Abstract
A colorimetric technique for measuring μg amounts of anabaseine in tissue extracts was developed in order to investigate the distribution of this nemertine toxin. The chromophore of the assay was isolated and characterized as 3-( p-dimethylaminobenzylidene)-anabaseine. In Paranemertes the anterior proboscis contains 27 per cent, the median and posterior proboscis parts about 1 per cent, and the body proper 69 per cent of the total anabaseine. The body integument contains at least fifteen times the amount of anabaseine present in the visceral tissues. The high concentrations of anabaseine found in proboscis and body surface secretions indicate that anabaseine is stored in the continuous integument covering the nemertine. The anterior proboscis contains about seventy times the anabaseine necessary to paralyze an annelid its own size. Anabaseine is the only paralyzing constituent of the proboscis venom, and it also protects against potential predators. It was found in three of the five hoplonemertine genera studied, but was absent in the other three nemertine orders. Two other paralytic substances were observed in certain nemertine species.
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