Ciliary Transport of Particles in Polyplacophoran Gills

Authors

Matthew Palmer, Brigham Young University
Dr. Lee F. Braithwaite, Brigham Young University

Keywords

ciliary transport, polyplacophoran gills, chitons, molluscs

College

Life Sciences

Department

Plant and Wildlife Sciences

Abstract

Throughout the phylum Mollusca, gills are used to accomplish a variety of tasks and are thus highly specialized organs. The chitons, class Polyplacophora, are a primitive group of molluscs whose gills have the unique condition of being aligned on either side of the foot in series of up to 60 gills per side. Despite this unique arrangement, chiton gills have been the subject of relatively few studies. The objective of this project was to elucidate the mechanism by which chitons extrude particles from their gill surfaces. The two approaches employed to this end were, first, observation of live chitons transporting experimentally introduced particles across the gill epithelium, and second, examination of the gills by electron microscopy. Four species of chitons were studied: Tonicella lineata, Mopalia muscosa, Mopalia lignosa, and Nuttallina californica.

Recommended Citation

Palmer, Matthew and Braithwaite, Dr. Lee F. (2014) "Ciliary Transport of Particles in Polyplacophoran Gills," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014: Iss. 1, Article 960.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/960