The microturbellarian fauna of Cuba, with an emphasis on the diversity and phylogeny of Thalassotyphloplanida. (R-6242)

Our knowledge of the fast-disappearing biodversity of the world is still very limited. This is especially the case for environments which are inhabited mainly by small, inconspicious life forms such as marine sands and algae fields. In this project species diversity of free-living flatworms (turbellarians), a major constituent of such fauna, will be studied in Cuba. Although the Caribbean is considered as one of the most biodivers areas in the world, absolutely nothing is known as to this type of fauna in this large area. Moreover, the evolutionary (phylogenetic) relationships of an important group of marine turbellarians, the Thalassotyphloplanida, are largely unknown. In this project these relationships will be analysed using modern molecular techniques. Moreover, morphological data will be collected using several microscopy techniques, in order to identify characters which are diagnostic for certain clades and consequently can be used to identify members of these clades in the future. Ancestral state reconstruction will also be used to reconstruct ancestral morphology and to reconstruct evolutionary pathways of these traits.

Keywords:PHYLOGENY & BIOGEOGRAPHY

Disciplines:Animal biology, General biology, Veterinary medicine