REVSYS: Systematic revision of onchidiid slugs (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pulmonata)

本项目将对软体动物(软体动物纲、腹足纲、肺形纲)的分类进行系统分析和修订。在腹足类动物中，Onchidiidslug因其生态多样性而是独一无二的--包括生活在海洋、淡水和陆地上的物种。因此，对甲科的研究将为该项目提供一个独特的机会，研究水生和陆地栖息地之间以及密切相关物种之间的一般进化过渡。物种的总多样性和分布目前尚不清楚(全世界已描述147种，其中大部分在热带印度-西太平洋)，并将在此记录，并将根据形态和分子数据进行新的分类修订。实地考察将为系统和生态分析提供新的材料。研究结果将以论文和专题修订的形式发表，以及分类鉴定检索表。研究和教育将通过一系列由主办机构的本科生参与的创新活动来整合。一名博士生和至少两名本科生将接受野外采集、解剖、扫描电子显微镜、分子系统学和分类学理论问题方面的培训。改进的甲科系统学将有益于来自不同领域的科学家-例如，生理学家使用甲科作为研究光接收的模型，保护生物学家使用甲科鼻涕虫作为受到严重威胁的沿海栖息地的多样性和生态的关键指标。

This project will analyze the systematics and revise the taxonomy of onchidiid slugs (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pulmonata). Onchidiid slugs are unique within gastropods for their ecological diversity - including species that live in the sea, fresh water, and on land. As such, research on Onchidiidae will provide a unique opportunity for this project to study general evolutionary transitions between aquatic and terrestrial habitats and between closely related species. Total species diversity and distribution are currently unknown (147 species have been described worldwide, most of which in the tropical Indo-West Pacific), and will be documented here with a new taxonomic revision based on both morphological and molecular data. Field expeditions will provide fresh material for systematic and ecological analyses. Results will be published as articles and monographic revisions, as well as taxonomic identification keys.Research and education will be integrated through a series of innovative activities involving undergraduate students from the host institution. One PhD student and at least two undergraduate students will be trained in field collecting, anatomical dissection, Scanning Electron Microscopy, molecular systematics, and theoretical issues in taxonomy. Enhanced onchidiid systematics will be beneficial to scientists from different fields - for example, physiologists using onchidiids as a model to study photoreception, and conservation biologists using onchidiid slugs as a keystone indicator of the diversity and ecology of heavily-threatened coastal habitats.