PHAGOCYTOSIS IN INVERTEBRATES - STUDIES ON HEMOCYTES OF CLAM TRIDACNA-MAXIMA

The 2 types of cells found in the hemolymph of the clam T. maxima were examined in vitro by light microscopy, and their morphological characteristics described and illustrated. The hemocytes which exhibited rapidly spreading cytoplasm and extensive ruffled membrane activity, were able to phagocytoze C particles experimentally introduced into the animals. Attention is drawn to the part that the phagocytic hemocytes of invertebrates may have to play in putative host defense mechanisms and physiological waste removal processes.