Senior Reaserch Technologist
Research Infrastructures for marine biological resources Department
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Villa Comunale
80121 Napoli - Italia
Tel.: +39 081 5833290
Fax: +39 081 7641355
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Contatto Skype: iolezoo
Research Interests
My research activity focuses on alpha, morphological, and molecular taxonomy of zooplankton, with particular emphasis on copepods. My aim is to understand spatial and temporal patterns of marine biodiversity by integrating classical taxonomy with advanced molecular approaches, including DNA barcoding, metabarcoding, and next-generation sequencing, to assess metazoan diversity in zooplankton assemblages. Although I have contributed to projects on zooplankton ecology across different geographic areas, my core research is focused in the Gulf of Napleswhere I lead studies at the Long-Term Ecological Research station MareChiara (LTER-MC), managing the long-term mesozooplankton dataset on abundance and biomass (1984-ongoing) and coordinating metabarcoding activities for metazoans (200–2000 µm fraction) within the NEREA project (2019-ongoing) https://www.szn.it/index.php/en/osservatorio-napoli. In recent years, I have expanded this work by incorporating molecular characterization (mtDNA, rRNA genes) and by creating the first COI Reference Library for Mediterranean zooplankton, including high-definition images and voucher specimens of sequenced species.
I am recognized for my contributions as a World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) Editor for Copepoda and as the author of several authoritative taxonomic checklists. I serve on the Executive Council of the World Association of Copepodologists (WAC) and am an active member of Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) MetaZooGene WG157. Within International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), I chair the Working Group on Integrated Marine Taxonomy (WGIMT) and coordinate molecular activities WGEUROBUS on the non-indigenous copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus.
Selected Publications
1. Scibelli S., Mutalipassi M., Di Capua I. et al. Parasitic Pachypygus gibber poses a silent threat to reproduction and development in Ciona robusta. Sci Rep 15, 34594 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-18125-4
2. Montalbano A. & Di Capua I. (2025) Biomonitoring of zooplankton community in North-western Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Salerno): the status during a dredging operation. Plankton Benthos Research 20 Spec: s44–s52, 2025. https://doi.org/10.3800/pbr.20.s31
3. Bellardini D., Russo L., Abagnale M., Botte V., Buondonno A., Casotti R., Di Capua I. et al. (2025). Plankton food webs as indicators of the ecosystem status to support the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: a case study from Campania region (Italy). Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 100763 100763, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2025.100763.
4. Peters J., Albaina A., Blanco-Bercial L., Bucklin A., Di Capua I., A Dos Santos et al. (2025). Taxonomic uncertainty in North Atlantic and Mediterranean zooplankton limits species-level monitoring accuracy. ICES Journal of Marine Science 82 (6), fsaf077. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaf077.
5. Campese L., Russo L., Abagnale M. Di Capua I, et al. (2024). The NEREA Augmented Observatory: an integrative approach to marine coastal ecology. Scientific Data 11, 989 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03787-y.
6. Di Capua I, Luise F, Zampicinini G. et al. (2024) Integrative approach to monitoring metazoan diversity and distribution in two Mediterranean coastal sites through morphology and organismal eDNA. Scientific Report 14, 19291 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-69520-2.
7. Vannini G and Di Capua I. (2024). Collective Paper New records of rarely reported species in the Mediterranean Sea. Mediterranean Marine Science. Vol. 25 No. 1. http://doi.org/10.12681/mms.37214.
8. Uttieri M, Carotenuto Y, Di Capua I, V Roncalli (2023). Ecology of Marine Zooplankton. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11101875.
9. Di Capua I, Piredda R, D'Angiolo R, Minucci C, Montalbano A, Boero F, Carotenuto Y, Uttieri M. (2023) Is integrated taxonomy useful to study diversity and ecology? An example from crustacean zooplankton at the Long‐Term ecological research site MareChiara (LTER‐MC). Marine Ecology https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12752.
10. Carotenuto Y, Di Capua I, Di Pinto M, Palumbo F, Percopo I, Uttieri M, Miralto A, Mazzocchi MG and Ianora A (2023). Twenty-year trends of Centropages typicus (Copepoda, Calanoida) reproduction, feeding, population abundance and structure in the Gulf of Naples (Western Mediterranean Sea). Marine Ecology, 44, e12739. https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12739.
11. Mazzocchi MG, Di Capua I, Kokoszka F, Margiotta F, Ribera d’Alcalà M, Sarno D, Zingone A, Licandro P (2023). Coastal mesozooplankton respond to decadal environmental changes via community restructuring. Marine Ecology, 44, e012746. https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12746.
12. Uttieri M, Anadoli O, Banchi E, Battuello M, Besiktepe S, Carotenuto Y, Cotrim Marques S, de Olazabal A, Di Capua I, Engell-Sørensen K, Goruppi A, Guy-Haim T, Hure M, Kourkoutmani P, Luˇci´c D, Mazzocchi M G, Michaloudi E,Morov A R, Terbıyık Kurt T , Tirelli V, Vannini J, Velasquez X, Vidjak O, Wootton M (2023) The Distribution of Pseudodiaptomus marinus in European and Neighbouring Waters—A Rolling Review. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11061238.
13. Di Capua I, D'angiolo R, Piredda R, Minucci C, Boero F, Uttieri M, Carotenuto I. (2022) From Phenotypes to Genotypes and Back: Toward an Integrated Evaluation of Biodiversity in Calanoid Copepods. Front. Mar. Sci. 9:833089. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.833089.
14. 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, 78: 3303-3316.
15. Di Capua I, Micarelli P, Tempesti J, Reinero FR, Buttino I. (2021) Zooplankton size structure in the Gulf of Tadjoura (Djibouti) during whale shark sighting: a preliminary study. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 62 (3), 290 – 294. https://doi.org/10.21411/CBM.A.48866486.
