Arenophilic mantle glands in the Laternulidae (Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata) and their evolutionary significance |
| |
Authors: | André Fernando Sartori Flávio Dias Passos Osmar Domaneschi |
| |
Institution: | Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK;;Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 11461, CEP: 05422-970, São Paulo (SP), Brazil |
| |
Abstract: | The mantle margins of several anomalodesmatans bear multicellular arenophilic glands, the mucoid secretions of which attach sand grains and other foreign particles to the outer surface of the periostracum. These glands have been recorded for many of the anomalodesmatan families and are used as a key morphological character in recent attempts to unravel the evolutionary relationships within the Anomalodesmata. The glands occur in Laternula elliptica, L. truncata, L. boschasina and L. marilina, discharging from the top of muscular papillae at the distal tip of the siphons. The secretions are laid down as threads organized in longitudinal lines along the length of the periostracum that covers the siphonal walls. This is the first record of arenophilic mantle glands in members of the Laternulidae, a finding that not only broadens our current knowledge of the family's morphology, but assists in the reconstruction of anomalodesmatan evolutionary history. |
| |
Keywords: | Laternula sediment attachment siphons periostracum |
|
|