Adhesive organs of the gastrotricha

Autor: Tyler, Seth, Rieger, Gunde E.
Zdroj: Zoomorphology; February 1980, Vol. 95 Issue: 1 p1-15, 15p
Abstrakt: Summary Adhesive organs of 17 gastrotrich species of the order Macrodasyida and 2 species of the order Chaetonotida (Chaetonotida-Paucitubulatina) can be seen by transmission electron microscopy to comprise two gland cell types. These cells are morphologically similar to viscid and releasing glands of the Turbellaria and so are identified by these same names; the adhesive system in these gastrotrichs is therefore called a duo-gland system considered at least functionally comparable to the duo-gland organs of turbellarians. The two gland cell types project their necks through tubiform extensions of the animal's cuticle. Some adhesive tubules have only one of each gland type; others, even in the same species, may have two viscid and one releasing glands; and compound organs such as posterior footlike appendages may have three and four viscid glands and one releasing gland per tubule. Gland cells in some species have fibers, evidently cytoskeletal in function. The adhesive tubules are quite similar in all of these species and provide few characters for determining within-group relationships of the gastrotrichs. The duo-gland system of the Gastrotricha is probably not homologous with that of the Turbellaria.
Databáze: Supplemental Index