Search results for "Test cell"

Functional role of test cells in swimming larvae of Ascidia malaca: ultrastructuraland cytochemical investigations

2004

The functional role played by test cells in larvae of various ascidian species consists in depositing submicroscopic structures known as ornaments and/or proteoglycan substances on the larval test surface. According to the data reported in the literature, the deposition of ornaments together with proteoglycan substances on the larval test would render the latter hydrophilic and thus allow the larva to swim being immersed in water. Ornament deposition on the larval test does not occur in all the ascidian species. Ultrastructural investigations made on larvae belonging to the Cionidae and Ascididae families, for instance, have failed to evidence the presence of ornaments on the test. For thes…