Developmental stability as the primary function of the pigmentation patterns in bivalve shells?
Bauchau, V. (2001). Developmental stability as the primary function of the pigmentation patterns in bivalve shells? Belg. J. Zool. 131(Suppl. 2): 23-28
In: Belgian Journal of Zoology. Koninklijke Belgische Vereniging voor Dierkunde = Société royale zoologique de Belgique: Gent. ISSN 0777-6276; e-ISSN 2295-0451
Also appears in:
Schockaert, E.R. (Ed.) (2001). Proceedings of the 8th Benelux congress of zoology, Brussels, 24-25 November 2000. Belgian Journal of Zoology, 131(Suppl. 2). Koninklijke Belgische Vereniging voor Dierkunde = Société royale zoologique de Belgique: Brussel. 126 pp., more
Most bivalve shells (and other seashells) display complex and highly diverse pigmentation patterns. Crypsis, however, can only explain the presence of complex pigmentation in a few specialised species. Many species live under the sediment and/or their shells are covered by an opaque periostracum. The primary function of the pigmentation patterns, if any, remains a puzzle. I propose here that the pigmentation is intimately associated with the regulation of the growth of the shell to achieve developmental stability. More specifically, I suggest that the pigmentation pattern creates heterogeneity along the shell margin (and incidentally on the rest of the shell) in order to allow the (richly innervated) mantle to position and regulate its shellgrowing activity.
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