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
_Thorax and Abdomen._--When the external integument is cut open, the
thorax (Pl. V, fig. 13) is found lodged within an inner sack or rather
tube, extending from near the bottom of the animal, up to the external
orifice. The whole thorax is sometimes forced through the orifice, owing
perhaps to the action of the spirits of wine and consequent endosmose,
and is thus well displayed without dissection. The thorax tapers a
little, is much flattened and straight; its length, together with the
terminal abdominal lobe, is about 6/400ths of an inch; it is formed of
very thin, most finely hirsute membrane, transversely wrinkled and so
extensible, that when everted by the internal muscles being seized, it
stretches to twice its former length; in this condition, five transverse
articulations are displayed. The abdominal lobe is smooth, and cannot
be stretched, or turned inside out by pulling the above muscles. On the
thorax, corresponding with the interspaces between the five transverse
articulations, there are four pair of short limbs, but their bases, I
believe, are prolonged across the inner or ventral surface of the
thorax, so as almost to touch each other. These limbs, I believe, have
no articulations, except, perhaps, where united to the thorax. The
anterior or lowest limb, on each side, supports two or sometimes only a
single spine; this pair is rather smaller than the second, and is placed
a little more distant from it, than are the upper pairs from each other.
The second pair differs from the upper two, only in having its three
spines a very little shorter. The two upper or posterior pair exactly
resemble each other; each has two spines on the summit, and a third
seated lower down, on a little notch on the outer side, but with its
point on a level with the others. The points of the spines of the two
upper limbs, stand on a level with the external spines at the end of the
abdomen. All the spines are of excessive tenuity and sharpness; they are
straight, long, and not plumose.
The abdominal lobe is square, and from not being wrinkled, has a
different appearance from the thorax: on each of the posterior angles,
there are three moderately long, very sharp spines, with the tips of the
outer pair bent a little inwards; in the middle between them, there are
two little spines, and a little below and outside these latter, on the
ventral surface, there are two other longer spines with their tips bent
inwards; and again, lower down, two other pair, one beneath the other,
of short spines. Perhaps, the three pair of spines on the ventral
surface, mark the three segments, which are distinct on the abdomen of
the larva in the last stage of its development, in Lepas and other
genera. In the same way, it is probable that the lateral spine on the
notch in each limb, marks the point where, in the larva, there is an
articulation. Altogether, there are seven pairs of spines on the
abdomen, and eleven pairs on the thoracic limbs.
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