Manuel Biscoito is Chief Curator of the Funchal Natural History Museum, Head of the Funchal Marine Biology Station and a Madeiran Ichthyologist. Over the last 40 years, he has worked mainly in deep-sea environments on seamounts and island slopes of Macaronesia, West-Africa and mid-ocean ridges in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. In particular, Manuel studies the fish fauna associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vents and is currently revising the deep-sea fish family Alepocephalidae in the Atlantic Ocean. He is also currently involved in the preparation of the Red Data Book of Marine Fishes (deep-sea species) at IUCN and Portugal. He took part in several research cruises and has dived in several research submersibles down to 3000 m of depth. He has authored or co-authored over 160 written contributions amongst books, book chapters and research papers.

Manuel will be presenting 'Madeira deep-sea biodiversity: 200 years of science and exploration' at the MAD-Deep Symposium.