I am a field biologist with training in ichthyology and fisheries biology and a broad background in general marine biology and ecology. My research interests include ecological and behavioral interactions of coastal shelf fishes. Specifically, I am interested in feeding behavior and utilization of hard bottoms as food resources by benthic fishes in North Carolina and herbivorous fishes in the Caribbean. I am also interested in the social structure and reproductive strategies of reef fishes that produce pelagic eggs and larvae. My earlier research was conducted in the Caribbean area and the Florida Keys. I am also interested in research on the early larval stages of coastal fishes from North Carolina. More recently, I have been studying the ontogenetic and seasonal differences in the fat content and fatty acid profile of the spottail pinfish a common reef-associated fish in North Carolina. Click here to view my laboratory poster (pdf).

Clavijo, I.E., C.S. Dunn and P.J. Seaton. 1999. A preliminary study of lipid content and fatty acid composition in the spottail pinfish, Diplodus holbrooki. Copeia 1999(3):765-770.

Clavijo, I.E. and P.L. Donaldson. 1994. Spawning behavior in the labrid, Halichoeres bivittatus, on artificial and natural substrates in Onslow Bay, N.C., with notes on early life history. Bulletin of Marine Science 55: 383-387.