Archontia Chatzispyrou
PhD Student
Short CV
- BSc in Zoology – Marine Biology, Aberdeen University, Scotland, U.K. (2000)
- MSc in Biological Oceanography, National and Kapodistrian Univeristy of Athens, Athens, Greece (2005)
- PhD in Fisheries Biology, Department of Biology, University of Patras, Rio, Greece (2017-present)
Archontia’s research focuses on the reproductive biology, ageing methodologies, and life-history traits of fish, with particular emphasis on Chondrichthyan species (sharks, skates and rays). Her work aims to enhance understanding of the biological and ecological processes that support sustainable fisheries management and species conservation.
Overall, she has participated in six national and international research projects, gaining extensive experience in fisheries biology, marine biodiversity conservation, and the protection of marine life, including the rescue and rehabilitation of marine mammals during field operations.
Since 2013, Archontia has been working as a Research Assistant within the National Fisheries Data Collection Framework (DCF) at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). She also collaborated with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) programme between 2019 and 2023. In parallel, she contributes to research activities of the Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters (IMBRIW), including the SEAwise and STREAM projects, and regularly participates in European workshops related to marine conservation.
In 2017, she was awarded a PhD scholarship at HCMR, in collaboration with the University of Patras, focusing on the biological and ecological role of skates and rays (Batoidea) in the eastern Ionian Sea. Her doctoral research investigates spatial distribution patterns, reproductive strategies, and taxonomic uncertainties among batoid species, linking key biological and ecological traits with fisheries practices and management in Greece.
To date, Archontia has authored 25 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, participated in more than 30 national and international scientific conferences, and contributed to several chapters of the ICES Maturity Stages Revision Handbook, focusing on biological parameters of both bony and cartilaginous fishes. Since 2019, she has also served as a reviewer for 12 international scientific journals.
Publications
- Simone Galli, Giulia Maiello, Nadia Marinchel, Paolo Carpentieri, Archontia Chatzispyrou, … & Alice Sbrana (2025). “Harnessing Environmental DNA Metabarcoding for the Detection and Mapping of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea”. Biodiversity and Conservation (pre-print).
- Dimitris Politikos, Archontia Chatzispyrou, George Petasis, Apostolos Karasmanoglou and Evgenia Lefkaditou “Supporting the sustainability of vulnerable species in bottom trawl surveys using deep learning”. Fisheries Research (in press).
- Markos Digenis et al. (2024). New records of rarely reported species in the Mediterranean Sea (March 2024). Mediterranean Marine Science, 25(1), 84-115. Konstantinos Charalampous and Archontia Chatzispyrou “A rare record of the critically endangered sandy ray, Leucoraja circularis (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae), from the eastern Ionian Sea”. https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.37214
- Aglaia Legaki, Archontia Chatzispyrou, Dimitrios Damalas, Vassiliki Sgardeli, Eygenia Lefkaditou, Aikaterini Anastasopoulou, Aikaterini Dogrammatzi, Konstantinos Charalampous, Caterina Stamouli, Vasiliki Vassilopoulou, et al. (2023) “Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian Sea”. Animals, 14, 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ani14010061.
- Leila Bordbar, Evangelia Strogyloudi, Ioannis Hatzianestis, Vasiliki Paraskevopoulou and Archontia Chatzispyrou (2023) “First evidence of trace metals and persistent organic contaminants from an endangered marine species, Mobula mobular (Bonattere, 1788) caught in the Hellenic waters (Saronikos gulf)”. Marine Biology Research 19(8-9), 399-406. doi: 10.1080/17451000.2023.2256343
- Archontia Chatzispyrou and Constantin Koutsikopoulos (2023) “Tracing Patterns and Biodiversity Aspects of the Overlooked Skates and Rays (Subclass Elasmobranchii, Superorder Batoidea) in Greece”. Diversity, 15(1), 55.
- Dimitris V. Politikos, Nikolaos Sykiniotis, Georgios Petasis, Pavlos Dedousis, Alba Ordoñez, Rune Vabø, Aikaterini Anastasopoulou, Elde Moen, Chryssi Mytilineou, Arnt-BørreSalberg, Archontia Chatzispyrou, and Ketil Malde (2022) “DeepOtolith v1.0: An Open-Source AI Platform for Automating Fish Age Reading from Otolith or Scale Images” Fishes 7, no. 3: 121. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes7030121.
- Andrea Bellodi, Anna Benvenuto, Riccardo Melis, Antonello Mulas, Monica Barone, Claudio Barría, AlessiaCariani, Laura Carugati, Archontia Chatzispyrou, Monique Desrochers, Alice Ferrari, Javier Guallart, FaridHemida, Cecilia Mancusi, Carlotta Mazzoldi, Sergio Ramírez-Amaro, Javier Rey, Danilo Scannella, Fabrizio Serena, Fausto Tinti, Adriana Vella, Maria Cristina Follesa, Rita Cannas, (2022) “Call me by my name: unravelling the taxonomy of the gulper shark genus Centrophorus in the Mediterranean Sea through an integrated taxonomic approach”. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. zlab110, https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab110
- Zoe Giagkazoglou, Andrew Mark Griffiths, Anastasia Imsiridou, Archontia Chatzispyrou, Konstantinos Touloumis, Jake L. Hebb, Dimitra Mylona, Anna K. Malamidou, Evangelia D. Apostolidi, Ioannis Ε. Batjakas, Chrysoula Gubili (2022) “Flying under the radar: DNA barcoding ray wings in Greece detects protected species and umbrella labelling terms”. Food Control, 132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2021.108517.
- Archontia Chatzispyrou, Chrysoula Gubili, Konstanitnos Touloumis, Dimitrios Karampetsis, Serafeim Kioulouris, Aikaterini Anastasopoulou, Aristeidis Christidis, Panagiota Peristeraki, Ioannis Batjakas, Constantin Koutsikopoulos (2021) “Life-history traits of the marbled electric ray, Torpedo marmorata, Risso 1810, from the Greek Seas (north-eastern Mediterranean Sea)”. Environmental Biology of fishes. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01174-9.