BACKGROUND Molecular genetic analyses of parentage provide insights into mating systems. Although there are 22,000 members in Malacostraca, not much has been known about mating systems in Malacostraca. The freshwater shrimp Caridina ensifera blue, is a new species belonging to Malacostraca which was discovered recently in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Due to its small body size and low fecundity, this s...

Remipedia are rare and ancient mandibulate arthropods inhabiting almost inaccessible submerged cave systems. Their phylogenetic position is still enigmatic and the subject of extremely controversial debates. To contribute arguments to this discussion, we analyzed the brain of Godzilliognomus frondosus Yager, 1989 (Remipedia, Godzilliidae) and provide a detailed 3D reconstruction of its anatomy....

The complete sequence of the mitochondrial genome of the giant tiger prawn, Penaeus monodon (Arthropoda, Crustacea, Malacostraca), is presented. The gene content and gene order are identical to those observed in Drosophila yakuba. The overall AT composition is lower than that observed in the known insect mitochondrial genomes, but higher than that observed in the other two crustaceans for which...

The presence of a characteristic crustacean larval type, the nauplius, in many crustacean taxa has often been considered one of the few uniting characters of the Crustacea. Within Malacostraca, the largest crustacean group, nauplii are only present in two taxa, Euphauciacea (krill) and Decapoda Dendrobranchiata. The presence of nauplii in these two taxa has traditionally been considered a retai...

The spatial distribution of epibionts on carapaces of marine turtles may be influenced by variation in recruitment dynamics, water flow patterns, and levels of disturbance on different regions of the carapace. We determined the distribution of 18 taxa of epibionts among nine zones on the carapace of 18 nesting loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) on Wassaw Island, Georgia, USA. Frequency of occ...

> Abstract 150 years after Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ and 100 years after W.T. Calman’s infl uential treatment on crustacean morphology and classifi cation, crustacean phylogenetics remains an active, exciting and controversial fi eld of research. An international symposium held from 7th–11th October 2008 at the University of Rostock attempted to summarize the latest developments. Molecular e...