Mentor name: Dr. Alexandra Hiller
Link to lab page: https://stri.si.edu/scientist/harilaos-lessios
Co-mentor(s): Dr. Harilaos Lessios
Location of internship:
Molecular and morphological work: Naos Facilities
Sampling: different localities and ecosystems of the Panamanian Pacific and Caribbean
Project abstract
Despite the importance of marine crabs (Decapoda: Anomura and Brachyura) from an ecological, biogeographical and evolutionary perspective, studies on their diversity in the Panamanian littoral (Caribbean and Pacific) are scarce, especially those providing reliable identification keys of taxa. This project intends to combine Computer Assisted Taxonomy (CAT) and DNA barcoding to document marine crab diversity in Panamanian waters. Students will be trained in integrative taxonomy (classical, computer-assisted and molecular taxonomy), as well as in fieldwork, laboratory and analytical methods and scientific illustration. Specimens of marine crabs will be sampled in different localities and ecosystems (e.g. rocky intertidal, coral reefs, mangrove roots) of the Panamanian Caribbean and Pacific. Crabs will be documented through photographs and scientific illustration, will be preserved for taxonomic identification, deposited in voucher collections and partially dissected for DNA isolation. Morphological information will be compiled in a data matrix, which will feed the interactive taxonomic key software CAT. This specific interactive key will be available to the scientific community interested in reliable species identification and will serve as a landmark of the current biodiversity inhabiting different marine ecosystems in Panama. The morphological approach will be supported by DNA barcoding, an efficient method to confirm species identification, consisting of DNA-sequence comparison of a fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene. Special emphasis will be given to species complexes and taxonomically difficult species. Sequences will be deposited in GenBank for future accurate species identification and for phylogenetic and population-genetic studies.
Skills required
Students will work in demanding conditions because collecting crabs in the rocky intertidal implies walking on slippery rocks. Snorkeling to collect subtidal species may require swimming in areas with rocky bottoms where waves and currents may be strong. Manipulating crabs and documenting crab diversity requires patience and passion to learn crab biology. Several hours a day of computer work, scientific illustration and taxonomic key revision are required. Interest in evolutionary biology and experience in molecular work are desirable but not mandatory.
