A correlated light and electron microscopic study of the structure and secretory activity of the accessory salivary glands of the marine gastropods, Conus flavidus and C. vexillum (neogastropoda, conacea).

The structure and secretory activity of the accessory salivary gland in two species of Conus were examined using routine and histochemical techniques of light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The composite layers of the accessory salivary gland of Conus are a luminal epithelium, fibromuscular layer, submuscular layer, and a capsule. In C. flavidus and C. vexillum, the luminal epithelium is formed by epitheliocytes and cytoplasmic processes extending from the secretory cells, whose perikarya form the submuscular layer. The processes carry secretory cell products (chiefly Golgi-derived glycoprotein) across the fibromuscular layer and terminate between epitheliocytes (at the bases of the secretory canaliculi) or beyond the surface of the epithelial cells. Conus vexillum is distinguished from C. flavidus by its high content of lipofuscin. Epitheliocytes are the only microvillated cells in the accessory salivary gland of Conus. In C. flavidus, epitheliocytes extrude secretory granules, various types of cytoplasmic blebs and clear vesicles by apocrine "pinching off." Clear vesicles are shed from the tips of microvilli. The luminal epithelial cells of C. vexillum similarly egest clear vesicles, but normally undergo additional holocrine secretion to release lipofuscin. The secretions of epitheliocytes appear to be major products of the accessory salivary gland: consideration of secretory activities by both epitheliocytes and secretory cells will therefore be necessary when directly investigating accessory salivary gland function in Conus.