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Feeding, Anatomy and Digestive Enzymes of False Limpet Siphonaria Guamensis

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Feeding, Anatomy and Digestive Enzymes of False Limpet Siphonaria Guamensis World Journal of Fish and Marine Sciences 5 (1): 104-109, 2013 ISSN 2078-4589 © IDOSI Publications, 2013 DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wjfms.2013.05.01.66144 Feeding, Anatomy and Digestive Enzymes of False Limpet Siphonaria guamensis K.V.R. Murty, A. Shameem and K. Umadevi Department of Marine Living Resources Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, A.P., India Abstract: Very little information has been available in the literature on the feeding habits, anatomy and histology of digestive system of siphonariid limpets. The present study revealed Siphonaria guamensis feeds on the crustose red alga Hildenbrandia prototypus browsing on the rocks by rasping action of radula. The anatomy of digestive system of Siphonaria guamensis is similar with that of the other siphonariid limpets but the length of gut and colon are shorter than the patellogastropod limpets like Cellana radiata, patella vulgata, Fissurella barbadensis and species of Acmaea. The salivary glands are the main source of the enzyme system of Siphonaria guamensis. They contained enzymes which can act on carbohydrates, proteins and polysaccharides. The enzyme which can act on proteins was found only in salivary glands and not detected in any other part of the digestive system. No lypolytic activity was seen in any part of the digestive system of the animal. Key words: False Limpet Feeding Anatomy Digestive Enzymes INTRODUCTION tridentatum and C. minimum, where he described the morphology and histology of the digestive system at Little work has been done on the feeding, digestion length. anatomy and histology of the digestive organs of limpets Very little information has been available in the with an exception of patella vulgata (Davies and Fleure literature on the feeding methods, anatomy and histology [1], Graham [2], Stone and Morton [3], Fretter and Graham of the digestive system of siphonariid limpets. Dall [15] [4], Levvy and McAllan [5]). Ward [6] made some described the alimentary system of Siphonaria tristensis. observations on feeding, digestion and histology of the Cottrell [16] gave a detailed description of the morphology digestive tract in the key hole limpet Fissurella of the digestive system in Siphonaria obiliquata. barbadensis. Owen [7, 8] has studied the feeding and Hubendick [17] described the various organ systems of digestion in molluscs in a detailed way. Rao [9] studied the siphonariid limpets to study their phylogenic the feeding digestion and histology of the digestive tract relationship, but very little information was given about of Cellana radiata. Petchimuthu [10] studied the the digestive system of the species of siphonaria. Voss digestive system of Bursa spinosa. Thapanand and [18] gave a brief account of the food of Siphonaria Chunhabundit [11] studied the feeding habits top shell pectinata. Marcus and Marcus [19] briefly described the Trochus maculates, Thilaga et al. [12] studied the alimentary tract of Siphonaria hispida. Abe [20, 21], digestive enzymes and gut microflora of top shell Ohgushi [22], Hirano and Inaba [23] recorded the time of Trochus niloticus. feeding movements in Siphonaria japonica and S. atra. Among Gastropoda, Pulmonata is the least touched Levings and Garrity [24] studied the grazing patterns in group for its anatomy of the digestive system. Morton Siphonaria gigas from the Rocky pacific coast of Panama. [13] studied the functional morphology of Otina otis, This study describes the anatomy of digestive a primitive pulmonate mollusc. Morton [14] also studied system, feeding and digestive enzymes present in the the functional morphology of four British primitive digestive system of S. guamensis to compare with the pulmonates belonging to the family Ellobiidae viz., other species of Siphonaria with different feeding habits Leucophytia bidentata, Ovatella myosotis, Carychium and living in different parts of the world, studied by the Corresponding Author: K. Umadevi, Department of Marine Living Resources, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, A.P., India. 104 World J. Fish & Marine Sci., 5 (1): 104-109, 2013 earlier investigators. Comparisons were also made with The end products of the carbohydrate digestion were the true limpet Cellana radiata which is living with tested qualitatively by using Benedict’s reagent. Siphonaria guamensis on the rocky shores of Proteolytic enzymes were qualitatively demonstrated Visakhapatnam. by the method described by Harrow et al. [26] for pepsin. To detect the presence of Photolytic enzymes, exposed MATERIALS AND METHODS photographic film of 1x1 cm. was used in the experiments. The gelatinous surface of the film will be made transparent Feeding, Digestive System and Digestive Enzymes: by the action of photolytic enzymes. In situ observations were made on the limpets present on The end products of fat digestion were qualitatively high and low water levels of the rocky shores of demonstrated by the method adopted by Ward [6] and Visakhapatnam namely at station 1(Palm Beach), station Rao [9]. Fresh and boiled milk diluted to 1: 50 was used as 2 (Waltair Point-1) and station 3 (Waltair Point-2) during a substrate. To 10 ml of this milk, one drop of 0.04 percent high tide and low tide periods to determine the time and Bromothymol blue was added as an indicator and drop of the frequency of feeding excursions. In the laboratory the 0.2 N NaOH to turn the milk pale blue. The presence of feeding mechanisms were observed by watching the lipases causes the blue solution to turn yellow. animal through the wall of the glass trough to which it In all the experiments, the enzyme-substrate mixtures was attached under a high power magnifying lens. were covered with a few drops of toluene before The feeding mechanisms were also observed by the incubation to prevent bacterial action. Boiled extracts method adopted by Graham [2] in patella vulgata, by were used as controls. The temperature during the course watching the animal lying on its back in a dish of sea of experimentation was regulated by an electrically water under a binocular microscope. The food of the controlled thermostat. The pH of the experimental media animal was established by direct observations, observing was regulated by using suitable buffers. the contents of the gut and also by observing the faecal matter. RESULTS To determine the pH in different regions of the digestive tract and in the salivary glands, the tissues were Feeding: Direct observations on the feeding habits of this ground with clean sand in distilled water separately and limpet in the field have revealed that Siphonaria centrifuged at 500 rpm for 5 minutes. The pH of the guamensis feeds on the crustose red alga Hildenbrandia supernatant solution of the extracts was determined prototypus browsing on the rocks by rasping action of directly with a digital pen pH meter. [ Eutech Instruments radula. The limpets made their feeding excursions when (OAKTON) pHTestr30 ] the tide just exposing the animals and still the rock is wet To study the enzymes present in the digestive tract, and also when the tide just about to inundate. the method adopted by Rao [9] was followed. The Occasionally small undigested fronds of Enteromorpha digestive tract, salivary glands and the digestive gland were separated from the digestive System, dissecting the and Chaetomorpha were observed in the gut contents. live specimens of 8 mm. shell length and were homogenized separately with distilled water and Anatomy of the Digestive System: The entire digestive centrifuged, at 3,000 rpm for 15 minutes to remove the cell tract in Siphonaria guamensis can be clearly divisible into debris. The presence of enzymes was demonstrated by a small thin tube called buccal tube (Figure 1: c), a dilated studying the action of extract on various substrates, thin walled oesophagus (Figure 1: e & f); small sac or following the procedure of Jayaraman [25] as discussed pouch like stomach (Figure 1: i), thick walled tubular below. intestine / colon (Figure 1: j) and a thin walled dilated To establish the presence of sucrolastic enzymes rectum (Figure 1: k). substrates like starch, sucrose, dextrose, filter paper, Siphonaria guamensis feeds by rasping action of the cotton wool and saw dust were used. Solutions of ground radula browsing over the crustose algae attached to the thalloid alga species Ulva and 1% agar were used to rock surface. The food tends to be more finely selected establish the presence of more complex polysaccharides. and the radula is kept constantly at work raking particles Proteolytic and lypolytic enzymes in the extracts were into buccal cavity. The mouth is a horizontal ventral slit demonstrated by using Gelatine and Casein, Milk and surrounded by thin liplike structures - the oral lappets Olive oil respectively. (Figure 1: a). The mouth leads into a short tube named as 105 World J. Fish & Marine Sci., 5 (1): 104-109, 2013 Table 1: pH (Hydrogen ion Concentration) in different regions of the digestive system Region pH Salivary glands 7.17 Oesophagus 7.58 Stomach 7.45 Intestine 7.55 Digestive gland 6.94 at the extreme posterior end of the body of limpet and reaches the dorsal surface at the right half of the body. When reaching about the middle of the length of the body of the limpet, it takes a sharp turn towards right, runs forward as a thin walled tube-rectum (Figure 1: k), ends as the anus (Figure 1: l) in the lower side of the respiratory orifice or siphonal opening (Figure 1: n). The stomach and colon are embedded in the thick olive green coloured Fig. 1: The course of the digestive system in Siphonaria digestive gland (Figure 1: m). The wall of the anterior and guamensis (Length-5mm, Breadth-3mm). a. Mouth; the posterior oesophagus and rectum has thrown into b. Buccal mass; c. Buccal tube; d. Buccal glands; folds and appear like vertical groves are present on the e. Anterior oesophagus; f. Nerve collor wall of the oesophagus.
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