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
The last peculiarity in the cirri at all worth mentioning, is in
the sub-genus Acasta, in which, differently from in all other known
Cirripedes, the anterior ramus of the fourth pair does not absolutely
resemble the rami of the fifth and sixth pairs; in most of the species,
the spines on this anterior ramus are more crowded together, are
larger, and are mingled with some short thick points; and the spines
in the dorsal tufts are also longer than in the two posterior pairs of
cirri; but in _A. sulcata_ (Pl. 29, fig. 2), and in a lesser degree
in _A. cyathus_ and _A. purpurata_, the front margins of the lower
segments of this anterior ramus, and of the upper segment of the
pedicel, are developed into strong, downwardly curved teeth: it is very
remarkable that so beautiful a structure should be extremely variable,
as it certainly is in _Acasta sulcata_.
_Caudal Appendages._
With extremely few exceptions, these are present in all the Lepadidæ
and Verrucidæ; whereas amongst the Balanidæ they occur only in the
two species of Pachylasma, and in one species of Catophragmus;
these being the genera most closely allied to the Lepadidæ, and
where, consequently, their presence might have been anticipated.
These appendages are seated close together over the anus; they are
multiarticulate, each segment being sub-cylindrical, with a few small
bristles round its upper edge.
_Alimentary Canal._
I have not much on this head to add to what I have said under the
Lepadidæ. As in that family, the strong internal membrane of the
œsophagus terminates in a remarkable, bell-shaped expansion (Pl. 26,
fig. 3, _g′_), which, as observed by M. St. Ange, serves to keep
the upper broad end of the stomach expanded. The œsophagus is well
furnished with constrictor and radiating muscles for closing and
opening it; and it is thus capable of a strong swallowing movement.
The stomach runs down to the lower end of the prosoma, and then
doubling back on itself extends to the anus. As the prosoma is much
elongated in Tubicinella and Xenobalanus, so is the stomach of
unusual length in these genera. In several species of Balanus, the
upper edge of the stomach is surrounded by from six to eight cæca;
these cæca I ascertained, in _Balanus perforatus_, are branched, and
penetrate a considerable way into the body; and some of them at least
expand a little at their extremities. Each cæcum, from the manner in
which it retained fluid, must, I think, be furnished, at the point
where it enters the stomach, with a sphincter muscle. In Tetraclita,
Chthamalus, Tubicinella, Coronula, and Xenobalanus, there are no cæca;
but in Xenobalanus and _Coronula balænaris_, there are longitudinal,
approximate folds in the upper, broad end of the stomach, which would
serve to expose the food to a greater extent of digesting surface.[37]
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