Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:36:15.085Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ultrastructural studies of the elytra of Pholoe minuta (Annelida: Polychaeta) with special reference to functional morphology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

P. Heffernan
P. Heffernan
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University College Galway, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It has been suggested by Pettibone (1953) and Lwebuga-Musaka (1970) that the elytra of scaleworms may function in respiration, not as the sites of gaseous exchange, but rather the means by which respiratory water currents were created over the dorsum. A role in sensory perception was also postulated (Pettibone, 1953). However, no detailed morphological study accompanied this work. To date the scales of only a few polychaete species have been examined ultrastructurally, and these studies have focused mostly on cuticular features (Anton-Erxleben, 1977, 1981a, b). Considerable attention has been focused on the bioluminescent properties of the elytra of the scaleworm, Harmothoe lunulata (Delle Chiaje) (see Bassot, 1979; Nicholas et al. 1981, 1982). Other morphological features of Pholoe minuta studied at the ultrastructural level include gametogenic (Heffernan & Keegan, 1988a) and larval (Heffernan & Keegan, 1988b) stages as well as the digestive tract (Heffernan, 1988). There are several reports on the ultrastructure of polychaete gills (Storch & Welsch, 1972; Spies, 1973; Storch & Alberti, 1978; Menendez et al., 1984; Storch & Gaill, 1986). These works have recently been reviewed by Gardiner (1988). This study describes the fine structure of the scales of Pholoe minuta and the features illustrated here are in agreement with a role in respiration and sensory perception.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 70 , Issue 3 , August 1990 , pp. 545 - 556
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anton-Erxleben, F., 1977. Ein beitrag zur ultrastruktur der Elytrenoberflachen der Aphroditidae, Polynoidae and Sigalionidae (Polychaeta, Errantia Nereimorpha) Mitterlungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut, 74, 31–44.Google Scholar
Anton-Erxleben, F., 1981a. Investigations of the cuticle of Polychaete elytrae using energy dispersive x-ray analysis. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen, 34, 439–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anton-Erxleben, F. 1981b. Vergleichende Untersuchungen zur Ultrastruktur der Elytrenoberglachen der Aphroditidae, Polynoidae, Sigalionidae und Polydonlidae (Polychaeta). Dissertation, University of Hamburg.Google Scholar
Bancroft, J. & Stevens, A., 1977. Theory and Practice of Histological Techniques. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Baskin, D., 1971. Fine structure functional organization and supportive role of neuroglia in Nereis. Tissue and Cell, 3, 579–588.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bassot, J.-M, 1979. Sites actifs et facilitation dans trois systemes bioluminescents. Archives de Zoologie Expérimentale et Générale, 120, 5–24.Google Scholar
Dhainaut-Courtois, N. & Golding, D.W., 1988. Nervous system. In The Ultrastructure of Polychaeta, vol. 4. Microfauna Marina (ed. W., Westheide and C.O., Hermans), pp. 89–110. Stuttgart: Gustav Fisher Verlag.Google Scholar
Gardiner, S.L. 1988. Respiratory and feeding appendages. In The Ultrastructure of Polychaeta, vol. 4. Microfauna Marina (ed. W., Westheide and C.O., Hermans), pp. 37–43. Stuttgart: Gustav Fisher Verlag.Google Scholar
Golding, D.W. & May, B.A., 1982. Duality of secretory inclusions in neurones – ultrastructure of corresponding sites of release in invertebrate nervous systems. Acta Zoologica, 63, 229–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heffernan, P., 1985a. The Biology of Pholoe minuta (Fabricius) (Polychaeta: Sigalionidae) in Galway Bay, with Special Reference to the Ultrastructure and Histochemistry of Selected Morphological Features. PhD Thesis, National University of Ireland.Google Scholar
Heffernan, P., 1985b. Demography of Pholoe minuta (Polychaeta: Sigalionidae) in Galway Bay, west coast of Ireland, with special reference to settlement and recruitment patterns. Marine Biology, 84, 323–329.Google Scholar
Heffernan, P., 1988. Ultrastructural and histochemical studies of the digestive system of Pholoe minuta (Polychaeta: Sigalionidae). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 68, 447–464.Google Scholar
Heffernan, P. & Keegan, B.F., 1988a. Quantitative and ultrastructural studies on the reproductive biology of the polychaete Pholoe minuta in Galway Bay. Marine Biology, 99, 203–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heffernan, P. & Keegan, B.F., 1988b. The larval development of Pholoe minuta (Polychaeta: Sigalionidae) in Galway Bay, Ireland. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 68, 339–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heffernan, P., O'connor, B. & Keegan, B.F., 1983. Population dynamics and reproductive cycles of Pholoe minuta (Polychaeta: Sigalionidae) in Galway Bay. Marine Biology, 73, 285–291.Google Scholar
Humphreys, C. & Porter, K., 1976. Collagenous and other organizations in mature annelid cuticle and epidermis. Journal of Morphology, 149, 33–51.Google Scholar
Kristensen, E., 1983. Ventilation and oxygen uptake by three species of Nereis (Annelida: Polychaeta). I. Effects of hypoxia. Marine Ecology – Progress Series, 12, 289–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lwebuga-Musaka, J., 1970. The role of elytra in the movement of water over the surface of Halosydna brevisetosa (Polychaeta: Polynoidae). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 69, 154–160.Google Scholar
Menendez, A., Arias, J.S., Tolivia, D. & Alvarez-Uria, M., 1984. Ultrastructure of gill epithelial cells of Diopatra neapolitana (Annelida, Polychaeta). Zoomorphology, 104, 304–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicholas, J.-M., Bassot, J.-M. & Shimonura, O., 1981. Characterisation d'une photoproteine nouvelle dans le systeme bioluminescent des annelides polynoinae. Cahiers de la Recherche Academie de Science, Paris, 293, 777–780.Google Scholar
Nicholas, J.-M., Bassot, J.-M. & Shimonura, O., 1982. Polynoidin: a membrane photoprotein isolated from the bioluminescent system of a scale worm. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 35, 201–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearse, A., 1968. Histochemistry: Theoretical and Applied, 3rd ed.London: J. and A. Churchill.Google Scholar
Pettibone, M., 1953. Some Scale-Bearing Polychaetes of Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters. Seattle: University of Washington Press.Google Scholar
Polysciences 1976. Data Sheet 123. Warrington, Pennsylvania: Polysciences Inc.Google Scholar
Rhodin, J., 1974. Histology, a Text and Atlas. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Spies, R.B., 1973. The blood system of the flabelligerid polychaetes, Flabelliderma commensalis. Journal of Morphology, 139, 465–490.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spurr, A., 1969. A low viscosity epoxy resin embedding medium for electron microscopy. Journal of Ultrastructure Research, 26, 31–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Storch, V. & Alberti, G., 1978. Ultrastructural observations on the gills of polychaetes. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen, 31, 169–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storch, V. & Gaill, F., 1986. Ultrastructural observations on feeding appendages and gills of Alvinella pompejana (Annelida: Polychaeta). Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen, 40, 309–319.Google Scholar
Storch, V. and Schlotzer-Schrehardt, U., 1988. Sensory structures In The Ultrastructure of Polychaeta, vol. 4. Microfauna Marina (ed. W., Westheide and C.O., Hermans), pp. 121–133. Stuttgart: Gustav Fisher Verlag.Google Scholar
Storch, V. & Welsch, U., 1972. Ultrastructure and histochemistry of the integument of air breathing polychaetes from Mangrove swamps of Sumatra. Marine Biology, 17, 137–144.Google Scholar
Threadgold, L. T., 1976. The Ultrastructure of the Animal Cell. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar