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Mantle histology, histochemistry and ultrastructure of the pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera (L.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 1992

Roula Jabbour-Zahab ,
Dominique Chagot ,
Françoise Blanc  and
Henri Grizel
Roula Jabbour-Zahab
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Zoogéographie Génétique, Université Montpellier 3, BP 5043, 34032 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
Dominique Chagot
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Pathologie et Génétique des Invertébrés Marins, IFREMER, BP 133, 17390 La Tremblade, France
Françoise Blanc*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Zoogéographie Génétique, Université Montpellier 3, BP 5043, 34032 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
Henri Grizel
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Pathologie et Génétique des Invertébrés Marins, IFREMER, BP 133, 17390 La Tremblade, France
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed
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Abstract

The edge and isthmus of the mantle of Pinctada margaritifera (Mollusc, Bivalvia) were studied using light and electron microscopy from a morphological and histochemical point of view. Six areas with several subareas were differentiated in the mantle edge. One of these areas is similar to the epithelium isthmus. Trials to elucidate the nature of the pigment responsible for the black colour of the shell and pearl indicate a melanin-like material. Possible functions of the distinctive epithelial areas in Pinctada margaritifera mantle are discussed according to available data on the secretion of organic matrix of the shell, protein selerotization and deposition of crystals in some pearl-forming molluscs. Three different epithelial areas in the outer mantle edge of Pinctada margaritifera are probably involved in the sequential processes of deposition of calcite prisms, aragonite fibres and aragonite rhombs.

Keywords

MantlestructureultrastructurepigmentPinctada margaritiferaMolluscBivalviaManteaustructureultrastructurepigmentPinctada argaritiferaMollusquesBivalves
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , October 1992 , pp. 287 - 298
Copyright
© IFREMER-Gauthier-Villars, 1992

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