The Mollusca, Volume 1: Metabolic Biochemistry and Molecular Biomechanics provides information pertinent to the advances in the traditional areas of biochemistry and in other developed areas that have become a part of molluskan biochemistry. This book discusses the developments in the various aspects of molecular biomechanics and environmental biochemistry. Organized into 11 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the phylum Mollusca. This text then provides information about the general features of the main classes and their evolution, the anatomical organization of mollusks, and a classification of the primary taxonomic groups of mollusks. Other chapters consider the functional mechanical properties of two protein rubbers found in molluskan connective tissues. This book discusses as well the mechanical properties of molluskan mucins. The final chapter deals with the significance of quinone tanning in mollusks. This book is a valuable resource for researchers of the Mollusca and other phyla, as well as to teachers and qualified graduate students. Biochemists and physiologists will also find this book useful.

The Mollusca

The Mollusca, Volume 5: Physiology, Part 2 focuses on the biochemistry and physiology of mollusks. The selection first elaborates on the feeding biology of gastropods and feeding and digestion in Bivalvia and cephalopods. Discussions focus on feeding, digestion, feeding and digestive rhythms, feeding behavior, ontogeny of gastropod feeding biology, and feeding mechanisms. The text then examines the circulatory systems of gastropods and bivalves and circulation in cephalopods, including blood vessels and extracellular space, chemical control of the circulation, fluid mechanics of the circulation, and nature and anatomy of the circulatory system. The text takes a look at ionic regulation and water balance, excretion, and molluscan immunobiology. Topics include internal defenses of gastropods, bivalves, cephalopods, and Polyplacophorans, Monoplacophora, Cephalopoda, and Scaphopoda. The selection is a vital reference for researchers interested in the biochemistry and physiology of mollusks.

Bivalves are key components of recent marine and freshwater ecosystems and have been so for most of the Phanerozoic. Their rich and long fossil record, combined with their abundance and diversity in modern seas, has made bivalves the ideal subject of palaeobiological and evolutionary studies. Despite this, however, topics such as the early evolution of the class, relationships between various taxa and the life habits of some key extinct forms have remained remarkably unclear. This volume integrates palaeontological and zoological approaches and sheds new light on the course of bivalve evolution.

Numerous animal species live in environments characterized by a seasonal reduction in the availability of water, which often but not always occurs when temperatures are highest. For many such animals, survival during the toughest season requires spending long periods of time in a rather inactive state known as aestivation. But aestivation is much more than remaining inactive. Successful aestivation requires the selection of a proper microhabitat, variable degrees of metabolic arrest and responsiveness to external stimuli, the ability to sense the proper time of year for emergence, the preservation of inactive tissue, and much more. So, aestivation involves a complex collection of behaviors, ecological associations and physiological adjustments that vary across species in their type, magnitude and course. This book seeks to explore the phenomenon of aestivation from different perspectives and levels of organization, ranging from microhabitat selection to genetic control of physiological adjustments. It brings together authors from across the world working on different systematic groups, approaches, and questions, but who are all ultimately working to better understand the complex issue of aestivation.

Molluscs comprise the second largest phylum of animals (after arthropods), occurring in virtually all habitats. Some are commercially important, a few are pests and some carry diseases, while many non-marine molluscs are threatened by human impacts which have resulted in more extinctions than all tetrapod vertebrates combined. This book and its companion volume provide the first comprehensive account of the Mollusca in decades. Illustrated with hundreds of colour figures, it reviews molluscan biology, genomics, anatomy, physiology, fossil history, phylogeny and classification. This volume includes general chapters drawn from extensive and diverse literature on the anatomy and physiology of their structure, movement, reproduction, feeding, digestion, excretion, respiration, nervous system and sense organs. Other chapters review the natural history (including ecology) of molluscs, their interactions with humans, and assess research on the group. Key features of both volumes: up to date treatment with an extensive bibliography; thoroughly examines the current understanding of molluscan anatomy, physiology and development; reviews fossil history and phylogenetics; overviews ecology and economic values; and summarises research activity and suggests future directions for investigation. Winston F Ponder was a Principal Research Scientist at The Australian Museum in Sydney where he is currently a Research Fellow. He has published extensively over the last 55 years on the systematics, evolution, biology and conservation of marine and freshwater molluscs, as well as supervised post graduate students and run university courses. David R. Lindberg is former Chair of the Department of Integrative Biology, Director of the Museum of Paleontology, and Chair of the Berkeley Natural History Museums, all at the University of California. He has conducted research on the evolutionary history of marine organisms and their habitats on the rocky shores of the Pacific Rim for more than 40 years. The numerous elegant and interpretive illustrations were produced by Juliet Ponder.

This volume is one of those published from the proceedings of the invited lectures to the First International Congress of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry I organized at Liege (Belgium) in August 1984 under the auspices of the Section of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry of the International Union of Biological Sciences. In a general foreword to these different volumes, it seems to me appropriate to consider briefly what may be the comparative approach. Living organisms, beyond the diversity of their morphological forms, have evolved a widespread range of basic solutions to cope with the different problems, both organisma1 and environmenta1 with which they are faced. Soon after the turn of the century, some biologists realized that these solutions can be best comprehended in the frame work of a comparative approach integrating results of physiologica1 and biochemica1 studies done at the organismic, cellular and molecular levels. The development of this approach amongst both physiologists and biochemists remained, however, extremely slow until recently.

This volume reviews the most important advances that have taken place in the interpretation of the structure and function of molluscan systems. A detailed treatment of each organ system is presented with particular emphasis on skin, shell, muscle, and excretory systems, and luminescences. Emphasis is given to recent research and the current status of each topic.