Martin GG, Oakes CT, Tousignant HR, Crabtree H, Yamakawa R. 2007. Structure and function of haemocytes in two marine gastropods, Megathura crenulata and Aplysia californica. Journal of Molluscan Studies 73: 355-365.
These authors characterised the blood cells of two species of gastropods chosen for their importance to other areas of research. Other studies have reported either one or two types of cells in mollusc blood, either with or without granules visible as electron-dense patches in electron microscopy.
This paper found only a single, generally granule-lacking type of cell in the blood of each species. These cells show phagocytic and aggregation abilities, but the blood does not clot. These cells appear to be general-purpose circulating amoeboid cells, capable of responding to stress, wounds, shell damage, infection, and other insults to the organism. This contributes to the circumstantial and weak evidence that molluscan haemocytes are probably not endopolyploid, as they apparently must be produced rapidly in large numbers by stem cell lineages to respond to changes to both the external and internal environments.
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