Ciliary ultrastructure of polyplacophorans (Mollusca, Amphineura, Polyplacophora)

This study is part of a series of papers aiming to investigate the phylogenetic significance of ciliary ultrastructure among molluscs and to test the hypothesis of a relationship between Xenoturbella and the molluscs. The ultrastructure of the ciliary apparatus on the gills of the polyplacophorans Leptochiton asellus and Tonicella rubra was studied. The gill cilia of the two species are similar in shape. The free part of the cilium is long with a slender distal part. There are two ciliary rootlets. One of them is short, broad and placed on the anterior face of the basal body. The other rootlet is conical and has a vertical orientation. Among the mollusca, two ciliary rootlets in the ciliary apparatus of multiciliate ectodermal cells have only been reported from the Chaetodermomorpha and Neomeniomorpha. This character state is likely plesiomorphic for the Mollusca and indicates a basal (nonderived) position of these taxa among the molluscs. No possible synapomorphic character with Xenoturbella bocki was found.