Observations on the histology and photosynthetic performance of “solar-powered” opisthobranchs (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia) containing symbiotic chloroplasts or zooxanthellae

By Michael Wägele, Geir Johnsen. 2001

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Abstract Literature data on diversity of photosynthetic activity in Opisthobranchia are reviewed and new histological data presented on the presence of zooxanthellae in members of the nudibranch clade Cladobranchia. Zooxanthellae are recorded here for the first time in members of the family Arminidae (Dermatobranchus) and in the aeolid Piseinotecus gabinierei. Although a broad histological survey on Nudibranchia has been performed, only species of the taxon Cladobranchia are reported to house zooxanthellae. A new method to measure photosynthesis is applied to opisthobranchs with chloroplasts and zooxanthellae. With a Pulse Amplitude Modulated Fluorometer (PAM), the chlorophyll a fluorescence and corresponding fluorescence yield (electron transfer) of photosynthetically active chloroplasts or zooxanthellae can be analyzed in vivo. This facilitates better understanding of the diversity of zooxanthella and chloroplast uptake (ranging from feeding up to highly evolved forms of symbiosis) in the different opisthobranch clades.

Subfields: Ecology, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0691849bf65316a295818891602db625f7eb16fc

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In Oceanography

  1. J. Evertsen
  2. Geir Johnsen
  3. I. Burghardt
  4. H. Wägele

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