Sensory and other superficial structures in living marine Crustacea

Abstract

ABSTRACTLiving Crustacea possess many types of sensory receptors that detect environmental signals. These structures allow the speculation that similar organs existed in fossil arthropods and were involved in similar ways in the fossil forms when they were extant.Posture, for example, is difficult to reconstruct in fossils without the understanding that internal proprioceptors monitoring position and movement are crucial in determining the placement of limbs, and the position of the abdomen and other jointed portions of the body. These receptors are associated also with autotomy reflexes through soft cuticle detectors that respond to strain not associated with joints.Many receptors are placed on the outer surface of the animal, the eyes being the most obvious. The eyes receive no attention in this paper, but descriptions are given of a number of different types of setae, serving both mechanical and chemical sensors. The possession of a pore at the apex (or sub-apex) of a seta or setule probably indicates a chemoreceptor function, but its absence does not necessarily indicate a lack of such sensitivity. A range of forms is illustrated.The dorsal organ is a recently discovered structure in decapod larvae. It is composed of a central single gland cell opening via an aperture in the midline just behind the rostrum. It is bounded by four depressions each containing a central ‘nipple’. These prove to be sensors, with ciliated endings (bifid) that end in a highly modified cuticle at the depression nipple. The function is unknown, but it is proposed that it represents an unusual chemoreceptor.