Cephalopod radula under the SEM thanks to Tonmo!

Joined
May 28, 2018
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12
Location
Olympia, WA
A few months ago I posted a thread on here asking if any researchers could contribute cephalopod specimen to my research on cephalopod radula morphology.

Thank you so much Denise Whatley (@DWhatley) and @tonmo for donating several species to this research! Your support and donation to my undergraduate thesis has been beyond amazing!

I was sent 3 O. briareus, 1 nautilus, 1 bandensis cuttlefish, and 1 O. hummelincki.

I have attached some photos below.

Bandensis cuttlefish: (homodont radula)
cuttlefish4.jpgcuttlefish6.jpg

nautilus: (homodont radula)
nautilus1.jpgnautilus2.jpg
 
I will be presenting my research at the poster presentation during the 2018 Cephalopod International Advisory Council in November in Florida.

My poster is titled: "Vampire teeth: Radula morphology of the vampire squid, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, indicates a soft-bodied diet" and this contribution to my research has opened up research ideas to include serration studies and comparing the diet/radula morphology of other mollusks. Thank you again Denise!

My undergraduate thesis blog: Cephalopod Radula under the SEM | an ongoing undergraduate advanced research project 2017-2018
 
I will be presenting my research at the poster presentation during the 2018 Cephalopod International Advisory Council in November in Florida.

My poster is titled: "Vampire teeth: Radula morphology of the vampire squid, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, indicates a soft-bodied diet" and this contribution to my research has opened up research ideas to include serration studies and comparing the diet/radula morphology of other mollusks. Thank you again Denise!

My undergraduate thesis blog: Cephalopod Radula under the SEM | an ongoing undergraduate advanced research project 2017-2018
So wish I could go to CIAC this year. Too much on. THANK YOU for sharing your great work with us!! :notworth:
 
My layman's definition of a radula is, "a file like structure that functions as both tongue and teeth". Cephalopod esophaguses are routed through their donut like brains. Anything too large can become lodged there. They have no real teeth and the beak can only rip food so something needs to both grind it smaller and help it move down the esophagus.

SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) is the current high tech microscope that is now widely available to most researchers.
 
@Maggie here is a segment from Sarah McAnulty's (PhD grad student and speaker at TonmoCon VII) latest "Skype A Scientist" Youtube Q&A that just happens to help explain a radula. The forum software removes the starting point so I am including a manual link to the section on the radula, however, you may enjoy the entire talk.
Code:
https://youtu.be/XpfbEU33Uwg?t=14m30s
 
So, for the clue-free, like myself, radula are teensy tooth like structures? In the mouth? And what is a SEM? :smile:

I apologize for now just seeing this, I moved a month ago and things have been hectic! But yes, I refer to the radula as a "toothed tongue" that most molluscs use to feed. They scrape their tongues along their prey and these "teeth" break their food apart. Part of my research is taking photos of several species of cephalopod radulae and comparing their radula structure to each other and trying to distinguish other similarities in diet, location, depth, and other characteristics. There's 2 different forms of radula, homodont and heterodont, and I want to know why some species have one rather than the other, and what the particular function might be. SEM is the scanning electron microscope which is a powerful magnification tool that uses a focused beam of high-energy electrons to generate images of the surface of a sample containing information like topography and composition. It is a really fun tool, I recommend working on a microscope whenever you have the possibility!
 
@Maggie here is a segment from Sarah McAnulty's (PhD grad student and speaker at TonmoCon VII) latest "Skype A Scientist" Youtube Q&A that just happens to help explain a radula. The forum software removes the starting point so I am including a manual link to the section on the radula, however, you may enjoy the entire talk.
Code:
https://youtu.be/XpfbEU33Uwg?t=14m30s

Thanks for the video! I follow Sarah McAnulty on Instagram but didn't realize she had a youtube channel! She's so friendly and knowledgeable!
 

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