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Histochemistry of the Bucco-Oesophageal Glands of Mytilus Edulis: The Importance of Mucus in Ingestion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Peter G. Beninger  and
Marcel Le Pennec
Peter G. Beninger
Affiliation:
Département de Biologie et Centre de Recherches sur l'Environnement, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick, E1A 3E9, Canada. URA CNRS 1513 ‘Bioflux’, Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, Institut d'Etudes Marines, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 29287 Brest Cedex, France
Marcel Le Pennec
Affiliation:
URA CNRS 1513 ‘Bioflux’, Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, Institut d'Etudes Marines, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 29287 Brest Cedex, France
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Extract

Histochemical techniques were used to investigate the possible role of the buccooesophageal glands in the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis L. (Mollusca: Bivalvia). No activity was observed for any of the eight major digestive enzymes tested; however, the glands contained large amounts of both neutral and acid mucopolysaccharides. These results confirm the importance of mucus in the ingestive process in M. edulis, and do not support the hypothesis of ingestion of particles suspended in water alone.

Until recently it was thought that the Bivalvia were the only class of molluscs in which some type of secretory gland of extracellular digestive function in the bucco-oesophageal region was totally absent (Table 1). However, in a study of the mode of particle ingestion in five species of suspension-feeding bivalves, an extensive glandular complex was reported in the bucco-oesophageal region of Mytilus edulis L. only (Beninger et al., 1991). Although these glands were observed to liberate secretions into the oesophageal lumen, it was not known whether they performed any digestive function.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 73 , Issue 1 , February 1993 , pp. 237 - 240
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1993

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