Researcher
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Villa Comunale
80121 Napoli - Italy
Tel.: +39 081 5833201
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JoXWkjcAAAAJ&hl=it
https://www.researchgate.net/
Research Interest
Considered a "pest" because they interfere with fishing, bathing, and coastal industrial activities, gelatinous zooplankton (planktonic cnidarians, ctenophores, and pelagic tunicates) are at the center of my research interests. Through my research, I seek to shed light on their role in marine ecosystems by studying their diet, trophic relationships and other interactions (e.g. symbioses) with other marine organisms, and reproduction. For my studies, I draw on the skills developed over the years: the ability to culture gelatinous zooplankton in captivity, and the application of biomarkers in ecology (stable isotopes and fatty acids) that I began during my PhD in the United States.
In recent years, I have become interested in how to use jellyfish as a resource for biotechnology. Jellyfish, in fact, are rich in collagen that is biocompatible with humans, and their toxins can become an effective tool for stopping uncontrolled cell proliferation.
Selected Publications
D’Ambra, I., Saviano, S., Ambrosio, M. A., Botte, V., Iudicone, D., Mazzocchi, M. G., . . . Cianelli, D. (2025). Tracking Pelagia noctiluca scyphomedusae by combining modeling and stable isotope approaches. Frontiers in Marine Science, Volume 12 - 2025. Doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1608726
Lincoln, O. J., Houghton, J. D. R., Zakariya, M., Lauritano, C., & D’Ambra, I. (2025). Chemical Defenses in Medusozoa. Marine Drugs, 23(6). doi:10.3390/md23060229
Brotz, L., Angel, D. L., D’Ambra, I., Enrique-Navarro, A., Lauritano, C., Thibault, D., & Prieto, L. (2024). Chapter Eight - Rhizostomes as a resource: The expanding exploitation of jellyfish by humans. In A. C. Morandini, S. Holst, & G. B. Reinicke (Eds.), Advances in Marine Biology (Vol. 98, pp. 511-547): Academic Press.
Nagata, R. M., D’Ambra, I., Lauritano, C., von Montfort, G. M., Djeghri, N., Jordano, M. A., . . . Leoni, V. (2024). Chapter Five - Physiology and functional biology of Rhizostomeae jellyfish. In A. C. Morandini, S. Holst, & G. B. Reinicke (Eds.), Advances in Marine Biology (Vol. 98, pp. 255-360): Academic Press.
Merquiol, L., Mazzocchi, M. G., & D'Ambra, I. (2023). The planktonic food web in the Gulf of Naples based on the analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios. Marine Ecology, 2023, e12762. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12762
Merquiol, L., Romano, G., Cutignano, A., & D'Ambra, I. (2023). Chemical markers in marine food web: A simple workflow based on methyl tert-butyl ether extraction for fatty acids and stable isotopes assessment in plankton samples. Marine Environmental Research, 190, 106087. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106087
