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Some Experiments on the Function of the Pericardial Organs in Crustacea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

J. S. Alexandrowicz  and
D. B. Carlisle
J. S. Alexandrowicz
Affiliation:
The Plymouth Laboratory
D. B. Carlisle
Affiliation:
The Plymouth Laboratory
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Extract

Experiments with isolated hearts of various Crustacea (Cancer pagurus, Maia squinado, Homarus vulgaris, Squilla mantis) were performed in order to test the postulated secretory function of the pericardial organs (nerve trunks of unusual structure lying in the pericardial cavity). Tests were made with extracts of these elements added to the fluid perfusing isolated hearts.

In Cancer, Homarus and Squilla the extracts caused a distinct increase in amplitude and frequency of the heart beat, and their effect proved to be very similar to that produced by adrenaline and noradrenaline tested on the same hearts. In Maia the extracts produced an increase in amplitude and decrease in frequency of the heart beat.

Extracts of the pericardial organs of Cancer pagurus gave the fluorescence reaction characteristic of adrenaline and related compounds. Blood taken from the pericardial cavity gave the same reaction, but that taken from the leg arteries did not.

It is assumed that the function of the pericardial organs in the Crustacea consists in liberating, through fine neuropile-like terminations of the nerve fibres, some hormone passing with the blood into the heart and producing on it a stimulating effect. There is certain evidence that the pericardial organs might release a second hormone having an inhibitory and perhaps also a stabilizing effect on the heart rhythm.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , June 1953 , pp. 175 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1953

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References

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