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  :: Eco-Ethology Research Unit
   
  ::General Objectives
 

• To study the biogeography of rocky shore fishes along the coast of mainland Portugal and the relative degree of genetic differentiation of their populations.
• To perform quantitative monitoring of the rocky shore fish community at Arrábida, to determine patterns of inter-annual variation in populations, their resilience and stability and to access the effectiveness of the recently established Marine Protected Area.
• To study the behaviour of the resident fish of the intertidal communities during high-tide.
• To study the phylogeography of iberian cyprinids and the reproductive biology and behaviour of the hybridogenic cyprinid Squalius alburnoides.
• To study the colonization routes of Azores, Madeira and Canaries and the relative importance of different source populations in southwest Europe, the Mediterranean and western Africa in this historical process.
• To study the sound productions in the context of social behaviour in fish.
• To study the recruitment patterns and processes in early life stages of fishes, addressing the following questions:
i) What are the micro-distribution patterns of fish larval stages in different habitats?
ii) How are the fish larvae behavioural mechanisms related to nearshore retention?
iii) What are the observed recruitment levels for littoral fishes and how do they vary in space and time?
iv) How are the embryonic and larval development of littoral fish species related to recruitment patterns?
• To enable our laboratory to continue the development of methodologies for recording and analysing animal acoustic signals, from the low-frequency band to ultrasound.
• To study the behavioural ecology of passerine migrants during their stopover and wintering in Iberia.
• To continue the study of behaviour and ecology of seabirds with special emphasis on shearwaters, integrating it with oceanographic conditions and the ecology of other marine organisms.

 

   
:: Latest News


:: Recent publications

Almada V. C., Pérez-Portela R., Robalo J. I. & Brito, A. 2009. Phylogenetic relationships of Gymnothorax bacalladoi Böhlke and Brito 1987 a poorly known moray of the Macaronesian islands. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 52: 252–256.

Almada, V. C., Robalo, J.I., Levy, A., Freyhof, J., Bernardi, G, Doadrio, I. 2009. Phylogenetic analysis of Peri-Mediterranean blennies of the genus Salaria: Molecular insights on the colonization of freshwaters. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52: 424–431.

Levy, A., I. Doadrio, V.C. Almada. 2009. Historical biogeography of European leuciscins (Cyprinidae): evaluating the Lago Mare dispersal hypothesis. Journal of Biogeography 36(1): 55-65.

Patzner, R.A.; Gonçalves, E.J.; Hastings, P. & Kapoor, B.G. (Eds.) 2009. The Biology of Blennies. Science Publishers, Enfield, NH.

 

 

:: Contact information

ISPA- Eco-Ethology Research Unit
Rua Jardim do Tabaco, 34
1149-041 Lisboa
PORTUGAL

:: Principal Investigador - Vítor Almada

Phone: + 351 21 8811226
Fax: + 351 21 8860954
E-mail: valmada@ispa.pt

   
 
last update: 17-1-2010