DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Morphological and developmental disparity dynamics associated with the emergence of commensalism and the loss of swimming in "swimming" crabs

拟议的项目将调查形态和发育多样性如何在一个独特和有魅力的螃蟹谱系中积累起来，这些螃蟹属于经济上重要的“游蟹”科梭子蟹家族。这些螃蟹的多样化包括显著的生态差异，包括放弃游泳生活方式，转而与珊瑚礁相关生物建立久坐共生关系。研究将包括对大小、形状和增长数据的比较分析。这项工作的主要目标将是推断这些螃蟹之间的显著发育差异是在成体形态发生重大变化之前、期间还是之后产生的，以及这些差异是否与群体中共生联系的出现有关。这项工作的结果将有助于一个活跃的研究领域，涉及外部(例如生态)和内部(例如发展)因素如何影响形态多样化。该项目将为共同PI提供促进国内和国际合作的机会。它还将有助于对本科生进行分子系统学研究方法的培训。实地考察活动将通过科学博客《无骨气的科学冒险！》与公众分享。为这项工作收集的标本、组织样本和照片将在佛罗里达自然历史博物馆进行整理和存档，供其他研究人员使用。结果将在科学会议上以专业方式交流，并通过在开放获取的期刊上发表。

The proposed project will investigate how morphological and developmental diversity accumulated in a unique and charismatic lineage of crabs belonging to the economically important "swimming crab" family Portunidae. Diversification of these crabs included significant ecological divergence that involved abandoning a swimming lifestyle for sedentary, symbiotic relationships with reef-associated organisms. Research will include comparative analyses of size, shape and growth data. The primary goal of this work will be to infer whether significant developmental differences between these crabs were generated before, during or after significant changes in adult forms and whether these divergences correlate to the emergence of symbiotic associations in the group. Results of this work will contribute to an active area of research concerned with how external (e.g. ecological) and internal (e.g. developmental) factors influence morphological diversification.This project will provide the co-PI with opportunities to foster collaborations both nationally and internationally. It will also facilitate the training of undergraduate students on research methods in molecular systematics. Fieldwork activities will be shared with the public through the science blog "Adventures in Spineless Science!". Specimens, tissue samples and photographs collected for this work will be curated and archived at the Florida Museum of Natural History; making them available for other researchers. Results will be professionally communicated at scientific meetings and through publication in open-access journals.