Collected reprints: Abstract 3609

Collected reprints

Abstract

Richard, A.; Van den Branden, C.; Decleir, W. (1979). The cycle of activity in the accessory nidamental glands from cephalopods. Cyclic Phenomena in Marine Plants and Animals : 173-180

The reproductive system of female cephalopods includes a glandular system (oviduct glands and nidamental glands), which develops considerably during sexual maturation and which plays an important part in the formation of the different egg membranes. It is generally uncoloured. An exception are the nidamental glands in Nautilus pompilius which are composed of opaque yellowish or yellowish-green tissue (Ref. 1). Moreover all Sepioidea and Myopsida and Ctenopteryx, a species belonging to the Oegopsida (Ref.2) possess accessory nidamental glands. The most striking property of these glands is their intense coloration varying from yellow to orange and red. This paper is a comparative study of the accessory nidamental glands from Sepia officinalis L. (the cuttlefish), Sepiola atlantica d'Orbigny (the little cuttle), Loligo vulgaris Lamarck (the common squid) and Alloteuthis subulata Lamarck. These are four cephalopods which are very common on the North Sea coasts of Belgium, England, France and the Netherlands. Special attention has been given to Sepia officinalis L., which, since 1965, has been a main subject of intensive research at the Institute of Marine Biology of Wimereux (France).

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