Systematics, Phylogeny and Historical Biology of the Bioluminescent Ostracode Genus Vargula in the Western Caribbean

利用甲壳上的形态特征和生物发光展示行为的模式，研究了加勒比甲壳类介形虫属Vargula的一组微小甲壳动物的祖先-后代关系。加勒比地区物种的地理分布也将被确定，这将使人们对形态和行为的进化如何影响或受地理分散的影响有独特的见解。生物发光显示器的水下视频记录将被用作数据源，以及光学和电子显微镜的形态学。所提出的工作的更广泛的含义在于使用多个数据集来构建和测试系统发育假设。对行为和形态分支模式的比较可以阐明形态、行为和地理分布之间的复杂关系。

The ancestor-descendant relationships of a group of minute Caribbean crustaceans of the ostracode genus Vargula will be studied using morphological characters on the carapace and patterns of bioluminescent display behavior. The geographic distribution of the Caribbean species will also be established, allowing unique insight into how the evolution of form and behavior might affect or be affected by geographic dispersal. Underwater video recordings of bioluminescent displays will be used as a data source, along with light and electron microscopy of morphology. The wider implications of the proposed work lie in the use of multiple datasets for constructing and testing phylogenetic hypotheses. Comparisons between the behavioral and morphological branching patterns may illuminate the complex relationship between the evolution of form, behavior, and geographic distribution.