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Apposition compound eyes of Spongicoloides koehleri (Crustacea: Spongicolidae) are derived by neoteny

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2007

Edward Gaten
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK. E-mail: gat@le.ac.uk

Abstract

Wedding shrimps, Spongicoloides koehleri, spend the adult phase of their life cycle within the cavity of a hexactinellid sponge. Although there is little light at the depths at which the sponges are found, the shrimps do not use the highly sensitive reflecting superposition optics commonly found in other shrimp-like decapods. Instead they have apposition eyes which are virtually free of shielding pigment. It is proposed that this is due to the paedomorphic retention of the larval optics through the process of neoteny.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2007 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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