Evolution of diverse host infection mechanisms delineates an adaptive radiation of lampsiline freshwater mussels centered on their larval ecology.

ABSTRACT: North American watersheds contain a high diversity of freshwater mussels (Unionoida). During the long-lived, benthic phase of their life cycle, up to 40 species can co-occur in a single riffle and there is typically little evidence for major differences in their feeding ecology or microhabitat partitioning. In contrast, their brief parasitic larval phase involves the infection of a wide diversity of fish hosts and female mussels have evolved a spectrum of adaptations for infecting host fish with their offspring. Many species use a passive broadcast strategy: placing high numbers of larvae in the water column and relying on chance encounters with potential hosts. Many other species, including most members of the Lampsilini, have a proactive strategy that entails the use of prey-mimetic lure

SUBMITTER: Hewitt TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8603817 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature