Dan,
Good question. And here's one for you. At what magnification do you see
these pores? I am in the midst of a study of sensory structures on the
palps and prostomium of various spionid polychaetes, especially Polydora
quadrilobata. SEM shows that P. quadrilobata has a fantastic distribution of
ciliated sensory structures and adjacent pores all over its prostomium (I'll be
showing pictures at the SICB meeting in Atlanta in January). My guess
(and hope) is that both are chemosensory structures. I still have to do the
TEM to know the ultrastructure better. I am also in the early stages of
developing molecular probes for chemosensory receptors, with the aim of
doing in situ hybridizations to localize expression patterns of genes
encoding chemoreceptors.
I too would like to hear others' comments on these structures.
Cheers,
Sara Lindsay
<SLINDSAY at MAINE.EDU>
> Some annelids have distinct head pores at or near the tip of their
> prostomium. What function(s) does this serve?
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