LEE, W-K.; HARRISON, J.; GREENLEE, K.; BETZ, O.; WESTNEAT, M.; Argonne National Laboratory; Arizona State University; Arizona State University; University of Kiel, Germany; Field Museum of Natural History: Biomechanics of insect respiration and feeding using synchrotron x-ray imaging The motions of internal structures of insects and other small animals during behaviors such as respiration and […]

MIGLIETTA, M.P.; CUNNINGHAM, C.W; Duke University; Duke University: The role of the planktonic stage in hydrozoans: ecological interpretation of the medusa loss The Hydrozoa (phylum Cnidaria) have a complex life cycle with a planktonic, sexually reproducing stage (the medusa) and a benthic, clonal one (the polyp). The medusa, being planktonic, has been considered as the […]

OKAMURA, B.; TOPS, S.; University of Reading: The evolution of life cycle complexity in myxozoans Myxozoans are extremely morphologically degenerate bilateral animals that are endoparasitic in aquatic invertebrates and fish and present intriguing questions regarding the evolution of life cycle complexity in parasites. The life cycle of myxozoans in the Class Myxosporea entails obligate cycling […]

VAUGHN, D.; University of Washington: The Ballad of the Veliger Revisited: How larval interactions potentially modify the behavior, morphology and life history of a marine gastropod. In 1929, Walter Garstang considered �predaceous foes� and the tactics of their planktonic prey, larval gastropods, which can retract into their shells and sink upon contact with potential predators. […]

MINSUK, S.B.*; RAFF, R.A.; Konrad Lorenz Institute, Altenberg, Austria; Indiana U., Bloomington: Patterning the pentaradial adult sea urchin body plan In a striking departure from their bilaterian ancestry, the bilaterally symmetric larvae of echinoderms give rise to radially symmetric adults. The adult body plan arises not from a gradual transformation of the larval one, but […]

JACOBS, Molly W.; University of Washington, Friday Harbor Labs: Metamorphosis in solitary ascidians: not as constrained as we thought Solitary ascidians are typically free-spawners and produce small, short-lived, non-feeding larvae. Attachment normally initiates a radical metamorphosis in which larval features are sloughed or resorbed and juvenile features begin to differentiate. Colonial ascidians brood their larvae, […]

SANTINI, F; University of Toronto: Was the fish specific genome duplication the cause of the high diversity of teleost fishes? During the past few years a number of genomic studies have corroborated the idea that a duplication of the entire genome happened in the ancestor of teleost fishes. Comparing the high species diversity as a […]

BIRD, NC*; HERNANDEZ, LC; George Washington University; George Washington University: Origin of complex structures: Zebrafish as the new model organism for investigating morphological innovation For the last decade the zebrafish has played an increasingly important role in biomedical research. Such research, exploiting conserved developmental processes among vertebrates in order to better extrapolate to humans, has […]

ALBERTSON, R. Craig*; STREELMAN, J. Todd; KOCHER, Thomas D.; YELICK, Pamela C.; Forsyth Institute; Georgia Institute of Technology; Univ. of New Hampshire; Forsyth Institute: Integration and Evolution of the Teleost Mandible: The Molecular Basis of Alternate Feeding Strategies The cichlid jaw is an icon of Darwinian evolution by natural selection. Highly specialized modes of feeding […]

LIAO, James C.*; FETCHO, Joseph R.; Cornell University: Identification of sensory spinal interneurons by using optical, genetic, and electrophysiological techniques in larval zebrafish Sensory feedback is critical to move successfully in complex environments, yet little is known about the pattern of cellular activity in response to sensory inputs to the spinal cord. Here we use […]