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Mouthparts and their setae of the intertidal isopod Cirolana harfordi
Author(s) -
THOMSON M.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/jmi.12075
Subject(s) - seta , arthropod mouthparts , intertidal zone , cuticle (hair) , isopoda , anatomy , biology , crustacean , zoology , ecology , genus
Summary The cirolanid isopod Cirolana harfordi is described as a scavenger and a predator that lives in the intertidal region. In order to understand the microanatomy of the mouthparts and the setae that allow this animal to handle and eat its food, a scanning electron microscopy study was conducted. C. harfordi displays a variety in the types of setae distributed on its mouthparts in a site‐specific fashion, including complex setae placed on the medial edge of the maxilliped and maxilla. Terminal pores in some setae were found to contain a cupule, which is a hemispherical structure, housed in the concave recess of the pore, which demonstrates that the pore is more than merely a thinning of the cuticle as has been proposed. Future studies on setal morphology are needed for comparative microanatomy of cirolanid isopods.