PENETRATION OF MOLLUSCAN AND NON-MOLLUSCAN MINERALS BY THE BORING GASTROPODUROSALPINX CINEREA

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The capacity of U. cinerea Baker to penetrate different mollusks and abiogenic minerals was studied. Minerals, cut into small wafers, and radular teeth were exposed to penetration by normally boring snails in valve models. Depth of incomplete boreholes was measured with a compound microscope. Extent of dissolution was examined with a scanning electron microscope. All biogenically formed calcareous minerals, except radulae of U. cinerea, and some abiogenic minerals, were penetrated. Rate of penetration of wafers decreased in the following order: calcite and aragonite (shell of Crassostrea virginica, Spisula solidissima, Anomia simplex), strontianite, bone and tooth hydroxyapatite, anhydrite, witherite and magnesite. Abiogenic minerals siderite, smithsonite, alunite, fluorite and quartz were not penetrated. Of the 15 tests performed on biogenically formed calcareous minerals, only 2 snails (or 13%) left the sample on the model before the experiment was terminated; of the 25 tests on abiogenically formed minerals, 20 snails (80%) crawled off the sample before the end of the tests. Ca, Sr, Ba and Mg, as carbonates, and Ca both as the phosphate and sulfate, were attacked by the secretion. Fe and Zn as the carbonates, Ca as the fluoride, Si as the oxide and K and Al as the sulfate were unaffected. Degree of beef bone penetration was intermediate between that of shell and human teeth. Dentine was penetrated more deeply than enamel. The core of enamel prisms was dissolved more deeply than the outer region by the secretion. Radular teeth of U. cinerea were unaffected by the secretion during exposures ranging from 0.5-2.5 h. The capacity of U. cinerea to penetrate a wide range of mineral types explains the large number of different species upon which it can prey.