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Drivers of marine biodiversity: Tiny, freeloading clams find the key to evolutionary success
Date:8/8/2012

In a study scheduled for online publication Aug. 8 in the journal PLoS ONE, the U-M-led team performed a statistical analysis of the lifestyle and habitat preferences of 121 galeommatoidean species based on 90 source documents.

The researchers found that all but two of the 57 free-living species were restricted to hard-bottom habitats, typically hidden in rocky or coral-reef crevices. In contrast, 56 of the 60 commensal species were soft-sediment dwellers.

The results show that formation of commensal associations by galeommatoidean clams is robustly correlated with living in sediments. That finding is consistent with the hypothesis that evolution of these commensal relationships was primarily an adaptation to living in soft-bottom habitats.

"What was surprising was the overwhelming evidence that commensalism is associated with the soft-bottomed habitat. You seldom get such clear-cut data in an ecological study," said Jingchun Li, a doctoral student in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and first author of the PLoS ONE paper.

Clams and other bivalves have evolved two general anti-predator strategies: armor (think oysters) and avoidance. Since galeommatoidean clams have fragile shells, they must go the avoidance route, and following a larger host into a burrow allows the clams to attain depths of up to 3 feet hundreds of times their body lengths.

Galeommatoidean clams lack the siphons (often called necks) that other clams use to feed and breathe while remaining safely buried in the sand. Siphons consist of two tubes: Water enters the clam's body through one siphon, flowing into gills that capture oxygen and trap food. The water then flows out of the clam through the other siphon.

The siphon-less galeommatoideans make up for that shortcoming by teaming up with hosts that constantly pump fresh seawater into, through, and then out of their burrows.

"This allows the clams
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Contact: Jim Erickson
ericksn@umich.edu
734-647-1842
University of Michigan
Source:Eurekalert

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