John Y. Wang, Ph.D.

Ph.D. Biology, McMaster University
M.Sc. Zoology, University of Guelph
B.Sc. Zoology, Biology, University of Toronto

PRESENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

Ecology, taxonomy and conservation of finless porpoises, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins.

Biology of Pacific sleeper sharks.

RELATED EXPERIENCE

• Organized the First Symposium and Workshop on the Conservation and Research of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins of Western Taiwan (February 2004)

• Initiated the first harbour porpoise ? gillnet fishery observer program in Canada

• Cetacean abundance estimates using transect methodology and shipboard surveys

• Necropsy of incidentally caught cetaceans to collect life history information and data and tissue samples for other studies

• Preparation of cetacean skeletons for museum collections and public displays

• Rescue of many cetaceans entrapped in fishing gear

• Radio telemetric tracking of harbour porpoises and killer whales by ship, plane and land?based stations

• Photo?identification and biopsy darting of free?ranging cetaceans

• Collected fish species for Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Royal Ontario Museum

• Reviewer for Canadian Journal of Zoology, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Aquatic Mammals, Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals, Molecular Ecology, Marine Biology, Journal of Zoology (London), Journal of Mammalogy

RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS

Wang, J.Y. and S.-C. Yang. 2004. First records of Pacific sleeper sharks (Somniosus pacificus Bigelow and Schroeder, 1944) in the subtropical waters of eastern Taiwan. Bulletin of Marine Science 74(1): 229-235.

Wang, J.Y., Hung, S.K. and Yang, S.-C. 2004. Records of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, Sousa chinensis (Osbeck, 1765), from the waters of western Taiwan. Aquatic Mammals 30: 189-196.

Ho, J.S., Chang, W.-B., Yang, S.-C. and Wang, J.Y. 2003. New records for the parasitic copepod Dinemoura ferox (Siphonostomatoida: Pandaridae) from Pacific sleeper sharks captured in the waters of eastern Taiwan. Journal of Parasitology 89(5): 1071-1073.

Secchi, E.R. and Wang, J.Y. 2002. Assessment of the conservation status of a franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) stock in the franciscana management area III following the IUCN Red List process. The Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals (Special Issue 1): 183-190.

Jefferson, T.A., Robertson, K.M. and Wang, J.Y. 2002. Growth and reproduction of the finless porpoise in southern China. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 10: 105-113.

Wang, J.Y. 2002. Stock Identity. Pp. 1189-1192. In Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (eds. W.F. Perrin, B. Wursig and J.G.M. Thewissen). Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1414 pp.

Wang, J.Y., Yang, S.-C., and Liao, H.-C. 2001. Species composition, distribution and relative abundance of cetaceans in the waters of southern Taiwan: implications for conservation and eco-tourism. Journal of the National Parks of Taiwan 11(2): 136-158.

Wang, J.Y., Yang, S.-C. and Liao, H.-C. 2001. Records of melon-headed whales, Peponocephala electra (Gray, 1846), from the waters of Taiwan. Bulletin of the National Museum of Natural Science 14: 85-91.

Wang, J.Y., Chou, L.?S. and White, B.N. 2000. Differences in the external morphology of two sympatric species of bottlenose dolphins (genus Tursiops) in Chinese waters. Journal of Mammalogy 81: 1157-1165.

Wang, J.Y., Chou, L.-S. and White, B.N. 2000. Osteological differences between two sympatric forms of bottlenose dolphins (genus Tursiops) in Chinese waters. Journal of Zoology (London) 252:147-162.

Yang, S.-C., Liao, H.-C., Pan, C.-L. and Wang, J.Y. 1999. A survey of cetaceans in the waters of central?eastern Taiwan. Asian Marine Biology 16:23-34.

Rosel, P.E., France, S.C., Wang, J.Y. and Kocher, T.D. 1999. Genetic structure of harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena populations in the Northwest Atlantic based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers. Molecular Ecology 8: S41-S54.

Wang, J.Y., Chou, L.?S. and White, B.N. 1999. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of sympatric morphotypes of bottlenose dolphins (genus Tursiops) in Chinese waters. Molecular Ecology 8: 1603-1612.

Parsons, E.C.M. and Wang, J.Y. 1998. A review of finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) from the South China Sea. In Marine Biology of the South China Sea III (ed. B. Morton), pp.287-306. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong.

Secchi, E.R., Wang, J.Y., Murray, B,W., Rocha?Campos, C.C. and White, B.N. 1998. Population differentiation in the franciscana (Pontoporia blainvillei) from two geographic locations in Brazil as determined from mitochondrial DNA control region sequences. Canadian Journal of Zoology 76: 1622-1627.

Reeves, R.R., Wang, J.Y. and Leatherwood, S. 1997. The finless porpoise, Neophocaena phocaenoides (G. Cuvier 1829): a summary of current knowledge and recommendations for conservation action. Asian Marine Biology 14: 111-143.

Wang, J.Y. and Berggren, P. 1997. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), in the Baltic Sea, the Kattegat?Skagerrak Seas and off the west coast of Norway. Marine Biology 127: 531?537.

Wang, J.Y., Gaskin, D.E. and White, B.N. 1996. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, subpopulations in North American waters. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53: 1632?1645.

Trippel, E.A., Wang, J.Y., Carter, L.S. and Conway, J.D. 1996. Incidental mortality of harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena (L.), by the gill?net fishery in the lower Bay of Fundy. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53: 1294?1300.

Wang, J.Y., Chou, L.S., Yao, C.J., Neimanis, A.S., and Chou, W.H. 1995. Records of Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) from Taiwan, Republic of China. Asian Marine Biology 12: 111?118.