Marine Biology @ UKZN

Renzo sampling macrofauna at St. Lucia

Contact

Room 028, George Campbell Building, Howard College campus

Tel: +27 31 260 1194

Fax: +27 31 260 2029

E-Mail: perissinottor(at)ukzn.ac.za

Qualifications

Laurea Biol Sciences (Padua) PhD (Dalhousie)

Modules taught

BIOL214H1 — Invertebrate Diversity and Ecology

BIOL231H2 — Marine Environment

BIOL781HC — Marine Biodiversity

BIOL320 — Marine Animal Ecophysiology

Research Interests

Estuarine ecology

Trophic functioning of temporarily-open estuaries; microalgal productivity and biomass; zooplankton grazing; food webs and benthic-pelagic coupling.

Biological oceanography of the Southern Ocean

Climate change and oceanic carbon fluxes (SO-JGOFS); planktonic food webs and salps-krill interactions; feeding ecophysiology of zooplankton; subantarctic and Antarctic island mass effect; productivity of oceanic fronts.

Recent Publications

• Nozais C, Perissinotto R, Tita G (2005) Seasonal dynamics of meiofauna structure in a South African temporarily open/closed estuary (Mdloti Estuary, Indian Ocean). Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 62: 325-338.
• Isla JA, Perissinotto R (2004) Effects of temperature, salinity and sex on the basal metabolic rate of the estuarine copepod Pseudodiaptomus hessei. Journal of Plankton Research 26: 579-583.
• Mundree S, Perissinotto R, Nozais C (2003) Seasonal variations in the vertical distribution of benthic microalgae in the upper sediment of the Mdloti Estuary, South Africa. Botanica Marina 46: 323-331.
• Perissinotto R, Nozais C, Kibirige I, Anandraj A (2003) Planktonic food webs and benthic-pelagic coupling in South African temporarily-open estuaries. Acta Oecologica 24: S307-S316.
• Kibirige I, Perissinotto R (2003) The zooplankton community of the Mpenjati Estuary, a South African temporarily open/closed system. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 58: 727-741.
• Perissinotto R, Nozais C, Kibirige I (2001) Spatio-temporal dynamics of phytoplankton and microphytobenthos in a Saouth African temporarily-open estuary. Coastal and Shelf Science 53: 792-803
• Nozais C, Perissinotto R, Mundree S (2001) The annual cycle of microalgal biomass in a South African temporarily-open estuary: nutrient versus light limitation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 223: 39-48
• Marshall DJ, Perissinotto R, Nozais C, Haines C-J, Proches S (2001) Occurrence of the astigmatid mite Tyrophagus in the estuarine environment. Journal of the Marine Biological Association, UK 81: 889-890
• Walker DR, Perissinotto R, Bally R (2001) Phytoplankton/protozoan dynamics in the Nyara Estuary, a small temporarily-open system in the Eastern Cape (South Africa). African Journal of Aquatic Science 26: 31-38.