A preliminary study of iron isotope fractionation in marine invertebrates (chitons, Mollusca) in near-shore environments

2022

Preprint

The molluscan phylum is the second specious animal group inhabiting various habitats and feeding on a variety of food sources. The latter is enabled by the radula, a small chitinous membrane with embedded teeth, one important molluscan autapomorphy. Between species, radulae can vary in their morphology, mechanical, and chemical properties. With regard to radular chemical composition, some taxa (Polyplacophora and Patellogastropoda) were studied extensively in the past decades, due to their specificity to incorporate high proportions of iron, calcium, and silicon. There is, however, a huge lack of knowledge about radular chemical composition in other molluscan taxa. The work presented here aims at shedding light on the radular chemistry by performing energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses on overall 24 molluscan species, thereof two Polyplacophora, two Cephalopoda, and 20 Gastropoda. The elements, which are not part of chitin, and their proportions were documented for overall 1448 individual, mature teeth and hypotheses about potential biomineralizations types were proposed. The here presented work additionally comprises a detailed record on past studies about the chemical composition of molluscan teeth, which is an important basis for further investigation of the radular chemistry. The found disparity in elements detected, in their distribution and proportions highlights the diversity of evolutionary solutions, as it depicts multiple biomineralization types present within Mollusca.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The molluscs’ periodic table: Elemental analysis reveals distinct mineralization patterns in radular teeth

2022

Preprint

“…Many of these analyses focused on the Fe biomineralization and the phase transformations during maturation [e.g. 23 , 29 , 81 – 89 ]. Overall, in previous studies F, Na, Mg, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe, and Cu was detected in the dominant lateral teeth (= lateral teeth II) of Polyplacophora.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elemental analyses reveal distinct mineralization patterns in radular teeth of various molluscan taxa

2022

Sci Rep

The molluscan phylum is the second specious animal group with its taxa feeding on a variety of food sources. This is enabled by the radula, a chitinous membrane with embedded teeth, one important autapomorphy. Between species, radulae can vary in their morphology, mechanical, and chemical properties. With regard to chemical composition, some taxa (Polyplacophora and Patellogastropoda) were studied extensively in the past decades, due to their specificity to incorporate high proportions of iron, calcium, and silicon. There is, however, a huge lack of knowledge about radular composition in other taxa. The work presented aims at shedding light on the chemistry by performing energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses on 24 molluscan species, thereof two Polyplacophora, two Cephalopoda, and 20 Gastropoda, which was never done before in such a comprehensiveness. The elements and their proportions were documented for 1448 individual, mature teeth and hypotheses about potential biomineralization types were proposed. The presented work additionally comprises a detailed record on past studies about the chemical composition of molluscan teeth, which is an important basis for further investigation of the radular chemistry. The found disparity in elements detected, in their distribution and proportions highlights the diversity of evolutionary solutions, as it depicts multiple biomineralization types present within Mollusca.

“…Many of these analyses focused on the Fe biomineralization and the phase transformations during maturation [e.g. 23,29,[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]. Overall, in previous studies F, Na, Mg, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe, and Cu was detected in the dominant lateral teeth (=lateral teeth II) of Polyplacophora.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mollusks’ periodic table: Elemental analysis reveals distinct mineralization patterns in radular teeth

2022

Preprint

The molluscan phylum is the second specious animal group inhabiting various habitats and feeding on a variety of food sources. The latter is enabled by the radula, a small chitinous membrane with embedded teeth, one important molluscan autapomorphy. Between species, radulae can vary in their morphology, mechanical, and chemical properties. With regard to radular chemical composition, some taxa (Polyplacophora and Patellogastropoda) were studied extensively in the past decades, due to their specificity to incorporate high proportions of iron, calcium, and silicon. There is, however, a huge lack of knowledge about radular chemical composition in other molluscan taxa. The work presented here aims at shedding light on the radular chemistry by performing energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses on overall 24 molluscan species, thereof two Polyplacophora, two Cephalopoda, and 20 Gastropoda, which was never done before in such a comprehensiveness. The elements, which are not part of chitin, and their proportions were documented for overall 1448 individual, mature teeth and hypotheses about potential biomineralizations types were proposed. The here presented work additionally comprises a detailed record on past studies about the chemical composition of molluscan teeth, which is an important basis for further investigation of the radular chemistry. The found disparity in elements detected, in their distribution and proportions highlights the diversity of evolutionary solutions, as it depicts multiple biomineralization types present within Mollusca.