This is the seventh volume of a ten-volume series on The Natural History of the Crustacea. Chapters in this volume synthesize our current understanding of early crustacean development from the egg through the embryonic and larval phase. The first part of this book focuses on the elemental aspects of crustacean embryonic development. The second part of the book provides an account of the larval phase of crustaceans and describes processes that influence the development from hatching to an adult-like juvenile. The third and final part of the book explores ecological interactions during the planktonic phase and how crustacean larvae manage to find food, navigate the dynamic water column, and avoid predators in a medium that offers few refuges.

The nervous system is particularly fascinating for many biologists because it controls animal characteristics such as movement, behavior, and coordinated thinking. Invertebrate neurobiology has traditionally been studied in specific model organisms, whilst knowledge of the broad diversity of nervous system architecture and its evolution among metazoan animals has received less attention. This is the first major reference work in the field for 50 years, bringing together many leading evolutionary neurobiologists to review the most recent research on the structure of invertebrate nervous systems and provide a comprehensive and authoritative overview for a new generation of researchers. Presented in full colour throughout, Structure and Evolution of Invertebrate Nervous Systems synthesizes and illustrates the numerous new findings that have been made possible with light and electron microscopy. These include the recent introduction of new molecular and optical techniques such as immunohistochemical staining of neuron-specific antigens and fluorescence in-situ-hybridization, combined with visualization by confocal laser scanning microscopy. New approaches to analysing the structure of the nervous system are also included such as micro-computational tomography, cryo-soft X-ray tomography, and various 3-D visualization techniques. The book follows a systematic and phylogenetic structure, covering a broad range of taxa, interspersed with chapters focusing on selected topics in nervous system functioning which are presented as research highlights and perspectives. This comprehensive reference work will be an essential companion for graduate students and researchers alike in the fields of metazoan neurobiology, morphology, zoology, phylogeny and evolution.