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Dr Chiara Benvenuto's Outputs (22)

The Tree of Sex consortium: A global initiative for studying the evolution of reproduction in eukaryotes (2025)
Journal Article

Reproduction is a fundamental aspect of life that affects all levels of biology, from genomes and development to population dynamics and diversification. The first Tree of Sex database synthesised the vast diversity of reproductive strategies and the... Read More about The Tree of Sex consortium: A global initiative for studying the evolution of reproduction in eukaryotes.

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.

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

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.

A phylogenetic comparative analysis on the evolution of sequential hermaphroditism in seabreams (Teleostei : Sparidae) (2020)
Journal Article

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

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.

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

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.

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.