Abstract
THERE has been much dispute concerning the function of the labral glands of the Branchiopoda. Although Cannon1–6 has long maintained that they produce a secretion which entangles particulate food prior to its being dealt with by the paired mouthparts, this has not been universally accepted. Among those who dispute this, Nicholson and Yonge7 expressed the hope that new and independent evidence would be produced by others. Such evidence, which vindicates Cannon's belief, has been obtained from the chydorid cladoceran Eurycercus lamellatus (O. F. Müller), in which the labral gland secretions and their origin have been unequivocally demonstrated. Previous evidence was confined to the observation of secretions in the gland cell ducts1 or, even in the much studied anostracan Chirocephalus diaphanus Prévost, to the demonstration of material adjacent to the labrum which was believed to have been produced by the labral glands5,6. In Eurycercus, secreted matter exuding from the ducts in the labrum has been clearly revealed (Fig. 1 S). This material is mixed with the food by special lobes on the first trunk limb (L) and by the maxillules.
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FRYER, G. Secretions of the Labral and Trunk Limb Glands in the Cladoceran Eurycercus lamellatus. Nature 195, 97 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/195097a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/195097a0
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