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Connective-Tissue Pigment of the Centipede, Lithobius forficatus (L.)

Abstract

THE connective-tissue pigment of the centipede Lithobius forficatus is violet in colour and occurs in abundant granules in the connective tissue cells1. Little is known of its nature and properties. On dissecting the animal2 it was noticed that the intensity of colour increased, implying that in vivo some of the pigment is in a colourless, reduced form. Interest in the pigment was renewed by the demonstration of a tissue-pigment with a redox colour change in the isopod Crustacea3. The pigment cells of the latter are of mesodermal origin, like those of Lithobius.

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References

  1. Attems, C. G., Kukenthal's “Handbuch der Zoologie”, 4 (1) (De Gruyter, Berlin, 1930).

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  2. Needham, A. E., Proc. Zool. Soc., Lond., A, 115, 355 (1945).

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  3. Needham, A. E., and Brunet, P. C. J., Experientia, 13, 207 (1957).

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NEEDHAM, A. Connective-Tissue Pigment of the Centipede, Lithobius forficatus (L.). Nature 181, 194–195 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1038/181194b0

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