Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Functional morphology and phylogeny of the rock-boring bivalves Leiosolenus and Lithophaga (Bivalvia: Mytilidae): a third functional clade

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The functional morphology of the shell of rock-boring mytilids (especially Leiosolenus and Lithophaga) is analyzed and compared with that of several epifaunal and semi-infaunal mytilids. Semi-infaunal species are generally intermediate between epifaunal and rock-boring ones both in terms of shell form and the magnitude of forces pulling the shells against the substratum. A molecular phylogenetic analyses using 18s rDNA sequence data strongly suggests that Leiosolenus and Lithophaga are monophyletic genera but that the so-called Lithophaginae (or Leiosolenus plus Lithophaga) is a paraphyletic group. The common cylindrical shell form of rock-boring species, which is here called “lithophagiform” as a third functional mytilid clade, may be due to convergence, as is the case with ‘mytiliform’ and ‘modioliform’.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barthel KW (1982) Lithophaga obesa (Philippi) reef-dwelling and cementing pelecypod—a survey of its boring. In: Proceedings of the 4th international coral reef symposium, Manila, 1981, vol 2, pp 649–659

  • Brickner I, Kramarsky-Winter E, Mokady O, Loya Y (1993) Speciation in the coral-boring bivalve Lithophaga purpurea: evidence from ecological, biochemical and SEM analysis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 101:139–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell DC (2000) Molecular evidence on the evolution of the Bivalvia. In: Harper EM, Taylor JD, Crame JA (eds) Evolutionary biology of the Bivalvia. Geological Society, London, pp 31–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Distel DL (2000) Phylogenetic relationships among Mytilidae (Bivalvia): 18s rRNA data suggest convergence in mytilid body plans. Mol Phylogenet Evol 15(1):25–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frischer M, Williams J, Kenchington E (1998) A molecular phylogeny of some major groups of Pectinidae inferred from 18S rRNA gene sequences. In: Johnston PA, Haggart JW (eds) Bivalves: an eon of evolution—paleobiological studies honoring Norman D. Newell University of Calgary Press, Calgary, pp 213–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Habe T (1977) Systematics of Mollusca in Japan. Bivalvia and Scaphopoda. Hokuryukan, Tokyo (in Japanese)

  • Hodgkin NM (1962) Limestone boring by the mytilid Lithophaga. Veliger 4:123–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenchington E, Naidu KS, Roddick DL, Cook DI, Zouros E (1993) Use of biochemical genetic markers to discriminate between adductor muscle of the sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) and the iceland scallop (Chlamys islandica). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 50(6):1222–1228

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kenchington E, Landry D, Bird CJ (1995) Comparison of taxa of the mussel Mytilus (Bivalvia) by analysis of the nuclear small-subunit RNA gene sequence. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 52:2613–2620

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kleemann K (1980) Boring bivalves and their host corals from the Great Barrier Reef. J Moll Stud 46:13–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleemann K (1984) Lithophaga (Bivalvia) from dead coral from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. J Moll Stud 50:192–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleemann K (1990) Evolution of chemically-boring Mytilidae (Bivalvia). In: Morton B (ed) The Bivalvia: proc memorial symp Sir Yonge CM, Edinburgh 1986. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, pp 111–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleemann K (1996) Biocorrosion by bivalves. Mar Ecol 17(1–3):145–158

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Medlin L, Elwood HJ, Stickel S, Sogin ML (1988) The characterization of enzymatically amplified eukaryotic 16S-like rRNA-coding regions. Gene 71:491–499

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mokady O, Rozenblatt S, Graur D, Loya Y (1994) Coral-host specificity of Red Sea Lithophaga bivalves: interspecific and intraspecific variation in 12S mitochondrial ribosomal RNA. Mol Mar Biol Biotechnol 3(3):158–164

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morton B (1983) Coral-associated bivalves of the Indo-Pacific. In: Wilbur KM (ed) The Mollusca, vol 6, Ecology. Academic, Orlando, pp 139–224

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Morton B (1990) Corals and their bivalve bores—the evolution of a symbiosis. In: Morton B (ed) The Bivalvia: proc memorial symp Sir Yonge CM, Edinburgh 1986. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, pp 11–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton B (1992) The evolution and success of the heteromyarian form in the Mytiloida. In: Gosling E (ed) The mussel Mytilus: ecology, physiology, genetics and culture. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 21–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton B (1993) How the ‘forceps’ of Lithophaga aristata (Bivalvia: Mytiloidea) are formed. J Zool Lond 229:609–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morton B, Scott PJB (1980) Morphological and functional specializations of the shell, musculature and pallial glands in the Lithophaginae (Mollusca: Bivalvia). J Zool Lond 192:179–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulvany MJ, Warshaw DM (1979) The active tension-length curve of vascular smooth muscle related to its cellular components. J Gen Physiol 74:85–104

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Newell ND (1969) Subclass Pteriomorphia Beurlen, 1944. In: Moore RC (ed) Treatise on invertebrate paleontology, Part N, vol 1, Mollusca 6, Bivalvia. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, pp N248–N393

  • Posoda D, Crandall KA (1998) Modeltest: testing the model of DNA substitution. Bioinformatics 14(9):817–818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savazzi E (1999) Boring, nesting and tube-dwelling bivalves. In: Savazzi E (ed) Functional morphology of the invertebrate skeleton. Wiley, England, pp 205–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Soliman GN (1969) Ecological aspects of some coral-boring gastropods and bivalves of the Northwestern Red Sea. Am Zool 9:887–894

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanley SM (1970) Relation of shell form to life habits of the Bivalvia (Mollusca). Geological Society of America

  • Stanley SM (1972) Functional morphology and evolution of byssally attached bivalve mollusks. J Paleontol 46:165–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner G, Müller M (1996) What can 18S rDNA do for bivalve phylogeny? J Mol Evol 43:58–70

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sugi H, Tsuchiya T (1979) The change in the load-sustaining ability and in the series elasticity in Mytilus smooth muscle during isotonic shortening. J Physiol 288:635–648

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Swofford DL (1997) PAUP* 4.0 (phylogenetic analysis using parsimony). Sinauer, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson JD, Gibson TJ, Plewniak F, Jeanmougin F, Higgins DG (1997) The Clustal X windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools. Nucleic Acids Res 24:4876–4882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson BR (1979) A revision of Queensland lithophagine mussels (Bivalvia, Mytilidae, Lithophaginae). Rec Aust Mus 32:435–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson BR, Tait R (1984) Systematics, anatomy and boring mechanisms of the rock-boring mytilid bivalve Botula. Proc R Soc Vict 96(3):113–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Yonge CM (1955) Adaptations to rock boring in Botula and Lithophaga (Lamellibranchia, Mytilidae) with a discussion on the evolution of this habit. Q J Microsc Sci 96:383–410

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I especially thank Prof. Itaru Hayami for advice and supervision during the course of this work and his critical review of this manuscript. I am also grateful to Prof. Ken’ichi Kanazawa (Kanagawa University) for valuable comments and thoughtful improvement to this manuscript. I am appreciative of suggestions by Dr. Norihiko Sakakura for shell measurements and the advice of Dr. Masahiro Matsumoto for phylogenetic analyses. I am indebted to Prof. Akiya Hino (Kanagawa University) for DNA sequencing experiments. I also thank three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. This work was supported by the Fujiwara Natural History Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Kanagawa University, 2946 Tsuchiya, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Japan

    Masato Owada

Authors
  1. Masato Owada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masato Owada.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Owada, M. Functional morphology and phylogeny of the rock-boring bivalves Leiosolenus and Lithophaga (Bivalvia: Mytilidae): a third functional clade. Mar Biol 150, 853–860 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0409-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0409-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation