Position: Researcher
SZN Dept: Integrative Marine Ecology
Email: massimiliano.bottaro(at)szn.it
Skype: massibot@gmail.com
Telephone:
Twitter: @massibot
Web: SZN webpage
Web: Google scholar
Personal keywords: #Chondrichthyes, #Conservation, #FishBiology, #Fishery, #Management
Scientific interests in a nutshell:
In the last 70 years, fish exploitation has become unbearable from an ecological point of view, with several species on the verge of collapse. Chondrichthyes (sharks, rays and chimaeras) are among the most vulnerable fishes, because although most of their species are not usual fishing targets (being mostly bycatches), they exhibit peculiar biological and ecological making them highly vulnerable to human impact, both to fishing and environmental degradation. To make things worse, information about this group of fishes is scanty at best. For these reasons, sharks and their relatives are my primary research interest: my research aims to increase our knowledge of these animals, including biology, ecology and conservation, with a special focus on Mediterranean habitats. I study several aspects such as: geographical distribution; reproductive and sensory biology; spatial, trophic, and historical ecology; and chiefly how to improve their conservation through an ecosystem approach to fishery.
Selected publications:
Bottaro, M., 2022. Sixth sense in the deep-sea: the electrosensory system in ghost shark Chimaera monstrosa. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1-12.
Guidetti, P., Bottaro, M., Ciccolella, A., & Danovaro, R., 2021. Marine protected areas and endangered shark conservation. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 31(9), 2671-2672.
Leonetti F. L., Giglio G., Leone A., Coppola F., Romano C., Bottaro M., Reinero F. R., Micarelli P., Tripepi S., Sperone E., 2020. An updated check-list of chondrichthyans of Calabria (Central Mediterranean, southern Italy), with emphasis on rare species. Mediterranean Marine Science, 21(3): 794-807.
Leonetti F. L., Sperone E., Travaglini A., Mojetta A. R., Signore M., Psomadaki, P. N., Dinkel T. M. & Bottaro M., 2020. Filling the Gap and Improving Conservation: How IUCN Red Lists and Historical Scientific Data Can Shed More Light on Threatened Sharks in the Italian Seas. Diversity, 12(10), 389.
Mancusi C., Baino R., Fortuna C., De Sola L. G., Morey G., Bradai M. N., ...Bottaro M. … & Dimech, M., 2020. MEDLEM database, a data collection on large Elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean and Black seas. Mediterranean Marine Science, 276-288.