Ultrastructural evidence of the excretory function in the asteroid axial organ (Asteroidea, Echinodermata)

Abstract

The ultrastructure of the axial organ of Asterias amurensis has been studied The organ is a network of canals of the axial coelom separated by haemocoelic spaces. The axial coelom is lined with two types of monociliary cells: podocytes and musculo-epithelial cells. Podocytes form numerous basal processes adjacent to the basal lamina on the coelomic side. Musculo-epithelial cells form processes running along the basal lamina. Some bundles of these processes wrapped in the basal lamina pass through haemocoelic spaces between neighboring coelomic canals. It is hypothesized that the axial organ serves for filtration of fluid from haemocoelic spaces into the axial coelom cavity, from which urine is excreted through the madreporite to the exterior.