In recent years, a variety of animals have been found which are able to synthesize the ferromagnetic mineral magnetite (Fe 3 O 4). Lowenstam (1962) originally recognized biogenic magnetite in the radular teeth of a primitive marine mollusc, the chiton (Polyplacophora), and since then it has been identified as a precipitate in several magnetically sensitive organisms, including honey bees also r...

35 36 The rock type of hard-substrata marine habitats can affect numerous benthic invertebrates, but 37 little is known of the effects on molluscan assemblages, for example, the chitons often found 38 under intertidal boulders. We compared chiton assemblage composition, abundance, species 39 richness, and patterns of frequency distribution in ten boulder-fields containing either hard 40 metamor...

Polyplacophorans, or chitons, are an important group of molluscs, which are argued to have retained many plesiomorphic features of the molluscan body plan. Polyplacophoran trochophore larvae posses several features that are distinctly different from those of their sister trochozoan taxa, including modifications of the ciliated prototrochal cells, the postrochal position of the larval eyes or oc...

A more detailed study of' peculiar' Golgi structure in this organism has been attempted than in any similar species, using modern fixation methods. Where comparisons are possible there is close resemblance to the related genus Prymnesium, to a degree sufficient to suggest that this particular type of Golgi system is likely to be a major phyletic indicator for the class Haptophyceae. Certain sta...

A common feature of the outer layer of biological exoskeletons is structural anisotropy, which has been hypothesized to direct crack propagation, stress and energy dissipation into the underlying more ductile layers, as well as reduce interfacial stresses and mitigate delamination. This study applied focused ion beam (FIB) annular milling to the outer ganoine layer of the mineralized scales of ...