Meeting Abstract

P1.12  Tuesday, Jan. 4  Marine Gastrotricha of Bocas del Toro archipelago, Panama ATHERTON, Sarah*; HOCHBERG, Rick; UMass Lowell Sarah_Atherton@student.uml.edu

The biodiversity of marine gastrotrichs in the Tropical Northwestern Atlantic (aka wider Caribbean) is poorly known. During a two-week Meiofauna Workshop conducted at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, we sampled the marine Gastrotricha of the Bocas del Toro archipelago, Panama with an aim to determine their taxonomic diversity. Specimens were collected from numerous subtidal locations and processed for morphological and molecular systematics. To date, we have found species from five of the seven families of Macrodasyida, spanning approximately 13 genera, many of which are currently unidentified and likely to be new to science. We have determined that several species appear to have morphological conspecifics in Belize (Carrie Bow Cay) and other parts of the Caribbean. One morphospecies appears to be a true cosmopolitan (Urodasys viviparous). The larger aims of this biodiversity project are discussed with reference to understanding gastrotrich biogeography and evolution.