Dr. Thomas Hülsken, Dipl.-BioL.

Ph.D. Thesis

Molecular Taxonomy of Caenogastropods (September 2002 to August 2008)

I study the molecular phylogeny, systematic, and evolution of the caenogastropod family Naticidae Guilding, 1834 (Moonsnails). The Naticidae are a cosmopolitan carnivorous endofaunal caenogastropod family that lives in tropical, temperate as well as antartic and arctic waters (Marincovich 1977) from the intertidal zone down to several thousand meters. Worldwide there are about 260-270 Recent species in this family (Kabat 1990), which is assumed to have originated in the late Triassic (Wenz 1941, Bouchet & Warén 1993) or in the early Jurassic (Carriker & Yochelson 1968, Marincovich 1977). The group contains several deep-water species (Bouchet & Warén 1993), but the greatest species diversity and generic abundance can be found in tropical waters (Kabat 1996). Their worldwide distribution and their way of life make this diverse species group ecologically important. Previous published taxonomical studies (Marincovich 1977, Aronowsky 2003) mainly based on hard-shell characters. Based on my molecular studies the molecular relationships within this gastropod family contradict earlier arrangements of species, genera and subfamilies (Huelsken et al. 2008). These new insights into naticid phylogeny force further analyses to validate the intrafamilial arrangements and the origin of the Recent naticid taxa which are assumed to have originate in the tropical pacific region.

Publications

  • S.M. Schmid, S. Kott, C. Sager, T. Huelsken, and M. Hollmann (2009).
    The glutamate receptor subunit delta2 is capable of gating its intrinsic ion channel as revealed by ligand binding domain transplantation.
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 106(25): 10320-10325.
    doi: 10.1073/pnas.0900329106
    Abstract      Press release
     
  • T. Huelsken (2008).
    Phylogenetic relationship and species identification within the Naticidae Guilding, 1834 (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda).
    Dissertation, Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr University Bochum.
    Download as pdf (42 MB)
     
  • T. Huelsken, C. Marek, S. Schreiber, I. Schmidt, and M. Hollmann (2008).
    The Naticidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Giglio Island (Tuscany, Italy): Shell characters, live animals, and a molecular analysis of egg masses.
    Zootaxa 1770: 1-40.
    Abstract      Download as pdf
     
  • T. Huelsken, M. Clemmensen, and M. Hollmann (2006).
    Neverita delessertiana (Récluz in Chenu, 1843): a naticid species (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda) distinct from Neverita duplicata (Say, 1822) based on molecular data, morphological characters, and geographical distribution.
    Zootaxa 1257: 1-25.
    Abstract      Download as pdf
     
  • T. Huelsken (2006). Photographer in Sanna, A.: Nel Blu del Giglio 39 immersioni classiche e inedite - 252 schede di riconoscimento della Flora e della Fauna del Mediterraneo, 176.
     

Conference Posters

  • T. Huelsken, T. Dahlmann, M. Clemmensen, J. Healy, and M. Hollmann (2009).
    DNA barcodes of gastropod spawn: a case study for species identification of the endofaunal caenogastropod family Naticidae.
    "Molluscs 2009" - Meeting of the Malacological Society of Australasia, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. 24-27 November 2009.
     
  • T. Huelsken, S. Schreiber, and M. Hollmann (2008).
    Molecular analysis in the systematics of gastropods: a method-dependent approach.
    Annual conference of the GfBS, University of Göttingen, Germany, 7-11 April 2008.
     
  • T. Huelsken, S. Schreiber, M. Clemmensen, and M. Hollmann (2007).
    Systematics and biodiversity within the caenogastropod family Naticidae.
    Annual conference of the GfBS, Museum of Natural History, Vienna, Austria, 20-23 February 2007.
     
  • T. Huelsken, M. Clemmensen, and M. Hollmann (2005).
    Diversity and evolution of the gastropod family Naticidae.
    Annual conference of the GfBS, Museum of Natural History, Basel, Switzerland, 13-16 September 2005.

Thomas Hülsken

Contact

Dr. Thomas Hülsken

The School of Biological Sciences
Goddard Building (8)
Room 121

The University of Queensland
St Lucia QLD 4072
Australia

Tel.: +61 7 336-51864
E-mail: thomas.huelsken@rub.de

Links

Dissertation (pdf, 42 MB)

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