The microscopic anatomy and ultrastructure of the nephridium of the sipunculan Themiste hexadactyla Satô 1930) (Sipuncula: Sipunculidea)

Abstract

The microscopic anatomy and ultrastructure of the nephridia of the sipunculan Themiste hexadactyla (Sato, 1930) from the Sea of Japan were studied by the histological and electron microscopic methods. The fine structures of the ciliary funnel, muscular “tongue,” excretory sac, and excretory tube of the nephridium were described. The ultrastructural features of the excretory epithelium, cupola-shaped epithelial infoldings, excretory canals, and muscular layer in the extracellular matrix of the nephridial wall were examined and described in detail. The ultrastructure of the nephridial coelomic epithelium composed of podocytes with long processes and multiciliary cells was also examined and illustrated. Characteristic cell contacts between the processes of podocytes, viz., paired “double diaphragms,” were described and illustrated for the first time.