Dr. Nuno Simoes

Dr. Nuno Simoes is a broadly trained marine biologist and ecologist with a particular interest in field studies on coral reefs and coastal areas of the Yucatan peninsula of the Gulf of Mexico. He worked on the GEF Biodiversity Project of Socotra Island, Yemen, on several research projects in Mozambique and Portugal, and is now based at the Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación (UMDI-Sisal) of the Department of Sciences at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Yucatan, since 2002. His main research interests encompass species diversity, population ecology, behavior and functional morphology of marine decapod crustaceans (mainly shrimp and crabs), as well as reproduction of marine ornamental species. His current research aims at a better understanding of the symbiotic relations between shrimp and their anemone hosts, reproduction and behavior of ornamental cleaner shrimp and colour change in crustaceans.

Dr. Simoes has also been actively collaborating on the biodiversity characterization of the Sisal and Alacranes reefs (crustaceans, echinoderms, cnidarians and opistobranchs) as part of a local effort to update the invertebrate species inventories. He has also participated on the creation of a co-op collective community aiming at the sustainable aquaculture production of marine ornamental species at Sisal, Yucatan, Mexico. Funding for his research programs has come from: DGAPA-UNAM, Mexico; CYTED, Spain; GEF, United Nations; and FCT, Portugal.