THE FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY OF THE RECENT BRACHIOPOD BOUCHARDIA-ROSEA

The living terebratellid brachiopod Bouchardia rosea (Mawe), from the southeast Atlantic Ocean, has an unusual internal morphology; both val ves are so heavily thickened posteriorly as almost to fill the space, leaving room only for the pedicle, its posterior adjustor muscles and the diductor muscles. These structures are here described in functiona l terms for the first time and, with the help of partial dissection of the soft tissues, the true nature of the musculature is revealed. Des pite its unusual aspects, cardinalial structures of the dorsal valve c an be interpreted in terms of those more commonly found in terebratell ids. Copyright (C) 1996 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.