Abstract
An undescribed archaeogastropod limpet is prominent in the fauna of hydrothermal vents in the Juan de Fuca Ridge of the northeastern Pacific. Dense colonies of filamentous bacteria occur on the epithelial surface of the limpet gill. Optical and electron microscopy show that the bacteria are frequently endocytosed by the epithelial cells and broken down in lysosome-like organelles. Nutritional, pathological, and symbiotic interpretations of the limpet-bacteria association and the endocytotic process are discussed. These observations are the first description of bacterial colonization and consequent endocytosis in a mollusc gill.
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Communicated by R.W. Doyle, Halifax
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de Burgh, M.E., Singla, C.L. Bacterial colonization and endocytosis on the gill of a new limpet species from a hydrothermal vent. Mar. Biol. 84, 1–6 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394520
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394520