Thoracic epipodites in the Stomatopoda (Crustacea): a phylogenetic consideration

An epipodite-bearing crown-group crustacean from the Lower Cambrian

Crown-group crustaceans (Eucrustacea) are common in the fossil record of the past 500 million years back to the early Ordovician period, and very rare representatives are also known from the late Middle and Late Cambrian periods. Finds in Lower Cambrian rocks of the Phosphatocopina, the fossil sister group to eucrustaceans, imply that members of the eucrustacean stem lineage co-occurred, but it remained unclear whether crown-group members were also present at that time. 'Orsten'-type fossils are typically tiny embryos and cuticle-bearing animals, of which the cuticle is phosphatized and the material is three-dimensional and complete with soft parts. Such fossils are found predominantly in the Cambrian and Ordovician and provide detailed morphological and phylogenetic information on the early evolution of metazoans. Here we report an Orsten-type Konservat-Lagerstätte from the Lower Cambrian of China that contains at least three new arthropod species, of which we describe the most abundant form on the basis of exceptionally well preserved material of several growth stages. The limb morphology and other details of this new species are markedly similar to those of living cephalocarids, branchiopods and copepods and it is assigned to the Eucrustacea, thus representing the first undoubted crown-group crustacean from the early Cambrian. Its stratigraphical position provides substantial support to the proposition that the main cladogenic event that gave rise to the Arthropoda was before the Cambrian. Small leaf-shaped structures on the outer limb base of the new species provide evidence on the long-debated issue of the origin of epipodites: they occur in a set of three, derive from setae and are a ground-pattern feature of Eucrustacea.

Molting in stomatopod crustaceans. I. Stages of the molt cycle, setagenesis, and morphology

The description of stages of the molt cycle in mantis shrimp (emphasizing Gonodactylus but compared in a number of Gonodactylidae, Squillidae, and Lysiosquillidae) includes data on texture, hardness, and color of the exoskeleton; behavior; and the micromorphology of the integument and developing setae. After stage A1, when the exoskeleton feels soft and soapy, and A2, when the abdomen attains parchment consistency, the exoskeleton continues to harden until stage C1, when the telson carinae can no longer be depressed with a fingernail. The propodus (C2) and the merus (C3) of the raptorial appendage are the last elements to become rigid. The meral spot achieves indistinct coloration at B1 and distinct but pale coloration at B2; body color continues to intesify until C4. Changes in behavior are particularly marked before and after the molt. After the molt defensive and avoidance behaviors characterize A1 and A2. Threatening increases from low to intense levels in A2 and B1. Striking and offensive behavior increase from weak to normal intensities from B2 to C4. One or two days before the molt, animals lower activity and dominance and feeding levels, exhibit reclusive behavior, and sometimes seal the cavity entrance. The morphology of setagenesis is particularly valuable for determining the stage of the molt after the exoskeleton hardns. The raatio of setae containing cellular contents sthroughout the lumen to those condensed into strands separates stages A2 throught C3...