Terrestrial Adaptations of Crustacea · can Museum of Natural History) will show how a reliance...
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SYMPOSIUM IN MEMORY OF WARREN J. GROSS Terrestrial Adaptations of Crustacea In the past five years there has been an increasing interest in the adaptive characteristics of crustaceans that have invaded the intertidal zone and the land above the tides. Considerable re- search on these animals is now under way. Almost all of the investigators currently active in this field of zo- ological research will convene for the first time at a six-session symposium to be held 27-29 December 1967 dur- ing the AAAS annual meeting in New York City. The symposium is dedicated to the memory of Warren J. Gross, who for a number of years was a lead- ing investigator in the field of crusta- cean terrestrial adaptations. The principal adaptations involved in migration from water to land will be considered. These adaptations relate to osmoregulation, water conservation, and water balance- temperature, respiration. and circulation; metabolism; sensory perception; and behavior. Reflecting this wide range of topics is the broad spon- sorship of the symposium. The prin- cipal sponsor is the Division of In- vertebrate Zoology of the American Society of Zoologists. Cosponsors are the Divisions of Comparative Physi- ology and of Animal Behavior and So- ciobiology of the American Society of Zoologists, the Animal Behavior So- ciety, and the Ecological Society. The National Science Foundation is provid- ing financial support for the symposium through grant GB-6613. Varying degrees of terrestriality have been achieved by three major groups of crustaceans. E. B. Edney (University of California, Riverside) will review the ways in which the most successful group, the order Isopoda, has accom- plished its terrestrial goals. Certain morphological, physiological, and be- havioral characteristics of isopods (their running mode of locomotion, their flat- ness of body, and their capacity for in- ternal fertilization and for brooding their young) have preadapted them for 1592 terrestrial life. Subsequent gains have in- cluded a reduction in the rate of trans- piration. a modification in the struc- ture of the pleopods, and alterations in modes of sensory perception and in behavior. Significantly, terrestrial iso- pods have also developed the capacity to brood and raise their young entirely on land, something that no other crustaceans can do. Much less accomplished in their ter- restriality have been members of the order Amphipoda. as Desmond E. Hurley (New Zealand Oceanographic Institute) will point out. These crypto- zoic forms, all members of the family Talitridae, are found extensively in the supralittoral zone. From this zone, certain species have invaded the leafmold in areas where the supralit- toral debris and leafmold merge. These truly terrestrial forms display few adap- tive features, other than a tendency to- ward loss of pleopods. Thus, these spe- cies maintain their terrestriality mainly by remaining within an insulated en- vironmental niche that provides food and moisture. Falling somewhere between the iso- pods and the amphipods regarding their success in migrating landward are cer- tain members of the order Decapoda. A number of crayfishes, one family of hermit crabs, and representatives of sev- eral families of true crabs have been able not only to colonize the littoral and supralittoral but also in some cases to penetrate far inland into regions where the soil is dry, ground water is unavailable, and rain showers are in- frequent. Dorothy E. Bliss (Ameri- can Museum of Natural History) will show how a reliance upon stringent measures of water conservation and the development of nocturnalism char- acterize these forms. An important adaptive feature is the capacity of some terrestrial crabs to seize water by con- tact and move it into the branchial chambers for uptake by the gills. The Gecarcinuiis lateralis, a land crab from Bermuda, Bahamas, and the Caribbean, shown in the process of ecdysis (shedding development of organs for the storage of water, notably the pericardial sacs, are features of certain of the more terrestrial crabs. With the groundwork for the sym- posium presented by the previously mentioned speakers, the remaining sessions of the symposium will then consider in more detail various as- pects of the physiology, ecology, and behavior of terrestrial crustaceans. The papers will deal mainly with isopods and decapods. on which most experi- mental research has been and is being done. Thus, the session on osmoregulation and water balance will begin with a paper on the effect of environmental SCIENCE, VOL. 157 on April 4, 2020 http://science.sciencemag.org/ Downloaded from
Transcript of Terrestrial Adaptations of Crustacea · can Museum of Natural History) will show how a reliance...
SYMPOSIUM IN MEMORY OF WARREN J. GROSS
Terrestrial Adaptations of Crustacea
In the past five years there has beenan increasing interest in the adaptivecharacteristics of crustaceans that haveinvaded the intertidal zone and theland above the tides. Considerable re-search on these animals is now underway. Almost all of the investigatorscurrently active in this field of zo-ological research will convene for thefirst time at a six-session symposiumto be held 27-29 December 1967 dur-ing the AAAS annual meeting in NewYork City. The symposium is dedicatedto the memory of Warren J. Gross,who for a number of years was a lead-ing investigator in the field of crusta-cean terrestrial adaptations.The principal adaptations involved in
migration from water to land will beconsidered. These adaptations relate toosmoregulation, water conservation, andwater balance- temperature, respiration.and circulation; metabolism; sensoryperception; and behavior. Reflecting thiswide range of topics is the broad spon-sorship of the symposium. The prin-cipal sponsor is the Division of In-vertebrate Zoology of the AmericanSociety of Zoologists. Cosponsors arethe Divisions of Comparative Physi-ology and of Animal Behavior and So-ciobiology of the American Society ofZoologists, the Animal Behavior So-ciety, and the Ecological Society. TheNational Science Foundation is provid-ing financial support for the symposiumthrough grant GB-6613.
Varying degrees of terrestriality havebeen achieved by three major groupsof crustaceans. E. B. Edney (Universityof California, Riverside) will reviewthe ways in which the most successfulgroup, the order Isopoda, has accom-plished its terrestrial goals. Certainmorphological, physiological, and be-havioral characteristics of isopods (theirrunning mode of locomotion, their flat-ness of body, and their capacity for in-ternal fertilization and for broodingtheir young) have preadapted them for
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terrestrial life. Subsequent gains have in-cluded a reduction in the rate of trans-piration. a modification in the struc-ture of the pleopods, and alterations inmodes of sensory perception and inbehavior. Significantly, terrestrial iso-pods have also developed the capacityto brood and raise their young entirelyon land, something that no othercrustaceans can do.Much less accomplished in their ter-
restriality have been members of theorder Amphipoda. as Desmond E.Hurley (New Zealand OceanographicInstitute) will point out. These crypto-zoic forms, all members of the familyTalitridae, are found extensively in thesupralittoral zone. From this zone,certain species have invaded theleafmold in areas where the supralit-toral debris and leafmold merge. Thesetruly terrestrial forms display few adap-tive features, other than a tendency to-ward loss of pleopods. Thus, these spe-cies maintain their terrestriality mainlyby remaining within an insulated en-vironmental niche that provides foodand moisture.
Falling somewhere between the iso-pods and the amphipods regarding theirsuccess in migrating landward are cer-tain members of the order Decapoda.A number of crayfishes, one family ofhermit crabs, and representatives of sev-eral families of true crabs have beenable not only to colonize the littoraland supralittoral but also in some casesto penetrate far inland into regionswhere the soil is dry, ground water isunavailable, and rain showers are in-frequent. Dorothy E. Bliss (Ameri-can Museum of Natural History) willshow how a reliance upon stringentmeasures of water conservation andthe development of nocturnalism char-acterize these forms. An importantadaptive feature is the capacity of someterrestrial crabs to seize water by con-tact and move it into the branchialchambers for uptake by the gills. The
Gecarcinuiis lateralis, a land crab fromBermuda, Bahamas, and the Caribbean,shown in the process of ecdysis (shedding
development of organs for the storageof water, notably the pericardial sacs,are features of certain of the moreterrestrial crabs.
With the groundwork for the sym-posium presented by the previouslymentioned speakers, the remainingsessions of the symposium will thenconsider in more detail various as-pects of the physiology, ecology, andbehavior of terrestrial crustaceans. Thepapers will deal mainly with isopodsand decapods. on which most experi-mental research has been and is beingdone.
Thus, the session on osmoregulationand water balance will begin with apaper on the effect of environmental
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AAAS Annual Meeting
26-31 December 1967
New York City
of the shell). The entire process took about75 minutes. [Dorothy E. Bliss, AmericanMuLseum of Natural History]
factors on larval development in theland crab Cardisomia g'uainihiiumni byJohn D. Costlow, Jr. and C. G. Book-hout (Duke University). A paper onsodium and water balance in the fresh-water crab Potaiiont edulle by Paul P.Rudy, Jr. (University of Lancaster) willfollow. Two succeeding papers will dealwith one of the most terrestrial ofcrabs, Gecar-cinlls lateralis, which isa tropical and subtropical, primarilyinsular, form that inhibits very dry,sandy areas. Recent research by D. ELI-gene Copeland (Tulane University) hasimplicated in quite different ways boththe gills and pericardial sacs of thiscrab in water uptake. Investigationsby Linda Habas Mantel (American
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Museulll of Natural History) haveshown that the foregut of this crabplays an important role in water balanceat ecdysis.Winona B. Vernberg and F. John
Vernberg (Duke University Marine Lab-oratory) will discuss respiratory adap-tations of three species of crabs (onefrom deep water, a second from shal-low water, and a third from the beachesbetween and above the tides). Don Cur-tis Miller (Union College) and F. JohnVernberg will describe how low tem-peratuLres can limit the northward dis-tribution of tropical species of the fid-dler crab Uca, while temperate zonespecies, which can acclimate to cold,can survive northern temperatures.James R. Redmond (Iowa State Uni-versity) will discuss oxygen transportin the blood of Gecircinu.s iateralis.and Leonard Stutman and MarilynDolliver of (St. Vincent's Hospital, NewYork City) will describe the coagula-tion mechanisnm in the hemolymph ofthis same species.The session on adaptations of metab-
olisIml will include a paper by Wolf-gang Wieser (Zoologisches Institut derUniversitat in Innsbruck) on the up-take of food and digestion in terrestrialisopods. Roy Hartenstein (College ofForestry at Svracuse University) willdiscuss nitrogen metabolism in the ter-restrial isopod Oni.SCiUS (1/illus. Addi-tional metabolic investigations on landcrabs will be included with papers byCharles A. Gifford (Alfred University)on uric acid deposition in Ccardlisomagiuanhliltiii and by John D. O'Connorand Lawrence 1. Gilbert on lipidmetabolism in Gecarcin ifs Iiterndis.The final sessions will be devoted
to physiological and behavioral adapta-tions of terrestrial crustaceans, pri-marily as such adaptations relate tothe conservation of water and to themaintenance of inter- and intra-specific
social contacts. such as courtship andagonistic behavior. Michael R. War-burg (Israel Institute for Biological Re-search in Ness-Ziona) will describephysiological and behavioral aspects ofwater conservation in terrestrial isopods,a subject that will be explored furtherfor the crab Ocvpode by K. Ranga Rao(Andhra University, Visakhapatnam,India). Franklin H. Barnwell (North-western University) will describe therole of rhythmic systems in terrestrialadaptations of fiddler crabs, and Wil-liam Herrnkind (University of Miami)will report on the development ofcelestial orientation during ontogeny inthe same genus of crabs.
In the final session Helen Ghira-della, Jabmes Cronshaw, and James Case(University of California, Santa Bar-bara) will report on their investigationsof aesthetasc pegs on the antennulesof crabs, the pegs of terrestrial speciesappearing to be specifically adapted toprevent loss of water. There will followpapers on courtship and agonistic be-havior in gecarcinid, grapsid, andocypodid crabs. Two papers, onebv Howard 0. Wright (University ofHouston) and another by HermannSchone (Max-Planck-Institut at See-wiesen) will feature motion pictures.Michael Salmon (University of Illinois)and Samuel Atsaides (University ofMaryland) will present both motionpictures and tape recordings.A feature of each session will be a
general discussion that is planned forthe final 30 to 40 minutes. Such dis-cuLssion periods will include the physi-ology, ecology, and behavior not onlyof crustaceans but also of other arthro-pods.
DOROTHY E. BLISSLINDA HABAS MANTEL
A liei-ic(ii1 Museum of Natural History,Cenitrail Park West (it 79th Street,Newi! Yor-k 10024
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Terrestrial Adaptations of CrustaceaDorothy E. Bliss and Linda Habas Mantel
DOI: 10.1126/science.157.3796.1592 (3796), 1592-1593.157Science
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