Variation in hypodermic radular teeth of the snail auger Hastula cinerea (Born, 1778) (Gastropoda:Terebridae)

Abstract

Gastropods of the superfamily Conoidea are present in high diversity in the oceans and are characterized by having modified foregut anatomy and radular morphology. This study provides details on variations in the radula teeth of the species Hastula cinerea, which have hypodermic radula teeth of the toxoglossan type and are part of the Terebridae family – inserted in the Conoidea superfamily. Hastula cinerea specimens were collected at Flecheiras beach, Trairi, Ceará, Brazil. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was performed to analyse the radula specificities. Thirty specimens were used between females and males, with different sizes. The total length of the shell and the length of the teeth of all analysed specimens were measured. With the SEM result, more than one radula tooth morphotype was found for the species H. cinerea. The pattern of the teeth found is similar to the hypodermic teeth of the group, however, with structural and length differences between smaller and larger individuals. It was possible to observe three radula variations (morphotype-1, morphotype-2 and morphotype-3), 26 related to different sizes of individuals, regardless of sex, configuring a variation in the radula teeth. Therefore, this result brings a contribution that stimulates future research with the functional morphology of H. cinerea and others auger snails.