More than seventy percent of the earth's surface is covered by ocean - the home to a staggering and sometimes overwhelming diversity of organisms, a majority of which reside in pelagic form. Marine invertebrate larvae are an integral part of this pelagic diversity and have stimulated the curiosity of researchers for centuries. This book will provide an important, modern update on the topic of larval ecology, representing the first major synthesis of this interdisciplinary field for more than 20 years. The content will be structured around four major areas: evolutionary origins and transitions in developmental mode; functional morphology and ecology of larval forms; larval transport, settlement, and metamorphosis; climate change and larval ecology at the extremes. This novel synthesis will integrate traditional larval ecology with life history theory, evolutionary developmental biology, and modern genomics research.

About the Author:
Tyler Carrier, Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA, Adam Reitzel, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA, Andreas Heyland, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Canada

Tyler Carrier is an NSF Gradate Research Fellow and Ph.D. student in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his B.S. from the University of Maine in 2015, was a visiting research scholar at Brown University that summer, and began his Ph.D. that fall. His research interests are in how oceanographic phenomena shape evolution in the sea with an emphasis on marine invertebrate larvae, as well as host-microbiota partnerships and how these relationships promote evolutionary innovation. He has been the recipient of a number of competitive nation grants, and has published four peer-reviewed papers in international journals.

Adam Reitzel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Reitzel's research combines comparative development, physiology, and gene expression to determine mechanisms mediating organism-environment interactions. He obtained his M.Sc. degree from the University of Florida in 2002, a Ph.D. from Boston University in 2008, and was a postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Dr. Reitzel has published more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and organized various meetings and symposia. Dr. Reitzel has received funding from federal (NSF, NIH) and international (Human Frontiers) agencies in support of his research program.

Andreas Heyland is Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph. Dr. Heyland is interested in understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying marine invertebrate life histories. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in Zoology from the University of Zurich, a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Florida in 2004, and between 2004 and 2007 trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Leonid Moroz at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences. Dr. Heyland has published more than 44 peer reviewed scientific articles in international journals such as BioEssays, Evolution, Evolution & Development, Nature, and Cell. He co-edited the book: "Mechanisms of Life History Evolution" with Thomas Flatt. He is regularly invited to speak at Universities and conferences and to review journal articles and grant proposals.