Bioerosion in shells of modern Nautilus - Results from the investigation of live caught specimens
Seuß B, Wisshak M, Mapes RH, Landman N (2014)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Conference contribution, Abstract of lecture
Publication year: 2014
Event location: Zürich
Abstract
Over the past 20 years, Royal H. Mapes a nd colleagues caught specimens of the living Nautilus in various regions of the Southern Pacific Ocean. Many of these shells were encrusted by epiliths (foraminiferans, ostracods, goose barnacles). Additionally, the shells showed strong signs of bioerosion, i.e. numerous small irregular holes penetrating deep into the shell. Because bioerosion is a major factor in the degradation of carbonate skeletal material a study was carried out on four shells (one specimen of N. pompilius from Vanuatu, three specimens of N. macromphalus from New Caledonia) to investigate these holes in detail. The shells were broken into pieces and a set of epoxy resin casts was prepared for analyses with the scanning electron microscope.
The analyses revealed that the small holes are the openings of two, so far undescribed, microbioerosion traces which are most likely produced by naked foraminiferans. Traces of these foraminiferans commonly occur in dense clusters in the shell of up to many dozen individuals. Because these traces were not reported from other substrates before, we conclude, that these boring naked foraminiferans are host specific.
In addition to the two boring foraminiferans we found two further traces on the shells outside of Nautilus. These etchings derive from test-bearing foraminiferans, likely from some genera of the Rosalinidae. As of now, there is no indication that any of the foraminiferans, naked or with a test, were parasitic but instead they used the Nautilus shells as substrate to settle respectively to live in. Our study presents the first report on syn-vivo bioerosion in Nautilus shells and demonstrates that shell degradation in Nautilus already starts during lifetime of the cephalopod.
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APA:
Seuß, B., Wisshak, M., Mapes, R.H., & Landman, N. (2014). Bioerosion in shells of modern Nautilus - Results from the investigation of live caught specimens. Paper presentation at 9th International Symposium 'Cephalopods present and past, Zürich, CH.
MLA:
Seuß, Barbara, et al. "Bioerosion in shells of modern Nautilus - Results from the investigation of live caught specimens." Presented at 9th International Symposium 'Cephalopods present and past, Zürich 2014.
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