Ecomorphological convergence in the walking leg dactyli of two clades of ascidian- and mollusc-associated shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea: Palaemonidae).

ABSTRACT: Symbiotic species, living within or on the surface of host organisms, may evolve a wide range of adaptations as a result of various selection pressures, host specificity of the symbiont and the nature of the symbiosis. In tropical marine coral reef ecosystems, palaemonid shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) live in association with at least five different invertebrate phyla. Host switches between (distantly) related host groups, and the thereby associated selection pressures were found to play a major role in the diversification of these shrimp lineages, giving rise to various host-specific adaptations. Two lineages of palaemonid shrimp, which have switched from an ectosymbiotic association towards endosymbiosis, are studied for their morphological diversification and possible convergenc

SUBMITTER: de Gier W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10731117 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature