The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 03 (of 10)Cooke, A. H. (Alfred Hands)
Science
The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 03 (of 10)
Cooke, A. H. (Alfred Hands)
Animals
[Illustration: FIG. 46.--Developed larva of _Cyclas cornea_ L.:
_br_, rudimentary branchiae; _by_, byssus; _f_, foot; _m.e_,
mantle edge; _sh_, shell. (After Ziegler, highly magnified.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 47.--=A=, Advanced veliger of _Dreissensia_:
_f_, foot; _m_, mouth; _sh_, shell; _v_, _v_, velum. (After
Korschelt and Heider, much enlarged.) =B=, Veliger of a Pteropod
(_Tiedemannia_): _op_, operculum; _sh_, shell; _v_, velum. (After
Krohn, much enlarged.)]
In this so-called _veliger_ stage, the velum serves, in the first
place, to cause rotation of the larva within the egg-capsules, and,
after hatching, as an organ of locomotion. As a rule, the velum
disappears entirely in the adult mollusc after the free-swimming stage
is over, but in the common _Limnaea stagnalis_ it persists, losing its
cilia, as the very prominent circum-oral lobes. Simultaneously with
the development of the velum, and in some cases earlier, appear the
rudiments of the shell-gland and of the foot, the latter being situated
on the ventral side, between the mouth and anus, the former on the
dorsal side, behind the velum, and above the surface of the eventual
visceral sac. Thus the prime characteristics of the veliger stage,
subsequent to the appearance of the velum itself, are the development
of the visceral sac and shell-gland on the upper, and of the foot on
the under side. According to Lankester the primitive shell-gland does
not, as a rule, directly give rise to the shell of the adult mollusc,
but becomes filled up by a horny substance, and eventually disappears;
the permanent shell then forms over the surface of the visceral hump
from the original centre of the shell-gland. It is only in _Chiton_,
and possibly in _Limax_, that the primitive shell-sac is retained and
developed into the final shell-forming area, which is much wider, and
extends to the edges of the mantle. Within the velar area first appear
the rudiments of the tentacles and eyes; when these become developed
the velum atrophies and disappears.
Several of these veligers when captured in the open sea have been
mistaken for perfect forms, and have been described as such. Thus the
larva of _Dolium_ has been described as _Macgillivrayia_, that of a
_Purpura_ as _Chelotropis_ and _Sinusigera_, that of _Aporrhais pes
pelecani_ as _Chiropteron_, that of _Marsenia conspicua_ as _Brownia_,
_Echinospira_, and _Calcarella_.
_Cephalopoda._--The embryonic development of the Cephalopoda is
entirely distinct from that of all other Mollusca. The segmentation of
the vitellus is partial, and the embryo is furnished with a vitelline
sac, which is very large in the majority of cases (Fig. 48). There
is no free-swimming stage, but the embryo emerges from the egg fully
developed.
=Differences of Sex.=--In the Mollusca there are two main types of
sexual difference: (i) sexes separate (_dioecious_ type), (ii) sexes
united in the same individual (_hermaphrodite_ type).
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