There is a diverse group of cyprinind ostracodes (minute shelled crustaceans) that produce bioluminescent flashes thought to be unique to each separate species. Drs. James Morin and Anne Cohen have been collecting and documenting the morphology, geographic distribution, and underwater bioluminescent displays of dozens of previously undiscovered species in the Caribbean. They propose to complete their description of these closely related bioluminescent species, and then use the morphological data to reconstruct their evolutionary relationships. Data on their geographic distributions and bioluminescent display behavior will then be compared to the pattern of their evolutionary relatedness, thereby testing hypotheses of how display behavior and the shifting geography of the Caribbean have impacted on their evolutionary history. The proposed research would document a poorly known and fascinating group of organisms, and would use the documentation to explore hypotheses of their evolutionary history, Caribbean biogeography, and behavioral ecology relating to bioluminescense. A wide variety of evolutionary biologists will find these results of interest.
