QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by SKAER, H. L. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by SKAER, H. L. B.

Journal of Experimental Biology 60,339-349 (1974)
Published by Company of Biologists 1974

The Water Balance of a Serpulid Polychaete, Mercierella Enigmatica (Fauvel) : III. Accessibility of the Extracellular Compartment and Related Studies

HELEN LE B. SKAER ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge; A.R.C. Unit of Invertebrate Chemistry and Physiology, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge

1. The accessibility of the coelomic and extracellular fluid compartments to the blood and the external bathing medium have been studied in the serpulid polychaete Mercierella enigmatica.

2. Only the single cell layer of the blood-vessel walls separates the blood from the other body fluids. It is likely that this layer is relatively permeable to water and to molecules of low molecular weight so that changes in ion concentration at the surface of tissues, such as the muscles, probably parallel the extensive changes in the blood.

3. Two types of longitudinal muscle fibre, differing in filament diameter, cell shape and distribution have been observed.

4. The pattern of electrical activity recorded by intracellular micro-electrodes falls into two classes, separable on the basis of several parameters.

5. This pattern is discussed in relation to the two types of longitudinal muscle fibre found.