DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Comparative Morphology of American and Australian Gastrotricha: the Muscular System as a Source of Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Characters

论文研究：美国和澳大利亚腹毛虫的比较形态学：肌肉系统作为分类学和系统发育特征的来源

• 批准号: 0206517
• 负责人: Marianne Litvaitis
• 金额: $ 0.65万
• 依托单位: University of New Hampshire
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-06-01 至 2003-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0206517&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Comparative; Morphology; American

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Marianne Litvaitis and Mr. Richard Hochberg of the University of New Hampshire to conduct the first comparative anatomical analysis of gastrotrichs from Australia and North America. Gastrotrichs are a poorly known group of microscopic worms found throughout the world's oceans. Most knowledge of gastrotrich diversity is limited to species from the Northern Hemisphere, and much of this is exclusive to Europe. Anatomical knowledge of gastrotrichs from the United States and Australia remains in its infancy. Consequently, relationships between species from both continents are unknown. The principle objectives of this research are (1) to describe several new Australian gastrotrichs, (2) use characteristics of the body-wall and muscular system to determine relationships between Australian and American species, and (3) to place this information in an evolutionary context. Specimens will be analyzed using a combination of high-resolution light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and fluorescence microscopy.This research will highlight the use of novel characters to measure invertebrate biodiversity and determine evolutionary relationships among widely separated populations of gastrotrichs. As a study of the muscular system, it will also demonstrate how variation in muscle anatomy contributes to dispersal of microscopic fauna. Results from this research will provide much-needed taxonomic revisions of several new gastrotrichs and will yield insight into the biogeography and evolution of the Gastrotricha and the history of the Australian biota. With a greater anatomical knowledge of gastrotrichs, we will gain better insights into the ecological and evolutionary importance of this poorly known group of invertebrates.

新罕布什尔州大学的Marianne Litvaitis博士和Richard Hochberg先生获得了一笔赠款，用于对来自澳大利亚和北美的胃毛进行首次比较解剖分析。胃毛虫是一种鲜为人知的微生物蠕虫，遍布世界各地的海洋。大多数关于腹足类多样性的知识仅限于北方半球的物种，其中大部分是欧洲独有的。来自美国和澳大利亚的腹毛的解剖学知识仍处于起步阶段。因此，两大洲物种之间的关系是未知的。本研究的主要目的是（1）描述几种新的澳大利亚腹毛，（2）使用体壁和肌肉系统的特征来确定澳大利亚和美国物种之间的关系，以及（3）将这些信息置于进化背景中。标本将使用高分辨率光学显微镜，扫描和透射电子显微镜，荧光microscopic.This研究将突出使用新的字符来衡量无脊椎动物的生物多样性和广泛分离的gastrotrichs种群之间的进化关系进行分析。作为对肌肉系统的研究，它还将展示肌肉解剖学的变化如何有助于微观动物群的扩散。这项研究的结果将提供急需的几个新的gastrotrichs的分类修订，并将产生深入了解Gastrotricha和澳大利亚生物区系的历史的地理和进化。随着对腹毛的解剖学知识的增加，我们将更好地了解这一鲜为人知的无脊椎动物群体的生态和进化重要性。