Insights in Aquaculture and Biotechnology

Marcelino Herrera Rodríguez
Researcher, Andalusian Institute for Agriculture and Fishery Research and Training (IFAPA), Spain

Biography

My research activities have focused on fish and mollusks physiology and, mainly, on issues related to nutrition, stress and reproduction: - Stress and metabolism in cultured species Some developed activities and works in this line have based on the effects of stocking density on stress and physiological parameters in fish, responses of energy metabolism to stress situations, interactions between stress responses and/or aggressiveness and individual behavior, effects of salinity on stress system, stress during larval culture in bivalves. - Feeding and nutrition in aquaculture In that line I have performed activities such as study, design and making of diets with different protein/energy ratio for fish, study of feeding strategies and feeding behavior, use of alternative protein sources and/or probiotics for fish feeding, and determinations on digestive enzyme activity according to diet. - Reproduction of cultured fish and mollusks In this area I have developed works based on reproductive hormonal profiles in fish and mollusks, spawn quality depending on fish breeders feeding, management and cryopreservation of fish gametes, egg lipid composition related to spawn quality in fish. - Physiological adaptation to environmental salinity in fish These activities have been focused on the study of osmoregulatory system in fish and its response to osmotic shocks and for its acclimation to new salinity conditions. - Organogenesis and larval characterization in fish Our research team described the larval organogenesis of the wedge sole (Dicologlossa cuneata) and the brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), focusing on the development of the digestive system and associated organs. - Fish genetics and pathology Moreover I have participated in research activities related to the diagnosis of new pathogens, identification of molecular markers for parentage assignment and the development of ligament maps in cultured fish.

Research Interest

Fish nutrition, feeding behaviour etc.