Welcome to my professional practice

Is the European date mussel correctly protected?

The marine zoology research group of the UniversitĂ  Politecnica delle Marche (Ancona, Italy) focuses, among others, on organism/habitat interactions, and more specifically bioerosion processes. Carlo Cerrano, my supervisor, and Torcuado Pulidos Mantas, a PhD student, are assessing the population state of the European date mussel, Lithophaga lithophaga. It is a strictly protected species that suffers from illegal fishing, a practice which is also highly destructive for their habitat.

For my professional practice, I was supposed to go to Ancona and investigate the population state of the date mussel and its bioerosion activity by doing scuba-diving fieldwork, lab, and computer work. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, my internship was reorganized. So, I investigated (remotely) the level of involvement of European countries in the date mussel's protection measures. A comprehensive report of the situation was written for this study. Plus, I created a geological map referencing the occurrences of the bivalve as well as the common piddock, Pholas dactylus.

The investigation goals

  • The use of the report as a reference for future interns of the marine zoology research group;

  • That the geological map constitutes the base of a modeling project. The aim of this project is to identify the areas where the date mussel and the common piddock could be present. This will help limit date-fishing and pin down the regions that need to be monitored.

Steps I followed for this investigation

For the report

  1. I looked for references on the biology of the date shell and the common piddock;

  2. Wrote the introduction of the report;

  3. Was organized (e.g., I prepared a recapitulative table of my research);

  4. Searched for the resources available on the internet;

  5. Contacted main actors (e.g., researchers, park manager, environment ministry) in the date mussel's protection in each country;

  6. Wrote the material and method section based on the table, the results which are a summary of the information you found per country, the discussion, and the conclusion.

For the map

  1. I looked for a geological map that covers the mediterranean basin and the eastern coast of the Atlantic ocean;

  2. Found the WMS URL or the metadata to use on QGIS;

  3. Found occurences data for the date mussel and the common piddock;

  4. Added the occurences data as vector layers to QGIS;

  5. Converted them into shapefile.

Do you want to know more about the date mussel and the common piddock? Then, follow step 1 and 2.

Step 1: Introductory video

Why is the date mussel protected? To discover it watch this video in full screen (don't hesitate to press pause if needed).

Step 2: Test your personal knowledge with this quiz

This quick quiz is independant from the video

If you want to know more about this topic, I invite you to read the report I produced for this professional practice (Click here to see the report).

The main skills I acquired or improved during this professional practice

  • Communication skills: I was able to communicate efficiently with my supervisor and the main actors in the date mussel's protection that I contacted. I improved my distance communication skills by using the available technological tools (e.g., email, skype, Microsoft Teams).

  • Organization skills: For the final report, I needed to gather information from various sources as the Internet, personal communications, books, and others. To keep track of what I had done, where I got the information, and what information I obtained, I needed to stay organized. Also, being at home I had to organize my day for it to be productive.

  • Reviewing skills: I improved my ability to research information from various sources (not just scientific articles).

  • QGIS skills: I used previously acquired QGIS knowledge in this professional practice and even increased it.