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Light and electron microscopical investigations on shell pores (caeca) of fissurellid limpets (Mollusca: Archaeogastropoda)
Author(s) -
Reindl S.,
Haszprunar G.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1994.tb05272.x
Subject(s) - biology , mantle (geology) , shell (structure) , mollusca , electron microscope , anatomy , biophysics , zoology , paleontology , materials science , composite material , physics , optics
The organic content (caecum) of the shell pores of five species of fissurellid (key‐hole) limpets was investigated by means of light and electron microscopy. Fissurellid caeca are unbranched, polycellular extensions of the mantle epithelium, which penetrate the whole shell and contact the periostracum via organic fibres called ‘brush’. They are built up by two cell‐types, which enclose a central lumen, and are formed concurrently with the shell itself. Because of fundamental structural and developmental differences, the superficially similar shell pores of bivalves (caeca) and polyplacophorans (aesthetes) are considered as analogous rather than homologous organs. Similarities are found with brachiopod caeca, probably owing to similar functions.