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Tube microstructure and formation in some feather duster worms (Polychaeta, Sabellidae)

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Abstract

Species of the sabellid polychaete genera Anamobaea, and Notaulax, are some of the most attractive sabellid polychaetes from coral reef areas due to their large colorful radiolar crowns. Tube microstructures of Anamobaea orstedi, Notaulax tenuitorques, and Notaulax sp. nov. are described. The studied sabellid tubes have three different types of microstructure. Most simple is irregular mesh microstructure which is composed of thin, long, and variously curved fibers of somewhat chaotic orientation (Notaulax tenuitorques). The irregular mesh microstructure could be plesiomorphic among sabellid tube structures. Oriented fibers in homogeneous matrix microstructure involves some kind of chemical control mechanisms that asserts the same orientation of all fibers (Notaulax sp. nov.). Anamobaea orstedi shows the most advanced pattern, a regular plywood structure, which is composed of thin subparallel or parallel to each other fibers that have different orientation in adjacent lamellae. Regular plywood structure has apparently greatest strength among organic tube structures of sabellids combined with good flexibility. Organic sabellid tube microstructures are likely species specific and have a taxonomic value.

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Acknowledgements

Photograph 1A was shared by Humberto Bahena Basave and specimens from Veracruz were kindly sampled and proportionated by Isabel Molina, Tulio Villalobos-Guerrero, Sergio I. Salazar-Vallejo and Luis F. Carrera-Parra (El Colegio de la Frontera Sur). We are grateful to the journal editor Antonio G. Checa for corrections to the manuscript. We are also grateful to Liz Harper and an anonymous reviewer for the constructive comments on the manuscript.

Funding

Financial support to O. V. was provided by the Estonian Research Council project IUT20-34.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Ravila 14ª, 50411, Tartu, Estonia

    Olev Vinn

  2. Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Będzińska 60, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Michał Zatoń

  3. Laboratorio de Biosistemática, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico

    María Ana Tovar-Hernández

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  1. Olev Vinn
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  2. Michał Zatoń
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Correspondence to Olev Vinn.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human/animal rights statement

All applicable national, state, and University of Tartu guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Only invertebrates were used in this study.

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Responsible Editor: A. G. Checa.

Reviewed by E. Harper and an undisclosed expert.

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Vinn, O., Zatoń, M. & Tovar-Hernández, M.A. Tube microstructure and formation in some feather duster worms (Polychaeta, Sabellidae). Mar Biol 165, 98 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3357-4

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