Dr. Katharina Kniesz

Expertise

• Genetic connectivity between populations of marine species from macrofauna communities using restriction associated DNA-markers (2b-RADs)
• DNA Barcoding of macrofauna communities, population genetics
• Sampling and processing of samples for eDNA-analyses
• Benthic ecology
• Benthic sampling at sea
• Identification of macro- and megafauna with main focus on deep-sea fauna and fauna of hydrothermal systems
• Video and habitat mapping of the seafloor

CV

Education

2018-2024: PhD at German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), Senckenberg am Meer, Wilhelmshaven and Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. Thesis: "Macrofauna of hydrothermal vent areas in the Indian Ocean – composition, molecular and functional diversity" supervised by Martinez Arbizu, Pedro and and Kihara, Terue C.

2015-2018: Master of Science Biologie at University of Hamburg with main focus on ecology and genetics. Thesis: "Macrofauna and Peracarida (Crustacea, Malacostraca) diversity from the Central Indian Ridge" supervised by Schwentner, Martin and Kihara, Terue C.

2011-2015: Bachelor of Science Biologie at University of Hamburg. Thesis: "A new hadal species of Macrostylidae (Isopoda) from the Puerto Rico Trench" supervised by Brandt, Angelika and Riehl, Torben

Scientific Experience

since February 2024: Postdoc at Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnmünde in the working group Ecology of benthic organisms.

2023: Research Assistant, Integrated Environmental Solutions UG, Wilhelmshaven. Participation in the cruise INDEX2023, sampling, data collection and research reporting.

2022: Research Assistant, German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), Senckenberg am Meer, Wilhelmshaven. Continued financing of the PhD, data collection of benthic Macrofauna in the Indian Ocean and research reporting to the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

2018-2021: Doctoral scholarship of Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, Frankfurt.

2015-2017: Student Assistant at the Zoological Museum, Hamburg. Processing of deep-sea sediment samples, Identification of the picked benthic macrofauna, illustration of Peracarida with Adobe Illustrator for further use in species descriptions.

Marine Research Expeditions

HHUMTKT 2025 - R/V Helmer Hanssen – Tromsø – Kirkenes – Tromsø – 16.04.-21.04.2025 Cruise studying benthic fauna of Northern Norway (chief scientist: Dr. Andreas Altenburger)

ARKOBI 2024 – Fortuna Kingfisher – Rostock/ Rostock – 02.09.-10.09.2024 Cruise in the southern Baltic Sea to study Arctica islandica (chief scientist Dr. Fabian Wolf)

LEGRA 2024 (EMB343) – FS Elisabeth Mann Borgese – Rostock/ Rostock – 21.06.-02.07.2024 Cruise in the southern Baltic Sea (chief scientist Dr. Katharina Romoth)

INDEX 2023_1 and INDEX 2023_2 – FS Sonne – Port Louis/ Port Louis – 05.09.-19.11.2023 Cruise to hydrothermal vents of Central and Southeast Indian Ridge (chief scientists Dr. Udo Barckhausen and Dr. Thomas Kuhn)

INDEX 2022_3 – RV Pelagia – Port Louis/ Port Louis – 08.12.-31.12.2022 Cruise to hydrothermal vents of Central and Southeast Indian Ridge (chief scientist Dr. Thomas Kuhn)

INDEX 2021_1 and INDEX 2021_2 – RV Pelagia – Port Louis/ Port Louis – 08.10.-30.11.2021 Cruise to hydrothermal vents of Central and Southeast Indian Ridge (chief scientists Dr. Udo Barckhausen and Dr. Thomas Kuhn)

INDEX 2019_1 and INDEX 2019_2 – FS SONNE – Port Louis/ Port Louis – 31.10.2019-10.01.2020 Cruise to hydrothermal vents of Central and Southeast Indian Ridge (chief scientists Dr. Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera and Dr. Udo Barckhausen)

INDEX 2018_2 – RV Pelagia – Port Louis/ Port Louis – 10.10.-17.12.2018 Cruise to hydrothermal vents of Central and Southeast Indian Ridge (chief scientist Dr. Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera)

INDEX 2017 – FS SONNE – Colombo/ Cape Town – 23.08-13.10.2017 Cruise to hydrothermal vents of Central and Southeast Indian Ridge (chief scientist Dr. Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera)

INDEX 2016_1 – N/O Pourqoui Pas? – St. Denis/ St. Denis – 03.01.-03.02.2016 Cruise to hydrothermal vents of Central and Southeast Indian Ridge (chief scientist Dr. Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera)

Sokho Bio – R/V Akademik M.A. Lavrentyev – Vladivostok/ Vladivostok – 06.07.-06.08.2015 Cruise to Kuril Basin of the Sea of Okhotsk, Bussol Strait (chief scientist Dr. Victor V. Ivin)

Projects

Current:

BenthQual - Benthos quality assurance – Further development of monitoring principles and methodological standards for benthic species and habitats

Past:

ArKoBi - Investigations on the contribution of Arctica islandica to carbon storage and biodiversity in the Baltic Sea

INDEX - Biological monitoring in the Indian Ocean Exploration Project. Survey of the benthic fauna of hydrothermal vent fields along the Central and Southeast Indian Ridge and research reporting to the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Project leaded by: Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Ressources (BGR), Hannover, Germany.

Publications

Schulz, L.A., Gogina, M., Friedland, R., Wolf, F., Kniesz, K., Zettler, M.L. (2025). Recent distribution and population structure of the ocean quahog, Arctica islandica (Linnaeus, 1767), in the German waters of the Baltic Sea – Ecological insights and relevance for conservation. Journal of Sea Research 208: 102630 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2025.102630

Bergman, S., Broms, F., Kniesz, K., Herranz, M., Vikberg Wernström, J., Grzelak, K., Myrvold, A., Dybvik, H., Pitusi, V., & Altenburger, A. (2025). Cruise report HHUMTKT25: Tromsø - Kirkenes - Tromsø, April 16-21, 2025. Septentrio Reports, (2). https://doi.org/10.7557/7.8104

Kniesz, K., Hoffman, L., Martínez Arbizu, P., Kihara T.C. (2025). High genomic connectivity within Anatoma at hydrothermal vents along the Central and Southeast Indian Ridge. Sci Rep 15, 1971. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85507-z

SOSA, Brandt A., Chen C., Engel L., Esquete P., Horton T., Jażdżewska A.M., Johannsen N., Kaiser S., Kihara T.C., Knauber H., Kniesz K., Landschoff J., Lörz A.-N., Machado F.M., Martínez-Muñoz C.A., Riehl T., Serpell-Stevens A., Sigwart J.D., Tandberg A.H.S., Tato R., Tsuda M., Vončina K., Watanabe H.K., Wenz C., Williams J.D. (2024) Ocean Species Discoveries 1–12 — A primer for accelerating marine invertebrate taxonomy. Biodiversity DataJournal 12: e128431. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e128431

Hoffman L., Kniesz K., Martínez Arbizu P. & Kihara T.C. (2022) Abyssal vent field habitats along plate margins in the Central Indian Ocean yield new species in the genus Anatoma (Vetigastropoda: Anatomidae). EuropeanJournal of Taxonomy 826: 135–162. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.826.1841

Kniesz K., Jażdżewska A.M., Martínez Arbizu P. & Kihara T.C. (2022) DNA Barcoding of Scavenging Amphipod Communities at Active and Inactive Hydrothermal Vents in the Indian Ocean. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:752360. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.752360

Brandt A., Alalykina I., Fukumori H., Golovan O., Kniesz K., Lavrenteva A., Lörz A.N., Malyutina M., Philipps-Bussau K., Stransky B. (2018) First insights into macrofaunal composition from the SokhoBio expedition (Sea of Okhotsk, Bussol Strait and northern slope of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench). Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 154: 106–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2018.05.022

Kniesz K. & Brandt A. & Riehl T. (2017) Peritrich epibionts on the hadal isopod species Macrostylis marionae n. sp. from the Puerto Rico Trench used as indicator for sex-specific behaviour. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.10.007

Talks and Presentations

2025: 20^th International Colloquium on Amphipoda (ICA) (01.-05.09.2025). Lodz, Poland. Kniesz K., Poupin J., Zettler M.L. (2025) Tiny treasures of Mayotte: Unveiling a new species of Lysianassoidea from a baited trap. – Poster presentation & Kniesz K., Jażdżewska A.M. & Kihara T.C. (2025) Too hot to handle? Exploring amphipod's habitat preferences near hydrothermal vents. - Oral presentation

2024: 5^th Symposium on Massive Sulfide and Manganese Nodule Exploration and Environmental Studies (05.-06.06.2024). Hannover, Germany. Kniesz K., Hoffman L., Martínez Arbizu P. & Kihara T.C. (2024) Are macrofaunal communities different between active and inactive hydrothermal vents and their surrounding areas? – Oral presentation

2023: 4^th Symposium on Massive Sulfide and Manganese Nodule Exploration and Environmental Studies (24.-25.05.2023). Hannover, Germany. Kniesz K., Hoffman L., Martínez Arbizu P. & Kihara T.C. (2023) Spatial distribution and connectivity of new vent related species in Anatoma (Gastropoda) from hydrothermal vent fields in the Indian Ocean. – Oral presentation

2022: World Congress of Malacology (WCM) (01.-05.08.2022). Munich, Germany. Kniesz K., Hoffman L., Martínez Arbizu P. & Kihara T.C. Spatial distribution and connectivity of new vent related species in Anatoma (Gastropoda) from hydrothermal vent fields in the Indian Ocean. – Oral presentation

2019: Youmares 10 (11.-13.09.2019). Hamburg, Germany. Kniesz K., Jażdżewska A.M., Martínez Arbizu P. & Kihara T.C. (2019) First insights into the deep-sea scavengers along the Central and Southeast Indian Ridge. – Oral presentation

2019: 18^th International Colloquium on Amphipoda (ICA) (26.-30.08.2019). Dijon, France. Kniesz K., Jażdżewska A.M., Martínez Arbizu P. & Kihara T.C. (2019) First insights into the deep-sea scavengers along the Southeast Indian Ridge. – Poster presentation

2019: 3^rd Symposium on Massive Sulfide and Manganese Nodule Exploration and Environmental Studies (23.-24.05.2019). Hannover, Germany. Kniesz K. & Kihara T. C. (2019). Amphipod Trap – First insights into the deep-sea scavengers along the Southeast Indian Ridge. – Oral presentation

2017: The Crustacean Society Mid-Year Meeting (19-22.06.2017). Barcelona, Spain. Kniesz K. & Kihara T. C. (2017) Peracarida diversity from the deep-sea hydrothermal vent field Edmond, Central Indian Ridge. – Poster presentation & Kniesz K., Riehl T. & Brandt A. (2017) Peritrich epibionts indicate sex-specific behaviour in a hadal isopod species Macrostylis sp. – Poster presentation

2017: Symposium on Massive Sulfide and Manganese Nodule Exploration and Environmental Studies (07.06.2017). Hannover, Germany. Kniesz K. & Kihara T. C. (2017) Macrofauna and Peracarida diversity from Edmond Vent Field of the Central Indian Ridge. – Oral presentation