Understanding the role of genes and the environment in determining phenotypic variation in the genus Orthopyxis (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean

• Grant number: 18/24781-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: April 01, 2019
• End date: December 18, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Carlos Marques
• Grantee: Amanda Ferreira e Cunha
• Supervisor: Mary Morgan-Richards
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Massey University, New Zealand
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/00641-7 - Morphological variability within the evolutionary context of colonial hydrozoans (Cnidaria, Proboscoida), BP.PD

Abstract

In marine populations, realized dispersal is known to directly affect population connectivity and determine the pattern and level of genetic differentiation. Although many benthic species of hydroids have experienced loss or reduction of their planktonic stage, they appear to be capable of long-distance dispersal via rafting due to their occurrence over wide geographic ranges. In addition, phenotypic variation over the same range suggests a role for phenotypic plasticity along environmental gradients. In this project we propose to investigate the relationship between morphological, genetic and environmental variability with hydroids of the genus Orthopyxis, in order to understand the role of phenotypic plasticity in shaping patterns of phenotypic variation among marine populations. For this, mitochondrial and nuclear genetic data will be compared with morphometric and environmental data from different populations off the coast of Brazil. General and/or mixed linear models will be used to test for associations of morphological, environmental, and genetic variation. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CUNHA, AMANDA F.; COLLINS, ALLEN G.; MARQUES, ANTONIO C.. When morphometry meets taxonomy: morphological variation and species boundaries in Proboscoida (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa). ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, v. 190, n. 2, p. 417-447, OCT 2020. (17/00641-7, 11/22260-9, 13/50484-4, 11/50242-5, 18/24781-5, 13/25874-3, 04/09961-4)

CUNHA, AMANDA FERREIRA; CARMELET-RESCAN, DAVID; MARQUES, ANTONIO CARLOS; MORGAN-RICHARDS, MARY. Contrasting morphological and genetic patterns suggest cryptic speciation and phenotype-environment covariation within three benthic marine hydrozoans. Marine Biology, v. 169, n. 8, p. 17-pg., 2022-08-01. (18/24781-5, 11/50242-5, 17/00641-7)