XXXVI CICLO | Latini Lorenzo

My primary research interests lie in experimental aquaculture and the conservation of threatened marine species, with a specific focus on investigating phenotypic plasticity, inter and intra-individual phenotypic variation, and animal behavior. Throughout my academic journey, I’ve been involved in diverse research activities, ranging from eradicating invasive species in high mountain lakes as part of the LIFE-LimnoPirineus project to examining interspecific hybridization in tropical corals at the Australian Institute of Marine Research. Additionally, I have actively participated in various national and international conferences and meetings, primarily centered around behavioral ecology and conservation aquaculture.

In conservation aquaculture, aquatic organisms are typically produced in captivity in large numbers for their reintroduction into the wild, with the aim of restoring depleted populations and enhance wild stocks. Yet we know surprisingly little on the impact that standard, minimalistic hatchery procedures have on the development of intraspecific variation in important phenotypes of reared organisms, including among-individual variation in behavioural (individuality) and life-history traits, and in the plasticity of those traits in response to varying environmental conditions. Here, we fill this gap by testing whether early-life exposure to different hathcery conditions alters the development of individuality and plasticity in ecologically relevant behaviours and life-history traits of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus)—one the most harvested species in the Mediterranean, which has been subjected to conservation programs for decades.