Lab this Thursday was like a day in the life of a McCatchin, we got to murder and dissect things! My group was responsible for the death of two Mytilus edulis and a clam. The first mussle we cut open exploded with gonads and we had to cut up another one to find anything interesting besides eggs. The second mussle however remained fairly intact and thanks to some guidance from Emily and a butter knife we were able to identify many of its insides! One of my favorite features of the mussle was its foot and its ability to produce byssal threads. Most people don’t know this but Spiderman is actually a mussle as well, he produces byssal threads which stabilize him as he is flying through the air, much like most Mytilus edulis do in the intertidal zone. Spidermans byssus gland however is located in his wrist rather than his foot. I think the original plan was to call him Mussleman but the creators decided that the name would be a bit cliche.
Here is spiderman shooting a byssal thread (note the placement of the byssus gland)
Something I found particularly interesting in the clam anatomy was the crystallin style sac which contained a clear rod. I was interested to find out more about the function of this curious organ, so I did a little research. I found out that the crystalline style sac is actually part of the digestive tract. The sac produces enzymes needed for digestion. The clear rod within the sac is called a crystallin style and it is the principal organ of extracellular digestion. The crystallin style is rotated in the sac by cilia. The head of the rod projects into the stomach and grinds against part of the stomach wall that is lined with a chitinous gastric shield. As the crystallin style rotates it dissolves, which releases enzymes and initiates primary extracellular digestion for mucus bound food.
Below is a drawing of the crystallin style and style sac:
Below is a photo of the crystalline style on a carpet…
Well thats all for this time!
Lookin forward to more good times in lab!
Peace,
~Jess