Congratulations to Roberto Reyes-Maldonado for his first publication, in the journal PLoS One! Roberto is a member of the laboratory of Dr. Bruno Marie at the Institute and the PR Center for Environmental Neuroscience.
"Given their lower ecological relevance, the use of exotic models is not always the best option to analyse the effects of contaminants in freshwater environments.
This work describes the study of the endemic species Chironomus sp. “Florida”, a mosquito like-insect. This species has a short life cycle, a ubiquitous distribution in our freshwater ecosystems and a high tolerance to laboratory conditions. In this first publication we detail our breeding protocol to obtain its larvae continuously. We also describe its life cycle and some factors that affect it.
We think that this contribution illustrates the advantages of using ecologically relevant organisms to evaluate toxicity and we hope to develop Chironomus sp. “Florida” as a native aquatic model in Puerto Rico."