Fabrizio Capoccioni

Council for Agricultural Research and Economics · Research Centre for Animal Production and Aquaculture

Over the last decades, harmful dinoflagellate (Dinophysis spp.) blooms have increased in frequency, duration, and severity in the Mediterranean Sea. Farmed bivalves, by ingesting large amounts of phytoplankton, can become unsafe for human consumption due to the bioaccumulation of okadaic acid (OA), causing Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP). When...

The gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) is a species of relevance for the Mediterranean aquaculture industry. Despite the advancement of genetic tools for the species, breeding programs still do not often include genomics. In this study, we designed a genomic strategy to identify signatures of selection and genomic regions of high differentiation amo...

In this study, 144 red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii, initial mean weight 3.9 ± 0.3 g) juveniles were fed diets containing graded levels of purslane (Portulaca oleracea), with a decreasing percentage of proteins (from 17.3% to 1.0%) for 10 weeks. Six diets were administered: four fishmeal diets containing 5%, 15%, 25%, and 50% purslane, a die...

Citation: Martini, A.; Aguiari, L.; Capoccioni, F.; Martinoli, M.; Napolitano, R.; Pirlo, G.; Tonachella, N.; Pulcini, D. Is Manila Clam Farming Environmentally Sustainable? A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Approach Applied to an Italian Ruditapes philippinarum Hatchery. Sustainability 2023, 15, 3237. https://doi. Abstract: Italy supplies approximatel...

Common aquaculture practices involve measuring fish biometrics at different growth stages, which is crucial for feeding regime management and for improving farmed fish welfare. Fish measurements are usually carried out manually on individual fish. However, this process is laborious, time-consuming, and stressful to the fish. Therefore, the developm...

Many of the estuaries and coastal areas in Europe are used for the cultivation and harvesting of bivalve mollusks. Mussel farming is strongly influenced by weather and environmental conditions. Several studies have shown that the sanitary conditions of shellfish are related to hydrological factors of rivers adjacent to the farming area, as rivers a...

Ensuring efficient growth performance and fish welfare, while improving aquafeed sustainability is a major challenge of the aquaculture sector. To reduce the dependence from unsustainable marine-derived raw materials and to counteract the negative side-effects of vegetable protein sources, functional feeds represent an interesting solution. The pre...

This study examined the environmental performance of mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) farming in the view of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The LCA has been integrated with the evaluation of the carbon sequestration potential of the biocalcification process. Three case studies of mussel...

A 10-week feeding trial was carried out to emphasize the effects of purslane weed (Portulaca oleracea) whole diet on pigmentation and fatty acids profile of juvenile freshwater red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Purslane weed is an annual succulent herb easily found in tropical and temperate regions showing a high-quality PUFA profile and caro...

The amount of ingredients of marine origin used in salmonid feed industry is rapidly decreasing and fish meal and fish oil have been largely replaced by vegetable ingredients. New potential protein rich ingredients for aquafeed formulations should therefore be alternative to vegetable ones. The pattern of fillet pigmentation was thus assessed in ra...

The European eel, a catadromous endangered species, displays plasticity in phenotypic traits and in trophic behaviour, features that can eventually affect growth. The aim of this study was to compare variation in carbon (d 13 C) and nitrogen (d 15 N) stable isotopes in muscle tissue of the adult eel life stages (i.e. yellow and silver eel), as func...

Procambarus clarkii is a native species of Central America, but strongly invasive in many regions of the world. An investigation on the red swamp crayfish was carried out to obtain more information about its population dynamics in the Tiber River, in Central Italy. A total of 900 individuals, both males and females, were sampled within two differen...

The gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata, Sparidae family) is commonly used for aquaculture. Despite its great economic value, several problems in its cultivation remain. One of the major concerns is the high frequency of morphological abnormalities occurring during the early developmental stages. Partial and/or total lack of operculum is the most freq...

Transitional waters are among the most productive ecosystems of the world and their biotic communities show high diversity and complex mechanisms of self-regulation that provide valuable ecosystem services and societal goods and benefits. In this work a comparison of the fish assemblages of three non-tidal Mediterranean coastal lagoons is carried o...

The evaluation of past and present anthropogenic impacts affecting the ecological quality status of transitional ecosystems is crucial from the perspective of protecting them from further deterioration, and to evaluate remediation and restoration measures. Contamination patterns of thick-lipped grey mullet from two Mediterranean coastal lagoons wit...

The pattern of yellowish pigmentation of the skin was assessed in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) fed for 12 weeks iso-proteic (45%) and iso-lipidic (20%) diets deprived of fish meal and containing either a blend of vegetable protein-rich ingredients or where graded levels of the vegetable protein blend were replaced by insect (Hermetia illucens—...

Silver eel samples, collected from the lagoons of Fogliano and Caprolace (Italy), were investigated for a broad range of contaminants (29 polychlorinated biphenyls, 9 polybrominated diphenyl ethers, 5 dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, 5 chlordanes, hexachlorobenzene, 3 hexachlorocyclohexane, and 5 metals). Concentrations of targeted compounds stand...

European consumers prefer wild over farmed aquatic food and consider it healthier and tastier. Consumers are increasingly paying attention to sustainability and welfare of farmed fish. Such expectations might be met by organic certification, but this represents a cost for the producer. It is crucial to know consumer habits about farmed aquatic food...

The present study aims a comprehensive description of the Italian organic aquaculture sector, within the national aquaculture framework, in terms of production units and volumes during the four years period 2015-2018. This survey allowed to collect results about species produced and farm number and distribution at regional level. During the field a...

The gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) is an important cultivated species in the Mediterranean area. A major problem for the gilthead seabream aquaculture sector derives from the high frequency of phenotypic abnormalities, including discolorations. In this study, we applied a whole‐genome resequencing approach to identify a genomic region affecting...

A method for fish monitoring by high-frequency acoustic camera, coupled with an automated method for counting fish, was implemented that allowed to analyze very large amounts of data with reduced costs. The acoustic camera was mounted in the tidal channel of the Caprolace lagoon (central Italy) and programmed for 12 h. continuous recording at night...

Fish age, among other biological parameters, is one of the most relevant pieces of data in reaching sustainable exploitation of fishery resources. Indeed, most analytical methods used in stock assessment require knowledge of demographic structure according to the age of stocks, as well as to recruitment, growth, maturity, natural mortality, etc., w...

Age determination in Anguilla anguilla by using otoliths

I prodotti della pesca e dell’acquacoltura sono comunemente accettati come componenti essenziali in una dieta sana e bilanciata per via del loro basso contenuto in grassi, elevato contenuto proteico e di micronutrienti fondamentali, come in particolare acidi grassi polinsaturi (noti come Omega-3 che hanno effetti positivi dimostrati sulla salute, c...

The present study analyzed the lipid content and fatty acid profiles of European silver eels from Mediterranean lagoons, to interrogate the ecology and biology of eel, a panmictic species well represented in the region, with particular reference to breeder quality. Lagoons are coastal waterbodies included in transitional waters, sharing with these...

L’opera vuole essere descrivere lo stato attuale dell’acquacoltura biologica in Europa ed in Italia, illustrando i trend produttivi dal 2009 (anno del regolamento Europeo) ad oggi e al tempo stesso, attraverso i risultati del progetto SANPEI II coordinato dal CREA e finanziato dal MIPAAF, fornire la percezione dei produttori italiani sulle potenzia...

The majority of organic marine fish farms currently begin the production cycle with non-organic juveniles from conventional hatcheries, permitted by the European Regulation on organic fish origin (EC 710/2009) until the end of 2016. Wild juvenile gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) from coastal lagoons and hatcheries were experimentally reared under...

The majority of organic marine fish farms currently begin the production cycle with non-organic juveniles from conventional hatcheries, permitted by the European Regulation on organic fish origin (EC 710/2009) until the end of 2016. Wild juvenile gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) from coastal lagoons and hatcheries were experimentally reared under...

The European eel is a critically endangered species since stocks are in decline in most of their geographical distribution and their status is considered below safe biological limits. A number of management and conservation measures are being implemented in European countries, in particular applied to silver eels starting their unique spawning migr...

The European eel Anguilla anguilla is thought to be in a multi-decadal decline across its range. Although its northern Atlantic sub-populations are well-studied, little is known about the historical trend and current status of eel stock in the Mediterranean Sea. To fill this gap, we gathered catch data for 86 lagoon fisheries in nine countries acro...

Italian IUCN technical sheet - Anguilla anguilla

The European eel is a highly migratory fish. After the reproduction in the Sargasso Sea early larval-stages start a passive ocean migration towards European and Mediterranean continental waters. After several years as yellow eels, mature adults change to silver stage and then start their return trip. The trajectory of their backward migration is un...

Background/Question/Methods The European eel (Anguilla anguilla L., 1758) is facing a dramatic decline in most of its distributional range and the species is now considered critically endangered according to the IUCN Red list. In 2007 the European Commission issued a Regulation (EU 1100/2007) for eel recovery and the sustainable use of eel stocks...

Lagoons and estuaries are transitional waters (TW), saline in character but substantially influenced by freshwater (FW) flows and the most productive habitat after upwelling areas. The European eel, Anguilla anguilla, is a typical inhabitant of these habitats and a target of important lagoon fisheries since ancient times. Notwithstanding this, in t...

In conjunction with habitat loss and overfishing, pollution and parasitism are believed to be relevant causes of collapse of Anguilla, as these can affect eel swimming ability and the development of gonads and embryos. The present study investigated Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) concentrations, infection levels of Anguillicoloides crassus, lip...

Background Genomic and transcriptomic approaches have the potential for unveiling the genome-wide response to environmental perturbations. The abundance of the catadromous European eel (Anguilla anguilla) stock has been declining since the 1980s probably due to a combination of anthropogenic and climatic factors. In this paper, we explore the trans...

Both theoretical and experimental studies have shown that fishing mortality can induce adaptive responses in body growth rates of fishes in the opposite direction of natural selection. We compared body growth rates in European eel (Anguilla anguilla) from three Mediterranean stocks subject to different fishing pressure. Results are consistent with...

Results of one-way ANOVA of body growth rate with respect to cohort for the three study sites (TIB: Tiber river; FOG: Fogliano lake; LES: Lesina lagoon). (DOC)

Box-whisker plots of individual body growth rate for different cohorts at a) Tiber river, b) Fogliano lake and c) Lesina lagoon. Lines within the boxes represent lower quartile, median and upper quartile values. Vertical dashed lines extend from quartile values to the most extreme data value within 1.5 times interquartile range. Outliers are plotte...

Regression analysis of body length of silver eels vs. body growth rate for the three study sites (TIB: Tiber river; FOG: Fogliano lake; LES: Lesina lagoon). (DOC)

Total length (cm) of silver eels against body growth rate (cm/yr) and relevant regression lines for a) Tiber river, b) Fogliano lake and c) Lesina lagoons. Triangles and circles indicate males and females, respectively. (DOC)

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The stock of the European eel is considered to be outside safe biological limits, following a dramatic demographic decline in recent decades (90–99% drop) that involves a large number of factors including overfishing, contaminants and environmental fluctuations. The aim of the present study is to estimate the effective population size of the Europe...

One of the aims of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/CE is to assess the ecological status of water bodies in Europe in relation to priority contaminants, including some persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Recognizing the benefits of measuring hydrophobic compounds in biota tissues rather than in water, we used the European eel Anguilla angui...

a b s t r a c t Disentangling the demographic processes that determine the genetic structure of a given species is a fun-damental question in conservation and management. In the present study, the population structure of the European eel was examined with a multidisciplinary approach combining the fields of molecular genetics and population dynamic...

Otolith morphology is an efficient tool for the discrimination of fish stocks, populations and species when comparative genetic data are not available. Currently, the relationship between environmental factors and otolith shape is poorly characterized for the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a highly migratory catadromous species constituting a si...

The stock of the European eel is considered to be outside safe biological limits, following a dramatic demographic decline in recent decades (90–99% drop) that involves a large number of factors including overfishing, contaminants and environmental fluctuations. The aim of the present study is to estimate the effective population size of the Europe...

Positive correlations between individual genetic heterozygosity and fitness-related traits (HFCs) have been observed in organisms as diverse as plants, marine bivalves, fish or mammals. HFCs are not universal and the strength and stability of HFCs seem to be variable across species, populations and ages. We analysed the relationship between individ...

Positive correlations between individual genetic heterozygosity and fitness-related traits (HFCs) have been observed in organisms as diverse as plants, marine bivalves, fish or mammals. HFCs are not universal and the strength and stability of HFCs seem to be variable across species, populations and ages. We analysed the relationship between individ...

This work proposed a novel approach to practical use of digital photography for biological purposes