LARSEN, E.W.; CHEUNG, U.; DWORKIN, I.; Univeristy of Toronto; University of Toronto; University of Toronto: Designing: an approach to evolutionary developmental biology Why are morphological traits highly constrained in some taxa but widely varying in others? Arthropod segmentation is a case in point, myriapods and crustacea vary in numbers of segments whereas insects are said […]

HINTON, J. G.*; MEYER, H. A.; McNeese State University; McNeese State University: Terrestrial Tardigrada of Louisiana East of the Mississippi River The distribution of limnoterrestrial tardigrades in the American south is poorly known. This is especially true in the Gulf Coast states. There is only one published record of tardigrades from Louisiana. Nine species were […]

PRYOR, Gregory S. *; BJORNDAL, Karen A.; Univ.of Florida, Gainesville; Univ. of Florida, Gainesville: Symbiotic nematodes accelerate metamorphosis in bullfrog tadpoles Herbivorous bullfrog larvae (Rana catesbeiana) exhibit a comparably complex gastrointestinal microbial community as other herbivores, harboring bacteria, ciliates, and nematodes within their hindguts. Tadpole-specific gastrointestinal nematodes, Gyrinicola batrachiensis, seem associated with an herbivorous host […]

PRICE, R. M.; Univ. of Chicago: Ornamentation in neogastropods is surprisingly constant in the northern hemisphere of the Eastern Pacific Shell ornamentation is thought to be more common and more elaborate in tropical neogastropod species than in cold water species. To test this hypothesis, I quantified ornamentation in neogastropods across latitudes. I coded the presence […]

PIERCE, S. K.*; MASSEY, S. E.; CURTIS, N. E.; Univ. of South Florida, Tampa; Univ. of South Florida, Tampa; Univ. of South Florida, Tampa: Horizontal transfer of functional genes between nuclear genomes of algae and sea slugs. Gene transfer between prokaryotes or between endosymbiotic prokaryotes and their host cells has occurred many times. However, a […]

WILLIAMS, J. D.; MCDERMOTT, J. J.; Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY; Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA: Ecosystem engineering by hermit crabs: a review of hermit crab symbiont communities Hermit crab use of gastropod shells provides a substrate for the establishment of diverse communities of invertebrates associated with paguroid hosts. A worldwide review of hermit crab […]

BAKER, S.M.; FAJANS, J.S.; BAKER, P.K.; University of Florida, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences; University of Florida, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences; University of Florida, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences: Demographic release in the nonindigenous green mussel, Perna viridis; Physiological evidence. Introduced populations are predicted to exhibit a demographic release in their […]

HUANG, H.-D.; RITTSCHOF, D.; JENG, M.-S.; Duke Univ.; Duke Univ.; Academia Sinica, Taiwan: Crinoid host selection by the symbiotic snapping shrimp Synalpheus demani The crinoid Comanthina schlegelii occurs in patchy multispecies crinoid communities. In Taiwanese waters, snapping shrimp Synalpheus demani is an obligate symbiont of C. schlegelii. We hypothesized that S. demani use chemical and […]

ALBERS, MA; BRADLEY, TJ; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine: The Evolution of Saline-Tolerance in Mosquito Larvae Of the mosquito species belonging to the genus, Ochlerotatus, several have been shown to be saline-tolerant as aquatic larvae while others are restricted to freshwater. This saline-tolerance is associated with a morphological difference in the rectum, […]

HAUSSMANN, M.F.; WINKLER, D.W.; VLECK, C.M.; Iowa State Univ.; Cornell Univ.; Iowa State Univ.: Longer telomeres may confer an individual survival advantage in a wild bird Elucidating factors that influence survival in wild populations has been a major thrust of physiological ecology. Telomeres are the terminal caps on all eukaryotic chromosomes. During normal aging loss […]