A COMPARABLE APPROACH TO SETTLEMENT AND ATTACHMENT IN CIRRIPEDIA

The cirripedian cypris larva, possess a unique set of adaptations, which enables the animal to detect, investigate, irreversible settle and initiate the juvenile/adult metamorphosis. All cypris larvae are remarkable similar and appears to have optimized this functionality to a degree that only allows restricted room for morphological variation.

This conformity is in stack contrast to the cirripedians diverse preferences of settling sites, ranging from the rocky intertidal zone, densely populated with conspecifics, over the skin of whales and sharks, to the carapace of other crustaceans. Based on the highly conserved cypris morphology, we argue that also the physiology of the larvae is based on a shared cirripedian toolbox for substrate sensing and substrate attachment.

The apparently profound differences observed between settlement preferences and attachment might, therefore, be caused by minor physiological modifications of shared physiological pass ways, instead of de novo developments.

The apparently profound differences in settlement preferences and modes of attachment will be illustrated by examples and it will be argued that, instead of de novo developments, the large differences might be caused by minor physiological modifications of pass ways already present in the common ancestor to all cirripedians.