Ph. D. Student
Integrative Marine Ecology Department

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Sicily Marine Centre
Villa Pace, Contrada Porticatello
98167 Messina - Italia

Tel.: +39 3292857201
E-mail: mariagiulia.stipa(at)szn.it
Contatto Skype: live:.cid.19ca2e8fbe69874b

Curriculum Vitae

Director of Studies: Prof.ssa Nunzia Carla Spanò
Internal Supervisor: Prof.ssa Antonia Granata
External Supervisor: Dott. Pietro Battaglia
Dottorato Di Ricerca (XXXVI CICLO) In Biologia Applicata E Medicina Sperimentale ,Curriculum Scienze Biologiche Ed Ambientali

Research Interests

My research line is focused on the study of the trophic ecology of large palegic fish (eg: Xiphias gladius, Thunnus thynnus and Tetrapturus belone) through the analysis of stomach contents.
The main of my PhD project is to understand the role of the Strait of Messina as a key foraging area for bluefin tuna (T. thynnus) and swordfish (X. gladius), during the pre- and post-reproduction periods. In particular, to test whether the high availability of prey with a high energy content (mesopelagic fauna), due to the upwelling regime of the Strait of Messina, can represent an advantage for the metabolism of these predators, ensuring the correct gonadal development for spawning and the recovery of energy reserves in the post-reproductive period.
Other activities relate to; adaptations of fish species to hydrothermal environments, in particular the influence of environmental / ecological parameters on diet and growth structures such as otoliths, taxonomy of Mediterranean teleosts and cephalopod molluscs, morphological analyzes of cephalopods beaks and fishs otoliths. In the field of fisheries, I collect and process data on a recreational fisheries monitoring project.

Selected Publications

Cavallaro M., Guerrera M.C., Abbate F., Levanti M., Laurà R., Ammendolia G., Malara D., Stipa M.G., Battaglia P. 2020. Morphological, ultrastructural and immunohistochemical study on the skin ventral photophores of Diaphus holti Tåning, 1918 (family: Myctophidae). Acta Zoologica. DOI: 10.1111/azo.12348

Malara, D., Battaglia, P., Consoli, P., Arcadi, E., Longo, F., Stipa, M. G., Pagano, L., Greco, S., Andaloro, F. & Romeo, T. (2021). When opportunistic predators interact with swordfish harpoon fishing activities: shark depredation over catches in the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea). The European Zoological Journal, 88(1), 226-236.

Battaglia P., Stipa M.G., ARTICLE, C. (2021). New record of the football octopus Ocythoe tuberculata Rafinesque 1814, from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). In: “New records of rare species in the Mediterranean Sea”. Collective Article B. Mediterranean Marine Science, 22 (3), https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.26669

Longo F., Malara D., Stipa M.G., Consoli P., Romeo T., Sanfilippo M., Abbate F., Andaloro F., Battaglia P. 2021. Age, Growth and Otolith Microstructure of the Spotted Lanternfish Myctophum punctatum Rafinesque 1810. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2021, 9, 801. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080801

Malara D., Longo F., Pagano L., Stipa M.G., Romeo T., Andaloro F., Battaglia P., 2021. Age and growth of pompano, Trachinotus ovatus (Linnaeus, 1758), from the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea). Scientia Marina, 85(3), 175-185. https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.05167.016

Battaglia P., Stipa M.G., Ammendolia G., Pedà C., Consoli P., Andaloro F., Romeo T., 2021. When nature continues to surprise: observations of the hectocotylus of Argonauta argo, Linnaeus 1758. The European Zoological Journal 88(1):980-986. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2021.1970260