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ACADEMIC HISTORY 2011-present 2010 2008 1999 |
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Behavioural ecology of crustaceans and fish; Sexual selection and mating strategies; Biodiversity and conservation; Evolutionary biology; Invasive species Current research Genetic and environmental basis of sex-change plasticity in marine fish - The phenomenon of sex change has intrigued evolutionary biologists for decades. Sex change has been reported in numerous plants and invertebrates and among vertebrates it is expressed only in teleost fishes. Even though a great amount of information has been gathered on the proximate causes of sex determination in fishes the ultimate causes are still not clearly investigated. I am studying various populations of the white sea bream Diplodus sargus, a species complex which exhibits great sexual plasticity. Populations of this species from different areas have been reported to be gonochoristic (males and females) or protandrous hermaphrodites (sex changers from males to females). My goal is to explain this variation in reproductive life-history strategies on the basis of environmental heterogeneity. I am focusing on a series of potential drivers (temperature, latitude, community composition, fisheries pressure, etc.) to obtain a better understanding of the factors promoting or preventing sex change. I am reducing phylogenetic biases since I am working on two subspecies (D. s. sargus and D. s. cadenati) from nine geographical locations in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic (including two protected area). I am also assessing the effective population size of these populations using life-history traits and molecular data. The study will produce three outcomes: 1) unravelling the geographical pattern of reproductive life-history, indicating the possible ecological causes; 2) producing a geographical map of age- and size-at-sex change in the areas where sex change is the rule, with a causal framework of the variation; 3) conducting the first population genetic investigation in D. sargus using microsatellites analyses, to resolve gene flow in this species complex and analyze effective population size in sex-changing and separate-sexes populations. All these data obtained from a sexually plastic species can add new perspectives to the study of sex change in fishes and bring valuable insights for conservation and management plans in marine areas. |
| Benvenuto C., Cheyppe-Buchmann S., Bermond G., Ris N., Fauvergue X. ; (2012) 'Intraspecific hybridization, life history strategies and potential invasion success in a parasitoid wasp'. Evolutionary Ecology, in press . [Details] |
| Benvenuto C., Weeks S.C.; (2012) 'Intersexual conflict during mate guarding in an androdioecious crustacean'. Behavioral Ecology, 23 :218-224. [DOI] [Details] |
| Benvenuto C., Weeks S.C.; (2011) 'Mate guarding behavior in clam shrimp: the influence of mating system on intersexual conflict'. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65 :1899-1907. [Details] |
| Weeks S.C., Benvenuto C., Sanderson T.F., Duff R.J.; (2010) 'Sex chromosome evolution in the clam shrimp, Eulimnadia texana'. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23 :1100-1106. [Details] |
| Benvenuto C., Knott B., Weeks S.C.; (2009) 'Mate guarding behavior in clam shrimp: A field approach'. Behavioral Ecology, 20 :1125-1132. [Details] |
| Benvenuto C., Calabrese A., Reed, S.K., Knott B.; (2009) 'Multiple hatching events in clam shrimp: Implications for mate guarding behaviour and community ecology'. Current Science, 96 (1):130-136. [Details] | |||||||||
| Benvenuto C., Gherardi F., Ilhéu M.; (2008) 'Microhabitat use by the white-clawed crayfish in a Tuscan stream'. Journal of Natural History, 42 (1-2):21-33. [Details] | |||||||||
| Weeks S.C., Benvenuto C.; (2008) 'Mate guarding in the androdioecious clam shrimp Eulimnadia texana: Male assessment of hermaphrodite receptivity'. Ethology, 114 :64-74. [Details] | |||||||||
| Tricarico E., Benvenuto C., Buccianti A., Gherardi F.; (2008) 'Morphological traits determine the winner of symmetric fights in hermit crabs'. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 354 :150-159. [Details] | |||||||||
| Scinto A., Benvenuto C., Cerrano C., Mori M.; (2007) 'Seasonal cycle of Jassa marmorata Holmes, 1903 (Amphipoda) in the Ligurian Sea (Mediterranean, Italy)'. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 27 (2):212-216. [Details] | |||||||||
| Duff R.J., Benvenuto C., Branch T.L., Weeks S.C.; (2007) 'DNA extraction from resting eggs of the clam shrimp Eulimnadia texana (Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata: Limnadiidae)'. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 27 (1):154-157. [Details] | |||||||||
| Weeks S.C., Benvenuto C., Reed S.K.; (2006) 'When males and hermaphrodites coexist: A review of androdioecy in animals'. INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY, 46 (4):449-464. [Details] | |||||||||
| Benvenuto C., Sartoni G., Gherardi F.; (2003) 'Foraging behaviour of the hermit crab Clibanarius erythropus in a Mediterranean shore'. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 83 (3):457-461. [Details] | |||||||||
| Ilhéu M., Acquistapace P., Benvenuto C., Gherardi F.; (2003) 'Shelter use of the red-swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) in dry-season stream pools'. Archiv für Hydrobiologie, 157 (4):535-546. [Details] | |||||||||
| Benvenuto C., Gherardi F.; (2001) 'Population structure and shell use in the hermit crab, Clibanarius erythropus: A comparison between Mediterranean and Atlantic shores'. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 81 :77-84. [Details] | |||||||||
| Gherardi F., Benvenuto C.; (2001) 'Clustering behaviour in a Mediterranean population of the hermit crab, Clibanarius erythropus'. Ophelia, 55 (1):1-10. [Details] | |||||||||
| Busato P., Benvenuto C., Gherardi F.; (1998) 'Competitive dynamics of a Mediterranean hermit crab assemblage: The role of interference and exploitative competition for shells'. Journal of Natural History, 32 :1447-1451. [Details] | |||||||||
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