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 one full-grown specimen of _S. rostratum_, in Mr. Cuming’s
collection, was in a good state of preservation, but dry. The three
parasites were attached, as stated, close under the labrum, between it
and the adductor muscle. They are constructed like ordinary Cirripedia,
and have a mouth, thorax and cirri, enclosed in a capitulum, supported
on a peduncle of moderate length and narrow. The entire length of the
capitulum and peduncle, as far as could be ascertained in the shrivelled
condition of the specimens, was 35/1000ths, and the greatest width of
the capitulum 11/1000ths of an inch. Both capitulum and peduncle are
hirsute with spines, nearly 1/1000th of an inch in length, mingled with
shorter hairs in little rows of three and four together. The figure (5)
in Pl. VI is merely a restoration, as accurate as could be made from the
much shrivelled specimens. There are only three valves,--namely, an oval
carina (_a_), seated rather high up on the capitulum, in a rudimentary
condition and only 1/1000th of an inch in length, and a pair of scuta;
these latter consist of a narrow, slightly curved plate, 8/1000ths in
length, broadest at the lower end, where the breadth is 2/1000ths of an
inch. The prehensile antennæ, at the end of the peduncle, have pointed
hoof-like discs: I was not able to make out the other parts. It deserves
notice, that in the young specimen of the ordinary form of _S.
rostratum_, 1/10th of an inch in length, and therefore only thrice as
long as the parasites, all the valves were perfect, and seemed to have
followed the ordinary law of development.
_Mouth._--The largely bullate labrum is placed far from the adductor, in
the same manner as in the hermaphrodite. The mandibles have three large
sharp teeth, with the inferior point very sharp and small, so that there
is one less tooth than in the hermaphrodite. The maxillæ have two or
three large upper spines, the others being very thin; I believe the
lower part is upraised and step-like, as in the hermaphrodite. The
outer maxillæ are bilobed in front, with a few short bristles on the
outer side near the bottom. I was not able, from the dried state of the
specimens, to discover whether the olfactory orifices were tubular.
Altogether it was apparent, from this imperfect examination, that there
was a close similarity between the mouth of the parasite and of the
hermaphrodite.
The _Thorax_ is unusually elongated.
_Cirri._--The first pair is very short, and is distant from the second.
All have the appearance of immaturity, with their pedicels very long in
proportion to their rami; the latter are slightly unequal in length,
even in the sixth pair. There appeared to be six segments in the rami of
the sixth pair, each segment bearing two or three pair of long spines.
_Caudal Appendages_, with two or three little spines on their summits.
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