Systematics of Cerithioidean Snails (Gastropoda: Cerithioidea)

9707623阿拉巴马大学的Lydeard Charles Lydeard和澳大利亚博物馆的Winston Ponder将生成一个全面的分子和形态数据库，从中推断切里硫德蜗牛之间的关系。这些蜗牛是一个由大约19个科、200个活着的属和数百个物种组成的迷人的群体。海鞘动物分布在世界各地的各种海洋和淡水生境中，包括红树林、河口、海草床、岩石潮间带海岸、藻类叶子、湍急的溪流和河流以及安静的湖泊。塞里硫虫往往是海洋和淡水群落的重要组成部分，在它们所居住的生态系统中发挥着重要作用。Lydeard和Ponder的中心目标是研究线粒体DNA(包括部分或全部核糖体(R)RNA基因)的大约115,000个碱基对的DNA序列和一套解剖特征，以生成将用于解决生态、进化和其他假说的历史、谱系框架。最令人感兴趣的是与这样的不同群体如何适应如此广泛的栖息地有关的问题。重要的是，许多腹足类生物是2000年系统学议程的目标生物，被视为研究不足的生物。Lydeard和Ponder的工作将提供第一个全面的Cerithioideans系统学。

9707623 Lydeard Charles Lydeard of the University of Alabama and Winston Ponder of the Australian Museum will generate a comprehensive molecular and morphological database from which to infer relationships among cerithiodean snails. These snails are a fascinating group of about 19 families, 200 living genera, and several hundred species. Cerithioideans are distributed throughout the world in a variety of marine and freshwater habitats, including mangrove forests, estuaries, seagrass beds, rocky intertidal shores, algal fronds, fast-flowing streams and rivers, and quiet lakes. Cerithioideans are often an important component in marine and freshwater communities and play a prominent role in the ecosystems they inhabit. Lydeard and Ponder's central objectives are to examine roughly 115,000 base pairs of DNA sequence from mitochondrial DNA (including parts or all of the ribosomal (r)RNA genes) and a suite of anatomical characters in order to generate a historical, genealogical framework that will be employed to address ecological, evolutionary, and other hypotheses. Of primary interest are questions that relate to how such as diverse group has adapted to such a wide array of habitats. Of importance is that many gastropod organisms are targeted by Systematics Agenda 2000 as understudied creatures. Lydeard and Ponder's work will provide the first comprehensive phylogeny of cerithioideans.