Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
Abstract
The morphology and anatomy of Vitularia salebrosa, a muricid ectoparasitic on other mollusks, are investigated based on study of specimens from western Panama. Distinctive characters of this species include the small size of the buccal mass and radular apparatus, simplification of the odontophore muscles and diminished lateral teeth of the radula; an elongated, narrow proboscis; narrow digestive tract and a differentiable glandular region at the beginning of the posterior esophagus. These traits are consistent with adaptive specialization for an ectoparasitic life history
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
The Nautilus, v. 123, issue 3, p. 137-147
Scholar Commons Citation
Simone, Luiz R. L.; Herbert, Gregory S.; and Merle, Didier, "Unusual Anatomy of the Ectoparasitic Muricid Vitularia salebrosa (King and Broderip, 1832) (Neogastropoda: Muricidae) from the Pacific Coast of Panama" (2009). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 1579.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/1579
