I am a Colombian marine biologist, now enrolled as a graduate student in the Department of Zoology at the University of New Hampshire. I am working as a research assistant on a project entitled “A Modern Inventory of the Polyclad Fauna of the Caribbean” directed by my graduate advisor, Dr. M. Litvaitis.

I received my bachelor’s degree at the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Colombia. As part of the degree I spent four years in Santa Marta, where together with Marcela Bolaños and Nestor Ardila, I studied the flatworm diversity of this region. Since then, my interest in this group has widened to include other fields and broader geographical areas.

Research Interests:
My main interests are the taxonomy and systematics of marine invertebrates. During the last few years, I have focused on the taxonomy of the free-living, marine Polycladida, using histological techniques to resolve their systematic relationships. I am also carrying out research related to the gross anatomy and ultrastructural description of the nervous system and the localization of neurotransmitters in different species of polyclads. Using these morphological characters I am interested in exploring the phylogenetic relationships between polyclad taxa.

Other Interest:
Underwater Photography
Diving

Publications and Posters:

• Bolaños DM, Quiroga SY, Litvaitis MK (2007) Five new species of cotylean flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from the wider Caribbean. Zootaxa 1650: 1-23 (pdf)
• Quiroga SY, Bolaños DM, Litvaitis MK (2006) First description of deep-sea polyclad flatworms from the North Pacific: Anocellidus n. gen. profundus n. sp. (Anocellidae, n. fam.) and Oligocladus voightae n. sp. (Euryleptidae). Zootaxa 1317:1-19 (pdf)
• Bolaños DM, Quiroga SY, Litvaitis MK (2006) A new acotylean flatworm, Armatoplana colombiana n. sp. (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida: Stylochoplanidae) from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, South America. Zootaxa 1162: 53-64 (pdf)
• Quiroga S, Bolaños M, Litvaitis MK. 2004. Polycladidos (Platyhelminthes:”Turbellaria”) del Atlántico Tropical Occidental. Biota Colombiana 5: 159-172 (pdf)
• Quiroga S, Ardila, NE, Bolaños DM. 2004. Aphelodoris antillensis Berg, 1897 (Opisthobranchia: Nudibranchia: Halgerdidae), new record from the Colombian Caribbean. Boletín Inv. Mar. Cost. 33: 229-231
• Quiroga S, Bolaños DM, Litvaitis MK. 2003. A checklist of polyclad flatworms (Platyhelminthes: Polycladida) from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, South America. Zootaxa 633: 1–12 (pdf)
• Bolaños DM, Quiroga SY, Rawlinson KA, Litvaitis MK. 2007. Polyclad flatworm diversity of the wider Caribbean. Smithsonian Marine Science Network, Washington, DC (poster)
• Bolaños DM, Quiroga SY, Ardila NE, Litvaitis MK. 2004. An Initial Survey of the Polyclad Fauna of the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. Annual Meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology, New Orleans, USA (poster)
• Bolaños DM, Quiroga S, Ardila NE. 2003. Polycladidos (Platyhelminthes: Turbellaria) colectados en la región de Santa Marta, Caribe colombiano. Resúmenes XII Seminario Nacional del Mar, Santa Marta. ST- Póster 27, p. 140