The protandric life history of the Northern spot shrimp Pandalus platyceros: molecular insights and implications for fishery management.

The Northern spot shrimp, Pandalus platyceros, a protandric hermaphrodite of commercial importance in North America, is the primary target species for shrimp fisheries within Southeast Alaska. Fishery data obtained from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game indicate that spot shrimp populations have been declining significantly over the past 25 years. We collected spot shrimps in Southeast Alaska and measured reproductive-related morphological, gonadal and molecular changes during the entire life history.

Polymorphism and multiple correlated characters: Do flatfish asymmetry morphs also differ in swimming performance and metabolic rate?

Phenotypic polymorphisms often differ in multiple correlated traits including morphology, behavior, and physiology, all of which can affect performance. How selection acts on these suites of traits can be complex and difficult to discern. Starry flounder () is a pleuronectid flatfish that exhibits rare polymorphism for the direction of eye migration and resulting whole-body asymmetry.

Linking Insects with Crustacea: Physiology of the Pancrustacea: An Introduction to the Symposium.

Insects and crustaceans represent critical, dominant animal groups (by biomass and species number) in terrestrial and aquatic systems, respectively. Insects (hexapods) and crustaceans are historically grouped under separate taxonomic classes within the Phylum Arthropoda, and the research communities studying hexapods and crustaceans are quite distinct. More recently, the hexapods have been shown to be evolutionarily derived from basal crustaceans, and the clade Pancrustacea recognizes this relationship.

Stimulation of molt by RNA interference of the molt-inhibiting hormone in the crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus.

In crustaceans, molting is known to be under the control of neuropeptide hormones synthesized and secreted from the eyestalk ganglia. While the role of molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH) in regulating molting has been described in several species using classical methods, an in vivo specific MIH targeted manipulation has not been described yet. In the present study, an MIH cDNA was isolated and sequenced from the eyestalk ganglia of the Australian freshwater red claw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus (Cq) by 5' and 3' RACE.

Molecular cloning of the crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) precursor from the X-organ and the identification of the neuropeptide from sinus gland of the Alaskan Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi.

Crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) secreted from sinus glands primarily elicits hyperglycaemia in crustaceans. CHH is particularly important for energy metabolism during environmental and physiological stress as animals switch to anaerobiosis. CHH has been purified from multiple brachyuran crab species to date, but not from the cold water Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, a species found in Alaskan coastal waters.