Digitization PEN: CryptoVert - Digitizing small-bodied cryptobenthic fishes for the oVertTCN

开放脊椎动物专题收藏网络（oVert）旨在创建横跨脊椎动物生命之树的计算机断层扫描（CT）数字资源。这个数字数据库使研究人员能够快速有效地研究所有脊椎动物群体的形态模式。脊椎动物之间最明显的差异之一是它们的身体大小，有些物种的身体很大，而另一些物种即使成年也很小。现有网络合作伙伴（PEN）奖将把洛杉矶县自然历史博物馆与oVert联系起来，创建一个数字数据存储库，重点关注世界上一些最小的脊椎动物：隐底栖鱼类。鱼类约占脊椎动物多样性的一半，但许多群体仍未得到充分研究。隐底栖鱼类是一种生活在各种栖息地的小型海洋鱼类，是这些研究不足的群体之一，它们在海洋生态系统中的重要性才刚刚开始被了解。该项目将通过专注于一个未被充分研究的脊椎动物群体，在分类学上补充oVert，并在方法学上通过开发扫描非常小的生物的骨骼和软组织解剖的最佳实践来补充oVert。除了他们的研究用途，这些扫描将是一个优秀的教育资源，将被纳入公共博物馆展示和K-12课堂教学计划。此外，CT扫描的处理将训练本科生在各种专业学科中使用的技能。研究非常小的生物体具有固有的挑战，以前试图描述小型脊椎动物的内部解剖结构只能使用破坏性的方法。该项目将重点研究17个不同的鱼类科，包括大多数隐底栖鱼类，使用传统的CT扫描来记录骨骼系统，并使用增强CT扫描来显示软组织解剖结构，如肌肉、神经和循环系统。隐底栖鱼类在生态系统中扮演着多种功能角色，与该项目相关的骨骼和软组织扫描将为研究人员提供必要的原始数据，以了解这些微小的鱼类如何以不同的方式适应环境，而不会损坏珍贵的博物馆标本。结合oVert和oVert合作伙伴完成的CT扫描，该项目的产品也将有助于研究人员确定与体型相关的脊椎动物解剖进化的总体趋势，并将成为各种科学学科中发展新问题和假设的宝贵资源。数据将通过iDigBio.org和morphosource.org共享。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行了评估，认为值得支持。

The Open Vertebrate thematic collections network (oVert) aims to create a digital resource of computed tomography (CT) scans across the vertebrate Tree of Life. This digital database allows researchers to quickly and efficiently study morphological patterns across all vertebrate groups. One of the most apparent differences among vertebrates is their body size, with some species obtaining large body sizes, while others remain very small even as mature adults. This Partner to Existing Networks (PEN) award will link the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County with oVert to create a digital repository of data focusing on some of the world’s smallest vertebrates: cryptobenthic fishes. Fishes represent approximately half of the total vertebrate diversity, yet many groups remain understudied. Cryptobenthic fishes, which are small marine fishes that live in a variety of habitats, are one of these understudied groups and their importance in marine ecosystems is only beginning to be understood. This project will complement oVert taxonomically by focusing on an understudied vertebrate group, and methodologically by developing best practices for scanning very small organisms for both bony and soft-tissue anatomy. In addition to their research utility, these scans will be an excellent educational resource that will be incorporated into public museum displays and K-12 classroom lesson plans. Furthermore, processing of CT scans will train undergraduate students in skills that are used in a variety of professional disciplines.Studying very small organisms comes with inherent challenges, and previous attempts to describe the internal anatomy of small vertebrates was only possible using destructive approaches. This project will focus on 17 different fish families that comprise the majority of cryptobenthic fishes using traditional CT scans to document the skeletal system and contrast-enhanced CT scans to reveal soft-tissue anatomy such as muscle, nervous, and circulatory systems. Cryptobenthic fishes fill a variety of functional ecosystem roles, and the bony and soft-tissue scans associated with this project will create the raw data necessary for researchers to understand how these minute fishes have adapted in different ways to their environment without damaging valuable museum specimens. In combination with CT scans completed by oVert and oVert partners, the products of this project will also be useful for researchers to identify general trends in vertebrate anatomical evolution associated with body size and will be a valuable resource for the development of new questions and hypotheses in a variety of scientific disciplines. Data will be shared with and made available through iDigBio.org and MorphoSource.org.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.