Post-larval development of the bivalves Nucula turgida, Venus striatula, Spisula subtruncata and S. elliptica (Mollusca: Bivalvia), (with reference to the late larva)

Detailed studies of post-larval shell, hinge and/or internal morphogenesis, from metamorphosis to the completion of development, are available for a very small number of infaunal bivalves (for review of studies see Webb (1984). This paper continues the description, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), of the post-larval ontogeny of some common infaunal bivalves from north-west European communities and presents the development of Nucula turgida, Venus striatula, Spisula subtruncata and S. elliptica. The association between larval shell morphology and certain features of development in some protobranch bivalves is examined.