A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 2 of 2): The Balanidæ, (or Sessile Cirripedes); the Verrucidæ, etc., etc.Darwin, Charles
Science
A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 2 of 2): The Balanidæ, (or Sessile Cirripedes); the Verrucidæ, etc., etc.
Darwin, Charles
Balanidae; Cirripedia
_Scuta._--These valves are important, inasmuch as the animal's body
is attached to them; in Pl. 25, fig. 1, the broken line, surrounding
_a_, _b_, shows where the body has been cut, in removing the scutum
on the near side, the other scutum, S, being left articulated to the
tergum, T. In shape the scuta are generally sub-triangular; but in some
species of Pyrgoma and in Chelonobia, &c. they are much elongated. The
lines of growth are usually prominent; and along the occludent margins
the alternate, or sometimes every third or fourth line, is developed
into a knob, which produces a serrated edge, serving to lock the two
opposed valves together; there is, however, no trace of this structure
in Coronula and Tubicinella. In some species of Pyrgoma, a ledge of
considerable breadth (Pl. 13, fig. 3 _e_, &c.) is developed along
the occludent margins of the two scuta, as well as of the two terga,
giving them an anomalous structure. The _Terga_ differ considerably
in outline in the different genera and species: their shape approaches
more nearly to a triangle than to any other regular form; but there is
generally a projection or spur on the basal margin, on the side towards
the scutum. In some species of Pyrgoma, the tergum is of so irregular a
shape as to defy description. In most cases, a longitudinal depression
or furrow runs down the valve, from the apex to the extremity of the
spur; and it not rarely happens that the sides of this furrow become
folded inwards and almost closed. The spur probably answers to the
basal point of the usually sub-rhomboidal tergum in Pollicipes and
Scalpellum.[22] The tips of the terga in some species of Balanus, &c.,
are specially modified into sharp points or beaks (Pl. 2, fig. 3 _b_,
3 _d_), bowed a little inwards, and projecting considerably above the
tips of the scuta; this is effected by the medial, uppermost part
of the valve being internally thickened and hardened, and then, by
the disintegration of the two margins and the external surface, the
internal modified portion becomes exposed. The whole valve, also, at
least in such cases as in _Balanus psittacus_, appears to be forced
slowly upwards in the articular furrow of the scutum. I am assured, by
a competent observer, that the beaks of the terga in _B. porcatus_ can
give an object placed within the orifice of the shell a sharp tap.
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