Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Crocoite" to "Cuba" / Volume 7, Slice 7

by Various

Recent observations, however, make it very doubtful whether aquatic Crustacea can hear at all, in the proper sense of the term, and it has been shown that one function, at least, of the so-called otocysts is connected with the equilibration of the body. They are more properly termed statocysts.

Another modification of sensory setae is supposed to be associated with the sense of smell. In nearly all Crustacea the antennules and often also the antennae bear groups of hair-like filaments in which the chitinous cuticle is extremely delicate and which do not taper to a point but end bluntly. These are known as olfactory filaments or aesthetascs. They are very often more strongly developed in the male sex, and are supposed to guide the males in pursuit of the females.

Glands.—In addition to the digestive and excretory glands already mentioned, various glandular structures occur in the different groups of Crustacea. The most important of these belong to the category of dermal glands, and may be scattered over the surface of the body and limbs, or grouped at certain points for the discharge of special functions. Such glands occurring on the upper and lower lips or on the walls of the oesophagus have been regarded as salivary. In some Amphipoda the secretion of glands on the body and limbs is used in the construction of tubular cases in which the animals live. In some freshwater Copepoda the secretion of the dermal glands forms a gelatinous envelope, by means of which the animals are able to survive desiccation. In certain Copepoda and Ostracoda glands of the same type produce a phosphorescent substance, and others, in certain Amphipoda and Branchiura, are believed to have a poisonous function. Possibly related to the same group of structures are the greatly-developed cement-glands of the Cirripedia, which serve to attach the animals to their support.

Phosphorescent Organs.—Many Crustacea belonging to very different groups (Ostracoda, Copepoda, Schizopoda, Decapoda) possess the power of emitting light. In the Ostracoda and Copepoda the phosphorescence, as already mentioned, is due to glands which produce a luminous secretion, and this is the case also in certain members of the Schizopoda and Decapoda. In other cases in the last two groups, however, the light-producing organs found on the body and limbs have a complex and remarkable structure, and were formerly described as accessory eyes. Each consists of a globular capsule pierced at one or two points for the entrance of nerves which end in a central cup-shaped “striated body.” This body appears to be the source of light, and has behind it a reflector formed of concentric lamellae, while, in front, in some cases, there is a refracting lens. The whole organ can be rotated by special muscles. Organs of this type are best known in the Euphausiidae among the Schizopoda, but a modified form is found in some of the lower Decapods.

Reproductive System.—In the great majority of Crustacea the sexes are separate. Apart from certain doubtful and possibly abnormal instances among Phyllopoda and Amphipoda, the only exceptions are the sessile Cirripedia and some parasitic Isopoda (Cymothoidae), where hermaphroditism is the rule. Parthenogenesis is prevalent in the Branchiopoda and Ostracoda, often in more or less definite seasonal alternation with sexual reproduction. Where the sexes are distinct, a more or less marked dimorphism often exists. The male is very often provided with clasping organs for seizing the female. These may be formed by the modification of almost any of the appendages, often the antennules or antennae or some of the thoracic limbs, or even the mandibular palps (some Ostracoda). In addition, some of the appendages in the neighbourhood of the genital apertures may be modified for the purpose of transferring the genital products to the female, as, for instance, the first and second abdominal limbs in the Decapoda. In the higher Decapoda the male is generally larger than the female and has stronger chelae. On the other hand, in other groups the male is often smaller than the female. In the parasitic Copepoda and Isopoda the disparity in size is carried to an extreme degree, and the minute male is attached, like a parasite, to the enormously larger female.

The Cirripedia present some examples of sexual relationships which are only paralleled, in the animal kingdom, among the parasitic Myzostomida. While the great majority are simple hermaphrodites, capable of cross and self fertilization, it was discovered by Darwin that, in certain species, minute degraded males exist, attached within the mantle-cavity of the ordinary individuals. Since these dwarf males pair, not with females, but with hermaphrodites, Darwin termed them “complemental” males. In other species the large individuals have become purely female by atrophy of the male organs, and are entirely dependent on the dwarf males for fertilization. In spite of the opinion of some distinguished zoologists to the contrary, it seems most probable that the separation of the sexes is in this case a secondary condition, derived from hermaphroditism through the intermediate stage represented by the species having complemental males.

The gonads, as in other Arthropoda, are hollow saccular organs, the cavity communicating with the efferent ducts. They are primitively paired, but often coalesce with each other more or less completely. The ducts are present only as a single pair, except in one genus of parasitic Isopoda (Hemioniscus), where two pairs of oviducts are found. Various accessory structures may be connected with the efferent ducts in both sexes. The oviducts may have diverticula serving as receptacles for the spermatozoa (in cases where internal impregnation takes place), and may be provided with glands secreting envelopes or shells around the eggs. The male ducts often have glandular walls, secreting capsules or spermatophores within which the spermatozoa are packed for transference to the female. The terminal part of the male ducts may be protrusible and act as an intromittent organ, or this function may be discharged by some of the appendages, as, for instance, in the Brachyura.

Fig. 11.—Side view of Crab, the abdomen extended and carrying a mass of eggs beneath it; e, eggs. (After Morse.)

The position of the genital apertures varies very greatly in the different groups of the class. They are farthest forward in the case of the female organs of the Cirripedia, where the openings are on the first thoracic (fourth postoral) somite. The most posterior position is occupied by the genital apertures of certain Phyllopoda (Polyartemia), which lie behind the nineteenth trunk-somite. It is characteristic of the Malacostraca that the position of the genital apertures is constantly different in the two sexes, the female openings being on the sixth, and those of the male on the eighth thoracic somite.

Very few Crustacea are viviparous in the sense that the eggs are retained within the body until hatching takes place (some Phyllopoda), but, on the other hand, the great majority carry the eggs in some way or other after their extrusion. In some Phyllopoda (Apus) egg-sacs are formed by modification of certain of the thoracic feet. The eggs are retained between the valves of the shell in some Phyllopoda and in the Cladocera and Ostracoda, and they lie in the mantle cavity in the Cirripedia. In the Copepoda they are agglutinated together into masses attached to the body of the female. Among the Malacostraca some Schizopoda, the Cumacea, Tanaidacea, Isopoda and Amphipoda (sometimes grouped all together as Peracarida) have a marsupium or brood-pouch formed by overlapping plates attached to the bases of some of the thoracic legs. In most of the Decapoda the eggs are carried by the female, attached to the abdominal appendages (fig. 11). A few cases are known in which the developing embryos are nourished by a special secretion while in the brood-chamber of the mother (Cladocera, terrestrial Isopoda).