Rita Alexandra Borges

Early development of the red mouthed goby, Gobius cruentatus (Pisces: Gobiidae)

The full developmental embryonic sequence of Gobius cruentatus is described for the first time. Embryonic development lasted 13 days (14·0–15·0°C). The newly hatched larvae (3·3 mm total length) presented pigmented eyes, the yolk is fully absorbed, and the mouth and anus were opened allowing the onset of exogenous feeding almost after hatching.

Characterization of 15 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the temperate reef fish Lepadogaster lepadogaster, developed using 454-sequencing

The clingfish, Lepadogaster lepadogaster is a reef fish species, abundant in temperate nearshore rocky reefs of the Eastern Atlantic and central and Eastern Mediterranean. To study genetic variability and population connectivity of this species, we developed fifteen polymorphic microsatellite markers. These were tested in one population and all but one, showed no departure from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Average overall observed heterozygosity was 0.66 and allelic richness was 8.9. Two primer pairs revealed possible linkage disequilibrium. These markers open perspectives for population genetic studies of this species to unravel connectivity and population biology, vital information for future conservation studies.

Exploring marine biodiversity through inquiry with primary school students: a successful journey?

ABSTRACT In this work, we present a marine ecology inquiry-based activity, implemented with 164 primary school students. The main goal was to evaluate the activitys impact on students’ understanding about biodiversity and scientific procedures. We also aimed to analyse the potential use of personal meaning maps (PMMs) to assess the impact of the activity on students’ ideas about the topics explored. The results revealed that fieldwork and the exploration of real data were the aspects most emphasised by all intervenient. Finally, the PMMs proved to be a good tool to evaluate the impact of activities developed outside classroom, with primary school levels.