A 8.3 meters research vessel fully equipped for research in the coastal zone allowing basic oceanographic work (water samples, CTD, etc.), towing of plankton and zooplankton nets, sampling benthos with grabs, dredges, sampling with fishing gear (gill nets, trammel nets, traps, small trawls, long line), acoustic telemetry studies, sea bed classification and mapping (QTC), deployment of ROV and has a diving platform allowing underwater surveys, biodiversity studies, etc. Smaller boats are available for work in the Ria Formosa. CCMAR features well equipped laboratories for investigating marine biological systems at various levels, from biochemistry and molecular biology through genetics, physiology, behaviour and ecology. Available equipment includes electrophysiology rigs, gas chromatograph coupled to mass spectrometry, HPLC-instrumentation including LC coupled to mass spectrometry, optical microscopes (e.g. fluorescence, phase- and interference contrast), Liquid Scintillation Systems for 3H, 14C and 32P, nutrient auto analyzer, CHN analyser, particle counters, spectrophotometers, gene cloning, cell culture facilities and incubators with inverted and fluorescent microscopes, automated DNA sequencer, Q-PCR, imaging systems and software for transcriptome and proteome analysis.