The amphipod crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis: An emerging comparative model of arthropod development, evolution, and regeneration

Abstract

Recent advances in genetic manipulation and genome sequencing have paved the way for a new generation of research organisms. The amphipod crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis is one such system. Parhyale are easy to rear and offer large broods of embryos amenable to injection, dissection, and live imaging. Foundational work has described Parhyale embryonic development, while advancements in genetic manipulation using CRISPR‐Cas9 and other techniques, combined with genome and transcriptome sequencing, have enabled its use in studies of arthropod development, evolution, and regeneration. This study introduces Parhyale development and life history, a catalog of techniques and resources for Parhyale research, and two case studies illustrating its power as a comparative research system.This article is categorized under:Comparative Development and Evolution > Evolutionary NoveltiesAdult Stem Cells, Tissue Renewal, and Regeneration > RegenerationComparative Development and Evolution > Model SystemsComparative Development and Evolution > Body Plan Evolution

Marine amphipods as a new live prey for ornamental aquaculture: exploring the potential of Parhyale hawaiensis and Elasmopus pectenicrus

“…Results on the in situ fecundity and the effect of sex ratio on fecundity suggested, for the first time, that this is a key factor for culture optimization. Considering that fecundity of P. hawaiensis was 12 ± 7.8 embryos per female and that they may reproduce almost continuously, every 15 days ( Sun & Patel, 2019 ), yields for this species could reach up to 0.8 juveniles per couple per day, almost comparable to caprellid yields ( Woods, 2009 ; Guerra-García et al, 2016 ). In addition, fecundity per tank (0.22 L) significatively increased from 40 ± 20.3 juveniles to 182.5 ± 13.9 by increasing sex ratio towards females, from 8m:2f to 2m:8f, pointing out the importance of manipulating sex ratio for production optimization.…”

“…Due to a higher growth rate, males showed a higher length and weight at sexual maturity than females, as commonly observed in other mate guarding amphipods ( Othman & Pascoe, 2001 ). Accordingly, the review by Sun & Patel (2019) mentioned that P. hawaiensis become sexually mature after two months, although Artal et al (2018) reported three months for this species to reach sexual maturity. Generally, growth rate and development are positively correlated with water temperature ( Tsoi, Chiu & Chu, 2005 ).…”

“…In agreement with the present recommendation, the mass culture of C. scaura lasted three months and showed a 50 fold increase of initial population seeding ( Baeza-Rojano et al, 2013a ). In alternative, a culture stock from which regular harvesting, weekly for example, can be performed, as females can produce eggs every two weeks ( Sun & Patel, 2019 ). For a specific and maximum harvesting, further culture experiments need to be performed.…”

“…They are commonly found forming colonies (>7,000 individuals m 2 ) in soft- and hard-bottoms as well as in artificial structures with high complexity where they can hide in the presence of detritus and vegetal material such as mangrove leaves ( Poovachiranon, Boto & Duke, 1986 ; Zakhama-Sraieb & Charfi-Cheikhrouha, 2010 ; Paz-Ríos, Simões & Ardisson, 2013 ). P. hawaiensis is an emerging crustacean model for toxicological, evolutionary and developmental research ( Sun & Patel, 2019 ). Detailed information of the embryonic development is available ( Browne et al, 2005 ), as well as information on laboratory culture of embryos for toxicological tests ( Lee & Nicol, 1980 ).…”

Developing an integrated understanding of the evolution of arthropod segmentation using fossils and evo-devo

“…This broader selection of species covers a much wider and more representative sample of extant morphological diversity within arthropods than that represented by the very small sample of model species available until only 15 years ago (e.g. hemimetabolous insects [25,26]; diverse arachnids [27][28][29][30] and dipterans [31][32][33][34]; non-hexapod pancrustaceans: [35][36][37]; myriapods [38,39]; and many others). This broader range of model species has allowed the addressing of specific evolutionary questions, such as the origin of different respiratory organs [30], the origin of wings [40,41] and the diversity of limbs [18].…”