Shedding light on the Ophel biome: the trans-Tethyan phylogeography of the sulfide shrimp Tethysbaena (Peracarida: Thermosbaenacea) in the Levant.

Background: Tethysbaena are small peracarid crustaceans inhabiting extreme environments such as subterranean lakes and thermal springs, represented by endemic species found around the ancient Tethys, including the Mediterranean, Arabian Sea, Mid-East Atlantic, and the Caribbean Sea. Two Tethysbaena species are known from the Levant: T. relicta, found along the Dead Sea-Jordan Rift Valley, and T. ophelicola, found in the Ayyalon cave complex in the Israeli coastal plain, both belonging to the same species-group based on morphological cladistics. Along the biospeleological research of the Levantine subterranean fauna, three biogeographic hypotheses determining their origins were proposed: (1) Pliocenic transgression, (2) Mid-late Miocenic transgression, and (3) The Ophel Paradigm, according to which these are inhabitants of a chemosynthetic biome as old as the Cambrian. Methods: Tethysbaena specimens of the two Levantine species were collected from subterranean groundwaters. We used the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and the nuclear ribosomal 28S (28S rRNA) gene to establish the phylogeny of the Levantine Tethysbaena species, and applied a molecular clock approach for inferring their divergence times. Results: Contrary to the morphological cladistic-based classification, we found that T. relicta shares an ancestor with Tethysbaena species from Oman and the Dominican Republic, whereas the circum-Mediterranean species (including T. ophelicola) share another ancestor. The mean age of the node linking T. relicta from the Dead Sea-Jordan Rift Valley and Tethysbaena from Oman was 20.13 MYA. The mean estimate for the divergence of T. ophelicola from the Mediterranean Tethysbaena clade dated to 9.46 MYA. Conclusions: Our results indicate a two-stage colonization of Tethysbaena in the Levant: a late Oligocene transgression, through a marine gulf extending from the Arabian Sea, leading to the colonization of T. relicta in the Dead Sea-Jordan Rift Valley, whereas T. ophelicola, originating from the Mesogean ancestor, inhabited anchialine caves in the coastal plain of Israel during the Mid-Miocene.

A star is torn-molecular analysis divides the Mediterranean population of Poli's stellate barnacle, Chthamalus stellatus (Cirripedia, Chtamalidae).

Poli's stellate barnacle, Chthamalus stellatus Poli, populates the Mediterranean Sea, the North-Eastern Atlantic coasts, and the offshore Eastern Atlantic islands. Previous studies have found apparent genetic differences between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean populations of C. stellatus, suggesting possible geological and oceanographic explanations for these differences. We have studied the genetic diversity of 14 populations spanning from the Eastern Atlantic to the Eastern Mediterranean, using two nuclear genes sequences revealing a total of 63 polymorphic sites. Both genotype-based, haplotype-based and the novel SNP distribution population-based methods have found that these populations represent a geographic cline along the west to east localities. The differences in SNP distribution among populations further separates a major western cluster into two smaller clusters, the Eastern Atlantic and the Western Mediterranean. It also separates the major eastern cluster into two smaller clusters, the Mid-Mediterranean and Eastern Mediterranean. We suggested here environmental conditions like surface currents, water salinity and temperature as probable factors that have formed the population structure. We demonstrate that C. stellatus is a suitable model organism for studying how geological events and hydrographic conditions shape the fauna in the Mediterranean Sea.

Flatfoot in Africa, the cirripede Chthamalus in the west Indian Ocean.

Barnacles of the genus Chthamalus are commonly encountered rocky intertidal shores. The phylogeography of the different species in the Western Indian Ocean is unclear. Using morphological characteristics as well as the molecular markers mitochondrial cytochrome oxygenase subunit I (COI) and the nuclear sodium-potassium ATPase (NaKA), we identified four clades representing four species in the Western Indian Ocean and its adjacent seas. Among these species, a newly identified species, Chthamalus barilani, which was found in Madagascar, Zanzibar and Tanzania. Chthamalus from the coasts of Tanzania and Zanzibar is identified morphologically as C. malayensis, and clusters with C. malayensis from the Western Pacific and the Indo Malayan regions. C. malayensis is regarded as a group of four genetically differentiated clades representing four cryptic species. The newly identified African clade is genetically different from these clades and the pairwise distances between them justify the conclusion that it is an additional cryptic species of C. malayensis. This type of genetic analyses offers an advantage over morphological characterization and allowed us to reveal that another species, C. barnesi, which is known from the Red Sea, is also distributed in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. We could also confirm the presence of the South African species C. dentatus in the Mozambique channel. This represents the Northeastern limit of C. dentatus, which is usually distributed along the coast of southern Africa up to the Islands of Cape Verde in West Africa. Altogether, based on a combination of morphology and genetics, we distinct between four clusters of Chthamalus, and designate their distribution in the West Indian Ocean. These distinctions do not agree with the traditional four groups reported previously based merely on morphological data. Furthermore, these findings underline the importance of a combining morphological and genetics tools for constructing barnacle taxonomy.

A new species of the coral associated barnacle (Thoracica: Pyrgomatidae: Pyrgoma) from a deep-sea oculinid coral in New Caledonian waters.

The present study describes a new species of Pyrgoma Leach, 1817, a coral associated barnacle attached to Tubastrea, from the south of New Caledonia. Pyrgoma spurtruncata sp. nov. is morphologically close to P. cancellatum Leach, 1818, P. japonica Weltner, 1897 and P. kuri Hoek, 1913 in the absence of extended tergal muscle crests. Pyrgoma cancellatum and P. kuri have a shallow, fully open, medial furrow of the tergal spur, whereas in P. spurtruncata sp. nov. the medial furrow is deeper and closed. Pyrgoma spurtruncata sp. nov. differs from P. japonica Weltner, 1897 in the width of the tergal spur and the length of the rostral tooth of the scutum. Phylogenetic analyses based on two mitochondrial markers, 12S rDNA and COI, confirm a unique, distinct clade of P. spurtruncata sp. nov. among the current available molecular information regarding Pyrgoma species.

Multiple transgressions and slow evolution shape the phylogeographic pattern of the blind cave-dwelling shrimp Typhlocaris.

BACKGROUND: Aquatic subterranean species often exhibit disjunct distributions, with high level of endemism and small range, shaped by vicariance, limited dispersal, and evolutionary rates. We studied the disjunct biogeographic patterns of an endangered blind cave shrimp, Typhlocaris, and identified the geological and evolutionary processes that have shaped its divergence pattern. METHODS: We collected Typlocaris specimens of three species (T. galilea, T. ayyaloni, and T. salentina), originating from subterranean groundwater caves by the Mediterranean Sea, and used three mitochondrial genes (12S, 16S, cytochrome oxygnese subunit 1 (COI)) and four nuclear genes (18S, 28S, internal transcribed spacer, Histon 3) to infer their phylogenetic relationships. Using the radiometric dating of a geological formation (Bira) as a calibration node, we estimated the divergence times of the Typhlocaris species and the molecular evolution rates. RESULTS: The multi-locus ML/Bayesian trees of the concatenated seven gene sequences showed that T. salentina (Italy) and T. ayyaloni (Israel) are sister species, both sister to T. galilea (Israel). The divergence time of T. ayyaloni and T. salentina from T. galilea was 7.0 Ma based on Bira calibration. The divergence time of T. ayyaloni from T. salentina was 5.7 (4.4-6.9) Ma according to COI, and 5.8 (3.5-7.2) Ma according to 16S. The computed interspecific evolutionary rates were 0.0077 substitutions/Myr for COI, and 0.0046 substitutions/Myr for 16S. DISCUSSION: Two consecutive vicariant events have shaped the phylogeographic patterns of Typhlocaris species. First, T. galilea was tectonically isolated from its siblings in the Mediterranean Sea by the arching uplift of the central mountain range of Israel ca. seven Ma. Secondly, T. ayyaloni and T. salentina were stranded and separated by a marine transgression ca. six Ma, occurring just before the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Our estimated molecular evolution rates were in one order of magnitude lower than the rates of closely related crustaceans, as well as of other stygobiont species. We suggest that this slow evolution reflects the ecological conditions prevailing in the highly isolated subterranean water bodies inhabited by Typhlocaris.

Description of five new coral associated Barnacles of the genus Trevathana (Balanomorpha: Pyrgomatidae) in Pacific Waters.

Five new species of coral inhabiting barnacles of the genus Trevathana (Balanomorpha: Pyrgomatidae), T. dongshaensis sp. nov., T. conica sp. nov., T. doni sp. nov., T. longidonta sp. nov. and T. taiwanus sp. nov., are described. These species are found in West Pacific waters including Japan, Taiwan (mainland and adjacent outlying islands including Dongsha Atoll) and Papua New Guinea. The species exhibit morphological differences in the scutum, the tergum, and cirri II and III, and form distinct clades in a phylogenetic tree based on DNA sequences of two genes, 12S rDNA and cytochrome C oxidase subunit I. Three of the five species, T. dongshaensis sp. nov., T. conica sp. nov. and T. taiwanus sp. nov., have relatively narrow distribution ranges and were recorded from the Dongsha Atoll (T. dongshaensis sp. nov. and T. conica sp. nov.) and the Taiwanese mainland (T. taiwanus sp. nov.). Trevathana longidonta sp. nov. and T. doni sp. nov. have wider distributions. Trevathana longidonta sp. nov. was collected from Japan, Taiwan and Dongsha Atoll and T. doni sp. nov. was collected from Taiwan, Dongsha Atoll and Papua New Guinea. In the waters of Japan, Taiwan and Dongsha Atoll, all the recorded Trevathana species inhabit corals of the family Merulinidae. However, in Papua New Guinea, T. doni sp. nov. is also recorded in the coral Oxypora, belonging to the family Lobophylliidae, and individuals living on Lobophyllidae and Merulinidae did not exhibit great variation in the divergence of the COI and 12S genes.

Phylogeography on the rocks: The contribution of current and historical factors in shaping the genetic structure of Chthamalus montagui (Crustacea, Cirripedia).

The model marine broadcast-spawner barnacle Chthamalus montagui was investigated to understand its genetic structure and quantify levels of population divergence, and to make inference on historical demography in terms of time of divergence and changes in population size. We collected specimens from rocky shores of the north-east Atlantic Ocean (4 locations), Mediterranean Sea (8) and Black Sea (1). The 312 sequences 537 bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I allowed to detect 130 haplotypes. High within-location genetic variability was recorded, with haplotype diversity ranging between h = 0.750 and 0.967. Parameters of genetic divergence, haplotype network and Bayesian assignment analysis were consistent in rejecting the hypothesis of panmixia. C. montagui is genetically structured in three geographically discrete populations, which corresponded to north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, western-central Mediterranean Sea, and Aegean Sea-Black Sea. These populations are separated by two main effective barriers to gene flow located at the Almeria-Oran Front and in correspondence of the Cyclades Islands. According to the 'isolation with migration' model, adjacent population pairs diverged during the early to middle Pleistocene transition, a period in which geological events provoked significant changes in the structure and composition of palaeocommunities. Mismatch distributions, neutrality tests and Bayesian skyline plots showed past population expansions, which started approximately in the Mindel-Riss interglacial, in which ecological conditions were favourable for temperate species and calcium-uptaking marine organisms.

Boxer crabs induce asexual reproduction of their associated sea anemones by splitting and intraspecific theft.

Crabs of the genus Lybia have the remarkable habit of holding a sea anemone in each of their claws. This partnership appears to be obligate, at least on the part of the crab. The present study focuses on Lybia leptochelis from the Red Sea holding anemones of the genus Alicia (family Aliciidae). These anemones have not been found free living, only in association with L. leptochelis. In an attempt to understand how the crabs acquire them, we conducted a series of behavioral experiments and molecular analyses. Laboratory observations showed that the removal of one anemone from a crab induces a "splitting" behavior, whereby the crab tears the remaining anemone into two similar parts, resulting in a complete anemone in each claw after regeneration. Furthermore, when two crabs, one holding anemones and one lacking them, are confronted, the crabs fight, almost always leading to the "theft" of a complete anemone or anemone fragment by the crab without them. Following this, crabs "split" their lone anemone into two. Individuals of Alicia sp. removed from freshly collected L. leptochelis were used for DNA analysis. By employing AFLP (Fluorescence Amplified Fragments Length Polymorphism) it was shown that each pair of anemones from a given crab is genetically identical. Furthermore, there is genetic identity between most pairs of anemone held by different crabs, with the others showing slight genetic differences. This is a unique case in which one animal induces asexual reproduction of another, consequently also affecting its genetic diversity.

Revision of the coral-inhabiting genus Conopea (Cirripedia: Archaeobalanidae) with description of two new species of the genera Conopea and Acasta.

The morphology of archaeobalanid barnacles of the genera Conopea and Acasta inhabiting cnidarians of the orders Alcyonacea and Antipatharia was surveyed. Based on morphological characteristics, it became evident that the species of the nominal genus Conopea fell into three natural groups affiliated to three archaeobalanid genera, Conopea s.s., Acasta and Solidobalanus. The relationships between the species of Conopea s.l. and those of Acasta inhabiting alcyanaceans are analyzed using a cladistic approach. The barnacles of the genus Conopea s.s. are characterized by a strong, firm shell; the orifice is not dentate; rostral and sometimes carinal plates are often elongated in their basal parts; the rostro-carinal axis of the basis is often elongated and clasps the axis of the host coral; the radii have summits parallel to the basal margin of the parietes, and denticulated sutural margins; the scutum has simple growth ridges without longitudinal striation or ribs; the basitergal angle is truncated (sinusoid); and the basidorsal point of the penis is developed. The genus Conopea s.s. encompasses 20 epizoic species from tropical and temperate seas, inhabiting alcyonaceans (sea fans or gorgonians) and antipatharians. A new species of Conopea and a new species of Acasta are described, and a key to the species of Conopea s.s. is provided.

Mitochondrial genome of the intertidal acorn barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin, 1854 (Crustacea: Sessilia): Gene order comparison and phylogenetic consideration within Sessilia.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the intertidal barnacle Tetraclita serrata Darwin, 1854 (Crustacea: Maxillopoda: Sessilia) is presented. The genome is a circular molecule of 15,200 bp, which encodes 13 PCGs, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes. All non-coding regions are 591 bp in length, with the longest one speculated as the control region (389 bp), which is located between srRNA and trnK. The overall A+T content of the mitochondrial genome of T. serrata is 65.4%, which is lowest among all the eight mitochondrial genomes reported from sessile barnacles. There are variations of initiation and stop codons in the reported sessile barnacle mitochondrial genomes. Large-scale gene rearrangements are found in these genomes as compared to the pancrustacean ground pattern. ML and Bayesian analyses of all 15 complete mitochondrial genomes available from Maxillopoda lead to identical phylogenies. The phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial PCGs shows that Argulus americanus (Branchiura) cluster with Armillifer armillatus (Pentastomida), distinct from all ten species from Cirripedia. Within the order Sessilia, Amphibalanus amphitrite (Balanidae) clusters with Striatobalanus amaryllis (Archaeobalanidae), and Nobia grandis (Pyrgomatidae). However, the two Megabalanus (Balanidae) are separated from the above grouping, resulting in non-monophyly of the family Balanidae. Moreover, the two Megabalanus have large-scale rearrangements as compared to the gene order shared by former three species. Therefore, both phylogenetic analysis using PCG sequences and gene order comparison suggest that Balanidae is not a monophyletic group. Given the limited taxa and moderate support values of the internal branches, the non-monophyly of the family Balanidae requires further verification.

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.

Molecular phylogeny, systematics and morphological evolution of the acorn barnacles (Thoracica: Sessilia: Balanomorpha).

The Balanomorpha are the largest group of barnacles and rank among the most diverse, commonly encountered and ecologically important marine crustaceans in the world. Paradoxically, despite their relevance and extensive study for over 150years, their evolutionary relationships are still unresolved. Classical morphological systematics was often based on non-cladistic approaches, while modern phylogenetic studies suffer from severe undersampling of taxa and characters (both molecular and morphological). Here we present a phylogenetic analysis of the familial relationships within the Balanomorpha. We estimate divergence times and examine morphological diversity based on five genes, 156 specimens, 10 fossil calibrations, and six key morphological characters. Two balanomorphan superfamilies, eight families and twelve genera were identified as polyphyletic. Chthamaloids, chionelasmatoid and pachylasmatoids split first from the pedunculated ancestors followed by a clade of tetraclitoids and coronuloids, and most of the balanoids. The Balanomorpha split from the Verrucidae (outgroup) in the Lower Cretaceous (139.6 Mya) with all the main lineages, except Pachylasmatoidea, having emerged by the Paleocene (60.9 Mya). Various degrees of convergence were observed in all the assessed morphological characters except the maxillipeds, which suggests that classical interpretations of balanomorphan morphological evolution need to be revised and reinterpreted.

Phylogenetic position and evolutionary history of the turtle and whale barnacles (Cirripedia: Balanomorpha: Coronuloidea).

Barnacles of the superfamily Coronuloidea are obligate epibionts of various marine mammals, marine reptiles and large crustaceans. We used five molecular markers: 12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA and Histone 3 to infer phylogenetic relationships among sixteen coronuloids, representing most of the recent genera of barnacles of this superfamily. Our analyses confirm the monophyly of Coronuloidea and that this superfamily and Tetraclitoidea are sister groups. The six-plated Austrobalanus clusters with these two superfamilies. Based on BEAST and ML trees, Austrobalanus is basal and sister to the Coronuloidea, but the NJ tree places Austrobalanus within the Tetraclitoidae, and in the MP tree it is sister to both Coronuloidea and Tetraclitoidae. Hence the position of Austrobalanus remains unresolved. Within the Coronuloidea we identified four clades. Chelonibia occupies a basal position within the Coronuloidea which is in agreement with previous studies. The grouping of the other clades does not conform to previous studies. Divergence time analyses show that some of the time estimates are congruent with the fossil record while some others are older, suggesting the possibility of gaps in the fossil record.

Trevathana noae, a new species of coral inhabiting barnacle (Cirripedia: Thoracica: Pyrgomatidae).

We describe a new species from the genus Trevathana Anderson, 1992, collected from the Cocos/Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean. Trevathana noae sp. nov. is similar to other species of Trevathana by its external shell and opercular valve morphology. It is distinct from congeners in that the tergum has a distinct spur which lacks an internal tooth in adult specimens. A key to the known species of Trevathana is given. 

Zoogeography of intertidal communities in the West Indian Ocean as determined by ocean circulation systems: patterns from the Tetraclita barnacles.

The Indian Ocean is the least known ocean in the world with the biogeography of marine species in the West Indian Ocean (WIO) understudied. The hydrography of WIO is characterized by four distinct oceanographic systems and there were few glacial refugia formations in the WIO during the Pleistocene. We used the widely distributed intertidal barnacle Tetraclita to test the hypothesis that the distribution and connectivity of intertidal animals in the WIO are determined by the major oceanographic regime but less influenced by historical events such as Pleistocene glaciations. Tetraclita were studied from 32 locations in the WIO. The diversity and distribution of Tetraclita species in the Indian Ocean were examined based on morphological examination and sequence divergence of two mitochondrial genes (12S rDNA and COI) and one nuclear gene (histone 3, H3). Divergence in DNA sequences revealed the presence of seven evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) of Tetraclita in WIO, with most of them recognized as valid species. The distribution of these ESUs is closely tied to the major oceanographic circulation systems. T. rufotincta is distributed in the Monsoonal Gyre. T. ehsani is present in the Gulf of Oman and NW India. Tetraclita sp. nov. is associated with the Hydrochemical Front at 10°S latitude. T. reni is confined to southern Madagascan and Mauritian waters, influenced by the West Wind Drift. The endemic T. achituvi is restricted to the Red Sea. Tetraclita serrata consists of two ESUs (based on mtDNA analysis) along the east to west coast of South Africa. The two ESUs could not be distinguished from morphological analysis and nuclear H3 sequences. Our results support that intertidal species in the West Indian Ocean are associated with each of the major oceanographic circulation systems which determine gene flow. Geographical distribution is, however, less influenced by the geological history of the region.

Molecular phylogeny and character evolution of the chthamaloid barnacles (Cirripedia: Thoracica).

The Chthamaloidea (Balanomorpha) present the most plesiomorphic characters in shell plates and cirri, mouthparts, and oral cone within the acorn barnacles (Thoracica: Sessilia). Due to their importance in understanding both the origin and diversification of the Balanomorpha, the evolution of the Chthamaloidea has been debated since Darwin's seminal monographs. Theories of morphological and ontogenetic evolution suggest that the group could have evolved multiple times from pedunculated relatives and that shell plate number diminished gradually (8→6→4) from an ancestral state with eight wall plates surrounded by whorls of small imbricating plates; but this hypothesis has never been subjected to a rigorous phylogenetic test. Here we used multilocus sequence data and extensive taxon sampling to build a comprehensive phylogeny of the Chthamaloidea as a basis for understanding their morphological evolution. Our maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses separate the Catophragmidae (eight shell plates and imbricating plates) from the Chthamalidae (8-4 shell plates and no imbricating plates), but do no support a gradual reduction in shell plates (8→6→4). This suggests that evolution at the base of the Balanomorpha involved a considerable amount of homoplasy.

A "shallow phylogeny" of shallow barnacles (chthamalus).

BACKGROUND: We present a multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of the shallow water (high intertidal) barnacle genus Chthamalus, focusing on member species in the western hemisphere. Understanding the phylogeny of this group improves interpretation of classical ecological work on competition, distributional changes associated with climate change, and the morphological evolution of complex cirripede phenotypes. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS: We use traditional and Bayesian phylogenetic and 'deep coalescent' approaches to identify a phylogeny that supports the monophyly of the mostly American 'fissus group' of Chthamalus, but that also supports a need for taxonomic revision of Chthamalus and Microeuraphia. Two deep phylogeographic breaks were also found within the range of two tropical American taxa (C. angustitergum and C. southwardorum) as well. CONCLUSIONS: Our data, which include two novel gene regions for phylogenetic analysis of cirripedes, suggest that much more evaluation of the morphological evolutionary history and taxonomy of Chthamalid barnacles is necessary. These data and associated analyses also indicate that the radiation of species in the late Pliocene and Pleistocene was very rapid, and may provide new insights toward speciation via transient allopatry or ecological barriers.

Cypris morphology in the barnacles Ibla and Paralepas (Crustacea: Cirripedia Thoracica) implications for cirripede evolution.

We used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to describe cypris morphology in species of the barnacles Ibla and Paralepas, both of which are pivotal in understanding cirripede evolution. In Ibla, we also studied late naupliar stages with video and SEM. Special emphasis was put on the lattice organs, the antennules and the thorax and telson. In Paralepas we had settled specimens only and could therefore only investigate the carapace with the lattice organs. Cyprids of Ibla quadrivalvis and Paralepas dannevigi have five sets of lattice organs, grouped as two anterior and three posterior pairs. The organs are of the pore-field type and the terminal pore is situated anteriorly in the first pair, just as in the Rhizocephala and the Thoracica. In Ibla the armament of antennular sensilla resembles that found in the Thoracica but differs from the Rhizocephala. The absence of setules on the A and B setae sited terminally on the fourth antennular segment is a similarity with the Acrothoracica. The attachment disc is angled rather than facing distally and is encircled by a low cuticular velum. The thoracopods have two-segmented endopods and exopods as in the Thoracica, but the number, shape, and position of thoracopodal setae differ somewhat from other species of that superorder. Both Ibla and Paralepas cyprids have a deeply cleaved telson, but no independent abdominal part. In cypris morphology, Ibla and Paralepas show several synapomorphies with the clade comprising Rhizocephala and Thoracica and there are no specific apomorphies with either the Acrothoracica, the Rhizocephala or any particular subgroup within the Thoracica. This is in agreement with recent molecular evidence that Ibla (Ibliformes) is the sister taxon to all other Thoracica and the ibliforms therefore become the outgroup of choice for studying character evolution within the superorder. Paralepas, and other pedunculated barnacles without shell plates, are apparently not primitive but are secondarily evolved and nested within the Thoracica.

The tempo and mode of barnacle evolution.

Previous phylogenetic attempts at resolving barnacle evolutionary relationships are few and have relied on limited taxon sampling. Here we combine DNA sequences from three nuclear genes (18S, 28S and H3) and 44 morphological characters collected from 76 thoracican (ingroup) and 15 rhizocephalan (outgroup) species representing almost all the Thoracica families to assess the tempo and mode of barnacle evolution. Using phylogenetic methods of maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference and 14 fossil calibrations, we found that: (1) Iblomorpha form a monophyletic group; (2) pedunculated barnacles without shell plates (Heteralepadomorpha) are not ancestral, but have evolved, at least twice, from plated forms; (3) the ontogenetic pattern with 5-->6-->8-->12+ plates does not reflect Thoracica shell evolution; (4) the traditional asymmetric barnacles (Verrucidae) and the Balanomorpha are each monophyletic and together they form a monophyletic group; (5) asymmetry and loss of a peduncle have evolved twice in the Thoracica, resulting in neither the Verrucomorpha nor the Sessilia forming monophyletic groups in their present definitions; (6) the Scalpellomorpha are not monophyletic; (7) the Thoracica suborders evolved since the Early Carboniferous (340mya) with the final radiation of the Sessilia in the Upper Jurassic (147mya). These results, therefore, reject many of the underlying hypotheses about character evolution in the Cirripedia Thoracica, stimulate a variety of new thoughts on thoracican radiation, and suggest the need for a major rearrangement in thoracican classification based on estimated phylogenetic relationships.

Host location in flow by larvae of the symbiotic barnacle Trevathana dentata using odour-gated rheotaxis.

The detection and location of specific organisms in the aquatic environment, whether they are mates, prey or settlement sites, are two of the most important challenges facing aquatic animals. Large marine invertebrates such as lobsters have been found to locate specific organisms by navigating in the plume of chemicals emitted by the target. However, active plume tracking in flow by small organisms such as marine larvae has received little scientific attention. Here, we present results from a study examining host location in flow by nauplius larvae of the barnacle Trevathana dentata, which inhabits the stony reef coral Cyphastrea chalcidicum. The experiments included analysis of larval motion in an annular flume under four conditions: (i) still water, (ii) in flow, (iii) in still water with waterborne host metabolites and (iv) in flow with host metabolites. Our results show that T. dentata nauplii are unable to locate their target organism in still water using chemotaxis, but are capable of efficient host location in flow using odour-gated rheotaxis. This technique may enable host location by earlier, less-developed larval stages.