Coelomic Corpuscles of Echinoderms

Abstract

Although a variety of corpuscles have been described during the last century by investigators of echinoderm perivisceral fluid, disagreement exists among the descriptions of different authors and a re-investigation of the problem with newer methods is desirable before the corpuscles of echinoderm perivisceral fluid can be properly characterized. These newer methods are primarily observation through the phase contrast microscope, so effective in Gregoire's studies (1953) on insect blood, and observation of cells unaltered by contact with air, glass or chemicals which Hensill (1949) found so useful in his study of crab blood. In addition, the study of all the transformations of a cell of a given type under gradually altered conditions discloses changes from one cell type to another in some instances. Furthermore, a comparative study made possible a useful tentative classification of the cells found in fifteen species of echinoderms representing all the living classes of Echinodermata. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe animals were collected in the vicinity of the Monterey Peninsula at low tide in some cases and by dredging in others. The animals were used as soon after collection as possible since starvation is known to alter clotting (Glavind, 1948).Cell types of each species were determined by the examination of fluid drawn from the perivisceral cavity with the aid of a siliconized syringe. A drop of the fluid was

Comparative Physiology: Annual Reproductive Cycles of Marine Invertebrates

“…From this an index of the degree of development of the gonads may be obtained. An increase in overall area occupied by gonads is considered to be a function of the increase in bulk of reproductive tissue (38). Still another possible variant of the gonad index method for the determination of the reproductive cycle is to find the relation between length of gonad and some linear dimension of the animal, that is, arm length of a starfish or radius of a sea urchin.…”

Morphological and ultrastructural characterization of sea urchin immune cells

“…Terminology refers to: lymphocytes (progenitor cell) that might be present in all echinoderms but it is most frequently found in holothurians and sea stars (Ramirez‐Gomez and Garcia‐Arraras, ); phagocytes that are present in all the echinoderm classes, crystal cells (specific for holothurians), fusiform cells, morula (or spherule) cells, vibratile cells that are present in echinoids and holothuroids; spherule cells, red (colored) and colorless cells which are present mostly in echinoids and holothuroids (Eliseikina and Magarlamov, ; Smith et al, ; Xing et al, ; Ramirez‐Gomez and Garcia‐Arraras, ). Boolootian and Giese () were the first to describe multiple, morphologically different cell types in the CF of the sea urchin genus, Strongylocentrotus . The most definitive report of coelomocytes represented four morphologically distinct cell types and described them as amoeboid phagocytes, red spherule cells, colorless spherule cells, and flagellated vibratile cells (Gross et al, ; Matranga et al, ; Arizza et al, ; Brockton et al, ).…”

Arylsulphatase in echinoderm immunocompetent cells

“…Spherula cells occur in echinoids (Boolootian & Giese, 1958), holothuroids (Hetzel, 1963;Fontaine & Lambert, 1977) and (described as spherical corpuscules) asteroids (Kanungo, 1984). The positive cells in echinoderms were spherula cells.…”