Metagenomic analysis of gut microbiome illuminates the mechanisms and evolution of lignocellulose degradation in mangrove herbivorous crabs.

BACKGROUND: Sesarmid crabs dominate mangrove habitats as the major primary consumers, which facilitates the trophic link and nutrient recycling in the ecosystem. Therefore, the adaptations and mechanisms of sesarmid crabs to herbivory are not only crucial to terrestrialization and its evolutionary success, but also to the healthy functioning of mangrove ecosystems. Although endogenous cellulase expressions were reported in crabs, it remains unknown if endogenous enzymes alone can complete the whole lignocellulolytic pathway, or if they also depend on the contribution from the intestinal microbiome. We attempt to investigate the role of gut symbiotic microbes of mangrove-feeding sesarmid crabs in plant digestion using a comparative metagenomic approach. RESULTS: Metagenomics analyses on 43 crab gut samples from 23 species of mangrove crabs with different dietary preferences revealed a wide coverage of 127 CAZy families and nine KOs targeting lignocellulose and their derivatives in all species analyzed, including predominantly carnivorous species, suggesting the crab gut microbiomes have lignocellulolytic capacity regardless of dietary preference. Microbial cellulase, hemicellulase and pectinase genes in herbivorous and detritivorous crabs were differentially more abundant when compared to omnivorous and carnivorous crabs, indicating the importance of gut symbionts in lignocellulose degradation and the enrichment of lignocellulolytic microbes in response to diet with higher lignocellulose content. Herbivorous and detritivorous crabs showed highly similar CAZyme composition despite dissimilarities in taxonomic profiles observed in both groups, suggesting a stronger selection force on gut microbiota by functional capacity than by taxonomy. The gut microbiota in herbivorous sesarmid crabs were also enriched with nitrogen reduction and fixation genes, implying possible roles of gut microbiota in supplementing nitrogen that is deficient in plant diet. CONCLUSIONS: Endosymbiotic microbes play an important role in lignocellulose degradation in most crab species. Their abundance is strongly correlated with dietary preference, and they are highly enriched in herbivorous sesarmids, thus enhancing their capacity in digesting mangrove leaves. Dietary preference is a stronger driver in determining the microbial CAZyme composition and taxonomic profile in the crab microbiome, resulting in functional redundancy of endosymbiotic microbes. Our results showed that crabs implement a mixed mode of digestion utilizing both endogenous and microbial enzymes in lignocellulose degradation, as observed in most of the more advanced herbivorous invertebrates.

Comparative analysis of gut microbiome of mangrove brachyuran crabs revealed patterns of phylosymbiosis and codiversification.

The acquisition of microbial symbionts enables animals to rapidly adapt to and exploit novel ecological niches, thus significantly enhancing the evolutionary fitness and success of their hosts. However, the dynamics of host-microbe interactions and their evolutionary implications remain largely underexplored in marine invertebrates. Crabs of the family Sesarmidae (Crustacea: Brachyura) are dominant inhabitants of mangrove forests and are considered keystone species there. Their rapid diversification, particularly after adopting a plant-feeding lifestyle, is believed to have been facilitated by symbiotic gut microbes, enabling successful colonization of intertidal and terrestrial environments. To investigate the patterns and mechanisms shaping the microbial communities and the role of microbes in the evolution of Sesarmidae, we characterized and compared the gut microbiome compositions across 43 crab species from Sesarmidae and other mangrove-associated families using 16S metabarcoding. We found that the gut microbiome assemblages in crabs are primarily determined by host identity, with a secondary influence from environmental factors such as microhabitat and sampling location, and to a lesser extent influenced by biological factors such as sex and gut region. While patterns of phylosymbiosis (i.e. when microbial community relationships recapitulate the phylogeny of their hosts) were consistently observed in all beta-diversity metrics analysed, the strength of phylosymbiosis varied across crab families. This suggests that the bacterial assemblages in each family were differentially shaped by different degrees of host filtering and/or other evolutionary processes. Notably, Sesarmidae displayed signals of cophylogeny with its core gut bacterial genera, which likely play crucial functional roles in their hosts by providing lignocellulolytic enzymes, essential amino acids, and fatty acids supplementation. Our results support the hypothesis of microbial contribution to herbivory and terrestrialization in mangrove crabs, highlighting the tight association and codiversification of the crab holobiont.

Molecular phylogeny of deep-sea blind lobsters of the family Polychelidae (Decapoda: Polychelida), with implications for the origin and evolution of these "living fossils".

A comprehensive molecular analysis of the deep-sea blind lobsters of the family Polychelidae, often referred to as "living fossils", is conducted based on all six modern genera and 27 of the 38 extant species. Using six genetic markers from both mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, the molecular phylogenetic results differ considerably from previous morphological analyses and reveal the genera Polycheles and Pentacheles to be para- or polyphyletic. As the splitting of Polycheles has strong support from both molecular and morphological data, two new genera, Dianecheles and Neopolycheles, are erected for those species excluded from the clade containing the type species of Polycheles. The pattern of polyphyly of Pentacheles, however, is not robustly resolved, so it is retained as a single genus. Fossil evidence suggests that fossil polychelids inhabited deep-sea environments as early as the Early to Middle Jurassic, demonstrating the enduring adaptation of extant polychelid species to the deep-sea. Time-calibrated phylogeny suggested that modern polychelids probably had an Atlantic origin during the Jurassic period. Since their emergence, this ancient lobster group has continued to diversify, particularly in the West Pacific, and has colonized the abyssal zone, with the deepest genus, Willemoesia, representing the more 'derived' members among extant polychelids. Differences in eye reduction among extant polychelid genera highlight the necessity for ongoing investigations to ascertain the relative degree of functionality of their eyes, if they indeed retain any function.

Convergent adaptation of true crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura) to a gradient of terrestrial environments.

For much of terrestrial biodiversity, the evolutionary pathways of adaptation from marine ancestors are poorly understood, and have usually been viewed as a binary trait. True crabs, the decapod crustacean infraorder Brachyura, comprise over 7,600 species representing a striking diversity of morphology and ecology, including repeated adaptation to non-marine habitats. Here, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of Brachyura using new and published sequences of 10 genes for 344 tips spanning 88 of 109 brachyuran families. Using 36 newly vetted fossil calibrations, we infer that brachyurans most likely diverged in the Triassic, with family-level splits in the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene. By contrast, the root age is underestimated with automated sampling of 328 fossil occurrences explicitly incorporated into the tree prior, suggesting such models are a poor fit under heterogeneous fossil preservation. We apply recently defined trait-by-environment associations to classify a gradient of transitions from marine to terrestrial lifestyles. We estimate that crabs left the marine environment at least seven and up to 17 times convergently, and returned to the sea from non-marine environments at least twice. Although the most highly terrestrial- and many freshwater-adapted crabs are concentrated in Thoracotremata, Bayesian threshold models of ancestral state reconstruction fail to identify shifts to higher terrestrial grades due to the degree of underlying change required. Lineages throughout our tree inhabit intertidal and marginal marine environments, corroborating the inference that the early stages of terrestrial adaptation have a lower threshold to evolve. Our framework and extensive new fossil and natural history datasets will enable future comparisons of non-marine adaptation at the morphological and molecular level. Crabs provide an important window into the early processes of adaptation to novel environments, and different degrees of evolutionary constraint that might help predict these pathways.

Shift in symbiotic lifestyle as the major process shaping the evolution of pea crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura: Pinnotheroidea).

The pea crabs, superfamily Pinnotheroidea, are exceptional among brachyuran crabs in their diverse symbiotic associations involving both inquilinism and protective symbiosis. While this group presents a rare opportunity for evolutionary comparative study of host switching and morphological evolution in marine macroinvertebrates, previous phylogenetic studies have been focused on systematics. Here, we reconstructed the most extensive phylogeny of Pinnotheroidea based on two mitochondrial and six nuclear markers, with the aim of elucidating the host switching pathways and the correlation between symbiotic lifestyles and selected morphological adaptations. Ancestral state reconstruction of host association revealed a monophyletic origin of symbiosis in the form of inquilinism. Subsequent shifts in microhabitat preference for burrows or worm tubes, and the move to protective symbiosis, primarily in the switch to mollusc endosymbiosis, contributed to radiation in Pinnotheridae. Further parallel colonisations of echinoderms and tunicates occurred but did not lead to extensive diversification, except in the Clypeasterophilus + Dissodactylus lineage, which experienced a unique switch to echinoderm ectosymbiosis. The evolution of the third maxillipeds, carapace shape and ambulatory pereiopods suggests a rather strong coupling with the symbiotic lifestyle (whether inquilinism or protective symbiosis). Phenotypic diversity of these characters was higher among species engaged in protective symbiosis, with convergence in form (or function) among those sharing the same host affiliation. Species having different host affiliations or symbiotic lifestyles might also exhibit convergence in the form of the three morphological traits, suggesting a common adaptive value of the specialisations. Pinnotherid crabs overall exhibited a lower trait diversity than the also symbiotic palaemonid shrimps with comparable species diversity. This may plausibly be attributed to differences in potential for morphological modification to serve additional functions among the traits analysed in the two groups, the less frequent host switching and the less diverse host affiliations, and thus a less complicated evolutionary history in pinnotherids.

Molecular phylogeny of Thoracotremata crabs (Decapoda, Brachyura): Toward adopting monophyletic superfamilies, invasion history into terrestrial habitats and multiple origins of symbiosis.

The Thoracotremata is a large and successful group of "true" crabs (Decapoda, Brachyura, Eubrachyura) with a great diversity of lifestyles and well-known intertidal representatives. The group represents the largest brachyuran radiation into terrestrial and semi-terrestrial environments and comprises multiple lineages of obligate symbiotic species. In consequence, they exhibit very diverse physiological and morphological adaptations. Our understanding of their evolution is, however, largely obscured by their confused classification. Here, we resolve interfamilial relationships of Thoracotremata, using 10 molecular markers and exemplars from all nominal families in order to reconstruct the pathways of lifestyle transition and to prepare a new taxonomy corresponding to phylogenetic relationships. The results confirm the polyphyly of three superfamilies as currently defined (Grapsoidea, Ocypodoidea and Pinnotheroidea). At the family level, Dotillidae, Macrophthalmidae, and Varunidae are not monophyletic. Ancestral state reconstruction analyses and divergent time estimations indicate that the common ancestor of thoracotremes already thrived in intertidal environments in the Late Cretaceous and terrestrialization became a major driver of thoracotreme diversification. Multiple semi-terrestrial and terrestrial lineages originated and radiated in the Early Eocene, coinciding with the global warming event at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Secondary invasions into subtidal regions and colonizations of freshwater habitats occurred independently through multiple semi-terrestrial and terrestrial lineages. Obligate symbiosis between thoracotremes and other marine macro-invertebrates evolved at least twice. On the basis of the current molecular phylogenetic hypothesis, it will be necessary in the future to revise and recognize seven monophyletic superfamilies and revisit the morphological character states which define them.

Evolution of protective symbiosis in palaemonid shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea) with emphases on host spectrum and morphological adaptations.

Palaemonidae is the most speciose caridean shrimp family, with its huge biodiversity partially generated via symbiosis with various marine invertebrates. Previous studies have provided insights into the evolution of protective symbiosis in this family with evidence for frequent inter-phyla host switches, but the comprehensiveness of evolutionary pathways is hampered by the resolution of the previous phylogenetic trees as well as the taxon coverage. Furthermore, several critical issues related to the evolution of a symbiotic lifestyle, including the change in host spectrum and corresponding morphological adaptations, remain largely unresolved. We therefore performed a much extended phylogenetic comparative study on Palaemonidae, rooted in a comprehensive phylogeny reconstructed by a supermatrix-supertree approach based on a total of three mitochondrial and five nuclear markers. Ancestral state reconstruction of host associations revealed at least three independent evolutions into symbiosis, with potentially a drive to seek protection fuelling incipient symbiosis. Yet, most of the observed symbiotic species diversity was radiated from a single cnidarian associate. The evolution of mandibles and ambulatory dactyli suggests a general lack of correlation with host affiliation (except sponge endosymbionts), implying limited morphological adaptations following host switching, despite being putatively a major adaptive consequence of symbiosis. Our analyses of host spectrum, in terms of basic and taxonomic specificity, revealed no apparent phylogenetic signal but instead resolved a dynamic pattern attributable to frequent host switching. Uncoupling between host spectrum and the degree of morphological specialisation is the norm in palaemonids, suggesting that morphological characters are not fully in tune with host spectrum, in addition to host affiliation. This study demonstrates the complexity in the evolution of symbiosis, pointing to the presence of cryptic adaptations determining host spectrum and governing host switch diversification, and provides a clear direction for the evolutionary study of symbiosis in other marine symbiotic groups involving host switching.

Phylogenomic analyses of brachyuran crabs support early divergence of primary freshwater crabs.

Recent fossil calibrated molecular phylogenies have revealed that the Brachyura underwent rapid radiation during the Cretaceous and Early Tertiary, resulting in many early diverging lineages separated by short internodes that remain difficult to resolve. Here we present the first phylogenomic analyses of Brachyura using transcriptome data from 30 brachyuran species and 22 families. Analyses were carried out on a dataset containing 372 putative homologous loci (246,590 bps) and included data from 21 newly generated transcriptomes. With minor exceptions, all phylogenetic analyses recovered a congruent, highly resolved and well supported brachyuran phylogeny. Consistent with previous work, this phylogeny suggests that primary freshwater crabs diverged early in brachyuran evolution, falling sister to Thoracotremata, thus supporting recent proposal for establishment of subsection Potamoida for primary freshwater crabs. The interfamilial relationships among heterotremes were well resolved in our analyses but those within Thoracotremata remained problematic. Phylogenomic analyses clearly provide a powerful means for resolving brachyuran relationships, but future studies would benefit greatly from increased taxon sampling of transcriptome data.

CrusTF: a comprehensive resource of transcriptomes for evolutionary and functional studies of crustacean transcription factors.

BACKGROUND: Crustacea, the second largest subphylum of Arthropoda, includes species of major ecological and economic importance, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfishes, shrimps, and barnacles. With the rapid development of crustacean aquaculture and biodiversity loss, understanding the gene regulatory mechanisms of growth, reproduction, and development of crustaceans is crucial to both aquaculture development and biodiversity conservation of this group of organisms. In these biological processes, transcription factors (TFs) play a vital role in regulating gene expression. However, crustacean transcription factors are still largely unknown, because the lack of complete genome sequences of most crustacean species hampers the studies on their transcriptional regulation on a system-wide scale. Thus, the current TF databases derived from genome sequences contain TF information for only a few crustacean species and are insufficient to elucidate the transcriptional diversity of such a large animal group. RESULTS: Our database CrusTF ( http://qinlab.sls.cuhk.edu.hk/CrusTF ) provides comprehensive information for evolutionary and functional studies on the crustacean transcriptional regulatory system. CrusTF fills the knowledge gap of transcriptional regulation in crustaceans by exploring publicly available and newly sequenced transcriptomes of 170 crustacean species and identifying 131,941 TFs within 63 TF families. CrusTF features three categories of information: sequence, function, and evolution of crustacean TFs. The database enables searching, browsing and downloading of crustacean TF sequences. CrusTF infers DNA binding motifs of crustacean TFs, thus facilitating the users to predict potential downstream TF targets. The database also presents evolutionary analyses of crustacean TFs, which improve our understanding of the evolution of transcriptional regulatory systems in crustaceans. CONCLUSIONS: Given the importance of TF information in evolutionary and functional studies on transcriptional regulatory systems of crustaceans, this database will constitute a key resource for the research community of crustacean biology and evolutionary biology. Moreover, CrusTF serves as a model for the construction of TF database derived from transcriptome data. A similar approach could be applied to other groups of organisms, for which transcriptomes are more readily available than genomes.

Molecular phylogeny of Pasiphaeidae (Crustacea, Decapoda, Caridea) reveals systematic incongruence of the current classification.

Caridean shrimps constitute one of the most diverse groups of decapod crustaceans, notwithstanding their poorly resolved infraordinal relationships. One of the systematically controversial families in Caridea is the predominantly pelagic Pasiphaeidae, comprises 101 species in seven genera. Pasiphaeidae species exhibit high morphological disparity, as well as ecological niche width, inhabiting shallow to very deep waters (>4000m). The present work presents the first molecular phylogeny of the family, based on a combined dataset of six mitochondrial and nuclear gene markers (12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, histone 3, sodium-potassium ATPase α-subunit, enolase and ATP synthase ß-subunit) from 33 species belonged to six genera of Pasiphaeidae with 19 species from 12 other caridean families as outgroup taxa. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses conducted on the concatenated dataset of 2265bp suggest the family Pasiphaeidae is not monophyletic, with Psathyrocaris more closely related to other carideans than to the other five pasiphaeid genera included in this analysis. Leptochela occupies a sister position to the remaining genera and is genetically quite distant from them. At the generic level, the analysis supports the monophyly of Pasiphaea, Leptochela and Psathyrocaris, while Eupasiphae is shown to be paraphyletic, closely related to Parapasiphae and Glyphus. The present molecular result strongly implies that certain morphological characters used in the present systematic delineation within Pasiphaeidae may not be synapomorphies and the classification within the family needs to be urgently revised.

Multilocus approach reveals cryptic lineages in the goby Rhinogobius duospilus in Hong Kong streams: Role of paleodrainage systems in shaping marked population differentiation in a city.

Drainage history is a well-demonstrated factor that influences the population structure of freshwater inhabitants over a broad geographic scale. However, there has been little research undertaken on such a relationship with freshwater fish on a small geographical scale, especially in Asia. In this study, we investigated the role of local, small drainage systems in affecting the population genetic structure of a freshwater goby, Rhinogobius duospilus, in Hong Kong streams using a multilocus approach. Analyses on nine genetic markers (2 mitochondrial and 7 nuclear markers, including 5 microsatellite markers) reveal prominent and intensive genetic structuring (2.1-5.4% mtDNA sequence divergence) in R. duospilus in Hong Kong. The lineages and clusters recovered from mtDNA data and assignment analysis of nuclear markers coincide with the paleodrainage networks. Furthermore, marked population subdivision between streams located on different side branches (<20km apart) within the same paleodrainage area is observed and gene flow occurs only between closely situated streams that share common paleodrainage confluences. In an extreme case, gene flow is limited between streams that are less than 5km apart. Apparently, such an intensive population structure is attributed to the regional paleodrainage pattern, together with the highly sedentary life style of R. duospilus, which reduces contemporary gene flow and dispersal between populations in neighbouring streams.

Causations of phylogeographic barrier of some rocky shore species along the Chinese coastline.

BACKGROUND: Substrate, ocean current and freshwater discharge are recognized as important factors that control the larval dispersal and recruitment of intertidal species. Life history traits of individual species will determine the differential responses to these physical factors, and hence resulting in contrasting phylogeography across the same biogeographic barrier. To determine how these factors affect genetic structure of rocky shore species along the China coast, a comparative phylogeographic study of four intertidal and subtidal species was conducted using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA by combining new sequences from Siphonaria japonica with previously published sequences from three species (Cellana toreuma, Sargassum horneri and Atrina pectinata). RESULTS: Analysis of molecular variance and pairwise ΦST revealed significant genetic differences between the Yellow Sea (YS) and the other two marginal seas (East China Sea, ECS and South China Sea, SCS) for rocky-shore species (S. japonica, C. toreuma, S. horneri), but not for muddy-shore species Atrina pectinata. Demographic history analysis proved that the population size of all these four species were persistent though the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ~20 ka BP). Migration analysis revealed that gene flow differentiated northward and southward migration for these four species. However, the inferred direction of gene flow using alternatively mitochondrial or nuclear markers was contradictory in S. japonica. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that there is a phylogeographical break at the Yangtze River estuary for the rocky shore species and the causation of the barrier is mainly due to the unsuitable substratum and freshwater discharge. All four intertidal and subtidal species appear to have persisted through the LGM in China, indicating the lower impact of LGM on intertidal and subtidal species than generally anticipated. The imbalanced gene flow between YS and ESCS groups for these four species could be explained by historical refugia. The discordance between mitochondrial and nuclear markers in the MIGRATE analysis of S. japonica prove the importance of employing multi-locus data in biogeographic study. Climate change, land reclamation and dam construction, which are changing substrate and hydrological conditions around Yangtze River estuary, will consequently affect the biogeographic pattern of intertidal species.

Evolutionary history of true crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) and the origin of freshwater crabs.

Crabs of the infra-order Brachyura are one of the most diverse groups of crustaceans with approximately 7,000 described species in 98 families, occurring in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats. The relationships among the brachyuran families are poorly understood due to the high morphological complexity of the group. Here, we reconstruct the most comprehensive phylogeny of Brachyura to date using sequence data of six nuclear protein-coding genes and two mitochondrial rRNA genes from more than 140 species belonging to 58 families. The gene tree confirms that the "Podotremata," are paraphyletic. Within the monophyletic Eubrachyura, the reciprocal monophyly of the two subsections, Heterotremata and Thoracotremata, is supported. Monophyly of many superfamilies, however, is not recovered, indicating the prevalence of morphological convergence and the need for further taxonomic studies. Freshwater crabs were derived early in the evolution of Eubrachyura and are shown to have at least two independent origins. Bayesian relaxed molecular methods estimate that freshwater crabs separated from their closest marine sister taxa ~135 Ma, that is, after the break up of Pangaea (∼200 Ma) and that a Gondwanan origin of these freshwater representatives is untenable. Most extant families and superfamilies arose during the late Cretaceous and early Tertiary.

Molecular phylogeny of the acorn barnacle family Tetraclitidae (Cirripedia: Balanomorpha: Tetraclitoidea): validity of shell morphology and arthropodal characteristics in the systematics of Tetraclitid barnacles.

Shell structure is a crucial aspect of barnacle systematics. Within Tetraclitidae, the diametric and monometric growth patterns and number of rows of parietal tubes in the shells are key characteristics used to infer evolutionary trends. We used molecular analysis based on seven genes (mitochondrial COI, 16S and 12S rRNA, and nuclear EF1, RPII, H3, and 18S rRNA) to test two traditional phylogenetic hypothesis: (1) Tetraclitid barnacles are divided into two major lineages, which are distinguished according to monometric and diametric shell growth patterns, and (2) the evolutionary trend in shell parietal development began with a solid shell, which developed into a single tubiferous shell, which then developed into multitubiferous shells. The results indicated that Tetraclitinae and Newmanellinae are not monophyletic, but that Austrobalaninae and Tetraclitellinae are. The phylogram based on the genetic data suggested that Bathylasmatidae is nested within the Tetraclitidae, forming a sister relationship with the Austrobalaninae and Tetraclitinae/Newmanellinae clade. Within the Tetraclitinae/Newmanellinae clade, the genera Tetraclita (multitubiferous shell), Tesseropora (single tubiferous shell), and Yamaguchiella (multitubiferous shell) are polyphyletic. The results suggested that shell morphology and growth patterns do not reflect the evolutionary history of Tetraclitidae, whereas the arthropodal characteristics are informative.

The emergence of lobsters: phylogenetic relationships, morphological evolution and divergence time comparisons of an ancient group (decapoda: achelata, astacidea, glypheidea, polychelida).

Lobsters are a ubiquitous and economically important group of decapod crustaceans that include the infraorders Polychelida, Glypheidea, Astacidea and Achelata. They include familiar forms such as the spiny, slipper, clawed lobsters and crayfish and unfamiliar forms such as the deep-sea and "living fossil" species. The high degree of morphological diversity among these infraorders has led to a dynamic classification and conflicting hypotheses of evolutionary relationships. In this study, we estimated phylogenetic relationships among the major groups of all lobster families and 94% of the genera using six genes (mitochondrial and nuclear) and 195 morphological characters across 173 species of lobsters for the most comprehensive sampling to date. Lobsters were recovered as a non-monophyletic assemblage in the combined (molecular + morphology) analysis. All families were monophyletic, with the exception of Cambaridae, and 7 of 79 genera were recovered as poly- or paraphyletic. A rich fossil history coupled with dense taxon coverage allowed us to estimate and compare divergence times and origins of major lineages using two drastically different approaches. Age priors were constructed and/or included based on fossil age information or fossil discovery, age, and extant species count data. Results from the two approaches were largely congruent across deep to shallow taxonomic divergences across major lineages. The origin of the first lobster-like decapod (Polychelida) was estimated in the Devonian (∼409-372 Ma) with all infraorders present in the Carboniferous (∼353-318 Ma). Fossil calibration subsampling studies examined the influence of sampling density (number of fossils) and placement (deep, middle, and shallow) on divergence time estimates. Results from our study suggest including at least 1 fossil per 10 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in divergence dating analyses. [Dating; decapods; divergence; lobsters; molecular; morphology; phylogenetics.].

Morphological and host specificity evolution in coral symbiont barnacles (Balanomorpha: Pyrgomatidae) inferred from a multi-locus phylogeny.

Coral-inhabiting barnacles (Thoracica: Pyrgomatidae) are obligatory symbionts of scleractinian and fire corals. We attempted to reconstruct the phylogeny of coral-inhabiting barnacles using a multi-locus approach (mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA, and nuclear EF1, H3 and RP gene sequences, total 3532bp), which recovered a paraphyletic pattern. The fire-coral inhabiting barnacle Wanella milleporae occupied a basal position with respect to the other coral inhabiting barnacles. Pyrgomatids along with the coral-inhabiting archaeobalanid Armatobalanus nested within the same clade and this clade was subdivided into two major lineages: Armatobalanus+Cantellius with species proposed to be the ancestral stock of extant coral barnacles, and the other comprising the remaining genera studied. Ancestral state reconstruction (ASR) suggested multiple independent fusions and separations of shell plates and opercular valves in coral barnacle evolution, which counters the traditional hypothesis founded on a scheme of morphological similarities. Most of the coral barnacles are restricted to one or two coral host families only, suggesting a trend toward narrow host range and more specific adaptation. Furthermore, there is a close linkage between coral host usage and phylogenetic relationships with sister taxa usually being found on the same coral host family. This suggests that symbiotic relationships in coral-inhabiting barnacles are phylogenetically conserved and that host associated specialization plays an important role in their diversification.

Worldwide genetic differentiation in the common fouling barnacle, Amphibalanus amphitrite.

Amphibalanus amphitrite is a common fouling barnacle distributed globally in tropical and subtropical waters. In the present study, the genetic (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and morphological differentiation in A. amphitrite from 25 localities around the world were investigated. The results revealed three clades within A. amphitrite with a genetic divergence of ~ 4% among clades, whereas there were no diagnostic morphological differences among clades. Clade 1 is widely distributed in both temperate and tropical waters, whereas Clade 3 is currently restricted to the tropical region. The deep divergence among clades suggests historical isolation within A. amphitrite; thus, the present geographical overlaps are possibly a result of the combined effects of rising sea level and human-mediated dispersals. This study highlights the genetic differentiation that exists in a common, widely distributed fouling organism with great dispersal potential; future antifouling research should take into account the choice of lineages.

First study on gene expression of cement proteins and potential adhesion-related genes of a membranous-based barnacle as revealed from Next-Generation Sequencing technology.

This is the first study applying Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology to survey the kinds, expression location, and pattern of adhesion-related genes in a membranous-based barnacle. A total of 77,528,326 and 59,244,468 raw sequence reads of total RNA were generated from the prosoma and the basis of Tetraclita japonica formosana, respectively. In addition, 55,441 and 67,774 genes were further assembled and analyzed. The combined sequence data from both body parts generates a total of 79,833 genes of which 47.7% were shared. Homologues of barnacle cement proteins - CP-19K, -52K, and -100K - were found and all were dominantly expressed at the basis where the cement gland complex is located. This is the main area where transcripts of cement proteins and other potential adhesion-related genes were detected. The absence of another common barnacle cement protein, CP-20K, in the adult transcriptome suggested a possible life-stage restricted gene function and/or a different mechanism in adhesion between membranous-based and calcareous-based barnacles.

Agonistic behaviors of boxer shrimps (Stenopus Species): Insights into the importance of antennae, antennules and tactile contact.

Agonistic behaviors are crucial and ubiquitous among animals for the competition of limited resources. Although the study of aggression has been a popular topic, plenty of studies focused on model organisms, and typically on crayfish and lobsters for crustaceans. Variations of the agonistic behaviors and the underpinning eliciting cues of other crustaceans therefore have not been fully explored. In the present study, we targeted Stenopus, a genus of shrimp-like crustaceans that displays prominent agonistic behaviors when encountering conspecifics of the same sex owing to their monogamous social structure. Using S. hispidus (Olivier, 1811) and S. cyanoscelis (Goy, 1984) as representatives, we characterized their agonistic behaviors and fighting pattern, conducted experiments to investigate the contribution of visual, olfactory and tactile cues to inducing aggression, and examined the effects of antennal and antennular ablation on their agonistic interactions. A total of seven agonistic behaviors were documented, where antennal entwining and tactile contact is the major driver and seemingly important cue, respectively, in inducing agonistic behaviors in Stenopus. Although ablation of antennae and antennules did not inhibit fighting, behavioral changes, such as the prolonged agonistic interactions and the delayed establishment of dominance were observed, suggesting a reduction of aggressiveness. A comparison of agonistic behaviors with other crustaceans showed that certain features appeared to be unique or distinct in Stenopus, including the potential functional overlap of antennae and antennules, a higher aggressiveness of the fighting behaviors, and the exhibition of crouching behavior by submissive individuals. The present study provides a crucial background understanding for subsequent research on Stenopus and paves the way for its establishment as another crustacean model for studying aggression.

Recognition of Parapinnixidae Stevcic, 2005, and Tetriasidae fam. nov. in Pinnotheroidea De Haan, 1833 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Thoracotremata).

The systematic position of three aberrant pinnotheroid genera: Tetrias Rathbun, 1898, Parapinnixa Holmes, 1895 and Sakaina Serène, 1964, are reappraised. A new family, Tetriasidae fam. nov. is established for Tetrias, and Parapinnixidae Stevcic, 2005, is recognised for Parapinnixa and Sakaina. Tetriasids differ from all other pinnotheroids in that the articles of the palp of the third maxilliped (carpus, propodus and dactylus) are large and the dactylus is inserted at the distolateral corner of the propodus, whereas parapinnixids are distinctive in having the buccal cavern relatively small, subtriangular with the third maxilliped ischiomerus small, mesioproximally produced to form a triangular projection and is completely fused. The two families are phylogenetically distinct from the family Pinnotheridae based on the multi-locus gene tree, and are basal or near basal lineages in the Pinnotheroidea.