Meeting Abstract
Remipedes are a class of crustaceans that are found predominantly within submerged anchialine cave ecosystems. Due to the limited accessibility of these habitats, insight into the evolutionary history and feeding ecology of this group remains largely unknown. Three previous reports have developed interspecies phylogenies of Remipedia; however, the addition of recently discovered species and evidence of cryptic speciation warrants further investigation. The purpose of this research is to further elucidate the evolutionary relationships of species within Remipedia using morphological and molecular techniques. Three mitochondrial genes (CO1, 16S, Cytochrome B) and two nuclear genes (H3, 18S) have been amplified and sequenced from 150 remipede samples. Sequences will then be trimmed, aligned, and compared using GENEIOUS and IQTREE. In addition to molecular analyses, remipede mouthparts (mandibles, maxilla one and two, maxillipeds) were dissected and photographed using scanning electron microscopy. Remipedes exhibit highly distinctive mouthpart morphotypes at the family level which may suggest divergent feeding strategies across the Class. Mouthpart morphotypes will thus be traced across the molecular tree in order to identify potential patterns of feeding evolution.
