Top view of the eight-shelled chiton
Acanthopleura japonica (Polyplacophora, Mollusca).
(Copyright: Maik Scherholz)
Development of cryptic worms provides new insights into
molluscan evolution.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about
mollusks, e.g. snails, slugs and mussels. The research group of Andreas
Wanninger, Head of the Department of Integrative Zoology of the University of
Vienna, took a detailed look at the development of cryptic worms. The larvae of
the "wirenia argentea" hold a much more complex muscular architecture
than their adults – they remodel during their metamorphosis. That’s a clue that
the ancestors had a highly complex muscular bodyplan. Their findings are
published in the current issue of the scientific journal "Current
biology".