On October 30^th, our PhD candidate Vânia Baptista concludes her thesis about “Influence of oceanography and larvae behavior on recruitment of temperate fishes: The importance of physics–biology links to manage fisheries at a local scale”, winning her title of doctor.

Awarded by the University of the Algarve, this thesis was supervised by Alexandra Teodósio and Francisco Leitão from CCMAR and Eric Wolanski from James Cook University. The members of the jury were the follow: Ana Faria (ISPA), Susana Garrido (IPMA), Pedro Ré (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa) and Karim Erzini (Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade do Algarve).

About the presentation of Vânia Baptista thesis: This thesis aimed to analyze the factors responsible for the recruitment variability of two economically relevant species in Portugal: white seabream and two-banded seabream. The temporal variability in sea surface temperature and the effects of environmental changes and fishing pressure on these resources were studied over specific regions of the Portuguese coast, along the last decades. Swimming capabilities of fish larvae and their behavioral responses to environmental cues, potentially relevant for the selection of nursery areas and recruitment, were determined using Ria Formosa coastal lagoon and white seabream.