COMMENSALISM OF A BIVALVE, PEREGRINAMOR OHSHIMAI, WITH A THALASSINIDEAN BURROWING SHRIMP, UPOGEBIA MAJOR

Ecological, behavioural and anatomical observations of a commensal bivalve, Peregrinamor ohshimai (Mollusca: Galeommatoidea), were carried out in a tidal mudflat in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. The bivalve attached specifically to the longitudinal groove of the ventral side of the cephalothorax of thalassinidean burrowing shrimps, Upogebia major and LI, narutensis (Crustacea: Decapoda), singly, dorso-ventrally and longitudinally, using its byssus, with its anterior part towards the head of the host. The mantle of the commensal bivalve has wide anterior (branchio-pedal) and narrow posterior (exhalant) apertures. In the living organism, the extended anterior edges of the mantle protrude from the shell and are inserted into the host's filtering basket, which is formed by the setal rows of the first two pairs of pereiopods and utilized for intercepting suspended matter. By beating its pleopods in a U-shaped burrow, the filter-feeding Upogebia shrimp creates water currents, which are also utilized by the commensal bivalve for filter-feeding. The shell length of the commensal bivalve was in proportion to the host's carapace length. This suggests that the veliger larva attaches to a young host and grows, thus maintaining the host-commensal morphological matching. The bivalve is a hermaphrodite and individuals of >8.5 mm in shell length were already producing eggs. Anatomical observations suggest that P. ohshimai is most closely related to the Montacutidae in Galeommatoidea.