Research Director
Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department
Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms (BEOM)
Director Sicily Marine Center and Acting Director CRIMAC (Calabria office)
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Via dei Mille 46, 98057 Milazzo (ME)
Villa Pace - C.da Porticatello 29, 98167 Messina – Italia
Email: teresa.romeo(at)szn.it
ERC sectors Behavioural ecology and evolution (LS8_11), Marine biology and ecology (LS8_13)
Settore scientifico-disciplinare - Ecologia (BIO/07)
*Associated to National Institute for Protection and Environmental Research (ISPRA)
Research Interest
My research is based on aspects of organismal biology with the application of a multidisciplinary approach to evaluate the effects of anthropogenic impacts and climate change on fisheries resources and marine ecosystems. I am particularly interested in the effects of microplastics on the biology and physiology of fish and cephalopods. I conduct this study by analyzing behavioral responses and feeding habits, as well as morphological analysis of organs and tissues. I study the behavior of migratory fish species (swordfish, angelfish, tuna) through observations in the wild and with the help of satellite-based tagging systems, genetic analyzes and stomach contents. In recent years, I have coordinated research projects and activities aimed at studying marine ecosystems of hydrothermal environments, with a specific focus on the species adaptations to the effects of acidification.
I am the principal investigator of several projects founded by the PON, PO FEAMP 2014-2020 Programmes, Interreg MED and of orders for preparatory studies for the implementation of offshore wind farms.
Selected Publications
• Pedà, C., Longo, F., Berti, C., Laface, F., De Domenico, F., Consoli, P., ... & 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.
(DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113185)
• Pedà, C., Romeo, T., Panti, C., Caliani, I., Casini, S., Marsili, L., ... & 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.
(DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129488)
• MacKenzie, B.R., Addis, P., Battaglia, P., Consoli, P., Andaloro, F., Sarà, G., ... & Romeo, T. (2022). Neglected fishery data sources as indicators of pre‐industrial ecological properties of Mediterranean swordfish (Xiphias gladius, Xiphiidae). Fish and Fisheries, 23(4), 829-846.
(DOI: 10.1111/faf.12651)
• Schirinzi, G.F., Pedà, C., Battaglia, P., Laface, F., Galli, M., Baini, M., ... & 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.
(DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122794)
• Romeo, T., Pietro, B., 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.
(DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.048)