The persistent and ubiquitous environmental contaminant, tributyltin chloride (TBT), induces not only imposex in gastropods but also the differentiation of adipocytes in vitro and increases adipose mass in vivo in vertebrates. TBT is a nanomolar affinity ligand for retinoid X receptor (RXR) in the rock shell (Thais clavigera) and for both the RXR and the peroxisome proliferator activated recept...

Phylogenetic relationships among higher clades of pulmonate gastropods are reconstructed based on a data set including one nuclear marker (complete ribosomal 18S) and two mitochondrial markers (partial ribosomal 16S and Cytochrome oxidase I) for a total of 96 species. Sequences for 66 of these species are new to science, with a special emphasis on sampling the Ellobiidae, Onchidiidae, and Veron...

-During the Ordovician Radiation, domination of benthic marine communities shifted away from trilobites, toward articulate brachiopods, and, to a lesser degree, toward bivalves and gastropods. In this paper, we identify the patterns in origination and extinction probabilities that gave rise to these transitions. Using methods adapted from capture-mark-recapture (CMR) population studies, we esti...

All stingrays in the family Myliobatidae are durophagous, consuming bivalves and gastropods, as well as decapod crustaceans. Durophagous rays have rigid jaws, flat teeth that interlock to form pavement-like tooth plates, and large muscles that generate bite forces capable of fracturing stiff biological composites (e.g. mollusk shell). The relative proportion of different prey types in the diet ...

Molluscs fabricate shells of incredible diversity and complexity by localized secretions from the dorsal epithelium of the mantle. Although distantly related molluscs express remarkably different secreted gene products, it remains unclear if the evolution of shell structure and pattern is underpinned by the differential co-option of conserved genes or the integration of lineage-specific genes i...

Since sponges, as typical filter-feeders, are exposed to a high load of attacking prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, they are armed with a wide arsenal of antimicrobial/cytostatic low-molecular-weight, non-proteinaceous bioactive compounds. Here we present the first sponge agent belonging to the group of ASABF-type antimicrobial peptides. The ASABF gene was identified and cloned from the dem...

1. In mo9t isolated gastropod nervous systems, presumed feeding motor patterns are thought to be represented by the alternating motor activity in buccal roots, which underlies rhythmic radula movement. Since this movement accompanies several types of behaviour in the gastropod Pleurobranchaea (McClellan, 1979, 1980, 1982), the presumed feeding motor activity in the isolated nervous system of th...

The occurrence of trematodes within the gastropod Hydrobia ulvae was studied in two areas (a Zostera noltii bed and a eutrophic area) in the Mondego Estuary, Portugal. The aim was to assess trematode infections across snail age classes, as well as to investigate any influence of parasitism on the shell shape and size of these gastropods. In the Z. noltii bed, infection occurred in snails with s...