The Lobster Pregnancy Test: A Molecular Tool In Support Of Lobster Stocks And Fisheries In The UK (2023)
Thesis

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

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.

Environmental DNA metabarcoding as an effective and rapid tool for fish monitoring in canals (2019)
Journal Article

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.

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.

Crustaceans of extreme environments (2015)
Book Chapter
Benvenuto, C., Knott, B., & Weeks, S. (2015). Crustaceans of extreme environments. In M. Thiel, & L. Watling (Eds.), Lifestyles and Feeding Biology (379-417). Oxford University Press

Crustaceans are a remarkably diverse group of organisms, which have colonized and occupied a broad variety of niches. Many crustacean species are found in extreme environments, inhospitable to the majority of animal taxa, including Antarctic lakes,... Read More about Crustaceans of extreme environments.