Aquariology, The Public Aquarium, Herbarium and Zoological Collection

Aquariology and Public Aquarium

(Coordinator Flegra Bentivegna)

The Aquarium group coordinated by F. Bentivegna is dedicated to preservation and enhancement of aquatic life through education, conservation, research and recreation

In the last years the way of displaying live animals has changed throroughly. The stamp-like aquarium collection, born as the old idea of a taxonomic approach, was abandoned. Natural communities and habitats in toto are displayed, creating more appealing environments and enabling the visitor to see several species in a nearly natural context of mini ecosystems. Tanks, in particular, show the different biomes that can be found in the Gulf of Naples, from the rocky to the sandy shores. In order to recreate the natural background as a decoration in each tank, live rocks were introduced by keepers in collaboration with H. Nakajima from Wakayama Museum (Japan). The holistic and total immersion exhibit is now a fact! The introduction of metallic iodide lamps and a wave-machine in an aquarium of 16 cubic meters allowed the recreation of Posidonia beds, one of the most representative ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea. Other highlights of these recent years are the exhibit of the small fauna which live on the shore-line , and a cylindrical tank of jellyfish. To assure a regular presence of these animals in this tank, their breeding in captivity is improving. Two keepers and three undergraduate students take care of tanks and animals. They are responsible of daily maintenance and cleaning of tanks, feeding of animals, health control operation of the life support system. One of the most delicate tasks is feeding, given that each species has its own specific diet and many are fed their daily allowance individually. Phytoplankton and small larval crustaceans (nauplii) grown in the laboratory are introduced as regular food supply for the organisms in the display. Thanks to the help of the Marine Supply Service, fauna of the Gulf of Naples is always exhibited. Divers using a boat of the Stazione, catch for the Aquarium not only the common animals but also the species requiring special collecting techniques. New specimens from different places of the Mediterranean Sea are constantly acquired by Aquarium. Some of them were obtained from several European Aquariums as well as from Institute Océanographique Monaco, Berlin and Genova Aquariums and Vivarium of the Zoological Garden of Basle. The Aquarium was active also in supplying specimens for several institutions including Aquariums such as Berlin, Basle, Monaco, Boulogne-sur-mer Nausicaa and Kagoshima in Japan. Other specimens were provided for undergraduate research projects, classroom demonstrations, and research programs of Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research of Altenberg and the Institute of Organic Chemistry- University of Monaco.

In the last two years, Aquarium has succeeded in attracting public interest and the number of visitors has increased to about 100.000 per year. Moreover becoming well known to other important Aquariums in the world, it has also become a scientific landmark for the protection of Mediterranean fauna . As a consequence, the Curator, Flegra Bentivegna, is a member of :

- the EUAC (European Aquarium Curators) Executive Commitee as representative of the Aquariums of the Southern Europe;

- the Scientific Committee of the Acquario di Genova and the international organization RIMMO (Reserve International Maritime en Méditerranée occidentale) ;

- the Scientific Committee of the 5th International Aquarium Congress that will be held in Monaco of Montecarlo in November 2000.

The Aquarium, carrying out didactic activities for visitors, teachers and students of different schools of every order and rank, of local and national communities and other scientific institutions, strenghtens the link between the live collections and the community it serves.

The most interesting initiatives carried out by the group during the last two years are:

-the arrangement of a table in a corner of the exhibit area with binoculars where always newly samples of zooplankton are continously put;

-the organization of teachers training workshops on Mediterranean flora and fauna;

-the comprehensive programs, training sessions (approved by the Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione) and guides lines for students; the ones proposed to the Elementary School "Aldo Moro" of the degraded suburbs of Naples (the work was under the aegis of CE) and to the Istituto Nautico ‘Nino Bixio’ about the satellite tracking of sea turtles, that brought the first national and the third international ‘Science Educational Award’ promoted by the CEFIC ( European Council of Chemical Industry) to the school, raised particular importance.At the end, it’s impossible to forget the program financed by the CE on the marine monitoring and biotechnologies for the Istituto Professionale di Stato per i Servizi Sociali ‘ Giovanni Falcone’. The Aquarium staff, involving the other laboratories of the Stazione, contributed to the elaboration of a specific study program coordinating the accomplishment of it;

- the lectures on marine fauna and the conservation activities of the Aquarium were given by F. Bentivegna in different scientific, cultural and social, national and international centers. The lecture on the activity for sea turtles given at the ‘Centre de la Mer-Nausicaa’ in Boulogne-sur mer and at the Institut Océanographique of Paris are noteworthy;

- the organisation of training stages in aquariology. Aquarists from the new Museo del Mare of Pioppi in Pollica, from the Aquarium of Barcellona and Genova, from Newcastle University had the opportunity to spend some weeks in the Aquarium to learn the main technics of keeping of Mediterranean marine organisms. It’s necessary to remember also the stage for three high school students in the ‘Progetto Speciale Scuola-Beni Culturali’ promoted and required by the Comune di Napoli. The stage organized and carried out for some technicians and biologists of the INSTM ( Institut National des Sciences et Tecnologies de la Mer) of Salambo (Tunisia). This stage, required by UNEP, had the aim of training some people for the ‘Centre of Treatement and Study of Sea Turtles’ in Monastir Bay in Tunisia that will be working very soon.

Marine coservation and the appreciation of the marine environment is the most important goal of the Aquarium’s staff. Therefore the research is focused on: 1) improving techniques for maintaining animals in tank ; in this way the need to subtract them from nature is reduced and the expenses for supplying have been reducing; 2) breeding some species in captivity. In the last years results have been obtained with seahorses (Hippocampus hippocampus, Hippocampus guttulatus) and cartilagineous fish (Dasyatis violacea, Scyliorhinus canicula) ; 3) safeguarding of endangered species.

Particular attention has been given to the decrease in marine turtles population, for whom a specific study and protection program has been pursued for many years.The injured sea turtles of the Gulf of Naples, victims of sea traffic, pollution and indiscriminate fishing are cured rehabilitated and released in the wild. After having clarified in the last years some aspects of their physiology, ecology and population dynamics the attention has been on their migration biology. The dispersal and migratory movements of Mediterranean sea turtles, especially their areas for grazing and overwintering were completely unknown. Using a transmitter PTT St-6 (Telonics) with specific sensors which sent information to ARGOS satellite system, migratory routes have been located and physiological data as well as surface water temperatures were collected. Up to now six sea turtles were monitored and one of them is still in progress. According to the results obtained, it can be assessed that sea turtles found in late spring-summer in the center and South of Tyrrhenian Sea came from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in search of food. When on autumn the surface water temperature goes below 20° C sea turtles leave Italian coasts and travel towards the Eastern sector of Mediterranean Sea. The Strait of Messina and Sicily Channel serve as passage for migrations. This year in collaboration with Dipartimento di Fisica, Matematica ed Applicazioni of the Istituto Universitario Navale of Naples it was possible, using an experimental GIS (Geographical Information System) created for marine applications (OSIRIS) to correlate the positions of the monitored animals to the temperatures recorded in that moment in the whole Mediterranean Sea. So the tendency of sea turtles to move in searching of warmer temperatures has been proved.

For these results, F. Bentivegna, coordinator of the project was invited to:

- represent Italy in the meeting of the experts organized by UNEP to arrange the Action Plan for Conservation of Sea Turtles in the Mediterranean,

- make a project for the realization of a Center of Treatment and Study of Sea Turtles for the RAC/SPA (UNEP) ;

- collaborate with ICRAM to arrange a National Plan for protection of sea turtles to submitt to the Environmental Ministery.

Selected Papers

Bentivegna, F., 1997. Scenario Mediterraneo per Natura Misteriosa. Stazione Zoologica "A. Dohrn" 1febbraio-31 maggio 1997

Bentivegna, F., 1997. Conservation of Life in the Mediterranean Sea : the Future Role of Aquaria. Proceedings of the Fourth International Aquarium Congress Tokyo, : 27-31

Bentivegna, F., 1997. Conservation strategy for loggerhead Sea Turtles at Naples Aquarium. Proceedings of the Fourth International Aquarium Congress Tokyo, : 251-252

Bentivegna, F. & A. Paglialonga, 1997. Impact of anthropic activity on sea turtles of the Gulf of Naples. E.U.C.C. Proceedings Coastlines, : 97

Solow, A. R., M.C. Curran & F. Bentivegna, 1997. Estimating the order of a sequence of physiological changes from incomplete data. Biometrical Journal, 39: 659-663

Bentivegna, F., 1998. Dasyatis violacea in captivity at Naples Aquarium. Mem Inst. Ocèano.Paul Ricard, : 119-121

Bentivegna, F., 1998. Rapport sur la mise en oeuvre au niveau national du plan d’action pour la conservation des tortues marines de Méditerranée. UNEP (OCA) MED. WG., 145 Annexe IV: 41-43

Bentivegna, F., 1998. Caretta caretta : research and rescue programme. EAZA Spring Council Meeting in Moscow. Eaza News, 23: 14

Bentivegna, F. & I. Kock, 1998. Satellite tracking of sea turtles in the Mediterranean Sea: comparison of wild caught animals with turtles kept in captivity. Mem. Inst. Océano. Paul Ricard, : 47-49

Bentivegna, F. & A. Paglialonga, 1998. Non-invasive treatments of marine turtles damaged by anthropic activity. Proceedings of the 17 th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation 4-8 March 1997 Orlando, Florida USA.

Bentivegna, F. & A. Paglialonga, 1998. Status of sea turtles in the Gulf of Naples and a preliminary study of migration. Proceedings of the 17 th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation 4-8 March 1997 Orlando, Florida USA.

Herbarium

(Curator: Maria Cristina Buia)

At the Benthic Ecology Laboratory of Ischia is deposited the Herbarium of the Stazione Zoologica of Naples, formed by several phycological collections, among which some are of historical interest, as those of G. Berthold and G. Funk. The Funk Collection, cured by this author during his stay at the Stazione Zoologica, contains almost all the species described in his monographs. It includes dry specimens of 293 species and several wet samples preserved in formalin, along with slide preparations; among these latter, Dohrniella neapolitana was dedicated to Anton and Reinhard Dohrn. In addition to the Funk Collection, the Herbarium includes also the collection assembled by G. Berthold, consisting of 132 species, among which one holotype, Sebdenia dichotoma.

On the whole, the Herbarium includes more than 2000 specimens, some of which originally belonged to collections from all over the world, established by scientists such as Agardh, Foslie, Kuckuck, Kutzing, Rabenhorst, Reinke, Von Martens, Weber Van Bosse.

The Herbarium will be revised, reorganized and catalogued in a computer database, wich will facilitate its consultation and use.

Zoological Collection

(Curator Flegra Bentivegna)

Flegra Bentivegna also supervises the Stazione’s Zoological Collection, which houses about 3,500 specimens, and contains specimens of the Gulf of Naples some of which are very rare. In accordance with resolution 72 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the group collects specimen, preserves them, and records the dates, places, type of sea bottoms and depth of each finding. The collection was closed to the public in 1963. In 1979, the revision of all the species, identification, and synonyms was undertaken. Damaged specimens were replaced and the material of historical importance was restored. A fauna catalogue is being prepared using data automatic management techniques. Thus, taxonomical, biological and environmental information will be available for each animal.