Teresa Romeo

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Associated with ISPRA

Monitoring coastal marine environments by evaluating and comparing their chemical, physical, biological, and anthropogenic components is essential for ecological assessment and socio-economic development. In this study, we conducted an integrated multivariate analysis to assess the descriptors of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive at a regiona...

Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) has become a widely used method to study cetaceans, especially for populations facing escalating threats from noisy human activities, including shipping traffic, fishing industry and marine constructions. Here, we conducted the first study using an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) to explore the distribution and ac...

Effects of Best Practices in small-scale fisheries management.

Due to its potential to monitor phytoplankton taxa at a rate that even the best experts can't equal, the Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) has rapidly gaining popularity and has revolutionized the way researchers are studying phytoplankton communities. However, the huge amount of images it generates makes manual identification impractical. Therefore, ther...

The coastal areas of Vibo Valentia and Capo Rizzuto, located both in the Tyrrhenian and in the southern Ionian Sea, are known for their stunning natural beauty and rich biodiversity. However, a hidden threat lurks beneath the surface: plastic pollution. Microplastics, tiny pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters in size, have been found to be abu...

The vast expanse of the deep sea, punctuated by isolated seamounts, harbors a hidden world teeming with microscopic life. These underwater mountains, offer a unique ecological niche. The Cape Palinuro seamount, rising from the depths off the coast of southern Italy, presents a captivating opportunity to shade a light on microbial diversity. This st...

Introduction The black coral Leiopathes glaberrima is a key component of deep-sea animal forests of the Western Mediterranean and North-Atlantic hard bottoms. Due to its ecological role, biological characteristics and sensitivity to fishing activities, it has been included in the Annex II of the Barcelona Convention, listed as an endangered species...

Finding time-efficient and cost-effective data collection methods is a challenge when addressing aquatic litter pollution on a global scale. In this study, we analysed data on aquatic benthic debris collected worldwide by volunteer scuba divers through the Dive Against Debris® citizen science initiative, examining its relationship with spatial and...

This study, conducted within the PNRR "NBFC" project, investigates the biodiversity and ecological role of two key marine areas: the Palinuro seamount (Tyrrhenian Sea) and the upwelling system of the Strait of Messina. Both areas, characterized by hydrographic phenomena that increase biological productivity, act as biodiversity hotspots, supporting...

The Mediterranean spearfish (Tetrapturus belone) is a highly migratory predator, also exploited by commercial and recreational fisheries although its catches are poorly reported. The fishing pressure on this species is currently unknown because catch and landing data are fragmentary. Furthermore, more ecological information (e.g. migratory movement...

Due to their environmental features, marine hydrothermal systems could be interested by the production of several reduced compounds, i.e. low molecular weight hydrocarbons, long-chain alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and act a selective pressure for the establishment of specific and resistant microbial communities, well adapted to such...

The Amendolara Bank was recently designated as a Site of Community Importance; however, information on its ecosystems remains limited, with a particular dearth of knowledge regarding the deeper zone (>100 m). Previous studies have discovered the existence of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) within the bank, underscoring the necessity for more co...

The sea star Hymenodiscus coronata is the only Mediterranean representative of the deep-sea order Brisingida. In the North-eastern Atlantic Ocean, this species is known to create dense aggregations, while, in the Mediterranean basin, it is generally reported as scattered individuals. Through the analysis of the video footage obtained from an extens...

This manuscript explores the role of European anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the central Mediterranean Region, shedding light on their ecological significance, conservation challenges, and sustainable utilization. The European anchovy is one of Europe’s most important fish resources in the Mediterranean basin, and it is considered a keystone...

High-definition bathymetry mapping, combined with the measurement of dissolved benthic fluxes and water column biogeochemical properties, allows for a description of new biogeochemical processes around the Panarea Volcanic island. Investigations focused on the CO2 releases from the bottom sea on the east of the Panarea volcanic complex provided ins...

A Wave Glider is a surface and remotely operable oceanographic platform equipped with multi-parameter sensors, including a towed array hydrophone. Here, we tested the potential use of this autonomous vehicle to acquire high quality acoustic data and provide information on the spatial distribution of different cetacean species in the Mediterranean S...

Cold-water corals (CWCs) are bioengineering species that can increase habitat heterogeneity and improve the deep sea’s biological diversity and ecosystem functioning. Knowledge of their distribution provides a critical baseline for assessing the effect of natural and anthropogenic impacts on these important deep-sea habitats. The aims of this study...

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous worldwide in marine environment, from the sea surface to deep waters, and also highly bioavailable to marine fauna by direct or secondary ingestion. To date, plastic ingestion is a concern for the health of marine organisms, but few studies focused on the transfer of MPs across marine trophic levels. MPs ingestion...

Mediterranean cetacean populations face many threats from increased human activities, such as ship traffic, overfishing, bycatch, chemical pollution, marine litter and underwater noise. Here, we investigated cetacean diversity using acoustic recorders installed in static and dynamic devices in the central Mediterranean Sea, where a floating offshor...

Current knowledge of the microbial diversity of shallow-water hydrothermal vents is still limited. Recent evidence suggests that these peculiar and heterogeneous systems might host highly diversified microbial assemblages with novel or poorly characterized lineages. In the present work, we used 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding to provide novel insights...

Marine hydrothermal systems are extreme environments characterized by harsh chemical and physical conditions such as very high temperatures, high concentrations of CO2 and H2S, and low pH. The bubbling of fluids, especially CO2 and other gasses from the seafloor, acidifies the surrounding vents' environment making them an ecological analogue of wha...

Introduction Shallow hydrothermal vents are considered natural laboratories to study the effects of acidification on biota, due to the consistent CO2 emissions with a consequent decrease in the local pH. Methods Here the microbial communities of water and sediment samples from Levante Bay (Vulcano Island) with different pH and redox conditions wer...

Marine litter concentration in the Mediterranean Sea is strongly influenced both by anthropogenic pressures and hydrodynamic factors that locally characterise the basin. Within the Plastic Busters MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) Interreg Mediterranean Project, a comprehensive assessment of floating macro- and microlitter in the Pelagos Sanctuary and...

In the frame of the circular economy, bioplastics are considered a good alternative to conventional plastic materials. Until recently, only a few studies have focused on the occurrence and impact of bio-microplastics (bio-MPs) in aquatic environments, and there is a lack of a methodological approach to measure their amount in marine compartments. T...

Modern society depends on plastic, especially through single-use plastic products (SUPs), which can affect ecological systems after use. Local policymakers can strategically adopt measures against SUPs pollution by setting effective local governance. This work was designed to evaluate SUPs consumption inside the Marine Protected Area of the Egadi I...

Microplastic pollution is one of the global emerging threats. All oceans are contaminated by microplastics, in particular, the Mediterranean Sea, due to its characteristic semi-closed morphology and the different anthropogenic pressures exerted by the surrounding countries, is highly polluted. This chapter provides a collection of information on th...

Microplastics are widely recognized as contaminants of emerging concern in the marine environment. This work deal with a global overview of the microplastics in the Mediterranean sediments. Moreover, the information collected in this chapter might be used as a tool in fine-tuning of new common worldwide protocol in order to report homogeny results...

This chapter focused on the toxic substances, inorganics, and organics, that can be adsorbed by marine Mediterranean microplastics. The chemical nature of each substance and the possible consequences for humans. Due to their toxic nature, all the listed substances have to be severely monitored in Mediterranean Sea coastal waters to better understan...

Microplastics pollution in seawater is a big threat all over the world.This chapter focused on the study of microplastics (MPs) in the marine Mediterranean biota, on the possible impacts, and the effects that this type of pollution entails on the marine biota. We collected all the articles published to date on this topic and compared them in order...

The Mediterranean Sea is highly populated and is one of the busiest commercial traffic seas, and it is heavily impacted by MPs, and for this reason, was recognized as a target hotspot of the world as microplastics concentration. Several plastic types are found in the Mediterranean Sea, their polymeric characteristics play an important role in the i...

Background Hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, pockmarks and seamounts are widely distributed on the ocean floor. Over the last fifty years, the knowledge about these volcanic-associated marine ecosystems has notably increased, yet available information is still limited, scattered, and unsuitable to support decision-making processes for the conservatio...

Simple Summary This study reports the results of a multidisciplinary research on Mediterranean pelagic octopods belonging to the species Argonauta argo, Ocythoe tuberculata, Tremoctopus gracilis and Tremoctopus violaceus for the first time. The study area was the Strait of Messina and southern Tyrrhenian Sea. We used information from stranding even...

Anthropogenic microparticles (AMs) were found for the first time in specimens of Trematomus bernacchii collected in 1998 in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) and stored in the Antarctic Environmental Specimen Bank. Most of the identified AMs were fibers of natural and synthetic origin. The natural AMs were cellulosic, the synthetic ones were polyester, pol...

Mediterranean echinoderms currently account for 154 species, many of which have been widely studied in coastal ecosystems. Investigations on deep-sea echinoderms, on the contrary, have been challenging in many ways, and very few targeted in situ studies have been carried out so far. Here we took advantage of an extensive ROV survey carried out in t...

The anemone Amphianthus dohrnii (Koch, 1878) is a small opportunistic epibiont known to colonize a large variety of host species. The species is widely distributed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea, from mesophotic habitats to bathyal depths. Despite being very common, information on its ecology is currently scarce and scat...

Few studies evaluated long-term effects of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics (MPs) ingestion in fish. The present study aimed to investigate the integrated biomarker responses in the liver and blood of 162 European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, exposed for 90 days to control, virgin and marine incubated PVC enriched diets (0.1 % w/w) under co...

Simple Summary We investigated the influence of the lunar cycle on bluefin tuna prey composition in the Strait of Messina by stomach content analysis. We tested if the lunar phases could determine changes in mesopelagic prey composition and abundance. Moreover, we considered two potential impacts of the lunar cycle: the lunar irradiance and the str...

Luminescent bacteria are a fascinating component of marine microbial communities, often related to the light emissions in deep sea marine organisms. They are mainly affiliated with specific phylogenetic groups, such as Photobacterium, Vibrio, and Photorhabdus, and are sometimes involved in symbiotic relationships. However, the luminescence of some...

In this paper we report data on four juvenile individuals of T. trachypterus and one adult of Z. cristatus, from the Strait of Messina and southern Tyrrhenian Sea, respectively (Mediterranean Sea). Information on morphometric and meristic characters are provided together with some biological data such as prey and age estimation. Only stomachs of T....

Anthropogenic microparticles (AMs) were found for the first time in specimens of Trematomus bernacchii collected in 1998 in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) and stored in the Antarctic Environmental Specimen Bank. Most of the identified AMs were fibers of natural and synthetic origin. The natural AMs were cellulosic, the synthetic ones were polyester, pol...

Birds use stopovers during migration to interrupt endurance flight in order to minimize immediate and/or future fitness costs. Stopovers on ships is considered an exceptional and anecdotal event in the ornithological literature. This does not match the experience we had in the summer of 2021, during an oceanographic campaign in the Central Mediterr...

The Ocean Decade (OD) is the name of a United Nations (UN) initiative devoted to ocean science for sustainable development. It started in 2021 and will provide an opportunity to create a new foundation, across the science-policy interface, to strengthen the sustainable management of oceans and coasts and, at same time, bring benefits for future gen...

Management of fish populations and ecosystems suffers from data and knowledge gaps, particularly with respect to how humans and nature affect dynamics at multi‐decadal and longer time scales. However, collection of new data which indicates population or ecosystem status is slow and expensive. Here we analyse c. 110 years of neglected fishery data f...

Environmental contamination by heavy metals (HMs) poses several indirect risks to human health, including the co-spreading of genetic traits conferring resistance to both HMs and antibiotics among micro-organisms. Microbial antibiotic resistance (AR) acquisition is enhanced at sites anthropogenically polluted by HMs, as well as in remote systems na...

Simple Summary Ocean acidification is causing major changes in marine ecosystems, with varying levels of impact depending on the region and habitat investigated. Here, we report noticeable changes in both meio- and macrobenthic assemblages at shallow hydrothermal vents located in the Mediterranean Sea. In general, the areas impacted by the vent flu...

Marine hydrothermal systems are a special kind of extreme environments associated with submarine volcanic activity and characterized by harsh chemo-physical conditions, in terms of hot temperature, high concentrations of CO2 and H2S, and low pH. Such conditions strongly impact the living organisms, which have to develop adaptation strategies to sur...

In this paper new data on the scaleless dragonfish Bathophilus nigerrimus Giglioli 1882 (Stomiidae) are provided. We examined an individual found stranded on the shore of the Sicilian coast of the Strait of Messina on February 2, 2019. Additional data were retrieved by two more specimens from the same study area: from the first one, found stranded...

Few studies focused on behaviour adaptations of organisms to marine litter (ML) pollution in Mediterranean Sea. This research, investigates on some behavior traits of Octopus vulgaris, focusing on the interaction with ML during the artisanal fishing activities by the bottom traps in a small coastal area of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. For the first...

Management of marine fisheries and ecosystems is constrained by knowledge based on datasets with limited temporal coverage. Many populations and ecosystems were perturbed long before scientific investigations began. This situation is particularly acute for the largest and commercially most valuable species. We hypothesized that historical trap fish...

This paper presents a characterisation of the fishing fleet operating in Campania, one of the twenty administrative Regions of Italy. An analysis of the contribution of the regional fleet to the national fishing capacity is also provided.. The fleet is characterised according to its technical features (number of vessels, tonnage, engine power, leng...

This is the first paper to provide detailed information on the age and growth of Trachinotus ovatus. The size of the 244 individuals collected in the Strait of Messina ranged from 2.7 to 30.4 cm in fork length (LF) and 0.31 to 508.6 g in body mass (M). The relationship between these parameters (M - LF) was investigated and showed a good fit. Age es...

In this paper, a live hectocotylus, found inside a stranded female Argonauta argo shell, allowed us to describe the behaviour of this copulatory arm and add new information on its morphology. The hectocotylus penile filament is contained in a special membranous pocket or sac, almost completely transparent, extending from the apex of the basal part...

This study investigated, for the first time, the age and growth of the spotted lanternfish Myctophum punctatum through an analysis of otolith microstructure. A total of 377 individuals were collected from the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea), ranging between 20.3 and 73.7 mm of standard length. Their length–weight relationship was esti...

High-resolution images of Mars from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rovers revealed mm-size loose haematite spherulitic deposits (nicknamed “blueberries”) similar to terrestrial iron-ooids, for which both abiotic and biotic genetic hypotheses have been proposed. Understanding the formation mechanism of these haematite spherules...

Management of marine fisheries and ecosystems is constrained by knowledge based on datasets with limited temporal coverage. Many populations and ecosystems have been perturbed long before scientific investigations have begun. This situation is particularly acute for the largest and commercially most valuable species. We hypothesized that historical...

Acidified marine systems represent “natural laboratories”, which provide opportunities to investigate the impacts of ocean acidification on different living components, including microbes. Here, we compared the benthic microbial response in four naturally acidified sites within the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea characterized by different acidification so...

In 2015, the Strait of Sicily, which includes several banks, was candidate as a future Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI) by the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention. In this context, the present study aims to provide the first biological and ecological characterisation of this poorly known area, focusing on hab...

A heterogeneous amount of waste of different origins is continuously generated along Italian coasts in the Mediterranean Sea. In this paper, using information regarding the quantities and the different types of marine litter based on Project AWARE's “Dive Against Debris” data, we try to identify the main sources of this waste. In particular, the me...

We describe the interaction between harpoon fishing activity and sharks, which opportunistically depredated harpoon catches in the Strait of Messina. Shark bite marks were observed on harpooned swordfish during the period 2014–2020, with different damages to the catches. Most of the depredation events have focused on large swordfish, generally weig...

• Dendrophyllia ramea is a poorly known arborescent scleractinian coral, whose worldwide distribution is limited to the southern part of the Mediterranean basin, and to the Atlantic Ocean between Macaronesia and Gulf of Cadiz. The geographical distribution and abundance of D. ramea were herein updated, considering a total of 19 records, seven of wh...

The Aeolian Archipelago, in the western Mediterranean Sea, is an active volcanic arc hosting several hydrothermal sites. This area, considered a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem by The Food and Agriculture Organization because of its ecological importance and biodiversity value, is affected by various pressures and threats that may act as sources of mar...

In the framework of the Plastic Busters MPAs project, a harmonization exercise on two methods of microplastic extraction from biological samples i.e. 15% H2O2 digestion and 10% KOH digestion was carried out. The two methods were tested in four laboratories on fish gastrointestinal tracts and mussel tissues spiked with polyethylene, polypropylene an...

The Strait of Messina is located at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea and is considered a biodiversity hotspot and an obligatory seasonal passage for different pelagic species such as sharks, marine mammals, and billfishes. For the first time, in the Strait of Messina, our research group tagged a Mediterranean spearfish (Tetrapturus belone) using...

In this paper a rare case of a double swordfish mortal attack against an adult blue shark ( Prionace glauca ) is reported. A female blue shark, with a total length of 3 m, was found stranded along the southern Sicilian coast (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea) on 30 May 2018. The analysis of this carcass revealed the presence of two swordfish bil...

This study aims to assess the litter ingestion in some demersal elasmobranchs, combining a classical gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) analysis with a procedure methodology to reduce airborne fibers contamination. In order to prevent the overestimation of litter ingestion, we applied severe mitigation measures to avoid airborne contamination during the...

The bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, is a highly migratory and long-living fish at the top of the pelagic food web. As top predator, it plays a key role in the stability of marine food webs by exerting top-down control on its prey. The diet composition of bluefin tuna varies in relation to its growth, seasons and migratory patterns, making it difficu...

Small-scale fisheries represent one of the most important fishing sectors in Italy, comprising 60% of Italian fishing vessels, half the fishers and 16% of national landings. Despite their high social, economic and cultural value, they have been neglected by national and international policies, resulting in a poor outlook for the near future. In thi...

Plastics are the most common marine litter typology found on the beaches and seafloor or floating on the sea surface and water column [1, 2, 3]. When these plastic items reach micro size (<5 mm) they are commonly known as microplastics (MPs) [4].

Evaluating the effects of anthropogenic pressure on the marine environment is one of the focal objectives in identifying strategies for its use, conservation and restoration. In this paper, we assessed the effects of chemical pollutants, grain size and plastic litter on functional traits, biodiversity and biotic indices. The study was conducted on...

Plastic ingestion is one of the main impacts of marine litter on organisms. The occurrence of microplastics (MPs < 5 mm) in the stomachs of Mediterranean species was already reported in several studies. In this context, the present study aims to develop a new approach of digestion for the identification of MPs in the gastrointestinal tracts (GITs)...

The aim of this research was to assess marine litter abundance and its effects on the benthic fauna in an area of the central Mediterranean Sea exploited by fisheries using fish aggregating devices (FAD). The study was carried out by means of a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV). Derelict fishing gear, mainly FAD ropes, represented the main source of...

We report the presence of microplastics on the external surface and in the gastrointestinal tract of white late-larval and juvenile stages (fry) of clupeid fishes caught in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The average highest number of plastics debris was recorded on Sardina pilchardus (0.53 items/specimen); a lower average number of items was observed...

A poorly known form of marine litter known as Abandoned, Lost or otherwise Discarded Fishing (ALDFG) derives from fishing activities using FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices). In the Mediterranean Sea, this activity is widespread in southern Italy, Tunisia, Malta and Majorca (Spain). The way of constructing FADs, from a functional point of view, is ver...

Fishermen of Majorca, Sicily, Tunisia and Malta anchor a large numbers of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) every year at sea. These are built with palm leaves, plastic floating objects, polypropylene cables and anchor blocks. Through a bibliographic research, in this study estimates of total number of FADs and the abandoned litter in localized marin...

Morphological and genetic investigations have led to the identification of Spiophanes adriaticus sp. nov. (Polychaeta: Spionidae) from the North Adriatic Sea (Central Mediterranean). A total of 81 specimens were recorded along the sublittoral zone between 8 and 27.5 m of depth. This species differs from other congeners by having: two pairs of black...