Guido Gnone

• Acquario di Genova, Fondazione Acquario di Genova

The common bottlenose dolphin is a cosmopolitan species that can be found worldwide in all oceans except polar and sub-polar waters. This wide distribution is associated with a certain level of morphological variation, which seems consistent with the presence of a globally distributed pelagic/offshore ecotype and several coastal/inshore ecotypes di...

Nel settembre 2021 il ritrovamento accidentale di tre neonati di Caretta caretta a Finale Ligure (SV) ha permesso alla comunità scientifica di accertare il primo caso noto di nidificazione di questa specie sulle coste liguri. L’anno successivo, nella notte del 15 luglio, è stata osservata una femmina di C. caretta deporre sulla spiaggia libera di L...

The protection of cetaceans has attracted increasing attention since their important ecological role was understood and environmental policies have focused on finding solutions to protect the sea and counteract climate change. Cetaceans are ecosystem engineers that are able to modify habitats, increasing species richness and marine productivity. Th...

We investigated the presence and diversity of cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea, analysing the data collected by 32 different research units, over a period of 15 years (2004–2018), and shared on the common web-GIS platform named Intercet. We used the encounter rate, the species prevalence, and the Shannon diversity index as parameters for data ana...

The common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is a cosmopolitan delphinid, regularly present in the Mediterranean Sea. According to previous studies, this dolphin tends to form resident geographical units scattered on the continental shelf. We investigated how the physiographic characteristics of the area of residence, with special reference t...

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) make extensive use of narrowband whistles with individually distinctive frequency modulations to broadcast their identity: the signature whistles. The acoustic structure of the signature whistles tends to be stable over decades. Therefore, these vocalisations have the potential to be used for monitoring indi...

In the Mediterranean, at the end of the 19thcentury, dolphins were identified as pest species for their disruptive actions during some fishing phases. Numerous fishermen organizations asked for permission to hunt dolphins, and the killing of a dolphin was often institutionally favoured by several national laws. We provide a picture of the systemati...

The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is one of the largest and most widely distributed marine mammals. The Mediterranean population, classified as Endangered in the IUCN Red List, is affected by a number of anthropogenic threats, including noise increase. The individuals of this species tend to spend long periods ''rafting" and socializing at t...

The first case of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, was reported in China on 17 November 2019. By the end of March 2020, the rapid global spread of infection affected over 1 million people. Italy is one of the countries most impacted, with over 100,000 positive cases identified. The first detected cases were reported on 21 February 2020 in two Italian...

• Geospatial models are used to predict the distribution of terrestrial and marine species, according to their ecological and ethological habits. The bottlenose dolphin is a cosmopolitan marine top predator, inhabiting most of the ocean, with the exception of polar and subpolar waters. This wide distribution is associated with a remarkable plastici...

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) make extensive use of narrowband whistles for intraspecific communication. Among the whistle types, each individual develops an individually distinctive frequency modulation pattern that broadcasts its identity: the signature whistle. In our study, we investigated the acoustic structure of the signature whi...

The reproductive histories of 41 adult bottlenose dolphin females were analysed using photo-identification data collected between 2006 and 2014 in four sub-areas of the eastern Ligurian Sea (northwest Mediterranean). The Rapallo sub-area revealed the highest (highly significant) frequency of encounters (per unit effort) of reproductive females in a...

CONISMA, CNR and CIRCE, involved Italian research units (RUs) working on cetaceans to join a National Network answering the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requirements by sharing monitoring data. Data obtained during the 2016 monitoring campaigns by 13 RUs are presented here.

Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus, Linnaeus 1758) is an endangered cetacean species, particularly sensitive to noise pollution and highly vulnerable to ship strikes. In the framework of the Life+ Nature WHALESAFE it was realized an interference avoidance system capable to detect and track sperm whale, to identify the threats and to prevent collis...

The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is one of the largest and most widely distributed marine mammals. The Mediterranean population, classified as Endangered in the IUCN Red List, is affected by a number of anthropogenic threats, including noise increase. They spend long periods “rafting” and socializing at the surface between deep dives and th...

WhaleSafe project aim at preserving both sperm whales and boats from unwished collision in Santuario Pelagos, close to Savona (Italy). The system is made of 2 mother buoys, each one connected with its daughter through a data cable. The mother buoys provide power from sun and wind to their daughters who have 4 hydrophones and an acquisition system...

In WhaleSafe project the data collected from 2 couples of buoys with 4 hydrophones will be analysed to estimate TDOA in the signal emitted from sperm whales detected by the system. Results transmitted to a ground station will be used to extrapolate the point where the whales should emerge. A high sensitivity and specificity detector is required....

Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus, Linnaeus 1758) is an endangered cetacean species, particularly sensitive to noise pollution and highly vulnerable to ship strikes. In the framework of the Life+ Nature WHALESAFE it was realized an interference avoidance system capable to detect and track sperm whale, to identify the threats and to prevent collis...

Within the Mediterranean Sea, marine traffic is very intense, it can lead to collisions and noise pollution, representing disturbance of feeding activity and causing potential changes in cetacean behaviour as well as injuries and, in the worst scenario, death of the animal. Two fixed acoustic stations were tested as effective tools to protect cetac...

The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus Montagu, 1821) is a regularly observed species in the Mediterranean Sea, but its network organization has never been investigated on a large scale. We described the network macrostructure of the bottlenose dolphin (meta)population inhabiting the Pelagos Sanctuary (a wide protected area located in the north...

Habitat modeling is an important tool to investigate the quality of the habitat for a species within a certain area, to predict species distribution and to understand the ecological processes behind it. Many species have been investigated by means of habitat modeling techniques mainly to address effective management and protection policies and ceta...

Pooled data on the endangered short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis collected in the central Mediterranean Sea over 2000-2014 period by different research groups in Italy were analysed. A total of 266 encounters with 4675 common dolphins was attained. The species was mainly recorded in the central and southern Tyrrhenian Sea (around Ischia...

The aim of this study was to analyze the toxicity of two neurotoxic compounds on the ephyra stage of the Scyphozoan jellyfish Aurelia aurita, an innovative and sensitive model organism recently proposed in ecotoxicological bioassays. Indeed, jellyfish play an important role in the marine ecosystem, being a key component of the gelatinous zooplankto...

Modelling approach is a relatively new tool to investigate bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus, Montagu 1821) preferences for its habitat and few studies were focused to Mediterranean populations. While dolphins’ habitat preferences may be primarily influenced by the distribution of their prey, several studies suggested the possibility of defini...

Stranding data can be an important source for investigating the demography of marine mammal populations. In the present work we analyzed by a demographic approach the stranding events of common bottlenose dolphins reported in the Italian and French stranding datasets over the period 1986-2011.

The historical presence of Emys orbicularis in Liguria (NW Italy) is confirmed by museum specimens only in the Province of Savona, where the alteration of freshwater habitats have negatively impacted the species, that was considered locally extinct by the end of the last century. However, recent findings proved the existence of few remnant breeding...

In spite of all the information available on adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) biosonar, the ontogeny of its echolocation abilities has been investigated very little. Earlier studies have reported that neonatal dolphins can produce both whistles and burst-pulsed sounds just after birth and that early-pulsed sounds are probably a precurs...

The Pelagos Sanctuary is the largest marine protected area of the Mediterranean Sea (87 500 km2), and is located in the north-west part of the basin. The presence of the bottlenose dolphin in this area is well documented but its distribution and abundance are not well known.The present study collected and analysed data from 10 different research gr...

Delfini Metropolitani is a long term project to study the ecology of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus, Montagu 1821, Delphinidae) in the Eastern Ligurian Sea. One of the main goal is to analyse the relationships between animals and anthropic activities. The area considered for this study includes the coastal waters between Genoa and La Spezia...

Bottlenose dolphins presence along East Ligurian coastal waters is widely documented. Establishing bottlenose dolphin long-term patterns of occurrence is fundamental to better understand relationships between dolphins and their habitat, including human activities such as fishing and vessels traffic. Here we describe the experimental use of an Ecolo...

Dolphins can produce a wide repertoire of sounds: impulsive (high frequency) sounds, also involved in echolocation mechanism, percussive sounds and modulated sounds, usually called whistles. Studies on the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), one of most studied dolphin species, have indicated that each individual produces a distinctive whistle...

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According to Lyamin and co-authors, neonate bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) almost never sleep, unlike all other mammals that have been studied. Although we agree that young dolphins never stop and float at the surface, we find that they spend a considerable amount of time asleep while swimming. Our findings therefore call into question th...

Introduzione – Il Delfinide Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) è noto come specie cosmopolita dalle abitudini prevalentemente costiere (Cagnolaro et al., 1983; Notarbartolo di Sciara e Demma, 1994). Alcuni autori indicano l'esistenza di due ecotipi distinti, uno con abitudini propriamente costiere ed uno pelagico (Duffield et al., 1983). L'habitat...

the spatial behaviour of Tursiops truncatus (Cetacea, odontoceti, Delphinidae) along the Ligurian sea coast was analysed by means of photo-identification techniques. photographic catalogues from 4 contiguous research areas (imperia-Alassio, Genova, spezia, Viareggio) were compared. individual dolphins were re-sighted at sites up to 130 km apart.

AIM – This study investigates the association patterns between individuals and the social habits of the bottlenose dolphin in the Eastern Ligurian Sea.

INTRODUCTION – Photo-identification technique has been successfully used with different cetacean species in order to assess population parameters such as abundance, spatial behaviour and social relationships. Despite striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) is the most common cetacean in the whole Mediterranean Sea (Forcada et al., 1995), a few atte...