Services

About CCMAR:

Centre of Marine Sciences of the Algarve (CCMAR) is a non-profit research organisation located in the Gambelas Campus of the University of Algarve. The Ramalhete Marine Station is a facility dedicated to experimentation with marine organisms, including fish (seabass, seabream, sole), macroalgae, and bivalves. It is located in the Ria Formosa National Park, a unique coastal mesotidal lagoon, separated from the ocean by a system of barrier islands and inlets. It can offer tailored experimental setups with indoor/outdoor tanks of various sizes and a controlled environment. A variety of experiments with larvae and juveniles of several fish species, such as nutrition, behaviour, general and specific physiology, including acidification, can be performed.

Research laboratories and technology platforms are located in the Gambelas Campus of the University of Algarve. Transport between the Gambelas Campus and Ramalhete Marine Station is available during working days. The infrastructure receives approximately 100 external users per year. A bioinformatics computational cluster offers software for genome assembly and transcriptomics studies. Complementary services include molecular biology (sequencing and proteomics) and analytical and structural chemistry. Approximately 15 projects are run on the station annually, and more than 50 projects use the laboratories and platforms.

Among recent scientific achievements, the development of sea cucumber aquaculture, the demonstration of fish olfactory impairment under ocean acidification conditions, sequenced genomes of sea bass, sea bream and sardine, development of novel fish feeds. Users carrying out procedures with live fish must hold a Felasa animal experimentation certification and a project license from the Directorate General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV) to be requested in advance.

Boats

Boats up to 12 m fully equipped for research in the coastal area, allowing basic work in oceanography, fishing, and acoustic telemetry and access to diverse ecosystems, some protected –intertidal rocky shores, lagoons, salt marshes, mudflats, saltpans, kelp forests or coral reefs, coastal and continental shelf (up to 30 miles), planktonic and pelagic communities.

Scientific diving

Scientific diving supported by a fully certified diving team for sample collection, underwater experimentation, underwater video and photography. Available equipment includes computers, diving equipment, underwater scooter, 6.5m boat with dual engines 90HP (180HP) prepared for diving with multi beam sonar, two vans (5 sets + 9 sets).

Ramalhete marine station

Ramalhete Marine Station (flow through) and LEOA (closed circuit), and a semi-industrial photobioreactor park can provide tanks for tailored experimental designs for aquatic production systems. Different-sized indoor and outdoor tanks, isolated rooms for studies that require environmental or behavioural control, and wet and dry laboratories are available.

The Ramalhete Experimental Station offers access to projects requiring tanks of different capacities: 100 L (n=24); 500 L (n=20); 1000 L (n=22); 3000 L (3); 9000 L (5). Tanks are set flow-through, supplied with filtered natural sea water. Indoor and outdoor systems of tanks are set up for CO2 experiments simulating oceanic acidification scenarios. Tanks and space can be adapted to fulfill specific experimental needs as temperature control, photoperiod, light intensity, or salinity.

Platforms

Platforms equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for chemical and structural analyses (chromatography and Mass Spectrometry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Spectrophotometry, Elemental Analysis, Sample Processing); bioimaging (widefield and lightsheet microscopes) supports a variety of bioimaging modalities, including fluorescence, brightfield and contrast-enhancement techniques, applied to the study of specimens in 3D from the micro to the mesoscale, both live and fixed; biological assays and conduct advanced research in molecular biology and Omics; ProtMar, a marine protein pipeline that brings the necessary expertise and equipment for small and medium scale production and purification from a diversity of marine sourced biomass or recombinant production.

CCMAR laboratories and platforms (Gambelas Campus) are well equipped with state-of-the-art instruments (mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, confocal and light-sheet microscopy, electrophysiology, cell culture) for biological research at all levels, from biochemistry to molecular biology, bioinformatics, nutrition, physiology, behaviour and ecology.

The CCMAR laboratories and platforms offer access to technology platforms and support services:

• molecular biology (incl. sequencing and proteomics),

• analytical chemistry (mass spectrometry coupled to gas chromatography and HPLC,

• nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry),

• imaging (fluorescence confocal and light sheet microscopy),

• cell culture and bioinformatics (CETA computational infrastructure).

Telemetry

Telemetry supported by a permanent network of acoustic receivers - 10 acoustic receivers spread along the Algarve coast (from the Guadiana Estuary to Portimão), and an array in the Arrábida Marine Park and nearby areas, including the Sado estuary, consisting of >40 receivers with areas with overlapping ranges.

Bioresources available

The facilities are used mostly for projects related to fish (seabass, seabream, sole), macroalgae, seagrasses, hard corals, zebrafish, seahorses, sea urchin, crabs and cultured microalgae.

Species available include sole (Sole senegalensis), seabream (Sparus aurata) and seabass (Dicentrachus labrax).

Support offered

Technical and scientific support will be assigned to the visitors according to the specific objectives of the TA. Visitors will be provided their own office and lab space, and they will have full independence and will receive required logistical (reception, integration into infrastructure through the Liaison Officer), technical (labs and platforms dedicated technical staff) or scientific support (if in-house expertise is required). Users carrying out procedures with live animals must hold an animal experimentation certificate and a license from the National authorities (DGAV) must be required in advance.

A typical access consists of planning (generally initiated remotely), setting up and monitoring of experiments. Longer experiments may be set up by the service provider, and the visit consists of monitoring and finalising experiments, collection of samples, storage and preparation for transport.

Some samples may be locally analysed in the laboratories and technical platforms. Technical and scientific support will be assigned to the visitors according to the specific objectives of the TA.

Visitors will be provided their own desk and lab space. During their visit, they will have full independence and will receive, as required, logistical, technical or scientific support through the liaison officer and other staff.

Local accommodation can be booked by CCMAR. Costs related to the shipment of samples may be covered by the TA and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Paperwork and shipment costs of special materials, reagents or equipment will be the responsibility of the users.

There is a weekly seminar program, complemented by visitor and invitation conferences. Visitors will be given access to the general services: administrative services, internet access, accommodation, documentation and communication, and access to laboratories.

Pre-flight cancellation insurance and full health/work/travel insurance covering pre-existing medical conditions, world-wide travel assistance and emergency air transportation services covering the full period of access from departure to return are required. This is a private cost not covered by the TA.