RU University of Genoa

Scientific Chief:

Lidia Orsi Relini

Frigate and/or bullet tuna fish of the Mediterranean: morphotypes, biological parameters and genetic diversity

The research of the RU UniGe deals with a comparative and multi-approach analysis to assess geographic diversity of reproductive, morphological and genetic features in Mediterranean and Atlantic populations of large pelagic fish belonging to the genus Auxis (frigate and bullet tunas). In this tunas, an high level of variation in the morpho-anatomic and bio-ecological traits has been documented and this plasticity determined a wide uncertainty on the systematics and biodiversity of the Mediterranean taxa as well as to hypothesise the colonization of the Mediterranean by Atlantic taxa.

The specific research aim of the RU UniGe will be therefore to assess the biodiversity patterns in the Auxis tunas applying in parallel independent approaches represented by the analyses of morphological, reproductive and genetic traits. The expected issues of the comparative and integrated analysis of biodiversity patterns will contribute to define related ecological (e.g. migration and colonisation events) and evolutionary (e.g. geographic population structuring) processes.