The development of the crustacean nervous system

In recent years, there has been a strong resurgence of interest in using a comparative approach to developmental biology to address fundamental problems in evolution. New approaches and techniques have yielded insights into long-standing questions such as the phylogenetic relationships between different animal groups and the genetic basis for morphological diversity. Nervous systems represent favorable material for such an approach, as they possess a convenient balance of evolutionary conservatism versus diversity. Recent advances in our understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms of neural development in a variety of animal groups have underpinned this comparative analysis. While our knowledge of mechanisms for neural development within the Arthropoda is dominated by the Insecta, and particularly the fruit-fly Drosophila melanogaster , there is an increasing amount of information from other arthropod groups, including the Crustacea. In this article, I will review our knowledge of neural development in Crustacea from the standpoint of insights that can be gained into evolutionary processes. Emphasis will therefore be given to those aspects of neural development that provide the opportunity for comparison between different crustacean groups or with other arthropods.