Scientists from the Federal Research Center for Comprehensive Study of the Arctic.
Academician N.P.
Laverov of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Laverovsky Center, Arkhangelsk) together with colleagues from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution named after N.N.
A.N.
Severtsov RAS (Moscow) and foreign experts have discovered a symbiosis between freshwater bivalve molluscs of the genus Corbicula, some species of insects and fish.
This was reported to RT by the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science.
The study was carried out as part of the work on grants from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Russian Science Foundation.
The results are published in the journal Ecology.
In the shells of corbicula mollusks, scientists for the first time discovered larvae of ringing mosquitoes, as well as mayflies, winged insects whose adults live no more than two to three weeks.
It turned out that the larvae of ringing mosquitoes (or chironomids) penetrate the shell cavity of the mollusk and gnaw holes in the folds of its body.
In the future, the larvae live between the shell and mantle of the mollusk, feeding, in all likelihood, on the tissues of the animal.
Mosquito-bell
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© Doina Tocmelea / 500px
“We assume that the larvae of bell mosquitoes lead a parasitic way of life in relation to the host mollusk.
Apparently, chironomids are introduced into the mollusk at an early stage and develop until the stage of pupation.
The mollusk is not able to get rid of endosymbionts (organisms that live in other organisms and benefit the owners.
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RT
) until they themselves leave the host's body, ”said Yulia Bespalaya, director of the Institute of Biogeography and Genetic Resources of the Laverov Center, in an interview with RT.
A similar survival mechanism was found in mayflies, whose larvae live in the shell, feeding on organic particles from the surface of the mollusk's gills.
The researchers believe that in this way the insects not only use the shells to raise offspring, but also help the mollusk host maintain hygiene.
In addition, biologists have established that as an incubator for growing offspring of shells of mollusks of the genus Corbicula, fish of the Soldatov sloth minnow (cyprinidae family) living in the reservoirs of Korea are also used.
Biologists were able to confirm this with the help of genetic analysis.
“Gudgeon eggs are located in the mantle cavity of the shells, probably without causing damage to the host mollusk.
We did not notice that caviar complicates the functioning of the organ systems of molluscs.
Most likely, the caviar matures in the shell until the fish larvae peck out,” says Yulia Bespalaya.
Previously, science knew that a similar symbiosis with mollusks is used by other representatives of cyprinids - mustard fish, which lay eggs in the shells of barley mollusks, toothless and pearl oysters.
common bitter
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© Paul Starosta
Recall that the name of the genus of small molluscs, corbicula, comes from the Latin word corbis - basket.
They live mainly in Asia, Indonesia and Africa.
In Japan and Korea, these mollusks are actively eaten.
The presence of a symbiosis between corbicula molluscs and insects is not dangerous for humans, since bell mosquitoes and mayflies do not parasitize humans, biologists say.
Sometimes corbicula are found in European and North American waters, where they are an invasive species, that is, introduced, and not native.
In invasive parts of their range, mollusks enter into symbiosis with other species.
Corbicula living on Russian territory also do not serve as incubators for insects and freshwater fish, since they do not live in fresh water, but in estuarine parts of rivers, where fresh water mixes with sea water.
In particular, this is the lower part of the basin and the delta of the Amur, as well as the mouth sections of small rivers in Primorsky Krai.
Since endosymbionts live exclusively in fresh water, larvae are not found in the shells of these Russian mollusks.