EAPSI: Comparative Biodiversity and the Hermit Crab Tree of Life: An East Meets West Approach

Craig Catherine, Lafayette LA

Investigators

Abstract

In the wake of environmental disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, thorough surveys documenting the makeup of sea-floor animal communities have observed changes in the health and diversity of crabs, shrimp, and lobsters. The primary objective of this project is to use DNA sequences to determine the true number of hermit crab species in the western Pacific and understand the genetic relationships among them. The results from this project in the West Pacific will be combined with results from similar studies in the Gulf of Mexico to identify any trends in hermit crab diversity that may be related to environmental impacts. Lack of knowledge about the number of hermit crab species in the West Pacific prevents broader study of the health of sea-floor animal communities and, by extension, overall ecosystem health in the region. Studies show that determinations of species identity based on DNA sequences provides the highest standard of sensitivity to species diversity. With the guidance of Professor Peter Ng and experienced researchers at the National University of Singapore, DNA sequences for numerous West Pacific specimens stored in the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in Singapore will be collected using modern laboratory techniques. The resulting DNA sequences will be analyzed algorithmically to establish both the species identity of the specimen, and the genetic relationships among specimens. The primary impact of the proposed research is that it will increase our understanding of world-wide hermit crab diversity and information about the correspondence between geographical distribution, diversity, and evolutionary relationships among marine hermit crabs in the western Pacific. An additional outcome is the formation of a multinational working group that will combine the efforts of the applicant and key authors in the field from Singapore and the United States. The establishment of this collaborative effort represents an opportunity to increase the impact of National Science Foundation funding within the international science community. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Singapore.