Valentin DE MAZANCOURT

Taxonomy, Systematics and Evolution of freshwater decapod crustaceans from the islands of the tropical Indo-Pacific :

As part of my research, I am mostly interested in systematics (i.e. taxonomy and phylogeny) of amphidromous crustaceans of the Indo-Pacific region and especially of the shrimps belonging to the families Atyidae and Palaemonidae, as well as various groups of crabs (Sesarmidae, Varunidae, Hymenosomatidae...).

The aim of my work is to resolve the taxonomic problems by proposing clear delimitations between species, evidenced by integrative taxonomy (i.e. using multiple characters like morphology, DNA, ecology, biology, phylogeography...) in order to allow environment workers to implement a more efficient conservation and/or exploitation of these species and their habitat.



Ecophysiological aspects of migration in tropical amphidromous shrimps :

The objective of this project is to define the tolerance window and the acclimatization capacities to different environmental factors (temperature, salinity, turbidity, etc.) in amphidromous shrimps of the genus Caridina, in order to determine their preferences in terms of habitat and their capacities to colonize various environments. The aim is also to identify the environmental signals that guide individuals during migration, and to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on these phenomena.