Maikon Di Domenico (Universidade Federal do Paraná)
The meiofauna evolution and morphology variability of populations and communities have traditionally focused on studying morphology and adaptation. Conversely, meiobenthologists are lagging behind in these areas of research. Both historically and today, some of the most discussed paradigms in meiofauna are "Meiofauna paradox", "Meiofauna ubiquity", and "Is everything small everywhere?", which may actually reflect either the absence of general patterns, or endemic species or the lack of a feasible meiofauna definition. As a result through phylogenetics, understanding convergent adaptation as small body sizes, wormy behavior, and the presence and function of adhesive glands demands the implementation of comparative phylogenetic methods such as gene expression and genetic differentiation in adaptation. Integrative networks using phylogenetics, morphology, systematics, and ecology will bring new avenues of questions for marine metazoan evolution.