As reported by earlier investigators, the epithelium of the digestive tubules is composed of two cell-types. One type of cell is glandular, the other type is absorptive and digestive, and to a lesser extent secretory. The latter type of cell also contains glycogen and numerous lipid globules, so that the digestive gland as a whole contains a large quantity of reserve food material. The epitheli...

The developmental changes in the concentration of 8 essential and non-essential heavy metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Co, Fe, Pb, V, Zn) in the tissues (digestive gland, cuttlebone and whole animal) of the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis collected in the bay of the river Seine were monitored from the end of the embryogenesis until the adult reproductive stage. Compared to embryos, juveniles after hatch...

A DTX-1-producing microalga, Prorocentrum foraminosum, from Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan, was fed to Gray's mussels, Crenomytilus grayanus, for 12 days. An increase in DTX-1 and 7-O-acyl-DTX-1 (DTX-3) was observed in the digestive gland, kidneys, and gills. The digestive gland accumulated 91-100% of DTX-1 + DTX-3; and kidneys and gills accumulated, up to 8.5% and 4.3%, respectively. The ki...

The digestive organs in decapodiform cephalopod species morphologically vary by individual lifestyle. We examined the following six species of adult decapodiformes cephalopods representing different habitats: Todarodes pacificus, Loligo bleekeri, Loligo edulis, Watasenia scintillans (pelagic), Sepia lycidas and Euprymna morsei (benthic). L. bleekeri and L. edulis possess a bursiform cecal sac c...

19 The digestive organs in decapodiform cephalopod species morphologically vary by 20 individual lifestyle. We examined the following six species of adult decapodiformes 21 cephalopods representing different habitats: Todarodes pacificus, Loligo bleekeri, Loligo 22 edulis, Watasenia scintillans (pelagic), Sepia lycidas, and Euprymna morsei (benthic). L. 23 bleekeri and L. edulis possess a bursi...

The accumulation of hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs) in gastropods has been demonstrated to be higher following grazing of toxic cyanobacteria than from MCs dissolved in ambient water. Previous studies, however, did not adequately consider MCs covalently bound to protein phosphatases, which may represent a considerably part of the MC body burden. Thus, using an immunohistochemical method, we exam...

The fan mussel Pinna nobilis is a rapidly growing suspension-feeding bivalve endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and usually inhabits seagrass meadows. This endangered bivalve assimilates carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in tissues from its food sources. The dC and dN signatures were used to demonstrate isotopic variation among three tissues (digestive gland, gills and muscle) and (for digestiv...

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is a ubiquitous metalloenzyme, whose functions in animals span from respiration to pH homeostasis, electrolyte transport, calcification, and biosynthetic reactions. CA is sensitive to trace metals in a number of species. In mussels, a previous study demonstrated CA activity and protein expression to be enhanced in digestive gland by cadmium exposure. The aim of the prese...

Metallothionein (MT) and metal (Cd, Cu, and Zn) concentrations were determined in the digestive gland of male and female Ruditapes decussatus. Clams were collected monthly during the period of sexual development, from June to September, at two different sites of a coastal lagoon, the Ria Formosa Lagoon, on the south coast of Portugal. The MT concentrations were determined in the heat-treated cy...

Cockles Cerastoderma edule were fed two different concentrations of two diets with different qualities which were achieved by mixing different proportions of ashed silt particles with cells of the microalgae Tetraselmis suecica. After 3 days (acute response) and 11 days (acclimated response) of exposure to the diets, we analysed the digestive activity of the digestive gland using cyto-histologi...