Carlos Carmona-Suárez

• PhD in Zoology
• Researcher at Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas

Para mitigar la pérdida de datos invaluables sobre la biodiversidad venezolana, se lanzó una iniciativa para digitalizar información, creando un conjunto de datos integral centrado en áreas marinas protegidas y abordando vacíos en la distribución y estado de la biodiversidad marina. Diecinueve instituciones dedicadas a la ciencia marina han generad...

National institutions that have worked in marine sciences since 1958 have produced a wealth of information on Venezuela's marine biodiversity thanks to the work of hundreds of national and foreign researchers and students. However, the serious academic and management crisis of research and funding opportunities for marine research and data manageme...

The reproductive biology of two sesarmid species, Armases americanum and A. roberti, was investigated for 12 months between 2012-2013 in the San Miguel stream, a coastal stream in the southern Caribbean. Sampling encompassed wet and dry season months. The two species are in general allopatrically distributed on islands and the mainland in the Carib...

Background Venezuela has suffered a severe academic and research management crisis and funding opportunities for marine research and data management have been practically absent. This has worsened over the past five years and, as a result, libraries and other institutional spaces have been repeatedly vandalised, with hundreds of records, specimens...

Venezuela has suffered a severe academic and research management crisis, and funding opportunities for marine research and data management have been practically absent. This has worsened over the past five years, and as a result, libraries and other institutional spaces have been repeatedly vandalized, with hundreds of records, specimens, and histo...

Population studies of the economically important blue land crab, Cardisoma guanhumi Latreille in Latreille, Le Peletier, Serville & Guérin, 1828, were undertaken in a mangrove forest (Avicennia germinans) and in grasslands dominated by sacaton grass (Sporobolus spp.) Population density, size of crabs (indirect estimation of individuals in burrows),...

The Neotropical region has a large diversity of crabs. However, the diversity of the parasites infesting these crustaceans is still poorly known. In this study, we recorded three new occurrences of the isopod bopyrid Leidya distorta on Ucides cordatus from Southern Brazil and North-Eastern Venezuela. Crabs were collected in mangroves of Venezuela (...

A collection of Majoidea Samouelle, 1819 crabs carried out during the KARUBENTHOS 2012 Expedition to Guadeloupe Island and sorted during an international workshop at Besse-et-Saint- Anastaise in 2013 is reported. A total of 60 species are identified, 30 being new records for Guadeloupe Island. Each species is presented with notes on habitat, geogra...

The genera Armases Abele, 1992 and Sesarma Say, 1817 comprise a rather large group of small sesarmid crabs, distributed throughout most tropical and subtropical regions. These species have invaded a wide variety of environments such as, intertidal, terrestrial and freshwater habitats. From both sides of American continent more than 30 valid species...

The decorator crab, Microphrys bicornutus, is a common inhabitant of the turtle grass Thalassia testudinum. In order to establish the behaviour of a population of this species in an extreme shallow Thalassia complex (maximum depth less than 50 cm, and often exposed to the air), size distribution, population dynamics, reproductive effort and egg siz...

Para la estimación de la estructura de tamaños en cangrejos terrestres comerciales y la obtención de información relevante para su manejo, es necesario utilizar métodos rápidos, confiables y no destructivos. Cardisoma guanhumi y Ucides cordatus son dos cangrejos terrestres que son explotados comercialmente en el Caribe y en Brasil. El propósito de...

Venezuela has a large coastal strip with marine and estuarine environments, especially mangrove ecosystems that are adequate for populations of the land crab Cardisoma guanhumi. This crab is commercially exploited in our country. Data on its distribution and abundance is restricted and outdated. Due to its ecological en economical importance, the g...

The implementation of ultrasonic telemetry as a technique to evaluate ecological traits of marine organisms has allowed biologists to obtain information that is hard or impossible to achieve by traditional sampling methods; which in turn improves the quantification, in their natural habitats, of activity patterns, movements, migrations, habitat uti...

Home range, movements and zonation of Arenaeus cribrarius and Callinectes ornatus were analyzed in Ensenada de La Vela, in the Venezuelan Caribbean, using acoustic telemetry. Transmitters were attached to the carapace of 11 A. cribrarius and 11 C. ornatus, which were tracked during five campaigns between October 2002 and December 2003. The position...

Spatial distribution, population density, number of ovigerous females, and relative growth of Microphrys bicornutus were studied in an extremely shallow Thalassia complex (Buchuaco- Venezuela). Monthly sampling was undertaken in 5 different biotopes (zones) (July 1988 to December 1990). Zone 3 (coral rubble) was the least populated by M. bicornutus...

Spatial distribution, population density, number of ovigerous females, and relative growth of Microphrys bicornutus were studied in an extremely shallow Thalassia complex (Buchuaco-Venezuela). Monthly sampling was under-taken in 5 different biotopes (zones) (July 1988 to December 1990). Zone 3 (coral rubble) was the least populated by M. bicornutus...

The genus Callinectes encompasses 16 species of commercially important swimming crabs. Most (13) occur on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the Americas. We compare mtDNA regions corresponding to 964basepairs of the large (16S) and small (12S) ribosomal subunits among American Callinectes in order to examine phylogenetic relationships. The status...

The natural diet of the speckled swimming crab, Arenaeus cribrarius, a species of potential commercial value, was analysed on two shallow beaches along the western, semi-arid coast of Venezuela. On the beach of Ensenada de La Vela, 211 specimens were captured (no ovigerous females), and 332 on Cumarebo (including 26 ovigerous and 14 non-ovigerous a...

A series of life-history traits in the spider crab Maja crispata were studied on the island of Ischia (Italy) during four sampling periods in 1982: sex ratio, relative growth, sexual maturity, reproductive season, number of eggs per female, copulation and brood sequence. A total of 104 males and 86 females were captured. Mature animals were present...

A series of life-history traits in the spider crab Maja crispata were studied on the island of Ischia (Italy) during four sampling periods in 1982: sex ratio, relative growth, sexual maturity, reproductive season, number of eggs per female, copulation and brood sequence. A total of 104 males and 86 females were captured. Mature animals were present...

Distribution, abundance, and several population features were studied in Ensenada de La Vela (Venezuela) between 1993 and 1998 as a first step in the assessment of local fisheries of swimming crabs. Arenaeus cribrarius was the most abundant species at the marine foreshore. Callinectes danae prevailed at the estuarine location. Callinectes bocourti...

Lake Maracaibo, a large Venezuelan estuarine lagoon, is reportedly inhabited by three species of the genus Callinectes Stimpson, 1860 that are important to local fisheries: C. sapidus Rathbun, 1896, C. bocourti A. Milne Edwards, 1879, and C. maracaiboensis Taissoun, 1969. Callinectes maracaiboensis, originally described from Lake Maracaibo and assu...

The State of Falcón, located on westernVcnczucla, span approximately 700 km of marine, where a great diversity of marine ecosystems and habitats are present. From biogeographic and evolutionary perspectives, the Península de Paraguaná, in the samestate, is an interesting area, being one of the foremost headlands in South America, and for the marked...

This work shows several aspects in the community ecology of a guild of portunid crabs in the estuarine complex of Boca de Hueque (State of Falcón, Venezuela), between October 1993 and December 1994. Two sampling stations were selected (Station 1 at the river-border, and Station 2 approx. 50 m away from the shore). One hundred and 2 crabs were captu...