Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Evolution of crab eye structures and the utility of ommatidia morphology in resolving phylogeny

View ORCID ProfileJavier Luque, View ORCID ProfileW. Ted Allison, Heather D. Bracken-Grissom, View ORCID ProfileKelsey M. Jenkins, View ORCID ProfileA. Richard Palmer, View ORCID ProfileMegan L. Porter, View ORCID ProfileJoanna M. Wolfe
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/786087
Javier Luque
1Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA
2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
3Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa–Ancón 0843–03092, Panamá, Panamá
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Javier Luque
  • For correspondence: javier.luque@yale.edu luque@ualberta.ca
W. Ted Allison
2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for W. Ted Allison
Heather D. Bracken-Grissom
4Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University-Biscayne Bay Campus, North Miami, FL 33181, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kelsey M. Jenkins
1Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Kelsey M. Jenkins
A. Richard Palmer
2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for A. Richard Palmer
Megan L. Porter
5Department of Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Megan L. Porter
Joanna M. Wolfe
6Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Joanna M. Wolfe
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

Image-forming compound eyes are such a valuable adaptation that similar visual systems have evolved independently across crustaceans. But if different compound eye types have evolved independently multiple times, how useful are eye structures and ommatidia morphology for resolving phylogenetic relationships? Crabs are ideal study organisms to explore these questions because they have a good fossil record extending back into the Jurassic, they possess a great variety of optical designs, and details of eye form can be compared between extant and fossil groups. True crabs, or Brachyura, have been traditionally divided into two groups based on the position of the sexual openings in males and females: the so-called ‘Podotremata’ (females bearing their sexual openings on the legs), and the Eubrachyura, or ‘higher’ true crabs (females bearing their sexual openings on the thorax). Although Eubrachyura appears to be monophyletic, the monophyly of podotreme crabs remains controversial and therefore requires exploration of new character systems. The earliest podotremous lineages share the plesiomorphic condition of ‘mirror’ reflecting superposition eyes with most shrimp, lobsters, and anomurans (false crabs and allies). The optical mechanisms of fossil and extant podotreme groups more closely related to Eubrachyura, however, are still poorly investigated. To better judge the phylogenetic utility of compound eye form, we investigated the distribution of eye types in fossil and extant podotreme crabs. Our findings suggest the plesiomorphic ‘mirror’ eyes—seen in most decapod crustaceans including the earliest true crabs—has been lost in several ‘higher’ podotremes and in eubrachyurans. We conclude that the secondary retention of larval apposition eyes has existed in eubrachyurans and some podotremes since at least the Early Cretaceous, and that the distribution of eye types among true crabs supports a paraphyletic podotreme grade, as suggested by recent molecular and morphological phylogenetic studies. We also review photoreceptor structure and visual pigment evolution, currently known in crabs exclusively from eubrachyuran representatives. These topics are critical for future expansion of research on podotremes to deeply investigate the homology of eye types across crabs.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted October 07, 2019.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Evolution of crab eye structures and the utility of ommatidia morphology in resolving phylogeny
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Evolution of crab eye structures and the utility of ommatidia morphology in resolving phylogeny
Javier Luque, W. Ted Allison, Heather D. Bracken-Grissom, Kelsey M. Jenkins, A. Richard Palmer, Megan L. Porter, Joanna M. Wolfe
bioRxiv 786087; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/786087
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Evolution of crab eye structures and the utility of ommatidia morphology in resolving phylogeny
Javier Luque, W. Ted Allison, Heather D. Bracken-Grissom, Kelsey M. Jenkins, A. Richard Palmer, Megan L. Porter, Joanna M. Wolfe
bioRxiv 786087; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/786087

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Paleontology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3605)
  • Biochemistry (7575)
  • Bioengineering (5529)
  • Bioinformatics (20806)
  • Biophysics (10333)
  • Cancer Biology (7986)
  • Cell Biology (11644)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6610)
  • Ecology (10214)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13622)
  • Genetics (9543)
  • Genomics (12851)
  • Immunology (7923)
  • Microbiology (19550)
  • Molecular Biology (7666)
  • Neuroscience (42125)
  • Paleontology (308)
  • Pathology (1258)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2203)
  • Physiology (3268)
  • Plant Biology (7044)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1294)
  • Synthetic Biology (1951)
  • Systems Biology (5427)
  • Zoology (1118)