Morphological and ecological adaptation of limpet-shaped top shells (Gastropoda: Trochidae: Fossarininae) to wave-swept rock reef habitats.

ABSTRACT: Flattening of coiled shells has occurred in several gastropod lineages, while the evolutionary process of shell flattening is little known. The subfamily Fossarininae of the top shell family (Trochidae) is unique, because it includes four genera at various stages of shell flattening. Broderipia and Roya, have zygomorphic shells that has lost coiling, while the sister genera, Fossarina and Synaptocochlea, have respectively turbiniform and auriform shells. Therefore, comparisons of biology, habitats and detailed morphology among these four genera may help us to detect selection pressure driving shell flattening and loss of coiling. Although Broderipia has recently been identified as living symbiotically in the pits of sea urchins, the habitats and biology of the other three Fossarininae spec

SUBMITTER: Yamamori L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6104932 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature