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
I have in this abstract treated the metamorphoses at greater length than
I should otherwise have done, on account of the great importance of
arriving at a correct homological interpretation of the different parts
of the mature animal. In Crustacea, according to the ordinary view,
there are twenty-one segments; of these I can recognise in the
Cirripede, on evidence as good as can generally be obtained, all with
the exception of the four terminal abdominal segments; these do not
occur in any species known to me, in any stage of its development. If
that part of the larva in front of the mouth, bearing the eyes, the
prehensile antennæ, and in an earlier stage two pair of antennæ, be
formed, as is admitted in all other Crustacea, of three segments, then
beyond a doubt, from the absolute correspondence of every part, and even
every coloured mark, the peduncle of the Lepadidæ is likewise thus
formed. The peduncle being filled by the branching ovarian tubes is no
objection to this view, for I am informed on the high authority of Mr.
J. D. Dana,[12] that this is the case with the cephalo-thorax in some
true Crustaceans, for instance, in Sapphirina. To proceed, the mouth,
formed of mandibles, maxillæ, and outer maxillæ, correspond with the
fourth, fifth, and sixth segments of the archetype Crustacean.
Posteriorly to the mouth, we come, in the larva, to a rather wide
interspace without any apparent articulation or organ, and then to the
thorax, formed of six segments, bearing the six pair of limbs, of which
the first pair differs slightly from the others. The thorax is succeeded
by three small segments, differently shaped, with the posterior one
alone bearing appendages; these segments, I cannot doubt, from their
appearance alone, and from their apparent function of steering the body,
are abdominal segments. If this latter view be correct, the thoracic
segments are the six posterior ones of the normal seven segments, and
there must be two segments missing between the outer maxillæ and first
thoracic pair of legs, which latter on this view springs from the ninth
segment. Now, in a very singular Cirripede, already alluded to under the
name of Proteolepas, the two missing segments are present, the mouth
being actually succeeded by eight segments, and these by the three usual
abdominal segments,--every segment in the body being as distinct as in
an Annelid: hence in Proteolepas, adding the three segments for the
mouth and three for the carapace, we have altogether seventeen
segments, which, as I stated, is the full number ever observed in any
Cirripede, the four missing ones being abdominal, and, I presume, the
four terminal segments. That the cavity in which the thorax is lodged,
in the larva and therefore in the mature Cirripede, is simply formed by
the backward production of the carapace, does not require any
discussion. The valves have no homological signification.
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