REVSYS: Biodiversity of Deep-sea Anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) of the World

华盛顿大学的Theodore W. Pietsch博士获得了一笔资助，用于研究世界上的深海琵琶鱼。深海琵琶鱼有157种不同的形态，是所有动物中最有趣的一种，它们在形态、行为和生理上都表现出许多其他地方找不到的惊人创新。它们和浅水的亲戚有一种独特的捕食方式，第一根背鳍，长在鼻尖上，被改造成一种诱饵，但它们的不同之处在于，它们利用共生发光细菌产生的光来吸引猎物。与之形成对比的是，它们采用了一种独特的繁殖方式，即雄性变矮，并依附在相对巨大的雌性身上。附着之后是组织的融合和循环系统的连接，这样雄性就永久地依赖于雌性的血液运输营养，而雌性则成为一种自我受精的雌雄同体。尽管这些和其他独特的方面具有巨大的生物学兴趣，类角蜂类仍然知之甚少。这里提出的工作将汇集世界各地自然历史收藏中所有已知的这些动物标本，并编制一个关于它们生物学知识的完整综合，通过纸质出版物和互联网上的电子展示，使科学和非专业社区了解这些信息。这项工作对于发现和理解从生殖过程到深海光器官共生的进化等新的生物现象具有很大的潜力。与此同时，这些结果将为未来研究与海洋生物学相关的一系列有趣的进化问题奠定基础：它们的丰度、高度的物种多样性以及在深海生态系统中作为顶级初级食肉动物在食物链中的地位使它们具有重要的生态学意义；它们独特的繁殖方式对内分泌学和免疫学领域具有重要的生物医学意义。最后，在对本科和研究生水平的科学教育和人力资源开发作出重大贡献的同时，广泛传播的结果将增进学生、科学家和一般公众对科学和技术的理解。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Theodore W. Pietsch of the University of Washington to conduct studies of deep-sea anglerfishes of the world. A morphologically diverse assemblage of 157 species, deep-sea anglerfishes are among the most intriguing of all animals, displaying a host of spectacular morphological, behavioral, and physiological innovations found nowhere else. They share with shallow-water relatives a unique mode of feeding in which the first dorsal-fin spine, placed out on the tip of the snout, is modified to serve as a luring apparatus, but they differ in attracting prey with light produced by symbiotic luminescent bacteria. In further contrast, they employ a unique mode of reproduction in which males are dwarfed and attach themselves to relatively gigantic females. Attachment is followed by fusion of tissues and a connection of the circulatory systems so that the male becomes permanently dependent on the female for blood-transported nutrients, while the female becomes a kind of self-fertilizing hermaphrodite. Despite these and other unique aspects of great biological interest, ceratioids remain very poorly known. The work proposed here will bring together all known specimens of these animals in natural history collections around the world and compile a full synthesis of knowledge about their biology, making the information known to the scientific and lay community through hardcopy publication as well as by electronic presentation on the Internet. The work has great potential for the discovery and understanding of new biological phenomena ranging from reproductive processes to the evolution of deep-sea light-organ symbiosis. At the same time, the results will form a foundation for future examination of a host of intriguing evolutionary questions relative to oceanic biology in general: their abundance, high species diversity, and position in the food chain as top primary carnivores in deep-sea ecosystems make them important ecologically; and their unique mode of reproduction has significant biomedical implications to the fields of endocrinology and immunology. Finally, while contributing significantly to education and the development of human resources in science at the undergraduate and graduate levels, the results, broadly disseminated, will enhance scientific and technological understanding among students, scientists, and the general public.