Catalina Perales-Raya

Catalina has 20 years of experience in cephalopod biology and fisheries research. She is a member of the ICES Working Group on Cephalopod Fisheries and Life History (ICES-WGCEPH, co-chair for the period 2023-2025), and the Cephalopod International Advisory Council (CIAC). Additionally, she coordinates the team of the EU Data Collection Framework for the Central Atlantic Fisheries in the Canarias Oceanographic Centre of IEO (CSIC). She participated in more than 10 EU projects related to cephalopod and fish biology. She published more than 25 articles on cephalopods, being a regular reviewer for scientific journals about this matter (Marine Biology, ICES Journal of Marine Science, Frontiers, Nature Communications, Hydrobiologia, Fisheries Research, Fisheries Management and Ecology, Fishery Bulletin, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, among others). Her work has been more focused on age and growth studies on the cephalopod target species and developed pioneer aging techniques for benthic species of cuttlefishes (family Sepiidae) and octopuses (family Octopodidae) by using hard structures. Her team validated in 2014 the use of beaks for age estimation in the common octopus Octopus vulgaris. During the last few years, collaborative research has been conducted with the aquaculture team of IEO (CSIC) for the improvement of octopus resources in both, wild and cultivated systems. Several articles, congress communications, and direction of research stays related to this interdisciplinary field have been produced.