Education
Ph.D., Coral Reef Ecology, University of California, Berkeley
B.S., Biology, Duke University
Dr. Mark Erdmann wears the twin hats of Executive Director of ReShark and Shark Conservation Director of Re:wild, and is responsible for developing, managing, fundraising for and communicating Re:wild’s nascent shark conservation program and ReShark’s global coalition to rewild threatened sharks and rays through innovative approaches to breeding and conservation translocations. Prior to joining Re:wild in July 2025, Mark was Vice President of Asia-Pacific Marine Programs at Conservation International, where he worked for 20 years and played a primary role in conceptualizing and operationalizing the network of 26 MPAs that now protect the Papuan Bird’s Head Seascape in Indonesia.
Mark is a coral reef ecologist and lived and worked for 23 years in Indonesia, though he’s been based in New Zealand since 2014. Over his career he has logged >14,500 scuba dives while surveying marine biodiversity throughout the region, and has now described 217 new species of fish, mantis shrimp and corals. He has published 272 scientific articles and 6 books, including most recently the 3-volume set "Reef Fishes of the East Indies, 2nd Edition" with colleague Dr. Gerald Allen. Erdmann was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation in 2004 for his work in marine conservation education. Though his work is now focused on elasmobranch conservation and particularly the rewilding of threatened sharks and rays, his continuing research interests include reef fish taxonomy, MPA management and elasmobranch conservation and movement ecology.
Mark maintains research associate positions with the California Academy of Sciences, University of Auckland and University of Sunshine Coast, while also advising several PhD and Master’s students, and is a member of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group for the Oceania region. He is also active on the boards of local Indonesian NGOs including Thrive Conservation and Elasmobranch Institute Indonesia, and is a scientific advisor to Manta Trust and Sea Legacy.
Cover Photo Credit: Burt Jones.
Publications
Duffy C, Erdmann M, Finucci B, Griffiths M, Lewis R, Middlemiss K, Stewart A, Hitchmough R, Michel P (in press). Conservation status of chondrichthyans (chimaeras, sharks and rays) in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2024. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. Department of Conservation, Wellington. 29pp.
Chappuis A, Hendrawan IG, Achmad MJ, Clément G, Erdmann MV, Hukom FD, Leblond J, Limmon GV (2025). First record of a living coelacanth from North Maluku, Indonesia. Scientific Reports 15: 14074.
Gomez-Buckley MC, Marron CP, Erdmann MV, Tornabene LM (2025). Species delimitation in the Eviota sigillata complex, a widely distributed group of cryptobenthic coral reef fishes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 213: 108426.
Greenfield DW, Erdmann MV, Ichida NK (2025). Eviota vader, a new western Pacific dwarfgoby from Papua New Guinea (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 43: 39–44.
Miller IB, Fitzpatrick R, Abrantes KG, Norman B, Pierce SJ, Erdmann MV, Hoopes LA, Dudgeon C, Dunbabin MD, Dove ADM, Beaman RJ, Reynolds SD, Rohner C, Williams SM, Paton D, Lewis S, Barnett A (2025). The needle in the haystack: uncovering the first whale shark (Rhincodon typus) aggregation in the Coral Sea. Ecology and Evolution 15: e71552.
Sequeira AMM and 377 others including Erdmann MV (2025). Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets. Science 388: 1086–1097.
Setyawan E, Hasan AW, Malaiholo Y, Sianipar AB, Mambrasar R, Meekan M, Gillanders BM, D'Antonio B, Putra MIH, Erdmann MV (2025). Insights into the population demographics and residency patterns of photo-identified whale sharks Rhincodon typus in the Bird's Head Seascape, Indonesia. Frontiers in Marine Science 12: 1607027.
Setyawan E, Sianipar A, Mambrasar R, Izuan M, Hasan A, Fahmi, Mujiyanto, Ambafen O, Mofu I, Putra MIH, Erdmann MV (2025). Staying close to home: horizontal movements of satellite-tracked reef manta rays Mobula alfredi (Krefft, 1868) in the world's largest manta sanctuary. Fishes 10: 66.
Allen GR, Erdmann MV (2024). Reef Fishes of the East Indies, 2nd Edition. Volumes 1–3. Tropical Reef Research, Perth, Australia. 1466pp.
Dudgeon CL, Ichida N, Hadfield CA, Hoopes LA, Meyer E, Neal L, Erdmann MV (2024). Resharking leopards in Raja Ampat: a behind the scenes look at the StAR (Stegostoma tigrinum) Augmentation and Recovery project. Shark News: Newsletter of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group #9/January 2024: 46–67.
Erdmann MV, Dudgeon CL (2024). Walking (epaulette) sharks. In: Jabado RW, Morata AZA, Bennett R, Finucci B, Ellis J, Fowler S, Grant M, Martins APB, Sinclair S (eds.) The Global Status of Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras. IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland. pp. 2053–2066.
Erdmann MV, Fatzinger H, Hoopes LA, Jabado RW, Meyer E, Sianipar A (2024). ReShark: an international, collective effort to recover threatened sharks and rays around the world. Shark News: Newsletter of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group #10/September 2024: 46–59.
Setyawan E, Erdmann MV, Mambrasar R, Ambafen O, Hasan A, Izuan M, Mofu I, Putra M, Sianipar A, Constantine R, Stevenson B, Jaine F (2024). Spatial connectivity of reef manta rays across the Raja Ampat Archipelago, Indonesia. Royal Society Open Science 11: 230895.
Setyawan E, Mambrasar R, Sianipar AB, Hasan AW, Putra MIH, Mofu I, Beale CS, Erdmann MV (2024). Insights into the visitations of oceanic manta rays at cleaning stations on coral reefs in the Bird's Head Seascape, eastern Indonesia. Frontiers in Fish Science 2: 1432244.
Shidqi RA, Erdmann MV, Setyawan E, Lezama-Ochoa N, Sari DR, Sianipar AB, Stewart J, Croll D (2024). Identifying spatial movements and residency of pelagic thresher sharks (Alopias pelagicus) using satellite and passive acoustic telemetry to inform local conservation in central Indonesia. Frontiers in Fish Science 2: 1391062.
Womersley FC, Rohner CA, Abrantes K, …Erdmann MV… and 73 others (2024). Identifying priority sites for whale shark ship collision management globally. Science of the Total Environment.
Allen GR, Erdmann MV, Dudgeon CL (2023). Tomiyamichthys elliotensis, a new species of shrimpgoby (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from Lady Elliot Island, Queensland, Australia. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 40: 57–69.
Erdmann MV, Greenfield DW, Tornabene L (2023). Eviota taeiae, a new dwarfgoby (Teleostei: Gobiidae) of the Eviota guttata complex from Samoa. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 40: 37–47.
Goméz-Buckley MC, Gallego R, Arranz V, Halafihi T, Stone K, Erdmann MV, Tornabene LM (2023). Comparing anesthetic stations and environmental DNA sampling to determine community composition of cryptobenthic coral reef fishes of Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga. Coral Reefs.
Allen GR, Erdmann MV, Pertiwi NPD (2022). Description of three new species of damselfish belonging to the Pomacentrus philippinus group (Pomacentridae) from Melanesia and the eastern and central Indian Ocean. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 28(1): 1–26.
Andrzejaczek S, Lucas T, Goodman M, …Erdmann MV… and 168 others (2022). Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology. Science Advances 8(33): eabo1754.
Bachman S, Kleypas J, Erdmann M, Setyawan S (2022). A global atlas of potential thermal refugia for coral reefs, generated by internal gravity waves. Frontiers in Marine Science 9: 921879.
Setyawan E, Erdmann MV, Gunadharma N, Gunawan T, Hasan A, Izuan M, Kasmidi M, Lamatenggo Y, Lewis S, Maulana N, Mambrasar R, Mongdong M, Nebore A, Putra MIH, Sianipar A, Thebu K, Tuharea S, Constantine R (2022). A holistic approach to manta ray conservation in the Papuan Bird's Head Seascape: resounding success, ongoing challenges. Marine Policy 137: 104953.
Setyawan E, Erdmann MV, Mambrasar R, Hasan AW, Sianipar AB, Constantine R, Stevenson BC, Jaine FRA (2022). Residency and use of an important nursery habitat, Raja Ampat's Wayag Lagoon, by juvenile reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi). Frontiers in Marine Science 9: 815094.
Setyawan E, Stevenson BC, Erdmann MV, Hasan AW, Sianipar AB, Mofu I, Putra MIH, Izuan M, Ambafen O, Fewster RM, Aldridge-Sutton R, Mambrasar R, Constantine R (2022). Population estimates of photo-identified individuals using a modified POPAN model reveal that Raja Ampat's reef manta rays are thriving. Frontiers in Marine Science 9: 1014791.
Setyawan E, Stevenson BC, Izuan M, Constantine R, Erdmann MV (2022). How big is that manta ray? A novel and non-invasive method for measuring reef manta rays using small drones. Drones 6: 63.
Vanderwright WJ, Dudgeon CL, Erdmann MV, Sianipar A, Dulvy NK (2022). Extinction risk and the small population paradigm in the micro-endemic radiation of epaulette sharks. In: Dellasala DA, Goldstein MI (eds.) Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation. Vol. 2. Elsevier. pp. 752–762.
Womersley FC, Humphries NE, Queiroz N, Vedor M, …Erdmann MV… and 64 others (2022). Global collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world's largest fish, the whale shark. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119(20): e2117440119.
Murphy S, Farmer G, Katz L, Troeng S, Henderson H, Erdmann MV, Corrigan C, Gold B, Lavoie C, Quesada M, Cadelo MCD, Mora AGG, Nunez E, Montebon A, Meo S, Waqainabete-Tuisese S, Dutra G, Pereira R, Mongdong M, Putra K (2021). Fifteen years of lessons from the Seascape approach: a framework for improving ocean management at scale. Conservation Science and Practice: e423, 16pp.
Tornabene L, Greenfield DW, Erdmann MV (2021). A review of the Eviota zebrina complex, with descriptions of four new species (Teleostei, Gobiidae). Zookeys 1057: 149–184.
Allen GR, Erdmann MV, Mongdong MU (2020). Heteroconger guttatus, a new species of garden eel (Pisces: Congridae: Heterocongrinae) from West Papua, Indonesia. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 35: 8–17.
Allen GR, Erdmann MV, Brooks WM (2020). Acanthoplesiops jessicae, a new species of spiny basslet (Acanthoclininae: Plesiopidae) from Papua New Guinea. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 26(2): 57–65.
Allen GR, Erdmann MV, Brooks WM (2020). Vanderhorstia vandersteene, a new species of shrimpgoby (Pisces: Gobiidae) from Papua New Guinea. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 35: 65–75.
Conway KW, King CD, Summers AP, Kim D, Hastings PA, Moore GI, Iglesias SP, Erdmann MV, Baldwin CC, Short G, Fujiwara K, Trnski T, Voelker G, Rüber L (2020). Molecular phylogenetics of the clingfishes (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) – implications for classification. Copeia 108(4): 886–906.
Dudgeon CL, Corrigan S, Yang L, Allen GR, Erdmann MV, Fahmi, Sugeha HY, White WT, Naylor GJPN (2020). Walking, swimming or hitching a ride? Phylogenetics and biogeography of the walking shark genus Hemiscyllium. Marine & Freshwater Research.
Lassauce H, Chateau O, Erdmann M, Wantiez L (2020). Deepest dive for reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) recorded in New Caledonia. PLOS One 15(3): e0228815.
Maas DL, Capriati A, Prins L, Ahmad A, Erdmann MV, Lamers M, de Leeuw CA, Putri AP, Tapilatu RF, Becking LE (2020). Recognizing peripheral ecosystems in marine protected areas: a case study of golden jellyfish lakes in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Marine Pollution Bulletin 151: 110700.
Meyers MM, Francis MP, Erdmann MV, Constantine R, Sianipar A (2020). Movement patterns of whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia revealed through long-term satellite tagging. Pacific Conservation Biology.
Setyawan E, Erdmann MV, Lewis SA, Mambrasar R, Hassan AW, Templeton S, Beale CS, Sianipar AB, Shidqi R, Heuschkel H, Ambafen O, Izuan M, Prasetia MF, Azizah H, Hidayat IN, Pada DN, Muljadi A, Pilkington-Vincett R, Dharmadi, Cerutti-Pereyra F (2020). Natural history of manta rays in the Bird's Head Seascape, Indonesia, with an analysis of the demography and spatial ecology of Mobula alfredi (Elasmobranchii: Mobulidae). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 36: 49–83.
VanderWright WJ, Allen GR, Derrick D, Dudgeon C, Erdmann MV, Sianipar A (2020). Hemiscyllium galei (and H. henryi, H. freycineti, H. halmahera, H. michaeli, and H. strahani). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T195436A124542275.
Winterbottom R, Burridge M, Erdmann MV, Hanner RH, Zur M, Steinke C, Choffe K (2020). The cryptic cornucopia revisited – an extended analysis of the COI gene in the gobiid fish genus Trimma (Percomorpha: Gobiiformes). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 36: 91–132.
Assad I, Lundquist CJ, Erdmann MV, Costello MJ (2018). Delineating priority areas for marine biodiversity conservation in the Coral Triangle. Biological Conservation 222: 198–211.
Assad I, Lundquist CJ, Erdmann MV, Van Hooidonk R, Costello MJ (2018). Designating spatial priorities for marine biodiversity conservation in the Coral Triangle. Frontiers in Marine Science 5: 400.
Allen GR, Erdmann MV, White WT, Fahmi, Dudgeon CL (2016). Review of the bamboo shark genus Hemiscyllium (Orectolobiformes: Hemiscyllidae). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 23: 51–97.
Allen GR, Erdmann MV, Yusmalinda NLA (2016). Review of the Indo-Pacific Flasherwrasses of the genus Paracheilinus (Perciformes: Labridae) with descriptions of three new species. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 19: 18–90.
Tornabene L, Valdez S, Erdmann M, Pezold F (2014). Support for a "Center of Origin" in the Coral Triangle: cryptic diversity, recent speciation, and local endemism in a diverse lineage of reef fishes (Gobiidae: Eviota). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 82: 200–210.
Huffard CL, Erdmann MV, Gunawan T (eds.) (2012). Geographic Priorities for Marine Biodiversity Conservation in Indonesia. Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and Marine Protected Areas Governance Program, Jakarta. 105pp.
Huffard CL, Wilson J, Hitipeuw C, Rotinsulu C, Mangubhai S, Erdmann MV, Adnyana W, Barber P, Manuputty J, Mongdong M, Purba G, Rhodes K, Toha H (2012). Ecosystem Based Management in the Bird's Head Seascape Indonesia: Turning Science into Action. BHS Ecosystem Based Management Program: Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia, Bali. 40pp.
Mangubhai S, Erdmann MV, Wilson JR, Huffard C, Ballamu F, Hidayat NI, Hitipeuw C, Lazuardi ME, Muhajir, Pada D, Purba G, Rotinsulu C, Rumetna L, Sumolang K, Wen Wen (2012). Papuan Bird's Head Seascape: emerging threats and challenges in the global center of marine biodiversity. Marine Pollution Bulletin 64: 2279–2295.
Erdmann MV, Merrill PR, Mongdong M, Arsyad I, Harahap Z, Pangalila R, Elverawati R, Baworo P (2004). Building Effective Co-management Systems for Decentralized Protected Areas Management in Indonesia: Bunaken National Park Case Study. NRM III, Jakarta, Indonesia. 147pp.
Erdmann MV, Toengkagie A (2004). The Bunaken National Park joint patrol system: lessons learned from a multistakeholder enforcement initiative. In: Jara R, Alcala A, Kenchington R, Magpayo R (eds.) Proceedings of the 2nd International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium (ITMEMS2). Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines. pp. 504–510.
Erdmann MV, Merrill PR, Arsyad I (2003). Developing a decentralized user fee system for sustainable conservation financing of Bunaken National Marine Park. In: Building on Lessons from the Field: Protected Area Management Experiences in Southeast Asia. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines. pp. 359–369.
Holder MT, Erdmann MV, Wilcox TP, Caldwell RL, Hillis DM (1999). Two living species of coelacanth? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96: 12616–12620.
Erdmann MV, Caldwell RL, Moosa MK (1998). Indonesian "king of the sea" discovered. Nature 395: 335.
Erdmann MV, Manning RB (1998). Nine new stomatopod crustaceans from coral reef habitats in Indonesia and Australia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 46(2): 615–626.
Jameson SC, Erdmann MV, Gibson GR, Potts KW (1998). Development of biological criteria for coral reef ecosystem assessment. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 450. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. 102pp.
Explore Re:wild
Dive deeper into our people, mission, and opportunities to get involved.
