Ribi
Fakultäten » Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät » Evolutionsbiologie und Umweltwissenschaften, Institut für » Evolutionary Biology » Prof. Dr. Georg Ribi (verstorben) » Ribi
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Biology and systematics of Astropectinid sea stars (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) | ||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Astropectinid sea stars play a major role as predators in marine benthic communities. Astropecten aranciacus, the largest species of the Mediterranean, has become rare at many places during the last 20 years. We investigate possible reasons for the decline of this species by comparing the ecology and reproduction of A. aranciacus with that of other Astropecten species whose populations have remained stable. With over a hundred species, the genus Astropecten is particularly rich in species among asteroids. We try to reconstruct the phylogeny of the genus with two questions in mind: can an earlier phylogeny based on morphology established by Döderlein in 1917 be confirmed using molecular markers, and are species living in the same geographical area more closely related to each other than those of different regions? |
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| Publications / Publikationen | Zulliger, D.E., Tanner, S., Ruch, M., Ribi, G., 2009: Genetic structure of the high dispersal Atlanto-Mediterreanean sea star Astropecten aranciacus revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences and microsatellite loci. Marine Biology 156, 597-610.Zulliger, D.E., Tanner, S., Ruch, M., Ribi, G., 2008: Characterization of nine microsatellite loci in the sea star Astropecten aranciacus and cross-species amplification for related taxa. Molecular Ecology resources 8, 634-636. | ||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Other links to external web pages | http://www.uzh.ch/zoolmus/zmneu/forschung/ribi_georg.html http://www.uzh.ch/zoolmus/zmneu/forschung/zulliger_deborah.html |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Other Public Sources (e.g. Federal or Cantonal Agencies) |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Jan 2000 to Oct 2009 |