Components of the cellular defense and detoxification system of the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Mollusca,Cephalopoda)

Endocytotic-active cells in the branchial heart complex of Sepia officinalis were studied by in situ injection of different types of xenobiotics and by in vitro perfusion of the organ complex with a bacterial suspension. The rhogocytes (ovoid cells) ingest particles of all tested sizes by endocytosis and phagocytosis. The hemocytes of the circulating blood and the adhesive hemocytes in the wall of the branchial heart incorporate all tested kinds of foreign materials, including bacterial cells due to phagocytosis achieved by the triangular mesenchymatic cells. The ultrastructural findings also give strong evidence that the triangular mesenchymatic cells are fixed hemocytes that have migrated into the branchial heart tissue. The ingestion and digestion of allogeneic substances and bacteria or their debris by rhogocytes and/or all (forms of) hemocytes suggests the involvement of these either fixed or mobile endocytotic-active cells in the defense and detoxification system of cephalopods.