Sexual dimorphism in the parasitic snail Nanobalcis worsfoldi: a histological and morphometric approach with insights for the family Eulimidae
- 1 November 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Canadian Science Publishing in Canadian Journal of Zoology
- Vol. 99 (11), 995-1001
- https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2021-0118
Abstract
Sexual dimorphism has long been stressed as a remarkable characteristic of Eulimidae snails. This idea is so common for this family that, even without information on the soft parts, some species were already identified as male or female, as observed in Nanobalcis worsfoldi Warén, 1990. Here, we investigated whether larger and smaller individuals of N. worsfoldi are female and male, respectively, and what are the most useful characteristics to differentiate the sexes. We analyzed shell morphology and morphometry, along with coloration of the soft parts of large and small individuals, and crosschecked our findings through histological analysis. Our results confirmed that (i) larger and smaller individuals are females and males, respectively; (ii) shell morphology is not useful, while morphometry is important to address sexual dimorphism; (iii) since shell length and width showed the most remarkable differences, they are considered the best parameters to predict the sex. Furthermore, conchological characteristics associated with histological analysis suggest that this species could be the first non-sessile eulimid known as a sequential hermaphrodite (protandric) with environmental sex determination, but this remains to be confirmed. Considering that most studies on eulimids are based on shells, the morphometric parameters used here may support future ecological/biological analyses in the family, such as parasitological prevalence, or parasitic burden related to sex.This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Growth and reproductive cycle of Hypermastus tokunagai (Caenogastropoda: Eulimidae), an ectoparasite of the sand dollar Scaphechinus mirabilis (Clypeasteroida: Scutellidae) in the Seto Inland Sea, JapanJournal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 2012
- Reproductive cycle of Bolinus brandaris (Gastropoda: Muricidae) in the Ria Formosa lagoon (southern Portugal)Aquatic Biology, 2012
- Toluidine blue: A review of its chemistry and clinical utilityJournal of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, 2012
- Evidence of sexual shape dimorphism in Viviparus (Gastropoda: Viviparidae)Journal of Molluscan Studies, 2011
- Body Size and Sexual DimorphismPublished by Elsevier BV ,2010
- Sexual dimorphism in shells of the southwestern Atlantic gastropod Olivella plata (Ihering, 1908) (Gastropoda: Olividae)Journal of Molluscan Studies, 2007
- Sexual dimorphism in the beaks ofMoroteuthis ingensSmith, 1881 (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida: Onychoteuthidae)New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2006
- Population dynamics of an ectoparasitic gastropod, Hypermastus sp. (Eulimidae), on the sand dollar, Arachnoides placenta (Echinoidea)Marine and Freshwater Research, 1991
- An Anatomical Description of Eulima bilineata Alder with Remarks on and a Revision of Pyramidelloides Nevill (Mollusca, Prosobranchia, Eulimidae)Zoologica Scripta, 1983
- Variation in the spire index of some coiled gastropod shells, and its evolutionary significancePhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 1977