A Non-Ciliary Receptor in the Mandible of a Mystacocarid Crustacean, Derocheilocaris Typica
The mystacocarid crustacean Derocheilocaris typica Pennak and Zinn, 1943 lives in sand interstices and is less than one mm long. It is unique among Arthropoda. It has sensory cells in the mandible, which lack cilia. The function as mechano- and/or chemo-receptors has been replaced by dendrites, the sensory cell protrusions carrying cilia. The dendrites swell, flatten, and fill the endite- a medial