Morphologic and reproductive biology of two species of the buccinid gastropod genus Aeneator Finlay, 1927 from southern Chilean fjords

Abstract

The present study describes new records for the buccinid gastropods Aeneator fontainei (D'Orbigny, 1841) and Aeneator loisae Redher, 1971 collected in Chile's southern fjord region in 2001 and 2002. This report now extends the distribution of these species to 46 degrees S. Observations on the morphologies of their egg capsules showed intraspecific differences in form, presence of indentations on the borders and location of the pore. Differences were also noted between the juveniles' shell apertures of the two species; in A. fontainei the border is smooth and sharpened, while in A. loisae it is undulant due to the presence of exterior ribs. One intracapsular specimen of A. fontainei shows the presence of a penetration on the last shell whorl. This perforation exhibited marked denticulations when viewed in the scanning electron microscope, suggesting the occurrence of intracapsular cannibalism by the juvenile snails. It was concluded that these species have direct holobenthic development.