Neuromuscular development in Patellogastropoda (Mollusca: Gastropoda) and its importance for reconstructing ancestral gastropod bodyplan features.

Within Gastropoda, limpets (Patellogastropoda) are considered the most basal branching taxon and its representatives are thus crucial for research into evolutionary questions. Here, we describe the development of the neuromuscular system in cf. . In trochophore larvae, first serotonin-like immunoreactivity (lir) appears in the apical organ and in the prototroch nerve ring. The arrangement and number of serotonin-lir cells in the apical organ (three flask-shaped, two round cells) are strikingly similar to those in putatively derived gastropods. First, FMRFamide-lir appears in veliger larvae in the of the future adult nervous system including the cerebral and pedal ganglia. As in other gastropods, the larvae of this limpet show one main and one accessory retractor as well as a pedal retractor and a prototroch muscle ring. Of these, only the pedal retractor persists until after metamorphosis and is part of the adult shell musculature. We found a hitherto undescribed, paired muscle that inserts at the base of the foot and runs towards the base of the tentacles. An apical organ with flask-shaped cells, one main and one accessory retractor muscle is commonly found among gastropod larvae and thus might have been part of the last common ancestor.