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J. Moll. Stud. (2002), 68, 249-254
© The Malacological Society of London 2002

A CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE LOVE DART (GYPSOBELUM) OF THE LAND SNAIL HELIX POMATIA (L.)

BERND HASSE1, JULIA C. MARXEN2, WILHELM BECKER2, HELMUT EHRENBERG3 and MATTHIAS EPPLE1,

1 Solid State Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany; 2 Department of Zoology, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz3, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany; 3 Darmstadt University of Technology, Materials Science, Petersenstrasse 23, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany

* Correspondence: M. Epple; e-mail: Matthias.Epple{at}ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Love darts are formed in land snails and injected into the partner's body during the mating process. Darts of Helix pomatia (L.) were studied with synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (Ca K-edge EXAFS), and scanning electron microscopy. The polycrystalline dart consists almost exclusively of non-orientated aragonite crystals (calcium carbonate) with isotropic domain sizes of c. 40-80 nm with a variation in size along the dart. The hollow central channel inside the dart is covered with elongated, µm-sized crystals, possibly single crystals. Very small amounts of an unknown crystalline phase were found.

(Received 15 August 2001; accepted 24 January 2002)


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