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Isopods and copepods are important feeders in the food chain, helping many fishlets, seahorses, anemones, and other marine animals develop into adults.
Excirolana braziliensis is a coastal, tidal isopod with a wide range along the tropical and temperate Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the continental United States.
Its range largely overlaps that of Excirolana mayana Ives in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and that of Excirolana chamensis on Pacific coasts of Panama.
The isopod Excirolana braziliensis is currently the subject of an interesting study, which first addresses the question of how the small crustacean could have managed to be present both in the Caribbean and in the eastern Pacific on the west coasts of the Americas, Central America and South America?
Previously held theories that species can spread through hurricanes and/or ballast water tanks may have facilitated the movement of individuals between Panama and the Yucatán Peninsula, but only explains one possible aspect of dispersal.
At this point, genetic studies of the populations were conducted and concluded that the high genetic divergence suggests that the isopod Excirolana braziliensis corresponds to a complex of cryptic species.
Sponer and Lessios (2009) point out that based on morphological, allozyme, and mitochondrial data, each of the three in Panama (i.e., the Caribbean C morph, the Caribbean C0 morph, the Pacific C0 morph, and the Pacific P0 morph) represents a distinct species.
For more information, see the description of the species in the related links.
Excirolana braziliensis is a coastal, tidal isopod with a wide range along the tropical and temperate Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the continental United States.
Its range largely overlaps that of Excirolana mayana Ives in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and that of Excirolana chamensis on Pacific coasts of Panama.
The isopod Excirolana braziliensis is currently the subject of an interesting study, which first addresses the question of how the small crustacean could have managed to be present both in the Caribbean and in the eastern Pacific on the west coasts of the Americas, Central America and South America?
Previously held theories that species can spread through hurricanes and/or ballast water tanks may have facilitated the movement of individuals between Panama and the Yucatán Peninsula, but only explains one possible aspect of dispersal.
At this point, genetic studies of the populations were conducted and concluded that the high genetic divergence suggests that the isopod Excirolana braziliensis corresponds to a complex of cryptic species.
Sponer and Lessios (2009) point out that based on morphological, allozyme, and mitochondrial data, each of the three in Panama (i.e., the Caribbean C morph, the Caribbean C0 morph, the Pacific C0 morph, and the Pacific P0 morph) represents a distinct species.
For more information, see the description of the species in the related links.
