TI: The mode of life and functional morphology of Gregariella coralliophaga (Gmelin 1791) (Bivalvia: Mytilacea) with a discussion on the evolution of the boring Lithophaginae and adaptive radiation in the Mytilidae.

AU: Morton,-B.

CO: 1. Int. Marine Biological Workshop, Hong Kong (Hong Kong), 18 Apr 1980

SO: THE-MARINE-FLORA-AND-FAUNA-OF-HONG-KONG-AND-SOUTHERN-CHINA.-VOLUME-2:-ECOLOGY,-MORPHOLOGY,-BEHAVIOUR-AND-PHYSIOLOGY. Morton,-B.;Tseng,-C.K.-eds. 1982. no. 1 pp. 875-895

LA: English

AB: G. coralliophaga occupies the vacated bore holes of Lithophaga in dead coral blocks to which it is byssally attached but also weaves a matted byssal cocoon around the posterior regions of the shell. Its morphology is described in detail. The evolution of the Lithophaginae can be traced from a burrowing, nest-building ancestor that assumed a nestling, epifaunal mode of life, the ventral pallial glands, initially secreting a mucus to bind the nest into a cocoon, being modified for chemical boring. In this sequence Gregariella is a clear evolutionary link. A picture of the adaptive radiation in the Mytilidae as a whole thus becomes clearer. For the first time, in Gregariella , an acceptable ancestral model for the Lithophaginae is established.