The Lobster Pregnancy Test: A Molecular Tool In Support Of Lobster Stocks And Fisheries In The UK (2023)
Thesis
Irwin, L. (2023). The Lobster Pregnancy Test: A Molecular Tool In Support Of Lobster Stocks And Fisheries In The UK. (Thesis). University of Salford

The European Lobster (Homarus gammarus) is one of the highest value shellfish species landed in the UK and accounts for a large part of British shellfish fisheries. However, high demand for this sought-after commodity has led to overfishing and decli... Read More about The Lobster Pregnancy Test: A Molecular Tool In Support Of Lobster Stocks And Fisheries In The UK.

Snapping shrimp and their crustaceous cacophony (2022)
Journal Article
Jones, C., Benvenuto, C., & Kendrick, P. (2022). Snapping shrimp and their crustaceous cacophony. Frontiers for Young Minds, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2022.856579

We humans are a noisy bunch. Our sounds fill the land and air around us, and even the oceans and seas. But we are not the only ones filling the sea with sound. Tiny snapping shrimp, also known as pistol shrimp, are some of the loudest an... Read More about Snapping shrimp and their crustaceous cacophony.

Molecular approaches to reduce the illegal trade of shark and ray products in Indonesia (2022)
Thesis
Prasetyo, A. (2022). Molecular approaches to reduce the illegal trade of shark and ray products in Indonesia. (Thesis). University of Salford

Trade restrictions have been established to counteract the rapid global decline of sharks and rays (hereafter called elasmobranchs), such as controlled species under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and... Read More about Molecular approaches to reduce the illegal trade of shark and ray products in Indonesia.

Methylmercury, Trace Metals, Organotins and Their Effects on the Qatari Mangrove Shrimp, Palaemon khori (2022)
Journal Article
Hassan, H., Benvenuto, C., Al Maslamani, I., Chatting, M., Mondal, D., & Leitão, A. (2022). Methylmercury, Trace Metals, Organotins and Their Effects on the Qatari Mangrove Shrimp, Palaemon khori. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 10(7), 843. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10070843

The Qatari mangroves of Al-Khor are being increasingly exposed to a wide variety of anthropogenic pollutants due to land reclamation and urban expansion. In this study, we evaluated the lethal and genotoxic effects of methylmercury, trace metals, and... Read More about Methylmercury, Trace Metals, Organotins and Their Effects on the Qatari Mangrove Shrimp, Palaemon khori.

Switches, stability and reversals in the evolutionary history of sexual systems in fish (2022)
Journal Article
Pla, S., Benvenuto, C., Capellini, I., & Piferrer, F. (2022). Switches, stability and reversals in the evolutionary history of sexual systems in fish. Nature communications, 13, 3029. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30419-z

Sexual systems are highly diverse and have profound consequences for population dynamics and resilience. Yet, little is known about how they evolved. Using phylogenetic Bayesian modelling and a sample of 4614 species, we show that gonochorism is the... Read More about Switches, stability and reversals in the evolutionary history of sexual systems in fish.

Niche separation between two dominant crustacean predators in European estuarine soft-bottom habitats (2022)
Journal Article
Siegenthaler, A., Wangensteen Fuentes, O., Benvenuto, C., Lollobrigidi, R., & Mariani, S. (2022). Niche separation between two dominant crustacean predators in European estuarine soft-bottom habitats. Ecological Indicators, 138(108839), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108839

Epibenthic predators in estuarine shallow soft-bottom environments are generally considered to have broad ecological niches with a wide overlap. This allows them to cope with abundant but highly variable prey communities. The assessment of trophic re... Read More about Niche separation between two dominant crustacean predators in European estuarine soft-bottom habitats.

Fungal microbiomes are determined by host phylogeny and exhibit widespread associations with the bacterial microbiome (2021)
Journal Article
Harrison, X., McDevitt, A., Dunn, J., Grifftihs, S., Benvenuto, C., Birtles, R., …Antwis, R. (2021). Fungal microbiomes are determined by host phylogeny and exhibit widespread associations with the bacterial microbiome. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288(1957), 20210552. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0552

Interactions between hosts and their resident microbial communities are a fundamental component of fitness for both agents. Though recent research has highlighted the importance of interactions between animals and their bacterial communities, compara... Read More about Fungal microbiomes are determined by host phylogeny and exhibit widespread associations with the bacterial microbiome.

eDNA in a bottleneck : obstacles to fish metabarcoding studies in megadiverse freshwater systems (2021)
Journal Article
Jackman, J., Benvenuto, C., Coscia, I., Carvalho, C., Ready, J., Boubli, J., …Sales, N. (2021). eDNA in a bottleneck : obstacles to fish metabarcoding studies in megadiverse freshwater systems. Environmental DNA, 3(4), 837-849. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.191

The current capacity of environmental DNA (eDNA) to provide accurate insights into the biodiversity of megadiverse regions (e.g., the Neotropics) requires further evaluation to ensure its reliability for long‐term monitoring. In this study, we first... Read More about eDNA in a bottleneck : obstacles to fish metabarcoding studies in megadiverse freshwater systems.

Hermaphroditism and gonochorism (2020)
Book Chapter
Benvenuto, C., & Weeks, S. (2020). Hermaphroditism and gonochorism. In R. Cothran, & M. Thiel (Eds.), The Natural History of the Crustacea: Reproductive Biology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190688554.003.0008

This chapter compares two sexual systems: hermaphroditism (both partners can act as either sex) and gonochorism (each individual organism acts as only one of two distinct sexes) in crustaceans. These two main sexual systems contain a variety of alter... Read More about Hermaphroditism and gonochorism.

A phylogenetic comparative analysis on the evolution of sequential hermaphroditism in seabreams (Teleostei : Sparidae) (2020)
Journal Article
Pla, S., Benvenuto, C., Capellini, I., & Piferrer, F. (2020). A phylogenetic comparative analysis on the evolution of sequential hermaphroditism in seabreams (Teleostei : Sparidae). Scientific reports, 10, 3606. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60376-w

The Sparids are an ideal group of fish in which to study the evolution of sexual systems since they
exhibit a great sexual diversity, from gonochorism (separate sexes) to protandrous (male-first) and
protogynous (female-first) sequential hermaphrod... Read More about A phylogenetic comparative analysis on the evolution of sequential hermaphroditism in seabreams (Teleostei : Sparidae).

Assessing the potential of environmental DNA metabarcoding for monitoring Neotropical mammals : a case study in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, Brazil (2020)
Journal Article
Sales, N., Da Cruz Kaizer, M., Coscia, I., Perkins, J., Highlands, A., Boubli, J., …McDevitt, A. (2020). Assessing the potential of environmental DNA metabarcoding for monitoring Neotropical mammals : a case study in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Mammal Review, 50(3), 221-225. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12183

The application of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding as a biomonitoring tool has greatly increased in the last decade. However, most studies have focused on aquatic macro-organisms in temperate areas (e.g., fishes). We apply eDNA metabarcoding t... Read More about Assessing the potential of environmental DNA metabarcoding for monitoring Neotropical mammals : a case study in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, Brazil.

Behavioural responses in a congested sea : an observational study on a coastal nest-guarding fish (2019)
Journal Article
Mascolino, S., Mariani, S., & Benvenuto, C. (2019). Behavioural responses in a congested sea : an observational study on a coastal nest-guarding fish. The European Zoological Journal, 86(1), 504-518. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2019.1699611

The deleterious effects of anthropogenic noise on animal communication are nowadays recognised, not only in urban environments but also in terrestrial habitats and along coasts and in open waters. Yet, the assessment of short- and long-term exposure... Read More about Behavioural responses in a congested sea : an observational study on a coastal nest-guarding fish.

Environmental DNA metabarcoding as an effective and rapid tool for fish monitoring in canals (2019)
Journal Article
McDevitt, A., Sales, N., Browett, S., Sparnenn, A., Mariani, S., Wangensteen Fuentes, O., …Benvenuto, C. (2019). Environmental DNA metabarcoding as an effective and rapid tool for fish monitoring in canals. Journal of Fish Biology, 95(2), 679-682. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14053

We focus on a case study along an English canal comparing environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding with two types of electrofishing techniques (wade‐and‐reach and boom‐boat). In addition to corroborating data obtained by electrofishing, eDNA provided a... Read More about Environmental DNA metabarcoding as an effective and rapid tool for fish monitoring in canals.

Consequences of sex change for effective population size (2018)
Journal Article
Waples, R., Mariani, S., & Benvenuto, C. (2018). Consequences of sex change for effective population size. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1893), 20181702. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1702

Sequential hermaphroditism, where males change to females (protandry) or the reverse (protogyny), is widespread in animals and plants and can be an Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS) if fecundity rises faster with age in the second sex. Sequential... Read More about Consequences of sex change for effective population size.

Metabarcoding of shrimp stomach content: harnessing a natural sampler for fish biodiversity monitoring (2018)
Journal Article
Siegenthaler, A., Wangensteen, O., Soto, A., Benvenuto, C., Corrigan, L., & Mariani, S. (2019). Metabarcoding of shrimp stomach content: harnessing a natural sampler for fish biodiversity monitoring. Molecular Ecology Resources, 19(1), 206-220. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12956

Given their positioning and biological productivity, estuaries have long represented key providers of ecosystem services, and consequently remain under remarkable pressure from numerous forms of anthropogenic impact. The monitoring of fish communitie... Read More about Metabarcoding of shrimp stomach content: harnessing a natural sampler for fish biodiversity monitoring.

DNA metabarcoding unveils multi-scale trophic variation in a widespread coastal opportunist (2018)
Journal Article
Siegenthaler, A., Wangensteen, O., Benvenuto, C., Campos, J., & Mariani, S. (2019). DNA metabarcoding unveils multi-scale trophic variation in a widespread coastal opportunist. Molecular Ecology, 28(2), 232-249. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.14886

A thorough understanding of ecological networks relies on comprehensive information on trophic relationships among species. Since unpicking the diet of many organisms is unattainable using traditional morphology-based approaches, the application of h... Read More about DNA metabarcoding unveils multi-scale trophic variation in a widespread coastal opportunist.

Background matching in the brown shrimp Crangon crangon : adaptive camouflage and behavioural-plasticity (2018)
Journal Article
Siegenthaler, A., Mastin, A., Dufaut, C., Mondal, D., & Benvenuto, C. (2018). Background matching in the brown shrimp Crangon crangon : adaptive camouflage and behavioural-plasticity. Scientific reports, 8, 3292. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21412-y

A combination of burrowing behaviour and very efficient background matching makes the brown shrimp Crangon crangon almost invisible to potential predators and preys. This raises questions on how shrimp succeed in concealing themselves in the heteroge... Read More about Background matching in the brown shrimp Crangon crangon : adaptive camouflage and behavioural-plasticity.

Ecological and evolutionary consequences of alternative sex-change pathways in fish (2017)
Journal Article
Benvenuto, C., Coscia, I., Chopelet, J., Sala-Bozano, M., & Mariani, S. (2017). Ecological and evolutionary consequences of alternative sex-change pathways in fish. Scientific reports, 7(9804), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-09298-8

Sequentially hermaphroditic fish change sex from male to female (protandry) or vice versa (protogyny), increasing their fitness by becoming highly fecund females or large dominant males, respectively. These life-history strategies present different s... Read More about Ecological and evolutionary consequences of alternative sex-change pathways in fish.

Quantifying pigment cover to assess variation in animal colouration (2017)
Journal Article
Siegenthaler, A., Mondal, D., & Benvenuto, C. (2017). Quantifying pigment cover to assess variation in animal colouration. Biology Methods and Protocols, 2(1), bpx003. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomethods/bpx003

The study of animal colouration addresses fundamental and applied aspects relevant to a wide range
of fields, including behavioural ecology, environmental adaptation and visual ecology. Although a
variety of methods are available to measure animal... Read More about Quantifying pigment cover to assess variation in animal colouration.

The ART of mating : alternative reproductive tactics and mating success in a nest-guarding fish (2016)
Journal Article
Mascolino, S., Benvenuto, C., Gubili, C., Sacchi, C., Boufana, B., & Mariani, S. (2016). The ART of mating : alternative reproductive tactics and mating success in a nest-guarding fish. Journal of Fish Biology, 89(6), 2643-2657. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13130

Fish use different modalities to access mates for reproduction, often referred to as Alternative Reproductive Tactics (ARTs). ARTs are an example of coexisting phenotypes, which have to hold some degree of reproductive success to persist in a populat... Read More about The ART of mating : alternative reproductive tactics and mating success in a nest-guarding fish.