Deutsch

My main research interest is the evolution and the morphological development of Cephalopoda. For this purpose, I examine extant and fossil cephalopods and compare their morphology. For the examination of the ontogenetic development, I compare the morphology of cephalopodan paralarvae and adults.

One part of my research deals with the diverse morphology of cephalopods. In the literature, the differences between paralarvae and adult cephalopods are usually claimed to be minor. However, during preliminary studies I already found considerable differences between different developmental stages, e.g., concerning the general body organisation. Also the morphological diversity between different paralarvae is large, not only between eight-armed (e.g., Octopus) and ten-armed forms (e.g., Sepia), but also between the different species within each group. With further investigations I will be able to give a broad overview over the diverse development patterns within Cephalopoda and their evolution.

To examine the specimens, I use autofluorescence microscopy. With this up-to-date imaging technique it is possible to achieve highly contrasted and well-illuminated images which show every detail, even of the smallest paralarvae.

Grants:

07/2014: Lehre@LMU award for student research projects (1000 €)

Publications:

Metz, M., Haug, C. & Haug, J. T. 2015. Autofluorescence microscopy as a method for the documentation of cephalopod paralarvae and juveniles. Ruthenica 25, 105–116. Free access PDF