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Biology and functional morphology of the pallial organs of the Antarctic bivalve Mysella charcoti (Lamy, 1906) (Galeommatoidea: Lasaeidae)

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Abstract

Mysella charcoti is an Antarctic lasaeid bivalve and the most frequently encountered mollusc in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetlands. The behaviour of the species in aquaria, combined with analyses of the gross and microscopic morphologies and functioning of the organs in the mantle cavity of living and preserved specimens have allowed an understanding of important aspects of its biology. The role of the foot and its ciliature during the processes of dislodgement and burrowing within the sediment are described. The species is a free-living, shallow-burrower, with a predominantly deposit-feeding habit and derives part of its food from the labile settled organic deposits carried into the mantle cavity by the anterior–posterior current of water. Pedal sweep-feeding was not detected. M. charcoti is the first known lasaeid with ctenidia formed of the descending lamellae of the inner demibranchs only, a feature probably related to its highly specialised brooding habit.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out within the Brazilian Antarctic Programme (PROANTAR), with financial and logistic support provided by the CNPq, SECIRM, the Brazilian Navy and Brazilian Air Force; it was also supported by scholarships of FAPESP and of “Pós-Graduação, Área Zoologia, IBUSP”. Our thanks are due to E. Mattos (IBUSP), M.Sc. W. Caldeira (IBUSP) and L. M. Guimarães (MZUSP), who provided assistance in the techniques of microscopy; Dr. G. L. C. Meserani and Dr. J. R. M. C. da Silva (USP) for their help and encouragement in field and laboratory studies; Dr. P. Bouchet, Dr. V. Héros and Dr. P. Maestrati (MNHN) for loan of the syntype of M. charcoti; and to Dr. I. D. da Silva Neto (UFRJ) for his help in the identification of the commensal ciliates. Special acknowledgements are to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the text.

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  1. Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 11461, 05422-970, São Paulo (SP), Brazil

    Flávio Dias Passos, Osmar Domaneschi & André Fernando Sartori

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  1. Flávio Dias Passos
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Correspondence to Flávio Dias Passos.

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Passos, F.D., Domaneschi, O. & Sartori, A.F. Biology and functional morphology of the pallial organs of the Antarctic bivalve Mysella charcoti (Lamy, 1906) (Galeommatoidea: Lasaeidae). Polar Biol 28, 372–380 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0702-5

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