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Natural Sciences

Dr Fernando Angel Fernandez-Alvarez

PhD

 
researcher
 

Biography

I have been actively researching in Zoology from the third course of my Bachelor Degree in Biology, in 2008, to nowadays. My early works dealt with morphological and molecular taxonomy of nemerteans, polychaetes, harvestmen and invasive terrestrial flatworms. From 2014 to 2018, I developed my Ph.D. Thesis, focused in the biology of flying squids, including the study of live artificially-obtained embryos and paralarvae, wild-collected paralarval samples and different kind of cephalopod tissues. The methods included Scanning Electron Microscopy, histology, in vitro fertilization, DNA metabarcoding, and phylogenetic analyses for species molecular delimitation. I pioneered the use of a new method for precise dissections and molecular characterization of tiny organisms gut contents: Laser-Capture Microdissection of histologically-processed samples followed by DNA metabarcoding targeting both eukaryotic and prokaryotic DNA. Since October 2019 I work as a postdoc research fellow in Prof. Louise Allcock´s Lab funded by an Irish Research Council – Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship. The postdoc project aims to undercover the genome and specific biodiversity of oceanic squids through Next-Generation Sequencing methods.

Employment History

Irish Research Council – Government of Ireland postdoc research fellow, NUI Galway, October 2019 – present.

Postdoctoral research assistant, Marine Sciences Institute, Barcelona, Spain. May 2018 – November 2018.

Predoctoral researcher, Marine Sciences Institute, Barcelona, Spain. February 2014 – January 2018.


Research Interests

I am interested in the evolution of oceanic cephalopods, particularly oceanic squids. My previous cephalopod research focused on unraveling fundamental poorly understood biological fundamental aspects of the economically-important flying squids, including but not limited to, their paralarval biology, sperm transfer mechanisms and speciation. Currently, I am expanding my research towards other families of oceanic squids to study their genome and species biodiversity through Next-Generation Sequencing methods

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2021) 'Born With Bristles: New Insights on the Kölliker’s Organs of Octopus Skin'
Villanueva R, Coll-Lladó M, Bonnaud-Ponticelli L, Carrasco SA, Escolar O, Fernández-Álvarez FÁ, Gleadall IG, Nabhitabhata J, Ortiz N, Rosas C, Sánchez P, Voight JR & Swoger J (2021) 'Born With Bristles: New Insights on the Kölliker’s Organs of Octopus Skin'. Frontiers in Marine Science, [DOI] [Details]
(2021) 'Morphological and molecular assessments of bobtail squids (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) reveal a hidden history of biodiversity'
Fernández-Álvarez FÁ, Sánchez P & Villanueva R (2021) 'Morphological and molecular assessments of bobtail squids (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) reveal a hidden history of biodiversity'. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2021) 'First record of the elusive oceanic squid Thysanoteuthis rhombus Troschel, 1857 (Cephalopoda: Thysanoteuthidae) in the Catalan coast'
Fernández-Álvarez FÁ, Colmenero AI & Barría C (2021) 'First record of the elusive oceanic squid Thysanoteuthis rhombus Troschel, 1857 (Cephalopoda: Thysanoteuthidae) in the Catalan coast'. Graellsia, 77 (1) [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2020) 'Extended Pelagic Life in a Bathybenthic Octopus'
Villanueva, R;Laptikhovsky, VV;Piertney, SB;Fernandez-Alvarez, FA;Collins, MA;Ablett, JD;Escanez, A (2020) 'Extended Pelagic Life in a Bathybenthic Octopus'. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7 [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'Potentially handicapped but otherwise functional: Malformations in prey capture tools show no impacts on octopus life'
Fernández-Álvarez FÁ, Farré M, Sánchez-Márquez A, Villanueva R, Escolar O & Navarro J (2020) 'Potentially handicapped but otherwise functional: Malformations in prey capture tools show no impacts on octopus life'. Ecology And Evolution, [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2020) 'Global biodiversity of the genus Ommastrephes (Ommastrephidae: Cephalopoda): an allopatric cryptic species complex'
Fernández-Álvarez, Fernando Á, Braid, Heather E, Nigmatullin, Chingis M, Bolstad, Kathrin S R, Haimovici, Manuel, Sánchez, Pilar, Sajikumar, Kurichithara K., Ragesh, Nadakkal, Villanueva, Roger (2020) 'Global biodiversity of the genus Ommastrephes (Ommastrephidae: Cephalopoda): an allopatric cryptic species complex'. Zoological Journal Of The Linnean Society, [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2020) 'The invasive land planaria Obama nungara (Platyhelminthes: Geoplanidae) reaches a natural environment in the oceanic island of São Miguel (Açores)'
Lago-Barcia D, González-López JR & Fernández-Álvarez FÁ (2020) 'The invasive land planaria Obama nungara (Platyhelminthes: Geoplanidae) reaches a natural environment in the oceanic island of São Miguel (Açores)'. Zootaxa, 4830 (1):197-200 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2019) 'World Octopus Fisheries'
Sauer, WH;Gleadall, IG;Downey-Breedt, N;Doubleday, Z;Gillespie, G;Haimovici, M;Ibanez, CM;Katugin, ON;Leporati, S;Lipinski, M;Markaida, U;Ramos, JE;Rosa, R;Villanueva, R;Arguelles, J;Briceno, FA;Carrasco, SA;Che, LJ;Chen, CS;Cisneros, R;Conners, E;Crespi-Abril, AC;Kulik, VV;Drobyazin, EN;Emery, T;Fernandez-Alvarez, FA;Furuya, H;Gonzalez, LW;Gough, C;Krishnan, P;Kumar, B;Leite, T;Lu, CC;Mohamed, KS;Nabhitabhata, J;Noro, K;Petchkamnerd, J;Putra, D;Rocliffe, S;Sajikumar, KK;Sakaguchi, H;Samuel, D;Sasikumar, G;Wada, T;Zhen, XD;Tian, YJ;Pang, YM;Yamrungrueng, A (2019) 'World Octopus Fisheries'. Reviews In Fisheries Science & Aquaculture, [DOI] [Details]
(2019) 'World Octopus Fisheries'
Warwick H. Sauer, Ian G. Gleadall, Nicola Downey-Breedt, Zöe Doubleday, Graham Gillespie, Manuel Haimovici, Christian M. Ibáñez, Oleg N. Katugin, Stephen Leporati, Marek Lipinski, Unai Markaida, Jorge E. Ramos, Rui Rosa, Roger Villanueva, Juan Arguelles, Felipe A. Briceño, Sergio A. Carrasco, Leo J. Che, Chih-Shin Chen, Rosario Cisneros, Elizabeth Conners, Augusto C. Crespi-Abril, Vladimir V. Kulik, Evgenyi N. Drobyazin, Timothy Emery, Fernando A. Fernández-Álvarez, Hidetaka Furuya, Leo W. González, Charlie Gough, P. Krishnan, Biju Kumar, Tatiana Leite, Chung-Cheng Lu, Kolliyil S. Mohamed, Jaruwat Nabhitabhata, Kyosei Noro, Jinda Petchkamnerd, Delta Putra, Steve Rocliffe, K.K. Sajikumar, Hideo Sakaguchi, Deepak Samuel, Geetha Sasikumar, Toshifumi Wada, Xiaodong Zheng, Yongjun Tian, Yumeng Pang & Anyanee Yamrungrueng (2019) 'World Octopus Fisheries'. Reviews In Fisheries Science & Aquaculture, [DOI] [Details]
(2019) 'A phylum-wide survey reveals multiple independent gains of head regeneration in Nemertea'
Zattara EE;Fernández-Álvarez FA;Hiebert TC;Bely AE;Norenburg JL; (2019) 'A phylum-wide survey reveals multiple independent gains of head regeneration in Nemertea'. Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 286 (1898) [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Predatory flying squids are detritivores during their early planktonic life'
Fernández-Álvarez FÁ;Machordom A;García-Jiménez R;Salinas-Zavala CA;Villanueva R; (2018) 'Predatory flying squids are detritivores during their early planktonic life'. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'The journey of squid sperm'
Fernandez-Alvarez, FA;Villanueva, R;Hoving, HJT;Gilly, WF (2018) 'The journey of squid sperm'. Reviews In Fish Biology And Fisheries, 28 :191-199 [DOI] [Details]
(2019) 'Same-sex sexual behaviour in an oceanic ommastrephid squid, Dosidicus gigas (Humboldt squid)'
Hoving, HJT;Fernandez-Alvarez, FA;Portner, EJ;Gilly, WF (2019) 'Same-sex sexual behaviour in an oceanic ommastrephid squid, Dosidicus gigas (Humboldt squid)'. Marine Biology, 166 [DOI] [Details]
(2019) 'A phylum-wide survey reveals multiple independent gains of head regeneration in Nemertea'
Zattara, EE; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Hiebert, TC; Bely, AE & Norenburg, JL (2019) 'A phylum-wide survey reveals multiple independent gains of head regeneration in Nemertea'. Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 286 [Details]
(2019) 'Nemertean taxonomy – implementing changes in the higher ranks, dismissing Anopla and Enopla'
Strand M, Norenburg J, Alfaya JE, Fernández-Álvarez FÁ, Andersson HS, Andrade SCS, Bartolomeus T, Beckers P, Bigatti G, Cherneva I, Chernyshev A, Chung BM, von Döhren J, Giribet G, Gonzalez-Cueto J, Herrera-Bachiller A, Hiebert T, Hookabe N, Junoy J, Kajihara H, Krämer D, Kvist S, Magarlamov TY, Maslakova S, Mendes CB, Okazaki R, Sagorny C, Schwartz M, Sun S-C, Sundberg P, Turbeville JM & Xu C-M (2019) 'Nemertean taxonomy – implementing changes in the higher ranks, dismissing Anopla and Enopla'. Zoologica Scripta, 48 (1):118-119 [Details]
(2019) 'Reconstructing routes of invasion of Obama nungara (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida) in the Iberian Peninsula'
Lago-Barcia D, Fernández-Álvarez FÁ, Brusa F, Rojo I, Damborenea C, Negrete L, Grande C & Noreña C (2019) 'Reconstructing routes of invasion of Obama nungara (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida) in the Iberian Peninsula'. Biological Invasions, 21 :289-302 [Details]
(2018) 'Invertebrate predation on egg masses of the European cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis: an experimental approach'
Martins CPP, Fernández-Álvarez FÁ & Villanueva R (2018) 'Invertebrate predation on egg masses of the European cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis: an experimental approach'. Estuarine, Coastal And Shelf Science, 200 :437-448 [Details]
(2017) 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (April 2017)'
Lipej, L; Acevedo, I; Akel, EHK; Anastasopoulou, A; Angelidis, A; Azzurro, E; Castriota, L; Çelik, M; Cilenti, L; Crocetta, F; Deidun, A; Dogrammatzi, A; Falautano, M; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Gennaio, R; Insacco, G; Katsanevakis, S; Langeneck, J; Lombardo, BM; Mancinelli, G; Mytilineou, Ch; Papa, L; Pitacco, V; Pontes, M; Poursanidis, D; Prato, E; Rizkalla, SI; Rodríguez-Flores, PC; Stamouli, C; Tempesti, J; Tiralongo, F; Tirnetta, S; Tsirintanis, K; Turan, C; Yaglioglu, D; Zaminis, G & Zava, B (2017) 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (April 2017)'. Mediterranean Marine Science, 18 (1):138-155 [Details]
(2017) 'Towards the identification of the ommastrephid squid paralarvae (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): morphological description of three species and a key to the north-east Atlantic species'
Fernández-Álvarez FÁ, Martins CPP, Vidal EAG & Villanueva R (2017) 'Towards the identification of the ommastrephid squid paralarvae (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): morphological description of three species and a key to the north-east Atlantic species'. Zoological Journal Of The Linnean Society, 180 :268-287 [Details]
(2017) 'Morphological description of egg masses and hatchlings of Lolliguncula diomedeae (Cephalopoda: Loliginidae)'
Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Li, DH; Portner, E; Villanueva, R & Gilly, WF (2017) 'Morphological description of egg masses and hatchlings of Lolliguncula diomedeae (Cephalopoda: Loliginidae)'. Journal Of Molluscan Studies, 83 (2):194-199 [Details]
(2016) 'Population genomics of sexual and asexual lineages in fissiparous ribbon worms (Lineus, Nemertea)'
Ament-Velasquez, SL; Figuet, EJ; Ballenghien, M; Zattara, EE; Norenburg, J; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Bierne, J; Bierne, N & Galtier, N (2016) 'Population genomics of sexual and asexual lineages in fissiparous ribbon worms (Lineus, Nemertea)'. Molecular Ecology, 25 :3356-3369 [Details]
(2016) 'Early Mode of Life and Hatchling Size in Cephalopod Molluscs: Influence on the Species Distributional Ranges'
Villanueva, R; Vidal, EAG; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ & Nabhitabhata, J (2016) 'Early Mode of Life and Hatchling Size in Cephalopod Molluscs: Influence on the Species Distributional Ranges'. Plos One, 11 (11) [Details]
(2015) 'Rediscovery and redescription of Leodice laurillardi (Quatrefages, 1866) comb. nov. (Annelida: Eunicidae)—a rare European polychaete or just an overlooked species?'
Arias, A; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Martins, R & Anadón, N (2015) 'Rediscovery and redescription of Leodice laurillardi (Quatrefages, 1866) comb. nov. (Annelida: Eunicidae)—a rare European polychaete or just an overlooked species?'. Zootaxa, 3964 (4):475-481 [Details]
(2015) 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July 2015)'
Tsiamis, K; Aydogan, Ö; Bailly, N; Balistreri, P; Bariche, M; Carden-Noad, S; Corsini-Foka, M; Crocetta, F; Davidov, B; Dimitriadis, C; Dragičević, B; Drakulić, M; Dulčić,J; Escánez, A; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Gerakaris, V; Gerovasileiou, V; Hoffman, R; Izquierdo-Gómez, D; Izquierdo-Muñoz, A; Kondylatos, G; Latsoudis, P; Lipej, L; Madiraca, F; Mavrič, B; Parasporo, M; Sourbès, L; Taşkin, E; Tűrker, A & Yapici, S (2015) 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July 2015)'. Mediterranean Marine Science, 16 (2):472-488 [Details]
(2015) 'Morphology and DNA barcodes reveal the presence of the non-native land planarian Obama marmorata (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae) in Europe'
Lago-Barcia, D; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Negrete, L; Brusa, F; Damborenea, C; Grande, C & Noreña, C (2015) 'Morphology and DNA barcodes reveal the presence of the non-native land planarian Obama marmorata (Platyhelminthes, Geoplanidae) in Europe'. Invertebrate Systematics, 29 (1):12-22 [Details]
(2015) 'Five new records and one new species of Polycladida (Platyhelminthes) for the Cantabrian Coast (North Atlantic) of the Iberian Peninsula'
Marquina, D; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ & Noreña, C (2015) 'Five new records and one new species of Polycladida (Platyhelminthes) for the Cantabrian Coast (North Atlantic) of the Iberian Peninsula'. Journal Of The Marine Biological Association Of The United Kingdom, 95 (2):311-322 [Details]
(2014) 'Development and characterization of microsatellite loci in the entocommensal Malacobdella arrokeana (Nemertea: Bdellonemertea), from Patagonia (Argentina) and cross-amplification in 34 nemertean species'
Alfaya, JEF; López-Márquez, V; García-Jiménez, R; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Bigatti, G & Machordom, A (2014) 'Development and characterization of microsatellite loci in the entocommensal Malacobdella arrokeana (Nemertea: Bdellonemertea), from Patagonia (Argentina) and cross-amplification in 34 nemertean species'. Conservation Genetics Resources, 6 :147-150 [Details]
(2013) 'Collective Article. New Mediterranean Marine biodiversity records (December 2013)'
Bilecenoglu, M; Alfaya, JEF; Azurro, E; Baldacconi, R; Boyaci, YÖ; Circosta, V; Compagno, LJV; Coppola, F; Deidun, A; Durgham, H; Durucan, F; Ergüden, D; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ; Gianguzza, P; Giglio, G; Gökuglu, M; Gürlek, M; Ikhtiyar, S; Kabasakal, H; Karachle, PK; Katsanevakis, S; Koutsogiannopoulos, D; Lanfranco, E; Micarelli, P; Özvarol, Y; Poursanidis, D; Rivas, LP; Saliba, J; Sperone, E; Tibullo, D; Tiralongo, F; Tripepi, S; Turan, C; Vella, P; Yokes, MB & Zava, B (2013) 'Collective Article. New Mediterranean Marine biodiversity records (December 2013)'. Mediterranean Marine Science, 14 (2):463-480 [Details]
(2013) 'DNA barcoding reveals a cryptic nemertean invasion in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters'
Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ & Machordom, A (2013) 'DNA barcoding reveals a cryptic nemertean invasion in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters'. Helgoland Marine Research, 67 (3):599-605 [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2019) 'Especies exóticas invasoras de poliquetos (Annelida: Polychaeta) en las costas españolas'
López, E; Fernández-Álvarez, FÁ & Rojo, I (2019) 'Especies exóticas invasoras de poliquetos (Annelida: Polychaeta) en las costas españolas' In: Especies exóticas invasoras. Madrid, Spain: Universidad de Alcalá, Servicio de Publicaciones. [Details]
(2015) 'Valoración de la biodiversidad actual de la familia Cephalotrichidae (Nemertea: Palaeonemertea) en la península Ibérica'
Fernández-Álvarez FÁ (2015) 'Valoración de la biodiversidad actual de la familia Cephalotrichidae (Nemertea: Palaeonemertea) en la península Ibérica' In: Colección de Trabajos Fin de Máster de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, año académico 2011-2012. Madrid, Spain: Servicio de publicaciones de la UAM. [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
(2021) 1st International Electronic Conference on Biological Diversity, Ecology and Evolution
Fernando A. Fernández-Álvarez, Roger Villanueva, Louise Allcock (2021) Is Cryptic Biodiversity a Common Phenomenon among Atlantic Oceanic Squids? 1st International Electronic Conference on Biological Diversity, Ecology and Evolution [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2021) 1st DNAQUA International Conference
Gustavo Sanchez, Fernando Ángel Fernández-Álvarez (2021) Towards an eDNA assay for decapodiform cephalopods 1st DNAQUA International Conference [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]

Other Journals

  Year Publication
(2021) 'El globito de Cthulhu: una nueva joya del Mediterráneo'
Fernando A. Fernández-Álvarez, Pilar Sanchez, Roger Villanueva (2021) 'El globito de Cthulhu: una nueva joya del Mediterráneo' Quercus, 421 . [ARAN Link] [Details]

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
Irish Research Council / National University of Ireland, Galway Postdoctoral research fellow 01-OCT-19 / 30-SEP-21
Spanish National Research Council Postdoctoral research assistant 01-MAY-18 / 30-NOV-18
Spanish National Research Council Predoctoral researcher 01-FEB-14 / 31-JAN-18

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2012 Autonomous University of Madrid MASTER OF SCIENCE Assessment of the current biodiversity of the family Cephalothrichidae (Nemertea: Palaeonemertea) in the Iberian Peninsula
2018 Polytechnic University of Catalonia DOCTOR OF PHYLOSOPHY An onto-phylogenetic journey through the life history of flying squids (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae)
2011 University of Oviedo BACHELOR OF SCIENCE Biology

Reviews

  Journal Role
Peerj Reviewer
Journal Of Natural History Reviewer
Journal Of Molluscan Studies Reviewer
Journal Of The Marine Biological Association Of The U.K Reviewer
Frontiers in physiology Reviewer
Marine Ecology Reviewer
Bioinvasions Records Reviewer
Scientific Reports Reviewer