3D anatomical reconstruction of the feeding apparatus in Myxine using diceCT


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


54-1  Sat Jan 2  3D anatomical reconstruction of the feeding apparatus in Myxine using diceCT Constantin, ML*; Farina, SC; Gignac, PM; Uyeno , TA; Clark , AJ; Howard University; Howard University; Oklahoma State University; Valdosta State University; College of Charleston melissa.constantin@bison.howard.edu

Hagfish apprehend food items with cyclically protracting and retracting dental plates: an elaborate, bilaterally symmetric array of raptorial keratinous teeth mounted on thin, flat cartilaginous plates situated in the rigid anterior half of the hagfish feeding apparatus (HFA). Lying beneath the dental plates are robust cartilaginous basal plates, however, these rigid tissues collectively comprise only 15% of the total mass of the HFA. When feeding on large or tethered food items, seized portions of flesh can be forcefully retracted into the mouth. Retraction is powered by a muscular hydrostat located in the posterior half of the HFA. The hydrostat is cylindrical and contains three-dimensionally complex arrangements of longitudinal, semicircular, and transverse muscle fibers. Recently, diffusible iodine contrast enhancement micro-CT was successfully implemented in reconstructing the 3D morphology of the HFA in Eptatretus stoutii, a species from the subfamily Eptatretinae. Our goal was to reconstruct the 3D HFA morphology in representatives of the Myxininae: Myxine hubbsi and M. glutinosa. Using 3D slicer and Avizo software, we segmented the dental plates, palatal teeth, basal plate cartilages and the whole muscles comprising the muscular hydrostat. These data were compared to previously gathered data on E. stoutii and a metamorphosed sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus. The conserved morphology in the HFA across these hagfishes suggests these species procure functionally similar prey. Furthermore, the HFA contains significantly larger muscles and dramatically fewer supportive cartilages than the jawless feeding apparatus of metamorphosed lampreys.

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