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Balancer Fine Structure of the Pleurodeles Larva
Author(s) -
Fox Harold
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.1985.tb00828.x
Subject(s) - pleurodeles , biology , golgi apparatus , ultrastructure , mucus , endoplasmic reticulum , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , electron microscope , epidermis (zoology) , leech , amphibian , ecology , physics , world wide web , computer science , optics
The paired balancers of larval Pleurodeles waltl , a urodelan species of the Amphibia, were investigated throughout their life span until final degeneration, using electron microscopy. The evidence from cellular ultrastructure illustrates the mucus‐secreting function of these organs, and the outer epithelial cells actively synthesize muco‐proteinaceous substance. An extensive granular endoplasmic reticulum and well developed Golgi complexes participate in the mucus manufacture. The balancer epidermis is also extensively innervated throughout by non‐myelinated neurites, most of them without Schwann cells, a feature which argues strongly in favour of the organ also having a sensory function, whose nature has yet to be determined.