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“New” Sense Organ of Primitive Gastropods

Abstract

AN array of distance chemoreceptor organs sensitive to the scent of predatory starfish has been found on the ctenidial leaflets of the marine snail Tegula funebralis Adams. Each leaflet has one such organ; a slight swelling of the efferent border of the leaflet near the base marks its position. The swelling is cut across by a notch whose dorsal wall is infolded to form a pocket lying within the swelling. The swelling with its notch and pocket is termed a bursicle (small pouch) (Figs. 1 and 2).

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SZAL, R. “New” Sense Organ of Primitive Gastropods. Nature 229, 490–492 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/229490a0

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