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Noding in Cyprideis torosa and its causes

Dietmar Keyser, Nikolay Aladin

 Abstract

The ostracod Cyprideis torosa develops nodes on its calcified carapace in brackish waters and is therefore widely used in paleontology as a marker for lower saline waters. The formation of nodes in lower saline waters was investigated with SEM and TEM analyses and micro-cryoscopic meas­urements of the inner osmoregulation. Noding is considered a failure in osmoregulation, which causes the pillars connecting the inner and outer epidermal cell layer to rupture during the molting process. As a result, the still flexible shell develops protrusions, which then persist as nodes after subsequent calcification.