Testing adaptive hypotheses on the evolution of larval life history in acorn and stalked barnacles.

ABSTRACT: Despite strong selective pressure to optimize larval life history in marine environments, there is a wide diversity with regard to developmental mode, size, and time larvae spend in the plankton. In the present study, we assessed if adaptive hypotheses explain the distribution of the larval life history of thoracican barnacles within a strict phylogenetic framework. We collected environmental and larval trait data for 170 species from the literature, and utilized a complete thoracican synthesis tree to account for phylogenetic nonindependence. In accordance with Thorson's rule, the fraction of species with planktonic-feeding larvae declined with water depth and increased with water temperature, while the fraction of brooding species exhibited the reverse pattern. Species with planktonic-no

SUBMITTER: Ewers-Saucedo C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6802071 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature