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Commensalism between a boring mytilid bivalve and a soft bottom coral in the Upper Eocene of northern Italy

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Kurzfassung

Die mytilide MuschelBotula cordata (Lamarck) aus dem Oberen Eozän von Venezien (N-Italien) bohrteinlebenden Weichboden-Korallen, welche auf die Anbohrung durch Bildung einer kalkigen interseptalen Füllung um das Bohrloch reagierten. Aus dem Vorhandensein von »Ätzmarken« an den Bohrloch-Wänden wird auf einen chemischen Ätz-Mechanismus geschlossen. Durch die Vergesellschaftung mit freiliegenden Korallen, die in der Lage sind, Sediment-Eindeckung oder zufällige Umorientierung wieder auszugleichen, erhöhte sich das Überlebens-Potential der Muschel innerhalb eines Weichboden-Lithotops. Kommensalismus mit Weichboden-Korallen scheint sich mindestens dreimal konvergent innerhalb der Mytilidae entwickelt zu haben, ist aber in anderen Muschelgruppen unbekannt.

Abstract

The mytilid bivalveBotula cordata (Lamarck) from the Upper Eocene of the Venetian region, northern Italy, bored into live soft bottom corals, which reacted by forming a calcareous interseptal filling around the borehole. A chemical etching mechanism is inferred from the presence of “etch marks” on the borehole walls. The association with free-living corals capable of counteracting burial by sedimentation or accidental overturning enhanced the survival potential of the bivalve on the soft bottoms. Commensalism with soft bottom corals appears to have evolved convergently at least three times within the Mytilidae, but is unknown among other bivalves.

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  1. Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Sigwartstraße 10, D-7400, Tübingen, West Germany

    Enrico Savazzi

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Savazzi, E. Commensalism between a boring mytilid bivalve and a soft bottom coral in the Upper Eocene of northern Italy. Paläont. Z. 56, 165–175 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988796

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