Reseracher
Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Villa Comunale
80121 Naples - Italy

Tel.: +39 081 5833228
E-mail: sergio.stefanni(at)szn.it
Contatto Skype: wkdsurfer

Curriculum Vitae

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=s77SfzUAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9477-0062

ERC sectors - Environmental biology, ecology and evolution (LS8), Systems and communication engineering (PE7)

Settori scientifico-disciplinari - Zoologia (BIO/05), Genetica (BIO/18)

Lab Members

Tibone Maddalena
Verni Sara
Mazzeo Angela
Ricci Carolina

Research Interests

Since 2016 I have been a researcher at Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples (Italy) and my research interests are molecular ecology, population genetics and phylogeny of marine organisms. I study mainly fish and sharks, from coastal to the deep-sea, with the focus on cryptic species and provide novel molecular tools for fishery and conservation management strategies. I am applying a seascape genetics approach to evaluate the interactions between oceanography and temporal as well as spatial variation in allele frequencies. I am also using genomics for a better understanding of speciation processes and transcriptomics to explore genes that better respond to adaptation to environmental changes as well as understanding mechanisms of adaptation to extreme environments (deep sea environments and hydrothermal vents) using high throughput sequencing platforms. I am involved in several studies addressing questions on marine biodiversity using metabarcoding approaches and use of eDNA. I am also interested in contributing to technological development for research at sea and contributed to the development of an autonomous biosampler during my Marie Curie grant spent at CNR-INF of Genova (Italy). I have projects in collaboration with the Institute of Robotics of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa (Italy) for the development of bioinspired vehicles for marine research. During my career I have gained a wide experience in research cruises, joining several expeditions in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean (some of which as Chief scientist) and as Principal Investigator in international projects.

Selected Publications

Stefanni, S., Mirimin, L., Stanković, D., Chatzievangelou, D., Bongiorni, L., Marini, S., Modica, M.V., Manea, E., Bonofiglio, F., del Rio, J., Cukrov, N., Gavrilović, A., De Leo, F.C., & Aguzzi, J. (2022). Framing cutting-edge integrative deep-sea biodiversity monitoring via environmental DNA and optoacoustic augmented infrastructures. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 797140.

Picardi, G., Chellapurath, M., Iacoponi, S., Stefanni, S., Laschi, C., & Calisti, M. (2020). Bioinspired underwater legged robot for seabed exploration with low environmental disturbance. Science Robotics, 5(42), eaaz1012.

Stefanni, S., Stanković, D., Borme, D., de Olazabal, A., Juretić, T., Pallavicini, A., & Tirelli, V. (2018). Multi-marker metabarcoding approach to study mesozooplankton at basin scale. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 12085.

Stefanni, S., Castilho, R., Sala-Bozano, M., Robalo, J.I., Francisco, S.M., Santos, R. S., Marques N., Brito A., Almada V.C., & Mariani, S. (2015). Establishment of a coastal fish in the Azores: recent colonisation or sudden expansion of an ancient relict population? Heredity, 115(6), 527-537.

Catarino, D., Knutsen, H., Veríssimo, A., Olsen, E.M., Jorde, P.E., Menezes, G., Sannæs H., Company J.B., Neat F., Danovaro R., Dell'Anno A., Rochowski B., & Stefanni, S. (2015). The Pillars of Hercules as a bathymetric barrier to gene flow promoting isolation in a global deep‐sea shark (Centroscymnus coelolepis). Molecular Ecology, 24(24), 6061-6079.

Stefanni, S., Bettencourt, R., Pinheiro, M., Moro, G.D., Bongiorni, L., & Pallavicini, A. (2014). Transcriptome of the deep-sea black scabbardfish, Aphanopus carbo (Perciformes: Trichiuridae): tissue-specific expression patterns and candidate genes associated to depth adaptation. International Journal of Genomics, 2014, 267482.