Email: rlcaldwell@berkeley.edu

Phone: (510) 642-1391

Web page: http://ib.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/person_detail.php?person=38

His research: Roy studies the behavior of stomatopods, marine crustacians that are distantly related to shrimp. Roy has been studying stomatopods for over 40 years; at this point, he says, “the animals themselves start asking the questions.” These days, Roy is focused on how stomatopods use polarized light to communicate with each other.

His path to the UCMP: Roy is an animal behaviorist and marine biologist – it is a bit unusual for a biologist with his background to be involved with a paleontology museum. However, the UCMP has a large collection of marine invertebrate specimens, some of which are fossils and some of which are modern. Roy has collected many marine invertebrate specimens, including cephalopods and stomatopods, while doing field work in Indonesia and French Polynesia. He contributed these specimens to the UCMP’s collections and became a faculty curator. Roy’s contributions to the museum don’t stop there. “I have an interest in evolution outreach and public education,” he says. Roy is the principal investigator on the UCMP’s Understanding Evolution and Understanding Science websites.

Cheroske, A.G., T. W. Cronin, M.F. Kaminski and R. L. Caldwell. 2009. Adaptive signaling behaviour in stomatopods under varying light conditions. Mar. Freshwater Beh. Physiol. 42: 219-232

Williams B.L., and R.L. Caldwell. 2009. Intra-organismal distribution of tetrodotoxin in two species of blue-ringed octopuses (Hapalochlaena fasciata and H. lunulata). Toxicon. 54:345-353.  

Chiou, T. H, R. L. Caldwell, R. T. Hanlon and T. W. Cronin. 2008. Fine structure and optical properties of biological polarizers in crustaceans and cephalopods. Proceedings of SPIE, 6972: 1-10.

Chiou, T. H, S. Kleinlogel, T. Cronin, R. Caldwell, B. Loeffler, A. Siddiqui, A. Goldizen and J. Marshall. 2008. Circular polarisation vision in a stomatopod crustacean. Current Biology 18: 429-434.

Huffard, C. L., R. L. Caldwell and F. Boneka. 2008. Mating behavior of Abdopus aculeatus (d'Orbigny 1834) (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) in the wild. Marine Biology 154:353-362.

Huffard, C.L., R. L. Caldwell, N. DeLoach, D. W. Gentry, P. Humann, B. MacDonald, B. Moore, R. Ross, T. Uno, S. Wong. 2008. Individually Unique Body Color Patterns in Octopus (Wunderpus photogenicus) Allow for Photoidentification. PLoS ONE 3:e3732 1-5.

Meunier, F.J., M. V. Erdmann, Y. F. and R. L. Caldwell. 2008 Can the comparative study of the morphology and histology of the scales of Latimeria menadoensis and L. chalumnae (Sarcopterygii: Actinistia, Coelacanthidae) bring new insight on the taxonomy and the biogeography of recent coelacanthids? Geological Society, London, Special Publications; v. 295; p. 351-360 doi:10.1144/SP295.17

Patek, S.N., B. N. Nowroozi, J. E. Baio, R. L. Caldwell, and A. P. Summers. 2007. Linkage mechanics and power amplification of the mantis shrimp's raptorial strike. Journal of Experimental Biology 210: 3677-3688  

Fox. H. E. and R. L. Caldwell. 2006. Recovery from Blast Fishing on Coral Reefs: A Tale of Two Scales. Ecological Applications 16:1631-1635.  

Patek, S.N. and R.L. Caldwell. 2006. The stomatopod rumble: sound production in Hemisquilla californiensis. Mar. Freshwater Beh. Physiol. 39:99-111.

Caldwell, R.L. 2005. An observation of inking behaviour protecting adult Octopus bocki from predation by Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings. Pacific Science 59:69-72.

Fox, H. E., P. J. Mous, J. S. Pet, A. H. Muljadi and R. L. Caldwell. 2005. Experimental assessment of coral reef rehabilitation following blast fishing. Conservation Biology 19:98-107

Patek, S.N. and R. L. Caldwell. 2005. Extreme impact and cavitation forces of a biological hammer: strike forces of the peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus). J. Exp. Biol. 208:3655-3664.