Summary
The structure of the aesthete organs of the chiton Lepidochitona cinereus (L.) is described by light and electron microscopy. The observations do not discount a sensory function for these organs, but possible sensory structures such as microvilli and cilia are poorly organised. Most of the aesthete is taken up with large cells actively forming secretory products and apparently passing them proximally in the aesthete canal towards the animal. Comparisons are drawn with the brachiopod caecae.
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I wish to thank Mr. A. Morison and Mr. H. B. Watt for invaluable technical assistance; the staffs of the Bio-Engineering Unit, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and the Macaulay Soil Science Institute, Aberdeen for help and scanning electron microscope facilities, and Dr. W. J. Cruickshank for reading the manuscript.
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Boyle, P.R. The aesthetes of chitons. Cell Tissue Res. 153, 383–398 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229166
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229166