Environment-specific shell shape variation in the boring mytilid Leiosolenus patagonicus

ABSTRACT

Environmental conditions induce phenotypic responses (behavioural, morphological and physiological) in many marine species. The boring mytilid Leiosolenus patagonicus inhabits different types of substrata, such as sandstone intertidal and hard subtidal substrata (here called ‘lifeless-substratum’) and shells of bivalve species (here called ‘live-substratum’), where they are exposed to different restrictions in their growth. We used geometric morphometric methods to compare the contour shell shapes from each type of substratum (live and lifeless) since we expected the body shape to differ between individuals from these different substrata. The results showed that the shell shape depends on the type of substratum where the larvae recruit. The mean shell shapes of individuals from the live-substratum are more slender than those of the individuals growing inside the lifeless-substratum. Individuals from live-substratum can adapt their phenotype depending on the oyster’s anti-parasitism responses, while in lifeless-substratum they are able to build their own refuges.

RESPONSIBLE EDITOR:

• Rachel Collin

KEYWORDS:

• Bivalve
• geometric morphometrics
• intertidal
• Patagonia
• substrata
• subtidal

Acknowledgements

The fieldwork was conducted in a Protected Natural Area of Chubut Province with permits from the Secretaría de Turismo y Areas Protegidas.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Federico Márquez http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1613-9627

Additional information

Funding

Financial support was provided by ANPCyT, PICT 2013–2582 (NV) and PICT 3696 (FM). This is publication #80 of the Laboratorio de Reproducción y Biología Integrativa de Invertebrados Marinos (LARBIM).