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

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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.