1. Epidemiological surveys of helminthic zoonoses in marine and
freshwater fish with reference to the families Diphyllobothridae,
Opisthorchidae, Anisakidae.
2. Studies of the major parasitic diseases in aquatic animals, both wild
and farmed, and definition of their pathogenic effects on the host.
Studies on life cycle and epidemiology of Myxozoan and Microsporidian parasites of
freshwater and marine fish.
3. Study on Cryptosporidium infections in aquatic and terrestrial animals
4. Morphological and molecular analysis on Clinostomum spp.
1. Surveys on bio-epidemiology of fish parasites potentially
pathogenic to humans: characterization of larval stages of
nematodes Anisakidae in marine fish caught along the Italian coast
and imported from foreign countries; prevalence studies and
molecular identification of plerocercoids larvae of
Diphyllobothriidae tapeworms and other Pseudophyllidea in lakes
fish species; study on the life cycle and distribution of digeneans
such as
Opisthorchis in freshwater fish and molecular
characterization of the metacercarie.
2. Researches on the prevalence and intensity of infection of
protozoan and metazoan parasites in aquatic animals: definition of
risk factors and pathological effects of ectoparasites
(flagellates, ciliates, monogeneans and crustaceans) and
endoparasite (coccidia, microsporidians, digeneans, tapeworms and
nematodes) in fish reared in extensive and intensive systems and in
wild fish; molecular identification of parasites belonging to the
Phylum Microspora in freshwater and marine fish.
3. Research on Myxozoan parasites of freshwater and marine fish:
study of
the pathological effects and development of molecular techniques
for the diagnosis of enteromixosi by Enteromyxum leei
in farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata)
4.Taxonomic revision of Digenea Clinostomidae by a combined morphological and molecular taxonomical approach
