Fig. 57.—Arthropods (insects)—Mantis.
Photo: Harold Bastin.
Fig. 58.—Arthropods (insects)—Swallow-tail butterfly and larva.
Photos: Harold Bastin.
Fig. 59.—Balanoglossus.
We must now go back and take up the main thread of our story. The next stage that falls to be described is that of a highly interesting group of worms known as Enteropneusta, a name signifying 'gut breathers.' This group contains a very small number of worm forms, which are to be found burrowing in the sand of the sea floor. A typical example is the Balanoglossus, a worm of some four inches in length, whose general appearance is illustrated in Fig. 59. The creature has, as will be observed, a large muscular snout or proboscis, behind which follows a small portion called the collar, and behind this again the long body. The most noteworthy feature of the group, as the name implies, is the respiratory system. The mouth, which is situated in the region of the 'collar,' leads into a gullet, which is partially divided into an upper and a lower canal by means of two inwardly projecting longitudinal folds, one on either side. Only the lower of these canals is used as a food passage; the upper communicates with the outside by means of a large number of transverse slits on its sides. Water is continually being taken in by the mouth and passed along this upper canal, to reach the outside by way of the gill slits, and in doing so it passes over the gills, where the blood is circulating in fine capillary vessels. Here the blood is supplied with oxygen from the water, and is at the same time relieved of carbonic oxide. This, it will be observed, is the same method of respiration as that of the fishes. Behind the last gill slit the digestive canal becomes a simple tube, with two digestive glands or liver sacs. There are two main blood vessels, the larger running along above the digestive canal, and the smaller below it, the two being connected by means of numerous branches. There is a swelling of the dorsal vessel—a heart—at its forward extremity, in the base of the proboscis. The nervous system is peculiar; it consists of two nerve cords, the smaller below the gut and the larger above it—the latter therefore occupying a position similar to that of the spinal cord in the vertebrates. Thus in two respects, in its respiratory and nervous systems, Balanoglossus must be regarded as a highly extraordinary member of the worm group, and in both its peculiarities it shows an approach to the vertebrate. There can be little doubt as to the position of this group as an important connecting link between the ordinary worms and the vertebrates. Fig. 60 illustrates the main features of the anatomy.
Fig. 60.—Section of front end of Balanoglossus.