A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 1 of 2): The Lepadidae; Or, Pedunculated CirripedesDarwin, Charles
Science
A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 1 of 2): The Lepadidae; Or, Pedunculated Cirripedes
Darwin, Charles
Cirripedia; Lepadidae
The _Outer Maxillæ_ are almost in as rudimentary a condition as the
palpi; they are quite spineless; viewed externally, they appear like two
smooth, blunt, very minute projecting points; but viewed internally, the
membrane forming the supra-oesophageal hollow seems to be united
actually to their tips, so that they do not project at all. I was
surprised to find that the longitudinal muscles going to these organs
were developed, in proportion to the other muscles, quite as fully as in
ordinary cirripedes: hence, these two little outer maxillæ, no doubt,
serve as an under lip, and possess the usual backward and forward
movement.
The surface of the probosciformed mouth facing the first pair of cirri,
has a deep central longitudinal fold, and rather more than half-way
down, a transverse fold; just above this latter fold, and therefore
quite below the outer maxillæ themselves, the two olfactory orifices are
seated; these are unusually large, and the sack into which they lead, is
most unusually large and deep. In this Cirripede, I was first enabled to
observe that the membrane lining the sack is tubular, and open at the
bottom.
_Cirri._--There are, as usual, six pair, and not of very small size;
they have a shapeless and rudimentary appearance; they are coloured,
like the rest of the body, blackish purple: they are quite spineless,
and not articulated, but their anterior faces are either obscurely or
very plainly lobed, so that in some (for instance in the third pair, Pl.
IV, fig. 6), nine or ten prominent steps could be counted, manifestly
representing so many segments. The rami are equal in length in the first
pair, and slightly unequal in the second and third pair; these two
latter are longer than either the first or three posterior pair. There
is a small interspace as usual between the first and second pair of
cirri. Internally, the cirri are occupied, even up to their tips, by
delicate striæ-less muscles. The external membrane of the thorax and
limbs, when examined under a very high power, is seen to be covered with
minute toothed scales, as in most Cirripedes.
The thorax is articulated as usual: the posterior part, however, is
smaller, and tapers more suddenly than in other species, and this
corresponds with the smaller size and more rudimentary condition, of the
three posterior pair of cirri, compared with the anterior pair. The
prosoma is hardly at all developed. The orifice (Pl. IV, fig. 2 _e_) of
the acoustic (?) sack, beneath the first cirrus, is unusually large.
There are no filamentary appendages.
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