The muscles of the upper lip, which distinctly belong to the visceral and
not to the somatic musculature, form part of the foremost segments, and in
these muscles the tentacular nerve reaches its final destination. From
their innervation, then, they must have belonged to the same appendages as
the tentacles supplied by the tentacular nerve, _i.e._ to the endognaths.
What conclusion can we form as to the probable origin of the upper lip of
Ammocoetes? Since the oral chamber was formed by the forward growth of the
metastoma, _i.e._ the lower lip of Ammocoetes, it follows that the upper
{306}lip is the continuation forwards of the original ventral surface of
such an animal as Limulus or a member of the scorpion group, where there is
no metastoma, and corresponds to the endostoma, as Holm calls it, of
Eurypterus. This termination of the ventral surface in all these animals is
made up of two parts: (1) Of sternites composing the true median ventral
surface of the body, called by Lankester the pro- and meso-sternites; and
(2) of the sterno-coxal processes of the foremost prosomatic appendages,
called in the case of Limulus gnathites, because they are the main agents
in triturating the food previously to its passage into the mouth. In
Limulus, a conjoined pro-mesosternite forms the median ventral wall to
which the sterno-coxal processes are attached on each side, and in Phrynus
and Mygale a well-marked pro-sternite and meso-sternite are present,
forming the posterior limit of the olfactory opening. In Buthus and the
true scorpions the sterno-coxal processes of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
prosomatic appendages take part in surrounding the olfactory tubular
passage; in Thelyphonus only the processes of the 2nd pair of prosomatic
appendages play such a part, the pro-sternite not being present (_cf._ Fig.
97).
Seeing, then, what a large share the sterno-coxal processes of one or more
of these prosomatic appendages plays in the formation of this endostoma,
and seeing also that the nerve which supplies the upper lip-muscles in
Ammocoetes is the same as that supplying the tentacles which are attached
to the upper lip, it appears to me more probable than not that the muscles
in question are the vestiges of the sterno-coxal muscles. These muscles
differ markedly in their attachments from the muscles of the lower lip, for
whereas the latter resemble the tergo-coxal group in their extreme dorsal
attachment, the former resemble the sterno-coxal group in their attachment
to what corresponds to the endostoma.
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