Hepatopancreas

3D reconstruction of the general anatomy of Pseudunela cornuta shows digestive gland (dg) in green color.

3D reconstruction of the digestive system of Pseudunela cornuta shows digestive gland (dg) in green color much clearly.

Histology section of hepatopancreas of slug Deroceras laeve.

The hepatopancreas or digestive gland is an organ of the digestive tract of arthropods, gastropods and fish. It provides the functions which in mammals are provided separately by the liver and pancreas.

Arthropods, especially detritovores in the Order Isopoda Sub-Order Oniscidea (woodlice, for example), have shown to be able to store heavy metals consumed from the forest floor in their hepatopancreas. This could lead to bioaccumulation through the food chains and implications for food web destructions, if accumulations get high enough in these polluted areas. A good example of this is seen in a study by Hopkins and Martin (1985)^[who?] where they found that high metal concentrations are seen in spiders of the genus Dysdera which feed on terrestrial isopods, including their hepatopancreas, the major metal storage organ of isopods in polluted sites.

Photo of 5 mm long juvenile of Haliotis asinina with the shell removed shows hepatopancreas in yellow color on the left of the image.

Drawing shows that mantle (in gray) covers the majority of the dorsal surface of the animal.[1] The gills (g), digestive gland (dg), adductor muscle (am), epipodial tentacles (ept), right mantle lobe (rml), eyespot (es), cephalic tentacles (ct) and left mantle lobe (lml) are indicated.

See also

• Digestive system of gastropods

References

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