| Abstract: | The aesthetascs, short thin-walled pegs on the antennule flagella of Coenobita clypeatus, a terrestrial hermit crab, are similar to those of other decapod crustacea in containing the dendrites of many bipolar neurons whose cell bodies are grouped in spindle-shaped masses beneath the bases of each hair. The dendrites contain rootlets, basal bodies, and cilia, which divide dichotomously before entering the aesthetasc, so that within the hair, each cilium becomes represented by a group of slender branches. The aesthetascs themselves are short, blunt, and partially recumbent so that each has an exposed and an unexposed side. The cuticle on the exposed side is thinner and more tenuous than that on the protected side, and the dendrite branches are concentrated just underneath. The protected side, on the other hand, is lined with nondendritic supporting cells, and the cuticle is thicker, more lamellar, and probably less permeable. All dendritic elements proximal to the dendrite branches are enclosed within the main body of the antennular flagellum, and the initial segments of the cilia lie within a vacuole. In these respects, the aesthetascs of Coenobita resemble the thin-walled pegs on insect antennae more than they do those of the marine decapods thus far examined. This convergence in the terrestrial forms may be in response to the need to conserve water. |
