PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS AND THE EVOLUTION OF REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES WITHIN THE SYLLIDAE (ANNELIDA: POLYCHAETA)
Palmer, A. D. N.
Department of Zoology Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164-4236, USA
The highly complex and intriguing suite of reproductive patterns exhibited by an ecologically important family of polychaetous worms (Family Syllidae) presents an exceptional opportunity to investigate the evolution of these reproductive strategies with an explicit phylogenetic framework. I am using molecular characters (DNA sequence data) to reconstruct the phylogeny of this group and so test subfamily monophyly. Then, using this phylogenetic reconstruction, I will trace the evolution of the reproductive patterns of schizogamy and epigamy. This study will be the first to (1) perform a molecular phylogenetic analysis for the members of the family Syllidae and (2) make inferences about the evolution of the reproductive patterns seen within the syllid subfamilies using an explicit phylogenetic hypothesis generated from molecular data. This project has the potential to resolve syllid classification problems that have plagued workers for decades and to make an important contribution to the study of how life histories have evolved within a marine environment.