Invertebrates in endosymbiotic associations

Abstract

Endosymbiosis is a phenomenon of central importance to the biology of many invertebrate animals. Parasitic, commensal and mutualistic endosymbioses are widely distributed among invertebrate taxa, and have arguably played a major role in the evolution of several invertebrate families, classes and phyla. Sometimes accounting for as much as 50% of invertebrate volume or biomass, endosymbionts can profoundly affect the ecology, physiology, development and behavior of invertebrate hosts. Endosymbiosis raises a number of questions that are worth the serious, sustained attention of a broad range of invertebrate biologists. © 1992 by the American Society of Zoologists.