Emanuel Pereira, PhD
Instit. de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada (IBBEA)
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
Contact: emanuelp [ a.t ] bg.fcen.uba.ar, emanuel.mito [ a.t ] gmail.com
Website: Lab. de Sistemática y Biogeografía de Crustáceos Peracarida
Hi everyone!
I’m Emanuel Pereira, a postdoctoral researcher from Argentina. Currently, I’m perform by research at the Institute of Biodiversity and Applied and Experimental Biology (IBBEA) UBA-CONICET in Buenos Aires. My expertise is focus on the taxonomy and biodiversity of deep-sea isopods from the Argentine Continental Slope.
Last year, my project entitled “Integrative taxonomy and diversity of deep-sea valviferan Antarcturidae (Crustacea: Peracarida: Isopoda) from Argentina” was successfully selected as one of the “Deep-sea Research Award” funded by the Deep-Sea Biology Society in 2023.
This project aims to understand the connectivity throughout the deep-sea of two distant areas in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean: the Mar del Plata submarine canyon (38°S) and the Marine Protected Area “Namuncurá”/Burdwood Bank (53°S). I count with many samples collected in several expeditions on board of the Argentinian RV Puerto Deseado to these geographic areas. Considering that several antarcturid species have been recorded in both areas, they are very useful as a study case of study to understand the deep-sea connectivity between these two regions. Do oceanographic currents connect the populations of these areas? or are there cryptic species? These are just some of the questions that I’m trying to answer.
Thanks to this award, I was able to familiarize myself with molecular methodologies (DNA extraction, PCR amplification, sequencing, etc.). This grant enabled me to purchase all the necessary inputs to develop the molecular techniques (Eppendorf tubes, micropipettes, tips, DNA extraction kits, PCR primers and sequencing services). After a lot of molecular work, DNA has been extracted from more than 50 specimens (belonging to more than 10 valviferan species). I’m currently waiting for the sequencing results.
I will intend to extend this type of methodology to other isopod suborders and even to other peracarid crustaceans from the Southwest Atlantic.
I hope to have some good news soon, including conference presentations and a new published article.
If you would like to know more about this little project, please contact me!
We keep in touch,
Dr. Emanuel Pereira
Emanuel received a Research Support Award in 2023
