BIOL 630 / EVSS 722 - Marine Invertebrate Zoology
Spring Semester 2008. 8:30 - 11:30 AM and 2 - 5 PM Wednesdays

This graduate-level course will introduce you to the fantastic diversity of invertebrates in the sea. The title of the course is a bit of a misnomer. Although we will survey the 33 extant invertebrate phyla in a traditional zoology framework, the real focus of the course is on the pressing issues of biology, ecology and evolution. Thus, lectures and laboratories will focus on dispersal, life history evolution, recruitment, habitat and mate choice, genetic differentiation, the conservation of biodiversity, and speciation, among other issues.

I hope that by the end of this course, you will have gained several very practical skills. These include: being able to generate and interpret phylogenies; critically examine and discuss the primary literature in front of your peers; design, implement and report an experimental study; feel comfortable with the taxonomy and distribution of the invertebrate communities of the southeastern US.

You will have a great deal of autonomy in this course, especially in the final 3 weeks in which you will use the time to generate and report on a project of your choosing.

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Erik Sotka

OFFICE: 208 Grice Marine Laboratory

OFFICE HOURS: By appointment

Syllabus

Schedule

Materials

PowerPoint slides

Home



Links

Where can I collect invertebrates in Charleston???

A guide to Grey's Reef Invertebrates



Discussion Articles

  • Discussion I - Evolution and Escalation

      1. Huntley and Kowalewski (2007) Strong coupling of predation intensity and diversity in the Phanerozoic fossil record PNAS 104: 15006<PDF>

      2. Holland (2007) Comment. PNAS 104: 14885<PDF>

  • Discussion II - The rise of the ctenophore

      1. Link and Ford (2006) Widespread and persistent increase of Ctenophores in the continental shelf ecosystem off NE USA. MEPS 320:153-159<PDF>

      2. Haddock (2007) Comparative feeding behavior of planktonic ctenophores. Integrative and COmparative Biology 47:847-853<PDF>

  • Discussion III - Parasite lost

      1. Brown et al. (2001) Evolution of trophic transmission in parasites: the need to reach a mating place J. Evol. Biol. 14: 815-820<PDF>

      2. Lagrue and Poulin (2006) Life cycle abbreviation in the trematode Coitocaecum parvum: can parasites adjust to variable conditions? J. Evol. Biol. 20: 1189-1195<PDF>

  • Discussion IV - Worm parties

      1. Roberts (2005) Reef-aggregating behavior by symbiotic eunicid polychaetes from cold-water corals: do worms assemble reefs? JMBAUK 85:813-819<PDF>

      2. Bentley, Olive and Last (2001) Sexual satellites, moonlight and the nuptial dances of worms: the influence of the moon on the reproduction of marine animals. Earth, Moon and Planets 85-86: 67-84<PDF>

  • Discussion V - Slug love

      1. Curtis et al. (2007) Newly metamorphosed Elysia clarki juveniles feed on and sequester chloroplasts from algal species diverent from those utilized by adult slugs Marine Biology 150:797-806<PDF>

      2. Anthes et al. (2006) Hermaphrodite sex role preferences: the role of partner body size, mating history and female fitness in the sea slug       Chelidonura sandrana       Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60:359-367<PDF>

  • Discussion VI - Thinking about molluscs

      1. Hvorecny et al. (2007) Octopuses (Octopus bimaculoides) and cuttlefishes (Sepia pharaonis, S. officinalis) can conditionally discriminate. Animal Cognition 10:449-459<PDF>

      2. Cole and Adamo (2005) Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis: Cephalopoda) hunting behavior and associative learning. Animal Cognition 8:27-30<PDF>

  • Discussion VII - Twinkle, twinkle little seastar

      1. Harley et al. (2006) Color polymorphism and genetic structure in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus. Biological Bulletin<PDF>

      2. Sanford and Menge (2007) Reproductive output and conistency of source populations in the sea star Pisaster ochraceus. MEPS 349:1-12<PDF>

  • Discussion VIII - Specialists in the sea

      1. Sotka et al. (1999) Oecologia 118: 471<PDF>

      2. Hay et al. (1990) Ecology 71: 733<PDF>

  • Discussion IX - Evolutionary response of invasions

      1. Freeman and Byers (2006) Science<PDF>

      2. Rawson et al. (2007) Science<PDF>

      3. Freeman and Byers (2007) Science<PDF>