Studies onLigia oceanica. Part II. The Processes of Feeding, Digestion and Absorption, with a Description of the Structure of the Foregut

Abstract

1. Ligia is an omnivore, though normally feeding on Fucus. Portions of food are cut off by the mandibles and passed into the œsophagus. Its feeding period is limited.2. The foregut is provided with a number of ampullæ and lamellæ which are furnished with spines and bristles and are so arranged as to form a filter for the separation of the liquid portion of the food from the solid particles.3. A second filter is found in the floor of the foregut protecting the entrance to the hepato-pancreas.4. A ventral valve is present preventing the entry into the hepato-pancreas of solid food from the intestine.5. The hepato-pancreas consists of three pairs of tubules provided with a muscular network for producing contractions. The epithelium possesses discrete cells.