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Cuticular ultrastructure of a Cretaceous decapod crustacean
Author(s) -
Dalingwater J. E.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
geological journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.721
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1099-1034
pISSN - 0072-1050
DOI - 10.1002/gj.3350120103
Subject(s) - ultrastructure , cuticle (hair) , cretaceous , crustacean , arthropod , anatomy , paleontology , geology , arthropod cuticle , biology , scanning electron microscope , composite material , materials science , zoology , insect
The cuticie of the lobster Hoploparia longimana (Sowerby) from the Cambridge Greensand (Upper Cretaceous), when etched in E.D.T.A. and examined with the scanning electron microscope, reveals detail of ultrastructure not previously described from any fossil arthropod cuticle. The fibre patterns of laminae and inter‐laminae are described and interpreted by comparison with those in modern crustacean cuticles. Horizontal tubules at the laminae may represent a lamina membrane. The pore canals are round with fibrous walls and are surrounded by elliptical voids, possibly originally occupied by vertical fibres. Wider canals, around 15 μm in diameter, are probably setal ducts. The cuticle is now largely composed of an apatite.