005. Cláudia Raquel Cêa de Aragão Teixeira (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Doutoramento)
006. Elsa Alexandra Martins Silva Cabrita (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Doutoramento)
007. Florbela Maria Benjamim Soares (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Doutoramento) 008. Maria Laura Braga Ribeiro (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Doutoramento)
009. Nadège Richard (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Doutoramento)
010. Sofia Jacinto Morais (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Doutoramento)
2. Other researchers in the group (Include here collaborators with PhD. only) 001. Ricardo Jorge Guerra Calado (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Doutoramento)
3. Other researchers in the group (non PhD.)
001. Benjamín Costas Refojos (Cat.: Assistente de Investigação, Gr. Acad.: Mestrado)
002. Sofia Alexandra Dias Engrola (Cat.: Assistente de Investigação, Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
003. Ana Rita de Araújo Ribeiro (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
004. Ana Sousa Ramos Ramalho Ribeiro (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Mestrado) 005. André Gonçalo Antunes dos Santos (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
006. Dorinda Marques da Silva (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
007. Elisabete Alexandra Dias de Matos (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
008. François Noël Hubert (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
009. Helena Sofia Fernandes Teixeira (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Ensino Secundário) 010. Leonor Isabel Moreira de Araújo (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
011. Mahaut Diane Marie Stephanie de Labroue de Vareilles Sommieres (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Mestrado)
012. Maria Margarida Alves da Silva de Almeida Saavedra (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.:
Licenciatura)
013. Odete Dmingues Cordeiro (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
014. Patricia Alexandra Cavaleiro Diogo (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
015. Rita Isabel Pontes Barbosa Colen (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
016. Rui Jorge Fernandes Miranda Rocha (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
017. Sonia Alexandra da Rocha Dias Gomes (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura) 018. Tomé Pereira de Azevedo Santos Silva (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Mestrado) 019. Vera Lúcia Fernandes Rodrigues (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
020. Wilson Gabriel Poseiro Coutinho Pinto (Cat.: Não aplicável (bolseiro), Gr. Acad.: Licenciatura)
021. Helena Maria Lopes Damásio Luis (Cat.: Outra, Gr. Acad.: Ensino Secundário)
6c. Objectives & achievements 1. Objectives (2000 ca.)
- Establishment of successful weaning protocols for marine fish larvae, mainly sole - Ontogeny of larval digestive functionality and control in relation to feeding
- Estimation of nutritional requirements, in particular of amino acids, for enhanced performance of fish larvae and juveniles
FISH IMMUNOLOGY & HEALTH:
- Better understanding of host/pathogens interaction mechanisms
- Establishment of immunostimulation strategies to enhance stress resistance and welfare of farmed fish.
2. Main achievements (2000 ca.) SOCIETAL
A major achievement of the Aquagroup has been its contribution to the optimization of Senegalese sole farming in intensive and semi-intensive systems. Knowledge generated contributed decisively for today’s progressive establishment of large scale commercial farming of sole in Portugal and Spain.
SCIENTIFIC 1. Reproduction
• Sole sperm is produced in very low quantities, but is produced all year around.
• Male to female ratio in sole should be higher than 1.
• Free amino acid content in sole eggs can be used as indicator of egg quality.
• A protocol for Dusky grouper artificial reproduction has been successfully established.
• Bacteria from microalgae improve seabream larvae rearing.
• Green water technique increases ingestion rate in fish larvae.
• Optimized sole weaning protocols leading to enhanced fry quality have been transferred to several commercial fish farms.
• Polyculture of sole with gilthead seabream in earth ponds has been demonstrated.
• Rearing protocols for ornamental decapods crustaceans have been established and transferred to commercial companies.
3. Nutrition
• Live preys used in commercial hatcheries have amino acid imbalances, that causes lower survival rates and higher incidence of skeletal deformities in sparids.
• Tracer studies techniques were developed for direct estimation of feed intake, and protein and lipid metabolism in fish larvae; these techniques overcome major limitation in the use of traditional methodologies in nutritional studies with very small fish.
• Alkaline phosphastase activity is a good indicator of fish larvae nutritional condition during weaning.
• Nutrition modulates bone protein expression in marine fish larvae.
• A practical diet for Senegalese sole juveniles has been optimized.
• Stressful husbandry conditions affect amino acid metabolism in sole juveniles.
CAREER BUILDING
Four post-doc researchers at the Aquagroup (2003-2007) found stable careers elsewhere:
• Neil Ruane - Research Manager at the Marine Institute (Ireland).
• Pavlos Makridis - Researcher at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (Greece).
• Ricardo Calado - Researcher at the CESAM Associated laboratory (Portugal).
• Elsa Cabrita - Researcher at the ICMAN-CSIC (Spain).
6d. Productivity
1. Publications in peer review journals (3000 ca.) (Up to a max of 10. Always indicate at the end of the citation, impact factor of the journal (IF=) and number of citations (nº C=).
Give title and full citation in original language. DO NOT translate)
1. Afonso, A, Gomes S., Silva, J, Marques, F, Henrique, M. 2005. Side-effects in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) due to intraperitoneal vaccination against vibriosis and pasteurellosis.
Fish & Shellfish Immunology 19: 1-16. IF 2007=3.160, nºC=5.
2. Aragão, C, Conceição, LEC, Dinis, MT, Fyhn, HJ. 2004. Amino acid pools of rotifers and Artemia under different conditions: nutritional implications for fish larvae. Aquaculture 234: 429- 445. IF 2007=1.735, nºC = 18.
3. Aragão, C, Conceição, LEC, Martins, D, Rønnestad, I, Gomes, E, Dinis, MT. 2004. A balanced dietary amino acid profile improves amino acid retention in post-larval Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis). Aquaculture 233: 293-304. IF 2007=1.735, nºC=16.
4. Cabrita, E, Robles, V, L, Rebordinos, C, Sarasquete, MP, Herráez (2005). Evaluation of DNA damage in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) cryopreserved sperm. Cryobiology 50: 144-153. IF 2007=1.936, nºC=4.
5. Calado, R, Vitorino, A, Dionísio, G, Dinis, MT. 2007. A recirculated maturation system for marine ornamental decapods. Aquaculture 263: 68-74. IF 2007=1.735, nºC=2.
6. Conceição, LEC, Grasdalen, H, Rønnestad, I. 2003. Amino acid requirements of fish larvae and post-larvae: new tools and recent findings. Aquaculture 227: 221-232. IF 2007=1.735, nºC=18.
7. Conceição, LEC, Grasdalen, H, Dinis, MT. 2003. A new method to estimate the relative bioavailability of individual amino acids in fish larvae using 13C -NMR spectroscopy.
Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 134B: 103-109. IF 2007=1.651, nºC=11.
8. Imsland, AK, Foss, A, Conceição, LEC, Dinis, MT, Delbare, D, Schram, E, Kamstra, A, Rema, P, White, P. 2003. A review of the culture potential of Solea solea and S. senegalensis. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 13: 379-407. IF 2007=2.531, nºC=32.
9. Morais, S, Cahu, C, Zambonino-Infante, JL , Robin, J, Rønnestad, I, Dinis, MT, Conceição, LEC. 2004. Dietary triacylglycerol source and level affects performance and lipase expression in larval seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Lipids 39: 449-458. IF 2007=1.419, nºC=8.
10. Morais, S, Koven, W, Rønnestad, I, Dinis, MT, Conceição, LEC. 2005. Dietary protein/lipid ratio and lipid nature affects fatty acid absorption and metabolism in a teleost larva. British Journal of Nutrition 93: 813-820. IF 2007=2.339, nºC=6.
The Aquagroup has published a total of 57 ISI-listed peer-reviewed articles in the period 2003- 2007. Most of these publications (72%) resulted from international collaborations. The mean Impact factor (based on ISI JCR 2007) for those 57 publications has been 1.597, a value just within the top 10 threshold value for the “Fisheries” subject category (ISI JCR 2007). From the 57 articles in the period, 58% were published in this last subject category. From the total published articles, 44 and 60% were published in top 10 and top 20, respectively, journals of a subject category of ISI JCR 2007. During the period 2003-2007, the Aquagroup has published an average of 1.7 publications (ISI) per year per Aquagroup member with a PhD degree.
2. Other publications national (3000 ca.) (Include only Books, chapters or full papers published in conference proceedings up to max of 10. Give title and full citation in original language)
3. Other publications international (3000 ca.) (Include only Books, chapters or full papers published in conference proceedings up to max of 10. Give title and full citation in original language)
1. Rønnestad, I, Conceição, LEC. 2005. Aspects of protein and amino acid digestion and utilization by marine fish larvae. In Physiological and Ecological Adaptations to Feeding in Vertebrates (J. Matthias Starck and Tobias Wang. eds.). Science Publishers: Enfield. New Hampshire, USA. 389-416 pp.
2. Soares, F, Conceição, L. 2007. Maneio de reprodutores de linguado (Solea senegalensis). In Manual de Cultivo de Linguado e de outros Peixes Planos. (Junta de Andalucia, Consejaria de Agricultura y Pesca ed.). Viceconsejaria. Servicio de Publicaciones y Divulgacion. 15-24 pp.
3. Engrola, S. 2007. Adaptação do linguado a alimento inerte. In Manual de Cultivo de Linguado e de outros Peixes Planos. (Junta de Andalucia, Consejaria de Agricultura y Pesca ed.).
Viceconsejaria. Servicio de Publicaciones y Divulgacion. 55-65 pp.
4. Master and Ph.D. thesis completed (3000 ca.) PhD THESIS
Carvalho, S. 2007. Papel das Comunidades de Macrofauna Bentónica na Gestão de Tanques para Piscicultura. University of Algarve. Supervisor CCMAR: MT Dinis.
Morais, S. 2006. Digestive physiology and food intake in marine fish larvae with respect to dietary neutral lipids. University of Algarve. Supervisors CCMAR: MT Dinis and L Conceição.
External supervisor: I Rønnestad (University of Bergen, Norway).
Aragão, C. 2004. Towards the assessment of amino acid requirements in seabream and sole larvae. University of Algarve. Supervisors CCMAR: MT Dinis and L Conceição.
Rueda-Jasso, R. 2003. Interaction between nutrition, oxidative status and condition of Solea spp.
post-larvae and juveniles. University of Ghent. Supervisors: P Sorgeloos (University of Ghent, Belgium). Supervisor CCMAR: L Conceição.
Ribeiro, ML. 2003. Ontogenic development of Solea senegalensis: digestive system and nutritional aspects. University of Algarve. Supervisor CCMAR: MT Dinis.
MSc THESIS
Baptista, I. 2007. Outdoor mass production of marine diatoms for bivalve hatcheries using saline ground water – A case study in Yerseke (Netherlands) and the improvement of the culture systems in Bouin (France). MSc of Marine Biology, University of Algarve. Supervisors CCMAR:
MT Dinis.
Mota, E. 2007. Biochemical markers for the quality of Solea senegalensis eggs. MSc of Marine Biology, University of Algarve. Supervisors CCMAR: MT. Dinis, E Cabrita and F Soares.
Bruwiere, S. 2006. The effects of amino acid supplementation on stress response and performance of juvenile sole (Solea senegalensis). European MSc of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Ghent University. Supervisors CCMAR: L Conceição and C Aragão.
Canoza, B. 2006. Effects of copper in plasma, gills, liver and muscle of seabream (Sparus aurata, Linnaeus 1758) juveniles. European MSc of Aquaculture and Fisheries, University of Algarve.
Supervisors CCMAR: F Soares and R Cabral e Silva.
Costas, B. 2006. Effect of high densities on growth, stress response and plasma amino acid levels in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis, Kaup 1858). European MSc of Aquaculture and Fisheries, University of Algarve. Supervisors CCMAR: L Conceição and C Aragão.
Weber, R.A. 2005. Determinação do efeito de condição de stress agudo e crónico no cultivo de pós-larvas de Solea senegalensis. Diploma de Estudos Avançados, Institute of Aquaculture, University of Santiago de Compostela. Supervisors CCMAR: C Aragão and MT Dinis.
Anastassiades, G. 2003. Early weaning of sole, Solea senegalensis, onto microencapsulated diets, with different levels of protein hydrolysates. European MSc of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Ghent University. Supervisors CCMAR: MT Dinis, L Conceição and L Ribeiro.
Pita, C. 2003. O perfil socio-económico de uma comunidade costeira portuguesa: a Fuseta. MSc in Marine and Coastal studies, University of Algarve. Supervisors CCMAR: MT Dinis and K Erzini.
Violante, A. 2003. Estudo da doença de inverno em dourada (Sparus aurata L.) de cultivo, a Sul de Portugal. MSc in Marine and Coastal Studies, University of Algarve. Supervisors CCMAR:
MT Dinis and F Soares.
5. Patents/propotypes (2000 ca.)
6. Organization of conferences (2000 ca.)
“Seminário de Aquacultura e Novas Espécies”, 12-15th September 2004, Funchal, Portugal.
Maria Teresa Dinis and Luis Conceição were members of the organizing and scientific committees. The main results from research projects on aquaculture of new species were presented and discussed. A total of 60 persons, from Portugal ands Spain, participated, including researchers, University students, and fish farmers.
Larvi´05 – 4th international Fish & Shellfish Larviculture Symposium, 5-8th September 2005, Gent University, Belgium. Sept 2005. Maria Teresa Dinis was member of the Scientific Committee. Recent results in the fields of larval research and rearing were presented in the major international scientific meeting in the field. Over of 400 persons from all around the world participated.
LARVAR 06 - Workshop in Fish Larval Research, 9th January 2006, Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), Faro, Portugal (Organizers: Maria Teresa Dinis, Luís Conceição and Karin Pittman,
from University of Bergen, Norway). The main issues and research perspectives for basic and applied research on fish larvae were discussed by 20 researchers, from 6 institutions in Portugal, Norway, Israel and Spain.
3rd Workshop on the Cultivation of Soles. 22 – 23rd March 2006, CIFPA El Toruño, Cádiz, Spain. (Organizers: Bari Howell, Pedro Cañavate, Richard Prickett and Luis Conceição). The purpose of the meeting was to review the current status of commercial experience and corresponding research in key areas of the cultivation of soles and to provide information that would guide the future actions of both sectors. This Workshop was attended by 46 participants from both the research (59%) and commercial (41%) communities, representing 5 European countries (Spain, Greece, The Netherlands, Portugal and the UK).
Jornadas de Aquacultura 2006, 5th December 2006, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal (Organizers: Florbela Soares and Elsa Cabrita). The main objective was the dissemination of research results obtained by the Aquagroup to the fish farmers. In particular, results from the project REPROSOL, namely on the management of sole breeding, one of the major constraints for the cultivation of this species, were discussed. Results from other projects were also presented, and a round table was organized were farmers and researchers discussed the challenges and strategies for the development of the Portuguese aquaculture. A total of 90 persons participated, including researchers, students and 30 fish farmers.
7. Industry contract research (2000 ca.)
Over recent years, the scientific expertise and reliable experimental facilities associated to the Aquaculture Research Group have gained recognition by the aquaculture industry. The Aquagroup has conducted three contract-research trials with some of the most influential players in the aquafeed industry. Furthermore, the leading company in the area of feed additives for aquaculture (DSM Nutritional Products, former Roche Vitamins) relied on our scientific competences to provide a Training Seminar to the R&D personnel of their key customers in the Turkish market.
INVE, 2004. Benchmarking trial with rotifer enrichments. Responsible: P. Makridis.
EWOS, 2005. Benchmarking trial with larvae microdiets. Responsible: L. Conceição.
DSM Nutritional Products, 2007. Customer Training Seminar in Nutrition and Feeding of Mediterranean farmed fish. Responsible: J. Dias.
DSM Nutritional Products, 2007. Efficacy trial for the development of new feed additives.
Responsible: J. Dias.
8. Government/organization contract research (2000 ca.) (Include here work carried out by the group that resulted in a publication or report. Of particular importance are those involved in public policy advice)
MT Dinis, 2003. Working Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for the Aquaculture Sector in Portugal. The objectives of this WG were to identify and propose measures to promote the aquaculture development in Portugal.
MT Dinis, 2006. Coordinator of the CESO R&D Report for the Portuguese Directorate of Fisheries regarding the Evaluation of the impact of the European Community programs on Fisheries (2003-2005).
9. Internationalization (2000 ca.) (Collaborative publication, Research, Graduate Training Networks or other forms of participation of the Research Group at the international level) The Aquaculture Research Group has a long standing tradition of associating itself to international cooperation windows. Most of its researchers have carried part or the totality of their PhD work or post-doc activities under collaboration with other European research institutions.
Four of the five PhD thesis completed within Aquagroup in 2003-2007 benefited from structural collaborations with labs elsewhere in Europe. This fact greatly contributed to the establishment of a strong and stable network of international cooperation’s. This is reflected in the fact that 40 out of the 57 (72%) publications of the Aquagroup in 2003-2007 were written in collaboration with colleagues from institutions outside Portugal.
Major collaborations:
- Dept. Biology of Univ. Bergen, NIFES, Dept. Biotechnology & Biology of Norwegian Univ.
Science and Technology (Norway).
- Institute for Zoology, Salzburg (Austria).
- ICRAM, Rome (Italy).
- ICMAN-CSIC, IFAPA, Univ. Leon (Spain).
- INRA, IFREMER (France).
- HCMR (Greece).
- Wageningen Univ. (The Netherlands).
Outside Europe, members of the Aquagroup have also been involved in scientific collaborations with:
Vietnam – participation in two projects: 1) “Marine aquaculture in Vietnam”, funded by NUFU (Norway), in collaboration with the Nha Trang University (Vietnam) and NTNU (Trondheim, Norway), with participation in research activities related to reproduction and larval rearing, and in teaching of MSc disciplines; 2) “Improving Training and Research Capacity of the University of Fisheries, funded by NORAD SRV2701 (Norway), in collaboration with the Nha Trang University (Vietnam) and NTNU (Trondheim, Norway), with participation in teaching of MSc disciplines and training of PhD students.
Brazil – Teaching of MSc disciplines at the UNESP (Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brasil) and at the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil).
The Aquagroup has also hosted several foreign scientists and PhD students:
- Carlos Rojas-Garcia (Out 06). Professor at the Catholic University of Temuco, Chile.
- Pedro Pablo Ambrósio (Aug 04 – Feb 05). Associate Professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain.
- José Angel Ronson (Apr – Ago 04). PhD student at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
- Sagiv Kolkovski (Jun – Jul 03). Principal Research Scientist, Department of Fisheries WA, Australia.
- L.M. Diep (Oct- Nov 2005). PhD student at the University of Fisheries, Nha Trang, Vietnam.
The Aquagroup members have also been active participants in the following networking structures:
COST Action 867 – Welfare of fish in European aquaculture. L. Conceição is one of the Portuguese representatives in the Management Committee.
European Aquaculture Technology Platform (EATP).
COST Action FA0801 “LARVANET - Critical success factors for fish larval production in European Aquaculture: a multidisciplinary network”. L. Conceição is the Portuguese representative in the Management Committee.
6e. Future research
1. Objectives (3000 ca.)
The mission of the Aquaculture Research Group will continue to be the generation of high quality scientific knowledge, through basic and applied research, to tackle some of the evolving sustainability challenges facing the aquaculture industry. Major strengths in terms of scientific skills gathered within of the Aquagroup rely heavily on our expertise on broodstock management, larvae rearing and nutrition in new species for Mediterranean aquaculture.
CONSOLIDATION OF ESTABLISHED AREAS
- The metabolic use of dietary amino acids in fish larvae, by means of tracer studies, is now a clear distinctive research topic of the Aquagroup. The area of Nitrogen Nutrition in Fish is to be further consolidated and reinforced, through integrative studies on the role of amino acids and peptide fractions in areas such as digestive efficiency, immune competence and skeletal deformities in marine fish. The access to functional genomic and proteome expression approaches is already under implementation, with one post-doc researcher and two new PhD students (2008) fully dedicated to this area.
- Research on Broodstock Management of new species (sole, grouper) will be continued, with a stronger focus on topics related to the broodstock nutrition and welfare. Future work on this area aims to develop a broodstock selection program for sole and grouper, based on egg and sperm quality, and subsequent larval and juvenile performance. One new post-doc researcher will be dedicated to this area.
- The area of Marine Ornamentals will pursue its objectives of developing farming protocols for new local marine ornamental species of high market potential, guaranteeing sustainable practices and maintenance of nature’s biodiversity.
NEW AREAS
- Activities on the modulation of Flesh Quality in Fish have been initiated as a research topic in the Aquagroup. Focus is given to the assessment of nutritional factors and farming practices as tools to enhance flesh quality and safety of farmed fish. The implementation of this topic is foreseen in close collaboration with the Laboratory of Nutrition, Growth and Quality of Fish (LANUCE), from CIIMAR. Two new PhD students (2008) are be fully dedicated to this area.
- The aquaculture industry in Portugal faces profound changes in a near future. Increased production with the new off-shore cage farming systems, the entry into commercial phase of several new species and an obligation to maintain competitiveness and profitability of semi- intensive aquaculture production. In this context, the Aquagroup identified the Production Systems research area as a necessity and an opportunity to strengthen its support to industrial partners.
- Given its growing importance as a societal issue, the area of Welfare in Fish is to be consolidated within the Aquagroup. Research will focus on gaining basic knowledge regarding the stress resistance in fish, aggressive behavior, evaluation of bioactive compounds for enhanced health status. The implementation of this area will be progressive within CCMAR and in close collaboration with the Immunobiology Laboratory, from CIIMAR. One new PhD student (2008) will be fully dedicated to this area.
Areas of collaboration to be initiated or reinforced
- Members of the Aquagroup have recently created a feed technology based company, which will have a pilot-scale feed technology platform. Some potential research activities associated to a facilitated access to such structure have already been identified.
2. Funding, source, dates (1500 ca.) (Indicate in full including amount of current and pending funding)
Several areas previously identified as strategic priorities for consolidation and growth of the Aquagroup are already supported by recently granted research projects.
Projects Funding Agency Funds (EUR) Time frame FISHWELL DGP-MARE 50.000 Jan 07 - Sep 08 SAARGO FCT 55.400 Nov 05 - Oct 08
SEACASE EU-FP6 312.088 Jan 07 - Dec 09 FATTYBONE FCT 108.002 Jun 08 - May 11 TEXBREAM FCT 155.128 Jun 08 - May 11 HYDRAA FCT 171.002 Jul 08 - Jun 11