No fewer than 11 researchers from the Department of Biology of the University of Malta have participated in the 2013 CIESM Congress held from 28 October to 1 November at the Palais du Pharo, Marseilles, France.

The group comprised three resident academics from the Department, Dr Joseph A. Borg, Prof. Patrick J. Schembri and Dr Adriana Vella, and members of their research groups.

Altogether, the Department of Biology’s contingent presented a total of 15 contributions on a diversity of subjects, including studies on the genetics and distribution of echinoderms (sea cucumbers and sea urchins), genetics of groupers, genetics and new records of sharks, conservation of cetaceans and marine turtles in the south-central Mediterranean, ecology and biodiversity of cobble beds, the mollusc fauna of natural and artificial shorelines, the endemic Maltese top-shell, an invasive alien alga and the impact of boat anchoring on the Noble Pen-shell.

These contributions presented the latest results of marine research being carried out at the Department of Biology by members of staff, postgraduate students and senior undergraduates.

Abstracts of these contributions will be published in the Rapport du Congrès de la Commission Internationale pour l'Exploration Scientifique de la Mer Méditerranée, which comprises the official proceedings of the CIESM congresses.