Local accumulation of Feulgen-positive granules in the egg cortex of Dentalium dentale L.
A special feature of eggs of several species of annelids and molluscs is the formation of a polar lobe at stage-specific intervals during the cleavage phase. In the scaphopod Dentalium, a polar lobe develops at the first, the second and the third cleavage (Wilson, 1904). The cytoplasm set apart in the polar lobes is ultimately confined to the D blastomere and its derivative cells. Wilson observed that after removal of the polar lobe at the first cleavage a larva develops which lacks an apical tuft and the post-trochal region. After removal of the polar lobe at the second cleavage a larva develops which lacks most of the post-trochal region but possesses an apical tuft. A similar result to the one following the removal of the first polar lobe is obtained by removal of the vegetal one-third of an unfertilized egg.