The influence of shell intrinsic factors on the relative abundance of Gastropods in dead associations

• Grant number: 22/07461-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2022
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Renato Pirani Ghilardi
• Grantee: Silvio Cesar Marqui Limeira Junior
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The mollusk shell consists of an organic-mineral biocomposite consisting of calcium carbonate and an organic polymer matrix. The material combines the properties of both components, so that the valva has the hardness of the carbonate ceramics and some flexibility from the organic matrix. Understanding this structure, from a paleontological point of view, provides subsidies to identify which skeletons are more resistant to degradation by the death environment (thanatocenosis) and, therefore, more likely to be preserved in the fossil record. Thus, the present study intends to understand how shell constitution influences the abundance factor of marine gastropods in dead associations from Ubatuba Bay, northern coast of São Paulo State. Specimens are being collected (sampling interval 07/2021 - 06/2022) at four points using a shrimp boat equipped with two trawls. Taxonomic identification of the species will be carried out based on morphological attributes of the shell, as well as the relative abundance factor survey. Then, the crystallographic and microstructural characterization of the calcified layers of the valve will be conducted by X-ray diffractometry and optical and electron microscopy techniques, respectively. The data will then be analyzed in statistical software in order to verify if there is a correlation between the intrinsic characteristics of gastropod shells and their distribution in dead associations.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LIMEIRA JUNIOR, SILVIO CESAR MARQUI; RODRIGUES, SABRINA COELHO; GHILARDI, RENATO PIRANI. Actualistic approach to the chemical preservation potential and its influence on the Caenogastropoda biodiversity. HISTORICAL BIOLOGY, v. N/A, p. 11-pg., 2023-07-07. (22/07461-2, 20/06646-3)