Global diversity of Y-larvae - A 100+ year old enigma in marine biology

Can it really be true that there exist larvae in the marine environment for which the adult forms remain completely unknown and species numbers largely unexplored? That is indeed the case with the "Y-larvae"! They are crustacean larvae, known for more than 100 years and found in oceans all over the world and sometimes with a surprisingly high diversity. Until now attempts to characterize y-larvae species have largely failed. We have developed a pipeline for studying microscopic y-larvae at megadiverse localities and will (1) triple the number of described species known worldwide, (2) develop a global molecular framework for y-larvae, (3) update "y-larvae" taxonomy to a modern classification, and (4) produce well-illustrated monographs for easier ID of "y-larvae".