Radula - Use

Use

The radula is used in two main ways: either as a 'rake', generally to comb up microscopic, filamentous algae from a surface; or as a rasp, to feed directly on a 'plant'. The rhipidoglossan (see below) and, to a lesser extent, the taenigloissan radula types are suited to less strenuous modes of feeding, brushing up smaller algae or feeding on soft forms; molluscs with such radulae are rarely able to feed on leathery or coralline algae. On the other hand, the docoglossan gastropod radula allows a very similar diet to the polyplacophora, feeding primarily on these resistant algae, although microalgae are also consumed by species with these radular types.

The sacoglossans (sea slugs) form an interesting anomaly in that their radula comprises a single row; they feed by sucking on cell contents, rather than rasping at tissue, and most species feed on a single genus or species of alga. Here, the shape of the radular teeth has a close match with the food substrate on which they are used. Triangular teeth are suited to diets of calcified algae, and are also present in radulae used to graze on Caulerpa; in both these cases the cell walls are predominantly composed of xylan. Sabot-shaped teeth – rods with a groove along one side – are associated with diets of crossed-fibrillar cellulose-walled algae, such as the Siphonocladaceae and Cladophorales, whereas blade-shaped teeth are more generalist.