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Larval brooding and development of the micromorph rhynchonellid Tethyrhynchia mediterranea (Brachiopoda: Recent)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2001

Carsten Lüter
Affiliation:
Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Systematische Zoologie, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany, E-mail: carsten.lueter@rz.hu-berlin.de
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Abstract

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Two developmental stages of the micromorph rhynchonellid Tethyrhynchia mediterranea (Brachiopoda: Tethyrhychiidae) are described using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). They were found in niches of the mantle cavity of adult females, as T. mediterranea broods its offspring between the protecting valves of the shell. The developmental stages of T. mediterranea are very small (∼120 μm), but relative to adult body size of up to 1·2 mm in length they are larger than any other lecithotrophic brachiopod larva. Dispersal ability and phylogeography of T. mediterranea in the Mediterranean Sea is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2001 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom