SCATOLOCIC.4L STUDIES OF TEE BIVALVIA (MOLLUSC-4)
309
(1964), etc. The results of all these studies will be discussed in relevant
sections of the present work.
Acknowledgements: The writer wishes to extend special acknowledgements to Professor Akihiko Inaba and Professor Ryozo Yagiu, Hiroshima University, without whose constant guidance and encouragement this project would have been impossible. Thanks are also due to
Sir Maurice Yonge, Department of Zoology, University of Glasgow, for
editing the original typescript as well as for fruitful discussion during his
short stay in Hiroshima. Besides, the writer was much indebted to the
following gentlemen who generously offered him useful facilities and aids
in various ways in carrying out the present work: Dr. Iwao Taki, Dr.
Toshijiro Kawamura, Dr. Takashi Tokioka, Dr. Poshimitsu Ogasawara,
Dr. Huzio Utinomi, Dr. Masuoki Horikoshi, Dr. Takashi Okutani, Dr.
Taiji Kikuchi, Mr. Akio Taki, Dr. Shigeru Ota, Mrs. Sayoko Sada, Mrs.
Setsuko Kawashima and the late Dr. Isao Taki.
11. MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUES
The faecal pellets of bivalves were easily collected by keeping
freshly caught animals in glass vessels containing clean water for a few
hours. The first shed pellets were picked out as typical. Each animal
was usually kept in a separate vessel to prevent confusion of samples
and to ascertain the effect of possible individual variation. Careful
handling makes it possible to extract nearly complete pellets from the
rectum of dead and preserved animals with the aid of a needle under a
dissecting binocular. For the transport of very delicate pellets, such as
those of Mytilus, they should be set in gelatine. Moore (1931a, p. 360)
briefly suggested how to collect and examine the pellets as follows
“The pellets have been examined both by collecting those shed by
animals while under observation, and also by clearing the rectum in
oil, or . . . by embedding the rectum in paraffin wax and sectioning it.”
Further, he described in detail the procedure for preparation of sections, his technique being original (Moore, 1931, p. 282 and 1932, p. 236).
Manning and Kumpf (1959, p. 292) recommended the use of a solidified
non-nutrient agar-agar medium for the preparation of sections of
pellets.
The material provided in this way was examined either fresh or
preserved in 5% formalin. Examinations were carried out under a
dissecting binocular or monocular microscope using a low-power objective. Drawings were made with a camera lucida and measurements by
means of an eye-piece micrometer. Closer examinations of the structure
of the pellets and of the post-intestine of the animals were made, based
A . P . H . - ~
11
309
(1964), etc. The results of all these studies will be discussed in relevant
sections of the present work.
Acknowledgements: The writer wishes to extend special acknowledgements to Professor Akihiko Inaba and Professor Ryozo Yagiu, Hiroshima University, without whose constant guidance and encouragement this project would have been impossible. Thanks are also due to
Sir Maurice Yonge, Department of Zoology, University of Glasgow, for
editing the original typescript as well as for fruitful discussion during his
short stay in Hiroshima. Besides, the writer was much indebted to the
following gentlemen who generously offered him useful facilities and aids
in various ways in carrying out the present work: Dr. Iwao Taki, Dr.
Toshijiro Kawamura, Dr. Takashi Tokioka, Dr. Poshimitsu Ogasawara,
Dr. Huzio Utinomi, Dr. Masuoki Horikoshi, Dr. Takashi Okutani, Dr.
Taiji Kikuchi, Mr. Akio Taki, Dr. Shigeru Ota, Mrs. Sayoko Sada, Mrs.
Setsuko Kawashima and the late Dr. Isao Taki.
11. MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUES
The faecal pellets of bivalves were easily collected by keeping
freshly caught animals in glass vessels containing clean water for a few
hours. The first shed pellets were picked out as typical. Each animal
was usually kept in a separate vessel to prevent confusion of samples
and to ascertain the effect of possible individual variation. Careful
handling makes it possible to extract nearly complete pellets from the
rectum of dead and preserved animals with the aid of a needle under a
dissecting binocular. For the transport of very delicate pellets, such as
those of Mytilus, they should be set in gelatine. Moore (1931a, p. 360)
briefly suggested how to collect and examine the pellets as follows
“The pellets have been examined both by collecting those shed by
animals while under observation, and also by clearing the rectum in
oil, or . . . by embedding the rectum in paraffin wax and sectioning it.”
Further, he described in detail the procedure for preparation of sections, his technique being original (Moore, 1931, p. 282 and 1932, p. 236).
Manning and Kumpf (1959, p. 292) recommended the use of a solidified
non-nutrient agar-agar medium for the preparation of sections of
pellets.
The material provided in this way was examined either fresh or
preserved in 5% formalin. Examinations were carried out under a
dissecting binocular or monocular microscope using a low-power objective. Drawings were made with a camera lucida and measurements by
means of an eye-piece micrometer. Closer examinations of the structure
of the pellets and of the post-intestine of the animals were made, based
A . P . H . - ~
11