Abstract
THE secretion of a mucus from the tube-feet of ophiuroids is well known1, although the chemical nature of this substance has not been investigated. In a study of the feeding mechanisms of ophiuroids, I find that Ophiocomina nigra (Abildgaard), a common littoral species widespread in the north-east Atlantic and Mediterranean, in addition to the mucin of the tube-feet, secretes all over the body surface an abundant mucus used in conjunction with a detritus-feeding mechanism. Attempts to find the source of this secretion have revealed two types of mucus glands previously undescribed for the species.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Smith, J. E., J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K., 22, 345 (1937).
Thomas, L. J., Biol. Bull., 101, 230 (1951). Love, R., and Frommhagen, L. H., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. and Med., 83, 838 (1953). Thomas, L. J., Biol. Bull., 106, 129 (1954).
Runnstrom, J., Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol., 6 (1952).
Harvey, E. N., “Bioluminescence” (New York, 1952).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
FONTAINE, A. Secretion of a Highly Sulphated Acid Mucopolysaccharide by the Brittle-star, Ophiocomina nigra . Nature 176, 606–607 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1038/176606b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/176606b0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Regeneration of the digestive tract of an anterior-eviscerating sea cucumber, Eupentacta quinquesemita, and the involvement of mesenchymal–epithelial transition in digestive tube formation
Zoological Letters (2019)
-
Secretory cells in the foregut of the echinopluteus
Wilhelm Roux's Archives of Developmental Biology (1975)
-
On the biology of Berthellina citrina (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) and its defensive acid secretion
Marine Biology (1973)
-
Mucosaccharides and glycoproteins
Ergebnisse der Physiologie Biologischen Chemie und Experimentellen Pharmakologie (1959)