Technologist
Research Infrastructures for marine biological resources Department
Motax Core Facility

Tel. +39 081 5833290
Fax: +39 081 7641355
e-mail iole.dicapua(at)szn.it
Contatto Skype: iolezoo

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

My research activity is focused on morphological and molecular taxonomy of zooplankton organisms.

The overarching aim of my research activities is assessing and better understanding spatial and temporal patterns of marine biodiversity and their changes, to estimate marine metazoan biodiversity also using molecular genetic tools for the identification of many species in marine zooplanktonic assemblages and communities, in particular copepods.

I have participated in projects on distribution and ecology of mesozooplankton in different geographic areas, however my research is primarily focused on the Long Term Ecological Research station MareChiara (LTER-MC), where I am in charge for mesozooplankton data series (1984-ongoing). During the last years I have integrated the taxonomy and ecology zooplankton studies with their molecular characterization (mtDNA, rRNA genes) and Next Generation Sequences (NGS). In the context of assessing marine biodiversity with an integrated approach, I am establishing and organizing the first Reference Library of COI for zooplanktonic organisms in Mediterranean Sea, with HD-images and voucher specimens of the species sequenced. Moreover, to assess multispecies identification approaches to describe marine biodiversity, I am contributing to the investigation of the metazoan genetic material from the field (eDNA, metagenomic, metabarcoding).

Selected Publications

Di Capua I, Piredda R, Mazzocchi MG, Zingone A (2021) Metazoan diversity and seasonality through eDNA metabarcoding at a Mediterranean long-term ecological research site. ICES Journal of Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsab059

Di Capua I (2021) Temora Baird, 1850. ICES Plankton ID Leaflet. http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.

Corinaldesi C, Canensi S, Dell’Anno A, Tangherlini M, Di Capua I, Varrella S, Willis T J, Cerrano C, Danovaro R (2021) Multiple impacts of microplastics can threaten marine habitat-forming species. Communications biology. https:// doi://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01961-1

Catanese G, Di Capua I, Iriondo M, Bonanno A, Estonba A, Procaccini G (2020) Application of highthroughput single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping for assessing the origin of Engraulis encrasicolus eggs. Aquatic Conservation: Marine Freshwater Ecosystems. 30 (7); 1313-1324. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3321

Margiotta F, Balestra C, Buondonno A, Casotti R, D'Ambra I, Di Capua I, Gallia R, Mazzocchi MG, Merquiol L, Pepi M, Percopo I, Saggiomo M, Sarno D, Zingone A (2020) Do plankton reflect the environmental quality status? The case of a post-industrial Mediterranean Bay. Marine Environmental Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104980

Uttieri M, Aguzzi L,  Aiese Cigliano R, Amato A, Bojanić N, Brunetta M, Camatti E, Carotenuto Y, Damjanović T, Delpy F, de Olazabal A, Di Capua I, Falcão J, Fernandez de Puelles ML, Foti G, Garbazey O, Goruppi A, Gubanova A,  Hubareva E, Iriarte A, Khanaychenko A, Lučić D, Marques SC, Mazzocchi MG, Mikuš J, Minutoli R, Pagano M, Pansera M, Percopo I, Primo AL, Svetlichny L, Rožić S, Tirelli V, Uriarte I, Vidjak O, Villate F, Wootton M, Zagami G, Zervoudaki S (2020) WGEUROBUS–Working Group “Towards a EURopean OBservatory of the non-indigenous calanoid copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinUS. Biological Invasions.22: 885-906.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-019-02174-8

Zingone A, D'Alelio D, Mazzocchi MG, Montresor M, Sarno D ,  Balestra C,  Cannavacciuolo M, Casotti R ,  Conversano F, Di Capua I,  Iudicone D,  Margiotta F,  Passarelli A, Percopo I ,  Ribera d’Alcalà M,  Saggiomo M,Saggiomo V ,  Tramontano F,  Zazo G (2019) Time series and beyond: multifaceted plankton research at a marine Mediterranean LTER site. Nature Conservation. 34: 273-310. doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.34.30789

Kasapidis P, Siokou I, Khelifi-Touhami M,  Mazzocchi MG,  Matthaiak M, Christou E,  Fernandez de Puelles ML,  Gubanova A, Di Capua I,  Batziakas S, Frangoulis C (2018). Revising the taxonomic status and distribution of the Paracalanus parvus species complex (Copepoda, Calanoida) in the Mediterranean and Black Seas through an integrated analysis of morphology and molecular taxonomy. Journal of Plankton Research. 40 (5), 595-605. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fby036

Di Capua I, Maffucci F, Pannone R,  Mazzocchi MG, Biffali E, Amato A  (2017) Molecular phylogeny of Oncaeidae (Copepoda) using nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS rDNA). PLoS One. 12(4). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175662. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175662

Di Capua I and Mazzocchi MG(2017). Non-predatory mortality in Mediterranean coastal copepods. Marine Biology 164 (10): 198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-017-3212-z.