Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g78kv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-30T11:13:48.420Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Embryonic development and protein content of the embryos and intracapsular liquid of Melongena melongena (Caenogastropoda: Melongenidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Nicida Noriega  and
Patricia Miloslavich
Nicida Noriega
Affiliation:
Universidad Simón Bolívar, Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Apartado 89.000, Caracas 1080, Venezuela
Patricia Miloslavich*
Affiliation:
Universidad Simón Bolívar, Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Apartado 89.000, Caracas 1080, Venezuela
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Miloslavich, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Apartado 89.000, Caracas 1080, Venezuela email: pmilos@usb.ve
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Eggs of Melongena melongena develop inside round, flat egg capsules which contain a gelatinous intracapsular fluid. To determine if this gel represents a nutritional source for the developing embryos, we measured the amount of proteins of the embryos throughout their development from the egg to the hatching stage as well as the protein content of the intracapsular liquid at the same stages of development. Egg capsules of M. melongena were collected at Golfete de Cuare, Venezuela between 1–2 m depth. Uncleaved eggs measured 352–480 μm and contained 8–15 μg of protein/egg. This amount of protein was not significantly different at the trochophore, veliger and pediveliger stages, however, it decreased significantly at the hatching stage to 6 μg/hatchling. About 95–98% of the eggs develop to the hatching stage, the remaining 2–5% remain intact in the egg capsule. Hatching takes place as a pediveliger measuring around 720 μm in shell length. The protein concentration of the intracapsular liquid was 0.18 μg/μl at the egg stage and it reached 0.13 μg/μl at the prehatching stage; however, the total amount of protein in the intracapsular fluid was not significantly different throughout the development from one stage to another. Results indicate that embryos of M. melongena use neither the intracapsular liquid as an extraembryonic food source, nor nurse eggs.

Keywords

embryonic developmentprotein contentembryosintracapsular liquidMelongena melongenaCaenogastropodaMelongenidae
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 347 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bandel, K. (1975) Das Embryonalgehause Karibischer Meso- und Neogastropoden (Mollusca). Akademie der Wissensschaften und der Literatur, Mainz, 1, 1–133.Google Scholar
Bandel, K. (1976) Morphologie der gelege und okologische beobachfungen an Muriciden (Gastropodo) aus der sudlichen Karisbischen see. Verhandlungen der Naturlijke Gesellschaft Bsel 85, 1–32.Google Scholar
Bandel, K. and Kowalke, T. (1999) Gastropod fauna of the Cameroonian coasts. Helgoland Marine Research 53, 129–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayne, C.J. (1968) Histochemical studies on the egg capsules of eight gastropod species. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 38, 199–212.Google Scholar
Bradford, M. (1976) Spawning, development and ecology of some higher Neogastropoda from the Caribbean Sea of Colombia (South American). Velíger 19, 176–193.Google Scholar
Calvo, M. (1999) Biología reproductiva de tres especies de la familia Vermetidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) de las costas Mediterráneas de la Peninsula Ibérica. Tesis Doctoral. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.Google Scholar
Capelo, J. and Buitriago, J. (1998) Distribución geográfica de los moluscos marinos en el Oriente de Venezuela. Memorias de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle 150, 3–7.Google Scholar
Carvajal, F. and Capelo, J. (1992) Los moluscos de la plataforma Margarita, Coche y Chacopata su distribución y abundancia. Memorias de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle 140, 159–175.Google Scholar
Castagna, M. and Kraeuter, J. (1994) Age, growth rate, sexual dimorphism and fecundity of the knobbed whelk Busycon carica (Gmelin, 1791) in a western mid-Atlantic lagoon system. Virginia. Journal of Shellfish Research 13, 581–585.Google Scholar
D'Asaro, C.N. (1970) Egg capsules of Prosobranch mollusks from south Florida and Bahamas and notes on spawning in the laboratory. Buletin of Marine Science 20, 414–440.Google Scholar
De Mahieu, G., Penchaszadeh, P.E. and Casal, A. (1974) Algunos aspectos de las variaciones de proteínas y aminoácidos libres totales del liquido intracapsular en relación al desarrollo embrionario en Adelomena brasiliana (Gastropoda, Prosobranquia, Volutidae). Cahiers de Biologie Marine 15, 215–227.Google Scholar
Flores, C. (1978) Cápsulas ovigeras de gastropoda prosobranchia de las aguas costeras de Venezuela. Tesis de Maestría. Universidad de Oriente, Cumaná, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Flores, C. (1983) Notas sobre Melongena melongena (Linnaeus, 1758) (Neogastropoda: Melongenidae) en las aguas costeras de Venezuela, con énfasis en las cápsulas ovígeras. Boletin del Instituto Oceanografico de la Universidad de Oriente 22, 71–75.Google Scholar
Hahn, K. (1993) The reproductive cycle of the tropical top shell, Trochus niloticus, in French Polynesia. Journal of Invertebrate Reproduction and Development 24, 143–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harasewych, M. (1978) Biochemical studies of the hatching process in Busycon. Masters thesis. University of Delaware, Newark, USA.Google Scholar
Hathaway, R.R. (1958) The conch Melongena corona: its habitat, sex ratio, and possible relations to the oyster. Proceedings of the National Shellfisheries Association 48, 189–194.Google Scholar
Kano, Y. and Kase, T. (2003) Systematics of the Neritilia rubida complex (Gastropoda: Neritiliidae): three amphidromous species with overlapping distributions in the Indo-Pacific. Journal of Molluscan Studies 69, 273–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkegaard, J. (2006) Life history, growth and production of Theodoxus fluviatilis in Lake Esrom, Denmark. Limnologica 36, 26–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miloslavich, P. (1999) Nutritional value of the intracapsular liquid of Engoniophos unicinctus Say 1825 (Caenogastropoda, Buccinidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies 65, 522–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miloslavich, P. (2005) Importancia del consumo de proteínas durante el desarrollo embrionario para la sobrevivencia de juveniles de gasterópodos marinos. Technical Report Project S1-2001000764, FONACIT, Venezuela, 68 pp.Google Scholar
Miloslavich, P. and Dufresne, L. (1994) Development and effect of female size on egg and juvenile production in the neogastropod Buccinum cyaneum from the Saguenay Fjord. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 51, 2866–2872.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miloslavich, P. and Penchaszadeh, P.E. (2001) Adelphophagy and cannbalism during early development of Crucibulum auricula (Gmelin 1791) (Gastropoda: Calyptraeidae) from the Venezuelan Caribbean. Nautilus 115, 39–44.Google Scholar
Penchaszadeh, P.E. (1981) Estudios sobre modalidades reproductivas de gasterópodos prosobranquios del Caribe Sur. Trabajo de ascenso a Profesor Titular. Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela.Google Scholar
Penchaszadeh, P.E. and Rincón, A. (1996) Egg capsules and development of Prunum prunum (Gmelin, 1791) (Prosobranchia: Marginellidae) from the Venezuelan Caribbean. Veliger 39, 83–86.Google Scholar
Penchaszadeh, P.E. and Miloslavich, P. (2001) Embryonic stages and feeding substances of the South American volutid Voluta musica (Caenogastropoda) during intracapsular development. American Malacological Bulletin 16, 21–31.Google Scholar
Prince, D. (1973) Moluscos gastrópodos y pelecípodos del Estado Nueva Esparta, Venezuela. Memorias de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle 96, 1–4.Google Scholar
Power, A., Covington, E., Recicar, T., Walker, R. and Eller, N. (2002) Observations on the egg capsule and hatchlings of the knobbed whelk, Busycon carica (Gmelin, 1791) in coastal Georgia. Journal of Shellfish Research 21, 769–775.Google Scholar
Ramos, H. and Robaina, G. (1994) Contribución al conocimiento de los moluscos gastrópodos y pelecipodos de la Bahía de Mochima, Edo Sucre, Venezuela. Memorias de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle 14, 78–80.Google Scholar
Rehder, H.A. (1962) Contribución al conocimiento de los moluscos marinos del archipiélago de Los Roques y la Orchilla. Memorias de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle 22, 116–138.Google Scholar
Stöckmann, R. and Althoff, J. (1989) A correlated morphological and biochemical study of capsular fluid of Nucella lapillus (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: Muricidae). Marine Biology 10, 383–289.Google Scholar
Strong, E.E., Gargominy, O., Ponder, W.F. and Bouchet, P. (2008) Global diversity of gastropods (Gastropoda; Mollusca) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595, 149–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodbury, B.D. (1986) The role of growth, predation, and habitat selection in the population distribution of the crown conch, Melongena corona. Journal of Experimental Biology and Ecology 97, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Work, R.C. (1969) Systematics, ecology, and distribution of the mollusks of Los Roques, Venezuela. Bulletin of Marine Science 19, 614–711.Google Scholar