Montacuta phascolionis
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Montacuta phascolionis | ||||||||||||
| Dautzenberg & Fischer , 1925 |
Montacuta phascolionis is a type of mussel from the family of lentil mussels (Montacutidae). The species commensal with the injection worm Phascolion strombi , which in turn in empty enclosures of snails of the genera Apporhais and Turritella lives.
features
The equilateral, narrow (compressed) housing of the females is almost equilateral. It is up to four millimeters long. It is elongated elliptical in outline. The dorsal margins drop almost equally to the posterior and anterior end. The front and rear edges are rounded, the ventral edge is almost straight or even slightly concave. The inner edge is smooth. The internal ligament sits on a flat resilifer below and behind the vertebrae. The lock has a small front tooth in the right and left flaps. The surface line is whole, the muscle impressions are indistinct. The males are dwarf males that only have a housing in the form of the Prodissoconch and are only 400 µm long. But there are also males that develop further with a housing length of two to three millimeters.
The white shell is thin and thickly encrusted with rust-colored iron compounds. The ornamentation consists of fine growth strips parallel to the edge, somewhat coarser growth interruptions and radial, linear inclusions in the shell.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The distribution area extends from the Mediterranean to southern England and the Celtic Sea . The habitat ranges from the sublittoral , over the flat shelf to about the shelf edge (200 m).
The species commensal with the injection worm Phascolion strombi , which in turn in empty enclosures of snails of the genera Apporhais and Turritella lives.
The animals are protandric hermaphrodites, occasionally dwarf males also occur, i.e. H. Specimens that have not evolved into females. They only have about three gill filaments and a digestive tract, but the ends of which are closed, i.e. that is, they can no longer feed themselves. For this, the tests are well developed and very large. They live in the female's mantle cavity. The males, which continue to develop, change their sex from a size of two to three millimeters. Bag-like structures (175 ± 210 µm long and 125 ± 140 µm high) between the kidneys and the rear part of the ovary are sperm depots that allow females to fertilize eggs at a convenient time.
Taxonomy
The taxon was established in 1925 by Philippe Dautzenberg and Paul Henri Fischer . It is the type species of Phascoliophila (Nordsieck, 1969), which is regarded as a synonym of Montacuta .
supporting documents
literature
- John D. Gage: Mode of life and behavior of Montacuta phascolionis, a bivalve commensal with the sipunculan Phascolion strombi. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 59 (3): 635-657, 1979 doi : 10.1017 / S0025315400045653
- C. Delongueville, R. Scaillet: Observation de Montacuta phascolionis Dautzenberg & Fischer H. 1925 dans Ocenebra erinaceus (Linnaeus, 1758) à Estepona. Novapex (Jodoigne) Société 12 (1): 9-10, Brussels 2011 ISSN 1375-7474 PDF
On-line
Individual evidence
- ^ Philippe Dautzenberg, Paul-Henri Fischer: Les mollusques marins du Finistère et en particulier de la région de Roscoff. 180 p., Les Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1925.
- ↑ MolluscaBase: Montacuta phascolionis Dautzenberg & Fischer, 1925