Describing Morphological Integration and Modularity in the Shell of Strombus canarium

This study was conducted to determine modularity in the shell of S. canarium using the Modularity and Integration Analysis Tool (MINT) software for geometric morphometric data. The results of the goodness of fit test made use of the γ* statistic, and subsequent Monte Carlo randomization test and jackknife support. Among the five a priori models generated, the best-fit model of the shell of S. canarium is model 5 hypothesizing that the shell is partitioned into three distinct modules namely: a) the spire; b) the body whorl; and the c) apertural region. It is argued that different gene nets may control each module and subsequently affect the developmental and genetic modularity of the shell. While there are other models as shown in this that may also explain modularity and integration in the shell shape of S. canarium, these morphological variations may be explained by the interactions and influences among developmental modules that may affect functional and genetic interactions translated into phenotypic variations.