Research fellow
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Sicily Marine Centre
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
Villa Pace - C.da Porticatello 29, 98167 Messina – Italia
E-mail: cristina.peda(at)szn.it
Contatto Skype: cristina.peda
Research Interests
My research activity aims to investigate different aspects of Marine litter pollution with particular attention to the impacts on the marine environment (composition and characterization of seafloor litter), on marine biota and the trophic web (plastic ingestion in teleost and cartilaginous fish and in cephalopod molluscs; interaction between litter and octopus) and on marine bacterial communities (abundance, composition and metabolic activity). Specific attention was paid to the application of methodologies for the microplastics extraction from marine organisms and characterization and polymer’s identification by Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).
An important part of my research is focused on the trophic ecology of fish species including large pelagic fish (swordfish, bluefin tuna, albacore, Mediterranean spearfish) and demersal fish and also cetaceans using the stomach contents analysis. In this field, I have experience in cephalopod taxonomy as well as in the identification of cephalopod beaks in stomach contents. Finally, other research interest concerns the sustainable use of fishing resources and fishery management, with particular attention to small-scale fisheries. My activities focus on collection of biological, socio-economics, catch and effort data and fishery stakeholders’ involvement.
Selected Publications
Pedà C, Battaglia P, Scuderi A, Voliani A, Mancusi C, Andaloro F, Romeo T. (2015). Cephalopod prey in the stomach contents of odontocete cetaceans stranded in the western Mediterranean Sea. Marine Biology Research, 11(6), 593-602.
Romeo T. Battaglia P. Pedà C, Consoli P, Andaloro F, Fossi M.C. (2015). First evidence of presence of plastic debris in stomach of large pelagic fish in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 95(1), 358-361.
Pedà C, Caccamo L, Fossi MC, Gai F, Andaloro F, Genovese L, Perdichizzi A, Romeo T, Maricchiolo G. (2016). Intestinal alterations in European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758) exposed to microplastics: preliminary results. Environmental Pollution, 212, 251-256.
Fossi MC, Pedà C, Compa M, Tsangaris C, Alomar C, Claro F, Ioakeimidis C, Galgani F, Hema T, Deudero S, Romeo T, Battaglia P, Andaloro F, Caliani I, Casini S, Panti C, Baini M. (2018). Bioindicators for monitoring marine litter ingestion and its impacts on Mediterranean biodiversity. Environmental Pollution, 237, 1023-1040.
Consoli P, Andaloro F, Altobelli C, Battaglia P, Campagnuolo S, Canese S, Castriota L, Cillari T, Falautano M, Pedà C, Perzia P, Sinopoli M, Vivona P, Scotti G, Esposito V, Galgani F, Romeo T. (2018). Marine litter in an EBSA (Ecologically or Biologically Significant Area) of the central Mediterranean Sea: Abundance, composition, impact on benthic species and basis for monitoring entanglement. Environmental Pollution, 236, 405-415.
Caruso G, Pedà C, Cappello S, Leonardi M, La Ferla R, Lo Giudice A, Maricchiolo G, Rizzo C, Maimone G, Rappazzo AC, Genovese L, Romeo T. (2018). Effects of microplastics on trophic parameters, abundance and metabolic activities of seawater and fish gut bacteria in mesocosm conditions. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 25(30), 30067-30083.
Schirinzi GF, Pedà C, Battaglia P, Laface F, Galli M, Baini M, Consoli P, Scotti G, Esposito V, Faggio C, Farré M, Barcelò D, Fossi MC, Andaloro F, Romeo T. (2020). A new digestion approach for the extraction of microplastics from gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) of the common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) from the western Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 397, 122794.
Pedà C, Battaglia P, D’Alessandro M, Laface F, Malara D, Consoli P, Vicchio TM, Longo F, Andaloro F, Baini M, Galli M, Bottari T, Fossi MC, Greco S, Romeo T. (2020). Coupling gastro-intestinal tract analysis with an airborne contamination control method to estimate litter ingestion in demersal elasmobranchs. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 119.
Tsangaris C, Panti C, Compa M, Pedà C, Digka N, Baini M, D’Alessandro M, Alomar C, Patsiou D, Giani D, Romeo T, Deudero S,. Fossi MC. (2021). Interlaboratory comparison of microplastic extraction methods from marine biota tissues: A harmonization exercise of the Plastic Busters MPAs project. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 164, 111992.
Pedà C, Longo F, Berti C, Laface F, De Domenico F, Consoli P, Battaglia P, Greco S, Romeo T. (2022). The waste collector: information from a pilot study on the interaction between the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris, Cuvier, 1797) and marine litter in bottom traps fishing and first evidence of plastic ingestion. Marine pollution bulletin, 174, 113185.
Pedà C, Romeo T, Panti C, Caliani I, Casini S, Marsili L, Campani T, Baini M, Limonta G, de Rysky E, Caccamo L, Perdichizzi A, Gai F, Maricchiolo G, Consoli P, Fossi M. C. (2022). Integrated biomarker responses in European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758) chronically exposed to PVC microplastics. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 438, 129488.
Sciutteri V, Pedà C, Longo F, Calogero R, Cangemi G, Pagano L, Battaglia P, Nannini M, Romeo T, Consoli P. (2023). Integrated approach for marine litter pollution assessment in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea: Information from bottom-trawl fishing and plastic ingestion in deep-sea fish. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 188, 114661.
Books
Pedà C, Battaglia P, Romeo T, Stipa M.G, Longo F, Malara D, Consoli P, Andaloro F. (2022) Photographic atlas of cephalopod beaks from the Mediterranean Sea. pp. 120 ISBN 979-12-5968-638-1
