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, […]

BLEAKLEY, BH; MARTELL, CM; BRODIE III, ED; Indiana University; Indiana University; Indiana University: Variation in antipredator behavior in three strains of inbred fancy guppies, Poecilia reticulata. Common guppies, Poecilia reticulata, react to the presence of potential predators in the wild with a characteristic inspection behavior that appears to transmit information about the threat to the […]

BARIMO, JF; WALSH, PJ; Univ of Miami, Miami; Univ of Miami, Miami: Ureotely in the gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta: A means of predator avoidance by chemical crypsis? Studies of prey detection by olfaction in teleost fishes have focused largely on amino acids as odorants while studies with respect to nitrogenous waste appear few in comparison. […]

JOHNSEN, S.; Duke University: The red and the black: Bioluminescence and the color of animals in the deep sea Unlike terrestrial and near-shore species, the coloration of deep-sea animals is quite uniform among species, families, and even phyla. The colors of these species are generally assumed to be cryptic, but it is not known how […]

WELTER, S. M.*; KOLLIKER, M.; BRODIE III, E. D.; Coastal Carolina Univ.; Indiana Univ.; Indiana Univ.: The effect of heterogeneity of the developmental environment on phenotypic plasticity of pigmentation in larval two-lined salamanders (Eurycea bislineata) Variation in developmental environment may differentially affect trait expression. Homogeneous developmental environments typically favor fixed phenotypes, whereas heterogeneous environments can […]

ROWE, M.P.*; ROWE, A.H.; Appalachian State Univ.; North Carolina State Univ.: Risk assessment by grasshopper mice feeding on potentially lethal prey Predators should benefit from assessing the risks posed by prey that differ in their dangerousness. Assessment, coupled with adaptive adjustment of the predator�s behavior, could come at any phase of the predatory sequence: search/recognition; […]