The cells that secrete the beaks in octopods and squids (Mollusca, Cephalopoda)

A single layer of cells secretes the hard cephalopod beaks. The beccublasts are tall columnar cells that separate the beak from the surrounding buccal muscles, and must serve to attach these muscles to the beak. Within the cell layer there are three types of cells. The first, and most frequently found contain cell-long fibrils. These fibrils may have contractile and tensile properties. Complex trabeculae extend from the beccublasts into the matrix of the beak. The fibrils are attached to these trabeculae and at the other end of the cells they are anchored near to the beccublast-muscle cell interface, closely associated with the muscles that move the beak. The second group of cells contain masses of endoplasmic reticulum the cysternae of which are arranged along the long axis of the cell. These cells also contain dense granules and are probably the major source of beak hard tissue. It is probable that each cell secretes its own column of beak hard tissue. The third group of cells contains a mixture of fibrils and secretory tissue. In the beccublast layer there are changes in the proportion of the three types of cells depending upon the region sampled. In the region where growth is most active there are mostly secretory cells, whereas near the biting and wearing tip there are mainly anchoring type cells

Growth rates of pterobranchs and the lifespan of graptolites

Pterobranchs are the closest living relatives of graptolites. Their skeleton is constructed from the same material, and in a homologous manner. Growth rates of the pterobranch Cephalodiscus gracilis are described for the first time and, along with rhabdopleuran growth rates, they are used to estimate the amount of time invested by a graptolite colony in growing its rhabdosome. This is a measure of minimum age. The significance of age calculations is shown for individuals and large communities of graptoloids. Large individuals can be shown to be much older than the time it would have taken them to settle through seawater and so it is shown that graptoloids moved up, as well as down, through the water column. Life tables constructed for biserial graptoloids from the Utica shale in Quebec, Canada, suggest that these graptoloids died from constant environmental stress. Graptoloid length can thus be a function of environment and should only cautiously be considered to be of taxonomic significance

Decay and composition of the hemichordate Rhabdopleura: implications for the taphonomy of graptolites

Although the graptolites lacked biomineralised tissue, their skeletons are abundantly preserved in deeper-water mudstones. Decay experiments and observations on the closely related living hemichordate Rhabdopleura demonstrate that the periderm and stolon are highly resistant to decay, remaining intact for mouths, whereas the zooids are unrecognizable within days. Curie-point-gas-chromatography (Py-GC) and Curie-point-gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (Pt-GC-MS) of the periderm of Rhabdopleura confirms that proteinaceous organic matter is a major constituent. Ultrastructurally preserved graptolite periderm, on the other hand, is a highly altered kerogen-like substance rich in aliphatic biomacromolecules. The composition of the preserved graptolite periderm reflects diagenetic replacement by components probably mainly derived from algal cell walls. -from Author