The
Annual Award for 2006
This year, we had four submissions. All four were of a very high standard
(enough to make me rather ashamed of my own PhD thesis: standards,
especially for presentation and techniques, have advanced spectacularly).
Nevertheless, there was unanimity on the most outstanding initial
contribution.
We therefore announce that this year’s winner of the Annual
Award is Dr. Adriaan Gittenberger of Leiden, Netherlands, for his
thesis:
“The evolutionary history of parasitic gastropods and their
coral hosts in the Indo-Pacific. ”
Dr. Gittenberger
has used the relationships between parasitic gastropods in the Families
Epitoniidae and Coralliophilidae and their Mushroom Coral hosts (Fungiidae)
to address fundamental questions about the generation of diversity
in the very rich area for marine life, the junction of the Indian
and Pacific Ocean faunas. This has necessitated a significant revision
of the existing taxonomy of the families concerned.
The thesis contains nine chapters. In these, Dr. Gittenberger uses
molecular techniques to establish the phylogenies of both the molluscs
and their hosts. He relates these to morphological variation (enabling
him to take account of ecophenotypic variation in considering taxonomic
status). He shows the unreliability of purely morphological characters
in unravelling phylogenetic relationships, and identifies some very
specific associations between parasites and their hosts. He shows
that the radiation of epitoniids on corals stems from a single, initial
transfer from sea anemones to true corals; the radiation is monophyletic,
and shows elements of co-evolution with the hosts.
The thesis shows a mature combination of rigorous analysis of molecular
data, of morphological characters, and of features of the natural
history of the species involved. There is a combination of highly
skilled laboratory analyses with excellent fieldwork. Three chapters
are already published in peer-reviewed journals, and the contribution
to the alpha taxonomy of the molluscan families involved is considerable.
Robert Cameron (on behalf of the Award Panel)