Scallops in the family Pectinidae are a diverse group of marine bivalves that includes over 300 species. As a group, scallops support important fisheries and are the focus shellfish farming operations worldwide. Members of the family exhibit wide variation in such behaviors as swimming and mode of reproduction. Despite their interesting biology and economic importance, scallop diversity and evolutionary relationships are poorly understood. The goals of this research project are to: 1) generate hypotheses for the evolutionary relationships of scallops using DNA sequence and morphological data; 2) develop stable classification of scallops reflective of these relationships; and 3) use this information to better understand the evolution of scallop morphological characters, behaviors, and life history traits.
Through this research, important insight will be gained into a fundamental component of the evolutionary process: the origin of complex characters. In addition, this work will provide training to a postdoctoral associate and graduate and undergraduate students in all activities during the production of a modern systematic treatment scallops. Besides peer-reviewed publications and dissemination of results at scientific meetings, an interactive web-based resource (the Pecten Resource Web Site) will be developed, thus improving communication among a wide range of users, including scallop farmers, malacologists, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and shell enthusiasts.
