GIUV2013-023
The Marine Zoology Unit (UZM) is a research team of the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology that has proved to have a high capacity to attract external funding in order to develop its scientific objectives and that also has a long history of international cooperation. The UZM operates in new, state-of-the-art facilities in the Parc Científic and shares this building with the Experimental Aquaculture Plant of the Universitat de València. It¿s been conducting research on Conservation Biology and Parasitology of fish, reptiles and marine mammals since 1982. Our research has an important practical orientation, both for its interest in the management and conservation of marine species and the protection of their habitats, as well as for its importance in the analysis and solutions of parasitic pathologies in aquaculture. But neither do we neglect aspects of basic research, oriented towards the study of evolutionary and ecological processes, especially in the context of parasite-host associations. The conservation biology research focuses on cetaceans, pinnipeds and sea turtles. The UZM keeps a record of cetacean strandings in the Valencian Community. Over the...The Marine Zoology Unit (UZM) is a research team of the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology that has proved to have a high capacity to attract external funding in order to develop its scientific objectives and that also has a long history of international cooperation. The UZM operates in new, state-of-the-art facilities in the Parc Científic and shares this building with the Experimental Aquaculture Plant of the Universitat de València. It¿s been conducting research on Conservation Biology and Parasitology of fish, reptiles and marine mammals since 1982. Our research has an important practical orientation, both for its interest in the management and conservation of marine species and the protection of their habitats, as well as for its importance in the analysis and solutions of parasitic pathologies in aquaculture. But neither do we neglect aspects of basic research, oriented towards the study of evolutionary and ecological processes, especially in the context of parasite-host associations. The conservation biology research focuses on cetaceans, pinnipeds and sea turtles. The UZM keeps a record of cetacean strandings in the Valencian Community. Over the years, our objectives have grown progressively more ambitious and, currently, we also monitor strandings of sea turtles and cetacean and turtle interactions with fishing gear in the waters of the Valencian Community. Since 1988, the UZM acts by delegation of the Valencian Government as the scientific body in charge of the registry of strandings and incidental catches in fishing gear of cetaceans and turtles in the Valencian Community. The Marine Zoology Unit hosts the Mediterranean Database of Cetacean Strandings under the auspices of ACCOBAMS and the United Nations Environment Programme. Additionally, the Unit has coordinated an in-depth study funded by the Ministry of Environment under the EU Natura 2000 initiative. The objective of this study was to identify and designate protection areas for cetaceans and sea turtles in Spanish Mediterranean waters. Our contribution to the project involved carrying out aerial surveys in the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia to obtain estimates of the size of cetacean and sea turtle populations. We have also carried out studies on the distribution, migration and nesting behaviour of sea turtles in Equatorial Guinea and the Dominican Republic, and on the feeding of turtles and cetaceans in the Mediterranean. The UZM¿s second research line focuses on parasitological studies of marine vertebrates (mammals, turtles and fish), including taxonomic (both conventional and molecular), ecological and evolutionary aspects. Our pioneering studies on the ecological and evolutionary determinants of cetacean and sea turtle parasitic communities deserve special mention. Some of the studies carried out by our group have used parasite data to obtain information on the migrations and social structure of marine mammal populations.
[Read more][Hide]
[Read more][Hide]
- Biologia y parasitologia de vertebrados marinos, buscando su aplicacion a la conservacion de la biodiversidad, a las pesquerias y la acuicultura
- Conservation Biology.Conservation biology research focuses on biological studies of cetaceans, pinnipeds and sea turtles in European waters or anywhere else, with the objective of trying to improve the conservation status of species and habitats.
- Marine Parasitology.Parasitological studies focus on marine vertebrates (mammals, turtles and fish) and include taxonomic, ecological, evolutionary, biomarker, toxicological and pathological aspects, particularly in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
| Name | Nature of participation | Entity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| JUAN ANTONIO RAGA ESTEVE | Director | Universitat de València | |
| Research team | |||
| FRANCISCO JAVIER AZNAR AVENDAÑO | Member | Universitat de València | |
| JESUS TOMAS AGUIRRE | Member | Universitat de València | |
| FRANCISCO ESTEBAN MONTERO ROYO | Member | Universitat de València | |
| ANA PEREZ DEL OLMO | Member | Universitat de València | |
| DAVID MARCH MORLA | Member | Universitat de València | |
- Cavanilles Institute Biodiversity and Evolut. Biol. (ICBBE)
- Diversidad parasitaria, Ecología y Evolución parasitaria, Marcadores biológicos, Toxicología, Patología, Pesquerías, Acuicultura
- BIODIVERSITY
- BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
- MARINE ENVIRONMENT
- ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
- PARASITIC DIVERSITY
- PARASITIC ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
- BIOMARKERS
- TOXICOLOGY
- FISHERIES
- AQUACULTURE
