reassessment of Tetrapygus niger (Arbacioida, Echinoidea): molecular and morphological evidence support its placement in Arbacia." Zootaxa, 5375, (2) 249–261. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5375.2.6. 2023
- Lessios, H. A. and Hendler, Gordon. 2022. "Mitochondrial phylogeny of the brittle star genus Ophioderma." Scientific Reports, 12, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08944-0. 2022
- Coppard, Simon E., Jessop, Holly, and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2021. "Phylogeography, colouration, and cryptic speciation across the Indo-Pacific in the sea urchin genus Echinothrix." Scientific Reports, 11, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95872-0. 2021
- Collin, Rachel, Venera-Ponton, Dagoberto E., Driskell, Amy C., Macdonald, Kenneth S., Geyer, Laura B., Lessios, Harilaos A., and Boyle, Michael J. 2020. "DNA barcoding of echinopluteus larvae uncovers cryptic diversity in neotropical echinoids." Invertebrate Biology, Article e12292. https://doi.org/10.1111/ivb.12292. 2020
- Carrier, Tyler J., Lessios, Harilaos A., and Reitzel, Adam M. 2020. "Eggs of echinoids separated by the Isthmus of Panama harbor divergent microbiota." Marine Ecology Progress Series, 648 169–177. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13424. 2020
- Hiller, Alexandra and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2020. "Marine species formation along the rise of Central America: The anomuran crab Megalobrachium." Molecular ecology, 29, (2) 413–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15323. 2020
- Geyer, L. B., Zigler, K. S., Tiozzo, S., and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2020. "Slow evolution under purifying selection in the gamete recognition protein bindin of the sea urchin Diadema." Scientific Reports, 10, (1) 9834. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66390-2. 2020
- Wilkins, Laetitia G. E., Leray, Matthieu, Yuen, Benedict, Peixoto, Raquel, Pereira, Tiago J., Bik, Holly M., Coil, David A., Duffy, J. Emmett, Herre, Edward Allen, Lessios, Harilaos, Lucey, Noelle, Mejia, Luis C., O'Dea, Aaron, Rasher, Douglas B., Sharp, Koty, Sogin, Emilia M., Thacker, Robert W., Thurber, Rebecca Vega, Wcislo, William T., Wilbanks, Elizabeth G., and Eisen, Jonathan A. 2019. "Host-associated microbiomes and their roles in marine ecosystem functions." PeerJ, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27930v1. 2019
- Wilkins, Laetitia G. E., Leray, Matthieu, O'Dea, Aaron, Yuen, Benedict, Peixoto, Raquel S., Pereira, Tiago J., Bik, Holly M., Coil, David A., Duffy, J. Emmett, Herre, Edward Allen, Lessios, Harilaos A., Lucey, Noelle M., Mejia, Luis C., Rasher, Douglas B., Sharp, Koty H., Sogin, Emilia M., Thacker, Robert W., Thurber, Rebecca Vega, Wcislo, William T., Wilbanks, Elizabeth G., and Eisen, Jonathan A. 2019. "Host-associated microbiomes drive structure and function of marine ecosystems." PLoS biology, 17, (11) 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000533. 2019
- Moura, Carlos J., Collins, Allen G., Santos, Ricardo S., and Lessios, Harilaos. 2019. "Predominant east to west colonizations across major oceanic barriers: Insights into the phylogeographic history of the hydroid superfamily Plumularioidea, suggested by a mitochondrial DNA barcoding marker." Ecology and Evolution, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5608. 2019
- Crandall, Eric D., Riginos, Cynthia, Bird, Chris E., Liggins, Libby, Treml, Eric, Beger, Maria, Barber, Paul H., Connolly, Sean R., Cowman, Peter F., DiBattista, Joseph D., Eble, Jeff A., Magnuson, Sharon F., Horne, John B., Kochzius, Marc, Lessios, Harilaos A., Liu, Shang Yin Vanson, Ludt, William B., Madduppa, Hawis, Pandolfi, John M., Toonen, Robert J., Gaither, Michelle R., and Diversity Indopacific Network. 2019. "The molecular biogeography of the Indo-Pacific: Testing hypotheses with multispecies genetic patterns." Global Ecology and Biogeography, 28, (7) 943–960. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12905. 2019
- Koch, Nicolás Mongiardino, Coppard, Simon E., Lessios, Harilaos A., Briggs, Derek E. G., Mooi, Rich, and Rouse, Greg W. 2018. "A phylogenomic resolution of the sea urchin tree of life." BMC Evolutionary Biology, 18, (189). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1300-4. 2018
- Moura, Carlos J., Lessios, Harilaos, Cortes, Jorge, Nizinski, Martha S., Reed, John, Santos, Ricardo S., and Collins, Allen G. 2018. "Hundreds of genetic barcodes of the species-rich hydroid superfamily Plumularioidea (Cnidaria, Medusozoa) provide a guide toward more reliable taxonomy." Scientific Reports, 8 17986. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35528-8. 2018
- Bellis, Emily S., Edlund, Reid B., Berrios, Hazel K., Lessios, Harilaos A., and Denver, Dee R. 2018. "Molecular signatures of host specificity linked to habitat specialization in Exaiptasia sea anemones." Ecology and Evolution, 8, (11) 5413–5426. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4058. 2018
- Jossart, Quentin, De Ridder, Chantal, Lessios, Harilaos A., Bauwens, Mathieu, Motreuil, Sé, Rigaud, Thierry, Wattier, Ré, and David, Bruno. 2017. "Highly contrasted population genetic structures in a host-parasite pair in the Caribbean Sea." Ecology and Evolution, 7, (22) 9267–9280. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3413. 2017
- Hiller, Alexandra and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2017. "Phylogeography of Petrolisthes armatus, an invasive species with low dispersal ability." Scientific Reports, 7, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03410-8. 2017
- Coppard, Simon E. and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2017. "Phylogeography of the sand dollar genus Encope: implications regarding the Central American Isthmus and rates of molecular evolution." Scientific Reports, 7, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-11875-w. 2017
- O'Dea, Aaron, Lessios, Harilaos A., Coates, Anthony G., Eytan, Ron I., Restrepo-Moreno, Sergio, Cione, Alberto L., Collins, Laurel S., de Queiroz, Alan, Farris, David W., Norris, Richard D., Stallard, Robert F., Woodburne, Michael O., Aguilera, Orangel, Aubry, Marie-Pierre, Berggren, William A., Budd, Ann F., Cozzuol, Mario A., Coppard, Simon E., Duque-Caro, Herman, Finnegan, Seth, Gasparini, German M., Grossman, Ethan L., Johnson, Kenneth G., Keigwin, Lloyd D., Knowlton, Nancy et al. 2016. "Formation of the Isthmus of Panama." Science Advances, 2, (8). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600883. 2016
- Balaguera-Reina, Sergio, Venegas-Anaya, Miryam D., Sánchez, Andrés, Arbelaez, Italo, Lessios, Harilaos A., and Densmore, Llewellyn D. 2016. "Spatial Ecology of the American Crocodile in a Tropical Pacific Island in Central America." PloS One, 11, (6) 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157152. 2016
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2016. "The Great Diadema antillarum Die-Off: 30 Years Later." Annual Review of Marine Science, 8 267–283. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-033857. 2016
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2015. "Appearance of an early closure of the Isthmus of Panama is the product of biased inclusion of data in the metaanalysis." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112, (43). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1514719112. 2015
- Jossart, Quentin, Geyer, Laura B., and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2015. "Characterization of eight microsatellite loci for the sea urchin Meoma ventricosa (Spatangoida, Brissidae) through Next Generation Sequencing." Biochemical systematics and ecology, 59 100–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bse.2015.01.013. 2015
- Jagadeeshan, Santosh, Coppard, Simon E., and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2015. "Evolution of gamete attraction molecules: evidence for purifying selection in speract and its receptor, in the pantropical sea urchin Diadema." Evolution & development, 17, (1) 92–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/ede.12108. 2015
- Balaguera-Reina, Sergio, Venegas-Anaya, Miryam D., Sanjur, Oris I., Lessios, Harilaos A., and Densmore, Llewellyn D., III. 2015. "Reproductive Ecology and Hatchling Growth Rates of the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) on Coiba Island, Panama." South American Journal of Herpetology, 10, (1) 10–22. https://doi.org/10.2994/SAJH-D-14-00024.1. 2015
- Armstrong, Anne Frances and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2015. "The evolution of larval developmental mode: insights from hybrids between species with obligately and facultatively planktotrophic larvae." Evolution & Development, 17, (5) 278–288. https://doi.org/10.1111/ede.12133. 2015
- Bowen, Brian W., Shanker, Kartik, Yasuda, Nina, Malay, Maria Celia (Machel) D., von der Heyden, Sophie, Paulay, Gustav, Rocha, Luiz A., Selkoe, Kimberly A., Barber, Paul H., Williams, Suzanne T., Lessios, Harilaos A., Crandall, Eric D., Bernardi, Giacomo, Meyer, Christopher P., Carpenter, Kent E., and Toonen, Robert J. 2014. "Phylogeography unplugged: comparative surveys in the genomic era." Bulletin of Marine Science, 90, (1) 13–46. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2013.1007. 2014
- Rocha, L. A., Aleixo, A., Allen, G., Almeda, F., Baldwin, Carole C., Barclay, M. V. L., Bates, J. M., Bauer, A. M., Benzoni, F., Berns, C. M., Berumen, M. L., Blackburn, D. C., Blum, S., Bolanos, F., Bowie, R. C. K., Britz, R., Brown, R. M., Cadena, C. D., Carpenter, K., Ceriaco, L. M., Chakrabarty, P., Chaves, G., Choat, J. H., Clements, K. D., Collette, Bruce B. et al. 2014. "Specimen collection: An essential tool." Science, 344, (6186) 814–815. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.344.6186.814. 2014
- Coppard, Simon E., Zigler, Kirk S., and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2013. "Phylogeography of the sand dollar genus Mellita: cryptic speciation along the coasts of the Americas." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 69, (3) 1033–1042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2013.05.028. 2013
- Lessios, Harilaos A. and Robertson, D. Ross. 2013. "Speciation on a round planet: phylogeography of the goatfish genus Mulloidichthys." Journal of Biogeography, 40, (12) 2373–2384. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12176. 2013
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2012. "A sea water barrier to coral gene flow." Molecular ecology, 21, (22) 5390–5392. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12037. 2012
- Zigler, Kirk S., Byrne, Maria, Raff, Elizabeth C., Lessios, Harilaos A., and Raff, Rudolph A. 2012. "Natural hybridization in the sea urchin genus Pseudoboletia between species without apparent barriers to gamete recognition." Evolution, 66, (6) 1695–1708. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01609.x. 2012
- Lessios, Harilaos A., Lockhart, S., Collin, Rachel, Sotil, G., Sanchez-Jerez, P., Zigler, K. S., Perez, A. F., Garrido, M. J., Geyer, L. B., Bernardi, G., Vacquier, V. D., Haroun, R., and Kessing, B. D. 2012. "Phylogeography and bindin evolution in Arbacia, a sea urchin genus with an unusual distribution." Molecular ecology, 21, (1) 130–144. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05303.x. 2012
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2011. "Speciation Genes in Free-Spawning Marine Invertebrates." Integrative and Comparative Biology, 51, (3) 456–465. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icr039. 2011
- Calderon Moreno, Isabel, Ventura, C. R. R., Turon, X., and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2010. "Genetic divergence and assortative mating between colour morphs of the sea urchin (Paracentrotus gaimardi)." Molecular Ecology, 19, (3) 484–493. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04506.x. 2010
- Zulliger, Deborah E. and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2010. "Phylogenetic relationships in the genus Astropecten Gray (Paxillosida: Astropectinidae) on a global scale: molecular evidence for morphological convergence, species-complexes and possible cryptic speciation." Zootaxa, (2504) 1–19. 2010
- Zigler, Kirk S., Raff, Rudolf A., Byrne, Maria M., Raff, Elizabeth C., and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2009. "Abstract: Gamete compatibility and genetic divergence between the echinoids Pseudoboletia maculata and P. indiana." Integrative and Comparative Biology, 49, (1) E331. 2009
- Calderon, Isabel, Turon, Xavier, and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2009. "Characterization of the sperm molecule bindin in the sea urchin genus Paracentrotus." Journal of Molecular Evolution, 68, (4) 366–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-009-9219-4. 2009
- Duda, Thomas F., Jr. and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2009. "Connectivity of populations within and between major biogeographic regions of the tropical Pacific in Conus ebraeus, a widespread marine gastropod." Coral Reefs, 28, (3) 651–659. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0485-9. 2009
- Geyer, Laura B. and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2009. "Lack of Character Displacement in the Male Recognition Molecule, Bindin, in Altantic Sea Urchins of the Genus Echinometra." Molecular Biology and Evolution, 26, (9) 2135–2146. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msp122. 2009
- Miglietta, Maria Pia and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2008. "A silent invasion." Biological Invasions, 11, (4) 825–834. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9296-0. 2008
- Vogler, Catherine, Benzier, John, Lessios, Harilaos A., Barber, Paul, and Worheide, Gert. 2008. "A threat to coral reefs multiplied? Four species of crown-of-thorns starfish." Biology Letters, 4, (6) 696–699. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0454. 2008
- Zigler, Kirk S., Lessios, Harilaos A., and Raff, Rudolf A. 2008. "Egg energetics, fertilization kinetics, and population structure in echinoids with facultatively feeding larvae." Biological Bulletin, 215, (2) 191–199. https://doi.org/10.2307/25470700. 2008
- Rocha, Luiz A., Lindeman, Kenyon C., Rocha, Claudia R., and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2008. "Historical biogeography and speciation in the reef fish genus Haemulon (Teleostei: Haemulidae)." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 48, (3) 918–928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.024. 2008
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2008. "The Great American Schism: Divergence of Marine Organisms After the Rise of the Central American Isthmus." Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 39, (1) 63–91. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095815. 2008
- Mittelbach, Gary G., Schemske, Douglas W., Cornell, Howard V., Allen, Andrew P., Brown, Jonathan M., Bush, Mark B., Harrison, Susan P., Hurlbert, Allen H., Knowlton, Nancy, Lessios, Harilaos A., McCain, Christy M., McCune, Amy R., McDade, Lucinda A., McPeek, Mark A., Near, Thomas J., Price, Trevor D., Ricklefs, Robert E., Roy, Kaustuv, Sax, Dov F., Schluter, Dolph, Sobel, James M., and Turelli, Michael. 2007. "Evolution and the latitudinal diversity gradient: speciation, extinction and biogeography." Ecology Letters, 10, (4) 315–331. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01020.x. 2007
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2007. "Reproductive isolation between species of sea urchins." Bulletin of Marine Science, 81, (2) 191–208. 2007
Chapter
- Lessios, Harilaos A. and Baums, Iliana B. 2017. "Gene Flow in Coral Reef Organisms of the Tropical Eastern Pacific." In Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific: Persistence and loss in a Dynamic environment.. Glynn, Peter W., Mazello, Derek P., and Enochs, Ian C., editors. 477–499. Netherlands: Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7499-4_16. 2017
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2013. "Natural population density fluctuations of Echinoids. Do they help predict the future?" In Climate change perspectives from the Atlantic: past, present and future. Fernandez-Palacios, Jose Maria, Nascimento, Lea de, Hernandez, Jose Carlos, Clemente, Sabrina, Gonzalez, Albano, and Diaz-Gonzalez, Juan P., editors. 341–359. La Laguna, España.: Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de La Laguna. 2013
- Lessios, Harilaos A., Lasker, Howard R., and Levitan, Don R. 2013. "The Use of scuba to study early life histories of marine invertebrates." In Research and Discoveries: The Revolution of Science through Scuba. Lang, Michael A., Marinelli, Roberta L., Roberts, Susan J., and Taylor, Phillip R., editors. 87–99. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. In Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences, 39. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.1943667X.39.87. 2013
- Lessios, Harilaos A. and Zigler, K. S. 2012. "Rates of sea urchin bindin evolution." In Rapidly Evolving Genes and Genetic Systems.. Singh, Rama S., Xu, Jianping, and Kulathinal, Rob J., editors. 136–143. USA: Oxford University Press. 2012
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2010. "Speciation in sea urchins." In Echinoderms: Durham. Proceedings of the 12th Echinoderm Conference, Durham, New Hampshire. 91–101. 2010
- Sponer, Renate and Lessios, Harilaos A. 2009. "Mitochondrial phylogeography of the intertidal isopod Excirolana braziliensis on the two sides of the Isthmus of Panama." In Proceedings of the Smithsonian Marine Science Symposium. First ed. Lang, Michael A., Macintyre, Ian G., and Ruetzler, Klaus, editors. 219–228. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. In Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences, 38. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.01960768.38.219. 2009
- Lessios, Harilaos A., Robertson, D. Ross, and Cubit, John D. 2007. "Diseminación de la mortalidad masiva de Diadema en todo el Caribe." In Ecología y evolución en los trópicos. Leigh, Egbert Giles, Jr., Herre, Edward Allen, Jackson, Jeremy B. C., and Santos-Granero, Fernando, editors. 526–530. Panama: Editora Nova Art. 2007
- Lessios, Harilaos A. 2007. "Utilización de los erizos panameños para poner a prueba el reloj molecular." In Ecología y evolución en los trópicos. Leigh, Egbert Giles, Jr., Herre, Edward Allen, Jackson, Jeremy B. C., and Santos-Granero, Fernando, editors. 397–401. Panama: Editora Nova Art. 2007
Dataset
- Coppard, Simon E., Lessios, Harilaos A., and Jessop, Holly. 2021. [Dataset] Phylogeography of the sea urchin genus Echinothrix. Distributed by Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.V15DV41WG. 2021

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Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Department

Lessios, Harilaos

Senior Scientist

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Lessios, Harilaos

Senior Scientist

Background And Education

Education And Training

Awards And Honors

Research And Grants

Co-principal Investigator On

Investigator On

Publications

Selected Publications

Article

Chapter

Dataset

Contact

Location