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Troy D. Tuckey

Senior Research Scientist

Email: [[tuckey]]
Phone: (804) 684-7328
Office: Nunnally Hall 140
Section: Natural Resources

Education
  • B.S., University of South Florida, 1993
  • M.S., University of Charleston, 2000
  • Ph.D., College of William and Mary, 2009
Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding the biological and ecological processes that regulate fish early life history population dynamics.  The early life history of fishes is a dynamic period with many factors governing rates of growth and mortality that help shape year class strength. Understanding the driving forces and variability that is observed in abundance of juvenile fishes is an important component of fisheries management.  Since many marine fishes use estuaries and tidal waters as nurseries, most of my attention is on coastal systems. I incorporate modeling techniques and field based research to address ecological questions about recruitment variability.

Current Projects
  • Predation impacts of Blue Catfish on Blue Crabs in estuarine environments. Funded by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

  • Characterization of nursery habitats used by black sea bass and summer flounder in Chesapeake Bay and the coastal lagoons. Funded by NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office.

  • Threshold effects of altered shorelines on forage species: Baywide approach and subestuary approach. Funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

  • Quantifying habitat suitability for forage fishes in Chesapeake Bay: A coupled modeling approach using fishery surveys and a hydrodynamic model. Funded by NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office.
  • Estimating relative juvenile abundance of ecologically important finfish and blue crabs in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay and tributaries (Also known as the Juvenile Fish and Blue Crab Trawl Survey). Funded by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, and the Virginia Marine Recreational Fishing Advisory Board.
  • Estimating relative abundance of young-of-year American eel, Anguilla rostrata, in the Virginia tributaries of Chesapeake Bay. Funded by the Virginia Marine Recreational Fishing Advisory Board and the Virginia Commercial Marine Improvement Fund.
  • Estimating relative abundance of young-of-year American eel, Anguilla rostrata, in the Potomac River. Funded by the Potomac River Fisheries Commission.
Selected Publications

  • Lohan, K. M., R. Aguilar, R. DiMaria, K. Heggie, T. D. Tuckey, M. C. Fabrizio, and M. B. Ogburn. 2023. Juvenile Striped Bass consume diverse prey in Chesapeake Bay tributaries. Marine and Coastal Fisheries. DOI: 10.1002/mcf2.10259

  • Qin, Q., J. Shen, T. D. Tuckey, X. Cai, and J. Xiong. 2022. Using Forward and Backward Particle Tracking Approaches to Analyze Impacts of a Water Intake on Ichthyoplankton Mortality in the Appomattox River. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 10, 1299. DOI: 10.3390/jmse10091299

  • Aguilar, R., S. Prakash, M. B. Ogburn, K. M. Pagenkopp Lohan, K. S. MacDonald III, A. C. Driskell, S. T. Ahyong, M. Leray, S. E. McIlroy, T. D. Tuckey, and J. A. Baeza. 2022. Unresolved taxonomy confounds invasive species identification: the Lysmata vittata Stimpson, 1860 (Decapoda: Caridea: Lysmatidae) species complex and recent introduction of Lysmata vittata sensu stricto in the Western Atlantic. Journal of Crustacean Biology 42:1-18. DOI: 10.1093/jcbiol/ruab079

  • Fabrizio, M. C., T. D. Tuckey, A. J. Bever, and M. L. MacWilliams. 2021. The extent of seasonally suitable habitats may limit forage fish production in a temperate estuary. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:1-24. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2021.706666

  • Fabrizio, M. C., V. Nepal, and T. D. Tuckey. 2021. Invasive blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay region: A case study of competing management objectives. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 41(special Issue 1): S156 – S166. DOI: 10.1002/nafm.10552
  • Tuckey, T. D., J. L. Swinford, M. C. Fabrizio, H. J. Small, and J. D. Shields. 2021. Penaeid shrimp in Chesapeake Bay: Population growth and black gill disease syndrome. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 13:159-173. DOI: 10.1002/mcf2.10143
  • Woodland, R. J., A. Buchheister, R. J. Latour, C. Lozano, E. Houde, C. J. Sweetman, M. C. Fabrizio, and T. D. Tuckey. 2021. Environmental drivers of forage fishes and benthic invertebrates at multiple spatial scales in a large temperate estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 44:921-938. DOI: 10.1007/s12237-020-00835-9
  • Warshafsky, Z. T., T. D. Tuckey, W. K. Vogelbein, R. J. Latour, and A. R. Wargo. 2018. Temporal, spatial, and biological variation of nematode epidemiology in American eels. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science.
  • Luellen, D. R., M. J. LaGuardia, T. D. Tuckey, M. C. Fabrizio, G. W. Rice and R. C. Hale. 2018.   Assessment of legacy and emerging contaminants in an introduced catfish and implications for the fishery. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25:28355-28366.
  • Fabrizio, M. C., T. D. Tuckey, R. J. Latour, G. C. White, and A. J. Norris. 2017. Tidal habitats support large numbers of invasive blue catfish in a Chesapeake Bay subestuary. Estuaries and Coasts: 1-14. DOI 10.1007/s12237-017-0307-1
  • Tuckey, T.D., M. C. Fabrizio, A. J. Norris, and M. Groves. 2017. Low apparent survival and heterogenous movement patterns of invasive Blue Catfish in a coastal river. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 9:564-572. DIO 10.1080/19425120.2017.1381207
  • Tuckey, T. D. and M. C. Fabrizio. 2016. Variability in fish tissue proximate composition is consistent with indirect effects of hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay tributaries. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 8:1-15.
  • Nys, L. N., M. C. Fabrizio, and T. D. Tuckey. 2015. Multi-decadal variation in size of juvenile Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Sea Research 103:50-58.
  • Tuckey. T. D. and Mary C. Fabrizio. 2013. Influence of Survey Design on Fish Assemblages: Implications from a Study in Chesapeake Bay Tributaries. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 142:4, 957-973.
  • Tuckey, T. D. and J. E. Olney. In Revision.  Growth, mortality, and recruitment of age 0 American shad cohorts in lower Chesapeake Bay nurseries. Marine and Coastal Fisheries.
  • Latour, R. J., E. J. Hilton, P. D. Lynch, T. D. Tuckey, B. E. Watkins, and J. E. Olney. 2012. Evaluating the current status of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) stocks in three Virginia   Rivers. Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management and Ecosystem Science. 4:302-311.
  • Tuckey, T. D. 2011. ‘Alosine life history in Chesapeake Bay.’ In Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management for Chesapeake Bay: Alosine Species Team Background and Issue Briefs. Ed. T. Tuckey and A. Read. College Park, MD: Maryland Sea Grant.
  • Tuckey, T. D. and B. Sadzinski. 2011. ‘Flow and water quality.’ In Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management for Chesapeake Bay: Alosine Species Team Background and Issue Briefs. Ed. T. Tuckey and A. Read. College Park, MD: Maryland Sea Grant.
  • Tuckey, T. D. and J. E. Olney. 2010. Maturity schedules of female American shad vary at small spatial scales in Chesapeake Bay.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 30:1020-1031.
  • Tuckey, T. D., N. Yochum, J. Hoenig, J. Lucy, and J. Cimino. 2007. Evaluating Localized vs Large-scale Management: The Example of Tautog in Virginia. Fisheries 32(1):21-28.
  • Tuckey, T. D. and M. Dehaven. 2006. Fish assemblages found in tidal-creek and seagrass habitats in the Suwannee River estuary. Fishery Bulletin 104:102-117.
Students

  •  Kaite Cisz, M. S. committee member

  • Aman Kohli, Ph.D., 2023. Emerging Red Sore Disease of American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) in Chesapeake Bay: Etiology, Epidemiology, and Impacts in Aquaculture and Wild

  • Zoemma Warshafsky, M.S., 2017. Thesis: The impact of the parasitic nematode Anguillicoloides crassus on Chesapeake Bay American eels (Anguilla rostrata)

Advisory Service

  • Member, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Forage Action Team 2019 – present

  • Member, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office Invasive Catfish Workgroup 2018 – present

  • Member, Virginia Alosa Task Force, 2016 - present

  • Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) American eel Technical Committee, 2015 – present

  • ASMFC American eel Technical Committee, Chair 2020 – 2023

  • ASMFC American eel Stock Assessment Subcommittee, 2017, 2020

  • ASMFC American eel Plan Development Team, 2013, 2023

  • NJ Sea Grant Technical Review Panel, 2017

  • Chairman, MD Sea Grant Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management Alosine Team 2009 - 2010

  • Advisor to Virginia Marine Resources Commission: in-water permit application review for raw-water intakes, pile-driving, dredging operations, 2009 - present

  • Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Regional Leadership Team, 2003 - 2004