Feeding experiments on Vittina turrita (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neritidae) reveal tooth contact areas and bent radular shape during foraging.

ABSTRACT: The radula is the food gathering and processing structure and one important autapomorphy of the Mollusca. It is composed of a chitinous membrane with small, embedded teeth representing the interface between the organism and its ingesta. In the past, various approaches aimed at connecting the tooth morphologies, which can be highly distinct even within single radulae, to their functionality. However, conclusions from the literature were mainly drawn from analyzing mounted radulae, even though the configuration of the radula during foraging is not necessarily the same as in mounted specimens. Thus, the truly interacting radular parts and teeth, including 3D architecture of this complex structure during foraging were not previously determined. Here we present an experimental approach on indiv

SUBMITTER: Krings W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8099886 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature