Gross Morphology and Histology of the Musculature of the Freshwater Pulmonate Lymnaea Stagnalis (L.)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The anatomy and light microscopy of the musculature of Lymnaea stagnalis have been studied. Special attention was paid to the structure of the body wall and to its rôle in maintaining the hydrostatic skeleton. The body wall comprises six muscle systems: 1. circular muscle, 2. diagonal muscle, 3. longitudinal muscle, 4. ventral tentacle retractor muscle, 5. columellar muscle, and 6. horizontal foot muscle. The function of these muscle systems in maintaining the form of the body and in retraction is discussed. The internal organs are divided into three groups, according to the pattern of their musculature. The first group comprises the highly muscular organs; the second group consists of the tubular organs which have a muscular sheath and the third group is made up of those organs which have only a thin connective tissue capsule containing scattered muscle cells. The body wall musculature and most of the visceral musculature, is composed of smooth muscle fibres. Cross-striated muscle was found in the heart. The muscles of the buccal mass, the gizzard and the vas deferens are obliquely striated. Most of the musculature consists of white muscle. The gizzard and the buccal mass are red, probably due to the presence of some type of myoglobin.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: