Ricercatore
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Sicily Marine Centre
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo (complesso Roosevelt), 90149 Palermo - Italia
Tel.: +39 3477223664
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Contatto Skype: Mauro_Sinopoli
Research Interests
Marine fishes ecology is defined as the study of the processes that influence the distribution and abundance of fish, the interactions between fishes and the interactions between fishes and their environment. If we add to these aspects the study of interactions between fishes and fishery activities aimed at obtaining management tools, we get a good definition of fishery ecology. I’m dealing with these topics for 20 years through: the study of FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices) that attract fish increasing fishing yields; the study of the effects on the resources of trawling protection in protected areas; the study of the effects on the infralittoral fish species of climate change and acidification. Because of the strong behavioural component of fishes, I often had to adapt the traditional approaches of marine ecology and the logic of experimental design to my researches.
Selected Publications
Sinopoli M., Lauria V., Garofolo G., Maggio T., Cillari T.(2019) Extensive use of Fish Aggregating Devices together with environmental change influenced the spatial distribution of a tropical affinity fish. Scientific Reports doi.org/ 10.1038/s41598-019-41421-9
Maggio T, Allegra A, Andaloro F, Barreiros JP, Battaglia P, Butler C.M., Cuttitta A, Fontes JMR, Freitas R, Gatt M, Karakulak F.S, Macias D, Nicosia A, Oxenford HA, Saber S, Rodrigues NV, Yildiz T, Sinopoli M. (2018) Historical separation and present-day structure of common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) populations in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Ices Journal of Marine Science. DOI 10.1093/icesjms/fsy174
Sinopoli M., Cattano C., Chemello R., Timpanaro A., Milisenda G., Gristina . (2018) Nest-mediated parental care in a marine fish: Are large-scale nesting habitats selected and do these habitats respond to small-scale requirements? Mediterranean Marine Science.. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/mms.14993
Cillari T, Allegra A , Andaloro F , Gristina M, Milisenda G, Sinopoli M (2018)The use of echo-sounder buoys in Mediterranean sea: a new technological approach for a sustainable FADs fishery. Ocean and Coastal Management.152:70–76doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2017.11.018
C. Alomar, S. Deudero, F. Andaloro, L. Castriota, P. Consoli, M. Falautano, M. Sinopoli (2016). Caulerpa cylindracea (Sonder 1845) invasion modifies trophic niche infralitoral rocky benthic community Marine Environmental Research 120: 86-92 10.1016/j.marenvres.2016.07.010 .
Milazzo M., Cattano C., Alonzo S.H., Gristina M., Rodolfo-Metalpa R., Sinopoli M., Spatafora D., Stiver K.A., Hall-Spencer J.M. 2016. Ocean acidification affects fish spawning but not paternity at CO2 seeps. Proc. R. Soc. B 283: 20161021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1021 .
Sinopoli M, Cattano C, Andaloro F, Sarà G, Butler C, Gristina M (2015) Influence of fish aggregating devices (FADs) on anti-predator behaviour within experimental mesocosms. Marine Environmental Research 112: 152-159 .10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.10.008).
Sinopoli M , Cattano C, Chemello R, Timpanaro A, Timpanaro V, Gristina M. 2014 Nest building in a Mediterranean wrasse (Symphodus ocellatus): are the algae used randomly chosen or actively selected? Marine Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/maec.12187 36 (4) 942–949.
Sinopoli M, Castriota L , Vivona P , Gristina M, Andaloro F 2012 Assessing the fish assemblage associated with FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices) in the southern Tyrrhenian sea using two different professional fishing gears. Fishery Research. 123– 124:56– 61 .
Sinopoli M., Fanelli E., D’Anna G., Badalamenti F., Pipitone C., 2012 Assessing the effects of trawl fishing ban on diet and trophic structure of Mediterranean hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Scientia Marina.
Sinopoli M., Badalamenti F., D’Anna G., Gristina. M., Andaloro F 2011 Size influences the spatial distribution and FAD use of five Mediterranean fish species. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 18: 456–466 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2400.2011.00800.x .
Book Chapters
Sinopoli M., Andaloro F. (2017) - Coryphaena hippurus. In: Sartor P., Mannini A., Carlucci R., Massaro E., Queirolo S., Sabatini A., Scarcella G., Simoni R. (eds), Sintesi delle conoscenze di biologia, ecologia e pesca delle specie ittiche dei mari italiani / Synthesis of the knowledge on biology, ecology and fishery of the halieutic resources of the Italian seas. Biol. Mar. Mediterr., 24 (Suppl. 1): 217-222.
