VIII.—Regeneration of the Legs of Decapod Crustacea from the Preformed Breaking Plane

Abstract

(1) Homarus vulgáris, Eupagurus bernhardus, and Carcinus mœnas all form limb-buds or papillæ in the process of limb regeneration. These are covered by a chitinous envelope, and the observations here recorded show that their outer form and size are adaptations to the requirements of the animal. That of the lobster is straight, that of the hermit crab curved, while the shore crab has a papilla which may be folded on itself three times inside the envelope.(2) Valvular action of the diaphragm at the breaking plane plays a greater part in the stopping of haemorrhage after self-amputation than clotting, and the dilatation of small vessels which pass beneath the epidermis detaches a layer of cells. This layer of epidermis proliferates from its free edges to form the new limb.(3) A new diaphragm is the first structure laid down, and differentiation takes place from the base outwards. Muscle arises at the growing tip from cells proliferated from the old epidermis (an ectodermal structure), and the nerve grows outwards from the torn end by cell proliferation.(4) Muscle-fibres are anatomically complete immediately before moulting. The fibrillæ are cross-striated and enclosed in a sarcolemma, but full functional activity does not come till several days after moulting, beginning with slow rhythmic movements. Sarcoplasm seems to be less plentiful than in the normal fibre.(5) When moulting occurs the papilla is at once expanded to several times its previous size by valvular action, and the epidermis, previously composed of several layers of cells, now thins to a single layer, as is seen in the normal limb.