Rib fabrication in Ostreoidea and Plicatuloidea (Bivalvia, Pteriomorphia) and its evolutionary significance

Abstract

Ribs of Ostreoidea and Plicatuloidea are defined as antimarginal, that is, perpendicular to the margin throughout growth. Morphogenetically, these ribs are unique, since, unlike radial ribs, they are secreted by a homogeneous mantle margin. Based also on the reconstructed shell secretion cycle in Bivalvia, we propose that ribs of Ostreoidea and Plicatuloidea are formed by a mantle margin which, upon extension from the shell margin, stretches and folds by taking the preformed ribs as templates. In extending perpendicular to the margin (as in all Bivalvia growing isometrically), such a mantle extends the rib pattern antimarginally. Ribs of this kind are purely mechanical structures, as their arrangement depends on the mechanical properties of the mantle and on the environmental conditions. This explains the high irregularity of such ribbing patterns. The presence of antimarginal ribs in both the Ostreoidea and Plicatuloidea sheds light on their origin. The first known oyster, Actinostreon cristadifformis, probably derived from an antimarginally ribbed Prospondylidae gen. indet. in the Late Permian or Early Triassic. Antimarginally ribbed Triassic species formerly included in Placunopsis originated both the Dimyidae Atreta in the Late Triassic and Enantiostreon in the Mid Triassic, which was transitional to Plicatulidae. Therefore, Dimyidae and Plicatulidae are closely connected and grouped under Plicatuloidea, to which Ostreoidea is phylogenetically unrelated.