The biology and functional morphology of the Southeast Asian mangrove bivalve, Polymesoda (Geloina) erosa (Solander, 1786) (Bivalvia: Corbiculidae)

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Morton
Keyword(s):  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Alimentary Canal ◽  
Mantle Cavity ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Aerial Respiration ◽  
Morphological Adaptations ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
Mangrove Trees ◽  
Subterranean Water

The Southeast Asian mangrove is inhabited by a number of bivalves one of which, Polymesoda (Geloina) erosa (Solander, 1786), is widely distributed; it occurs on the landward fringe, in fetid pools of water formed at the bases of the mangrove trees. It is covered only by spring tides and at other times is inundated by rainwater draining through the mangrove from the land. G. erosa can withstand long periods of exposure, during which time it can use subterranean water contained in the burrow. Any particles present in this water are taken into the mantle cavity via the pedal gape and so into the alimentary canal. This is an extreme adaptation to a semiterrestrial mode of life. Aerial respiration is also achieved via the mantle margin.The functional morphology of G. erosa is described and related to the animal's life in the mangrove. The morphological adaptations of Geloina are also compared with those of other bivalves, particularly the Dreissenacea to which the Corbiculacea are possibly closely related.

A Note on the Habits and Nutrition of Solemya parkinsoni (Protobranchia: Bivalvia)

1961 ◽  
Vol s3-102 (57) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
G. OWEN
Keyword(s):  
Organic Material ◽  
Alimentary Canal ◽  
Spring Tide ◽  
Muscular Activity ◽  
Mantle Cavity ◽  
Animal Burrows ◽  
Water Spring

Adult specimens of Solemya parkinsoni Smith, embedded in mud at a depth of 50 cm or more, were collected near low water (spring tide). The animal burrows with the anterior end downwards and does not maintain an opening to the surface. An inhalant current is drawn into the mantle cavity anteriorly on each side of the foot, while an exhalant current leaves by the single, posteriorly situated aperture. This is probably a respiratory current, bottom material entering the mantle cavity as a result of the muscular activity of the mantle and foot. The course of the alimentary canal is described, and the problem of feeding and nutrition correlated with the extreme reduction of the gut exhibited by S.parkinsoni discussed. It is suggested that an initial breakdown of organic material may take place in the mantle cavity.

Iospilids (Polychaeta: Iospilidae) from the northwest Caribbean Sea, with observations on reproductive structures

Zootaxa ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1211 (1) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOLEDAD JIMÉNEZ-CUETO ◽  
EDUARDO SUÁREZ-MORALES ◽  
SERGIO I. SALAZAR-VALLEJO
Keyword(s):  
Caribbean Sea ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Reproductive Process ◽  
Morphological Variations ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
Morphological Adaptations ◽  
The Family ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
The Caribbean

Iospilids are a small, inconspicuous group of holopelagic polychaetes that dwell in the upper layers of tropical, temperate, and cold waters of the world. Representatives of this interesting and infrequent group were collected during four oceanographic cruises off the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, northwest Caribbean Sea. Three of the four species currently known in the family were recorded: Iospilus phalacroides Viguier, 1886, Phalacrophorus pictus Greeff, 1879, and P. uniformis Reibisch, 1895. The latter was the most common species in the area; it occurred during the four cruises and represented more than 92% of the total iospilid specimens caught; it was slightly more abundant in nighttime samples. New observations of reproduction-related morphological variations and sexual dimorphism are presented for P. uniformis. These may be regarded as morphological adaptations to the planktic mode of life thus favouring the efficiency of the reproductive process in the water column. These are the first records of the family Iospilidae in the Caribbean Basin. Revised generic and species diagnoses, taxonomic illustrations and notes, and an identification key are given here for the species recorded in the Caribbean.

Behavioural, physiological and morphological adaptations of the shanny (Blennius pholis) to the intertidal habitat

1982 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Laming ◽  
C. W. Funston ◽  
D. Roberts ◽  
M. J. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Locomotory Activity ◽  
Intertidal Habitat ◽  
Aerial Respiration ◽  
Morphological Adaptations ◽  
Transient Bradycardia ◽  
Cutaneous Respiration

Immersed shannies (Blennius pholis) showed peak locomotory activity coincident with daylight high tides. Emersion caused cessation of breathing and bradycardia though Q02 was little affected. Q02 fell, however, when the abdomen was enclosed in an impermeable sheath to block cutaneous respiration. Gulping of air into the extensively vascular oesophagus probably also acts as a means of aerial respiration. Reimmersion of fish caused a transient bradycardia followed by a tachycardia and a fall in Q02 followed subsequently by a rise. The results are discussed in relation to the behavioural, circulatory, respiratory and morphological adaptations of the shanny to the intertidal habitat.

Buoyancy and aerial respiration: factors influencing the evolution of reduced swim-bladder volume of some Central American catfishes (Trichomycteridae, Callichthyidae, Loricariidae, Astroblepidae)

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1030-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Gee
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
The Body ◽  
Central American ◽  
Bladder Volume ◽  
Swim Bladder ◽  
Partial Pressure Of Oxygen ◽  
Respiratory Organ ◽  
Aerial Respiration ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
Hypoxic Water

Swim-bladder volume of nine species of Central American catfishes from four families was measured and found to be very small. In seven species it supported less than 5% of the body weight in water. Seven of the nine species were found to breathe air and the volume of gas in the accessory respiratory organ varied between species, supporting from less than 5% to more than 80% of the body weight in water. In only one of these species was there gas in the accessory respiratory organ in both normoxic and hypoxic water and only in this species did the organ have a definite hydrostatic function. The remaining air-breathing species used aerial respiration only in hypoxic water and there were differences between species in frequency of gulping for air and in partial pressure of oxygen in the water at which gulping was initiated. The evolution of a reduced swim-bladder volume appears to have been in response to a demersal mode of life.

Geological and palaeontological information and phylogenetic hypotheses

1988 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. W. Campbell ◽  
R. E. Barwick
Keyword(s):  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Early Permian ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypothesis ◽  
Geological Data ◽  
Early Devonian ◽  
Aerial Respiration ◽  
Phylogenetic Relations ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
Physiological Characters

AbstractA number of workers have accepted the proposition that phylogenetic relations between extant organisms can be determined only by reference to the characters of those organisms. Palaeontological data, it is said, have not been useful for developing or refuting such hypotheses. This view may be tested by reference to the respiratory mechanisms of dipnoans (lungfishes) and amphibians. The structure of the heart, lungs, and circulatory systems has been used by various authors to support the view that these are sister groups. Geological data derived from stratigraphy, palaeoecology, taphonomy, geochemistry and functional morphology of primitive dipnoans is used herein to show that these organisms did not engage in aerial respiration. The first unequivocal evidence that dipnoans had become air breathers is from aestivation burrows in Early Permian rocks of the U.S.A. The Dipnoi must have evolved this capacity at some time between the Early Devonian, when the group became well established, and the Early Permian. Similarities between the respiratory systems of extant dipnoans and amphibians must be the result of convergence, or of the derivation of the Amphibia directly from the Dipnoi. The latter view is not currently accepted by any workers in the field. Thus data from the fossil record are used to demonstrate the invalid use of some neontological data for the development of a phylogenetic hypothesis. Classifications of extant organisms depending on putative shared–derived morphological or physiological characters that cannot be adequately tested for convergence by reference to fossils, must be regarded with due caution.

On certain Semi-carnivorous Anthomyid Larvae

Parasitology ◽  
1930 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Keilin ◽  
P. Tate
Keyword(s):  
Alimentary Canal ◽  
Body Wall ◽  
Anatomical Structure ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sensory Organs ◽  
Ventral Region ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
Ventral Wall

In previous papers one of us (Keilin, 1915, 1917) has shown that among cyclorrhaphous dipterous larvae there is a remarkable correlation between the anatomical structure of the larvae and their mode of life. Although the mode of life of the larvae is in correlation with such anatomical features as thickness and hardness of the body-wall, the development of sensory organs on the head, and the structure of the alimentary canal, it is in the bucco-pharyngeal armature that the most obvious and important adaptations are to be found. The most important of these adaptations may be mentioned briefly. In certain cyclorrhaphous dipterous larvae the ventral wall of the basal sclerite of the bucco-pharyngeal armature has a number of longitudinal ridges projecting into the lumen of the pharynx. These ridges are usually Y-shaped at their free borders, and form a series of longitudinal channels in the ventral region of the pharynx. In other cyclorrhaphous dipterous larvae such ridges are absent and the ventral wall of the pharynx is smooth. This character allows the larvae to be divided into two groups—“all cyclorrhaphous dipterous larvae parasitic on the most diverse animals or on plants, as well as carnivorous larvae, and larvae which suck the blood of mammals, never have ridges in their pharynx; on the contrary, ridges are always present in saprophagous larvae” (Keilin, 1915). All the larvae which are devoid of ridges and are either parasitic, carnivorous, pass their whole life in the uterus of the female, or are phytophagous, may be united into the group of biontophagous; all larvae which have ridges are saprophagous.

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