Radula of Phyllodesmium pecten
December 24, 2004
From: Bill Rudman
To accompany the Fact Sheet on Phyllodesmium pecten, which I have just posted, here are some scanning electron micrographs of the radula. The radula of species of Phyllodesmium consists of a single median tooth in each row. The individual teeth usually have many small denticles down each side of the blade, but in this species the denticles are very long, giving the teeth a comb-like appearance. I gave this species the name 'pecten' [pecten in Latin = comb] because of the shape of the radular teeth.
PHOTOS: SEM of radular teeth. Upper: lateral view of 2 teeth. Note many broken denticles - not sure if this is through normal wear & tear or a result of the SEM preparation. Lower: Close-up showing denticles. Scale bar = 50 µm in each case. Photos: D. Hughes.
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Rudman, W.B. (1981) The anatomy and biology of alcyonarian-feeding aeolid opisthobranch molluscs and their development of symbiosis with zooxanthellae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 72: 219-262.
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Dec 24) Radula of Phyllodesmium pecten. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12625