Meeting Abstract S8.1  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Progress and problems in understanding relationships among sea anemones DALY, M*; RODRIGUEZ, E; Ohio State University; American Museum of Natural History daly.66@osu.edu Actiniarian sea anemones are among the most diverse and successful members of the anthozoan subclass Hexacorallia, being found at all depths and latitudes and in all marine habitats. Members […]

Meeting Abstract S8.9  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Phylogeny, evolution, and systematics of the stalked jellyfishes (Cnidaria, Staurozoa) COLLINS, Allen G.; National Systematics Lab of NOAA’s Fisheries Service collinsa@si.edu An early divergence within Medusozoa gave rise to the class Staurozoa. A relatively species poor group, there are approximately 50 species of benthic, stalked jellyfishes distributed in two orders. Many […]

Meeting Abstract S8.8  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Phylogeny and Ecology of Jellyfish (Scyphozoa) Mass Occurrences DAWSON, M.N*; BAYHA, K.M.; GOMEZ DAGLIO, L.E.; COLLINS, A.G.; University of California, Merced; University of California, Merced; University of California, Merced; Smithsonian Institution mdawson@ucmerced.edu Most investigations of the mass occurrences of jellyfish continue to focus on the ecological responses of jellyfish to environmental […]

Meeting Abstract S8.5  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Phylogenetics and morphological evolution in Scleractinian corals BARBEITOS, MS*; ROMANO, SL; LASKER, HR; University of Kansas; University of the Virgin Islands; University at Buffalo msbb@ku.edu Over recent years, molecular phylogenetic analyses have repeatedly made it clear that Scleractinian taxonomy does not reflect phylogenetic relationships within the order. Pervasive plasticity of skeletal […]

Meeting Abstract S8.4  Wednesday, Jan. 6  On the evolution of deep-sea octocorals and antipatharians: Patterns revealed from molecular phylogenies FRANCE, S.C.**; PANTE, E.; BRUGLER, M.R.; VAN DER HAM, J.L.; University of Louisiana at Lafayette; University of Louisiana at Lafayette; University of Louisiana at Lafayette; University of Louisiana at Lafayette france@louisiana.edu The discovery of high species diversity in […]

Meeting Abstract S8.2  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Molecular Phylogenetic Insights into Octocoral Evolution MCFADDEN, CS*; BRISSON, V; FRANCE, SC; Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA; University of California, Berkeley; University of Louisiana, Lafayette mcfadden@hmc.edu The Anthozoan sub-class Octocorallia comprises approximately 3000 described species of soft corals, sea fans, and sea pens. Although the monophyly of Octocorallia is well supported […]

Meeting Abstract S8.11  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Investigating cnidarian phylogeny using rDNA secondary structure models CARTWRIGHT, Paulyn*; BARBEITOS, Marcos S.; COLLINS, Allen G.; DALY, Marymegan; FRANCE, Scott C.; MCFADDEN, Catherine S.; University of Kansas; University of Kansas; National Systematics Lab of NOAA’s Fisheries Service; Ohio State University; University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Harvey Mudd College pcart@ku.edu Elucidating higher-level […]

Meeting Abstract S8.3  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Intragenomic ITS2 (rDNA) variation in octocorals: ancestral polymorphisms or footprints of reticulate evolution? SANCHEZ, Juan A.; Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia juansanc@uniandes.edu.co Ribosomal DNA is supposed to evolve via concerted evolution resulting in the homogenization of its copies. However, variations within individuals have been reported in diverse eukaryotes. Regrettably, there […]

Meeting Abstract S8.7  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Evolution of ontogeny in the Hydractiniidae: Losing jellyfish and committing to the colony stage CUNNINGHAM, Clifford W*; MIGLIETTA, MariaPia; BUSS, Leo W; Duke University; Pennsylvania State University; Yale University cliff@duke.edu We use a multi-gene phylogeny to study heterochrony and evolutionary variation in the pelagic sexual medusa (jellyfish) and benthic asexual (colony) […]

Meeting Abstract S8.10  Wednesday, Jan. 6  A survey of cnidarian transcriptomes- diversity through the lens of next-generation sequencing DUNN, CW; Brown University casey_dunn@brown.edu While there is now strong support for many relationships within Cnidaria across phylogenetic datasets and studies, some important relationships of broad interest have remained unresolved. This is the case even with greatly improved taxon […]