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Abstract

Next article FreeAbout the CoverPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreCoverAlthough physiological adaptations abound in extreme environments such as hydrothermal vents, biologists have found surprisingly few differences between the reproductive and developmental traits of deep-sea animals and their shallow-water relatives. Ifremeria nautilei, a marine snail that lives at hydrothermal vents in the western Pacific (pictured in situ on the cover), is a notable exception. This species exhibits developmental traits that are completely unknown in shallow-water species.Ifremeria nautilei, which can grow to the size of a softball, produces a specialized larval form that is fully ciliated, covered with a protective cuticle, and swims with the posterior end forward (see cover inset for a scanning electron micrograph of this larva). The larvae emerge from a specialized pouch within the foot of the female, where the embryos are brooded. In other advanced gastropods, the young emerge as crawling juveniles or shelled veliger larvae; Ifremeria nautilei is the first of the higher gastropods known to release larvae at an early stage of development. This species also has the distinction of being the first-known deep-sea gastropod to brood its offspring internally.In their article on pages 7–11, Reynolds et al. describe this new larval form, which they have named Warén's larva in honor of Swedish deep-sea gastropod biologist Anders Warén. This is the first new larval form to be described in the Gastropoda in more than a century.Credits: Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NSF, Stacy Kim, Principal Investigator (Moss Landing Marine Labs); inset photo, Takenori Sasaki (University of Tokyo); cover layout, Beth Liles (Marine Biological Laboratory). Next article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Biological Bulletin Volume 219, Number 1August 2010 Published in association with the Marine Biological Laboratory Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/BBLv219n1cover © 2010 by Marine Biological Laboratory. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.