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Larva Morphology of Shore Flies Ephydra riparia and Paracoenia fumosa (Diptera: Ephydridae) and Adaptation of Diptera to Increased Salinity

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Abstract

Larvae of many shore fly species (family Ephydridae) are adapted to living in water with high or extremely high salinity. Little is known about the morphological and physiological foundations of such adaptation. We described the details of the morphology of third-instar larvae of two shore flies: Ephydra riparia and Paracoenia fumosa, and presented the images made using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For the first time, by silver-staining and SEM, we proved that the larvae of both studied species had anal organs (AO)— specialized structures that serve an osmoregulatory function and are responsible for the transport of ions from the environment to the larval hemolymph (but not in the opposite direction). We compared the larvae morphology of the studied species with some other shore fly species from the genera Ephydra, Paracoenia, Hydrellia, and Coenia, as well as with larvae of the model species Drosophila melanogaster (family Drosophilidae). Special attention was paid to the morphology of AO, which contribute to the adaptation of larvae to increased salinity. Extremely halophilic species either do not have AO, or they are poorly developed, while the moderately halophilic ephydrids have more developed features connected with the permeability of the AO cuticle and active ion transport. These features are most developed in freshwater shore flies. AO activity can vary due to the shape and area of the AO, the smoothness or wrinkling of the cuticle, and the presence of nano-pits on it. The described variability of the AO structure is probably adaptive since, at high salinity, both the permeability of the AO cuticle and the active transport of ions from the environment to the hemolymph become less useful or even harmful.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The scanning electron microscopy studies were conducted using the equipment of the Center of Microscopy on the White Sea Biological Station of Moscow State University, and Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The authors are grateful to Roman Anatolyevich Rakitov and Fedor Vasilievich Bolshakov for their assistance in working on the SEM, as well as Irina Arkadyevna Maximova for her assistance in collecting field material at the White Sea Biological Station of Moscow State University.

Funding

The study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 22-24-00227, https://rscf.ru/project/22-24-00156/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    E. Yu. Yakovleva, D. D. Sivunova & A. V. Markov

  2. Borisyak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    E. B. Naimark & A. V. Markov

  3. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Moscow, Russia

    M. G. Krivosheina

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  1. E. Yu. Yakovleva
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Correspondence to E. Yu. Yakovleva.

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Yakovleva, E.Y., Naimark, E.B., Sivunova, D.D. et al. Larva Morphology of Shore Flies Ephydra riparia and Paracoenia fumosa (Diptera: Ephydridae) and Adaptation of Diptera to Increased Salinity. Biol Bull Rev 14, 360–375 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079086424030101

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