AMPHIOXUS I. External anatomy. Obtain a specimen and place in a dish of water.

The body is slender, fishlike, pointed at each end, and compressed laterally. The more blunt end is anterior, the more pointed end, posterior; the dorsal surface is sharp, the ventral surface, for the greater part of its length, flattened. The anterior end represents a poorly developed, somewhat degenerate head. The ventral and greater part of the head consists of an expanded membrane, the oral hood, which incloses a cavity,, the stomodaeum or vestibule, at the bottom of which the mouth is located. The borders of the oral hood are extended into a series of stiff tentacles or cirri. Turn the animal ventral side up and observe that the flattened portion of the ventral surface is bounded laterally by two membranous folds, the metapleural folds, or lateral fins, extending posteriorly from the oral hood. These folds meet at a point nearly threefourths of the distance from anterior to posterior end, behind a median opening, the atriopore. From this point a median membranous fold, the fin, passes to the posterior end of the body, around to the dorsal side, and forward along the dorsal side to the anterior end. The slightly wider portion of this fin which surrounds the pointed posterior end is the caudal fin, that along the dorsal side, the dorsal fin. The anal opening will be found on the ventral side very near the posterior end, just behind the point where the fin widens. The anus is on the left side. The body is covered by a thin epidermis under which is a muscle layer. The greater part of the muscle layer consists of the lateral muscles, forming the side walls of the body, and divided into a large number of Vshaped muscle segments, or myotomes, clearly visible through the transparent epidermis. Each myotome is separated from its neighbor by a connective tissue partition, the myocomma. Note that the myotomes extend nearly to the tip of the anterior end, diminishing in size above the oral hood. The number of myotomes in Amphioxus is definite, about sixty. The myotomes are one expression of the metamerism of the Amphioxus body. The ventral portion of the body is provided with a thin layer of transverse or ventral muscles, whose fibers run circularly; these muscles are not visible externally. Immediately below the ventral terminations of the myotomes will be seen, in some individuals at least, a row of square white masses, the gonads or reproductive organs. Their arrangement is metameric. The ventral part of the body, extending posteriorly from the oral hood, appears somewhat clear and is occupied by a large cavity, the atrium, which surrounds the digestive tract and opens to the exterior through the atriopore. Amphioxus maintains a continuous circulation of water through its digestive tract; water enters the mouth, passes through the walls of the pharynx into the atrium, and out of the atriopore. Make a drawing of the animal from the side. II. Internal anatomy. The internal anatomy is most easily studied on small mounted specimens. Examine with the low power of the microscope. Identify: the various parts of the fin, containing rectangular bodies, the fin rays, serving as the skeletal support of the fins; the muscle segments; and the digestive tract, occupying the ventral half of the body. The parts of the digestive tract may be studied in some detail. Note again the oral hood with its cirri. The vestibule is narrowed posteriorly by a membrane, the velum, pierced by a small opening, the mouth. The mouth opens into a wide cavity, the pharynx, extending half the length of the body. Its walls are perforated by numerous oblique slits, the gill slits or pharyngeal clefts. The solid portions of the pharyngeal wall between the gill clefts are called the branchial bars and each is supported by an internal skeletal branchial rod. Surrounding the pharynx is a large cavity, the atrium, the ventral boundary of which is visible as a line below the pharynx. This line may be traced to the atriopore. The posterior end of the pharynx opens into a tubular intestine which extends straight to the anus. The first part of this intestine for a short distance posterior to the pharynx is narrow and dorsally located; the intestine then widens suddenly and from this widened part a blind sac, the liver, extends forward beneath the narrowed portion. Immediately dorsal to the digestive tract and nearly as wide as the pharynx is a rod, the notochord, extending the length of the body. It will be seen by focusing down through the myotomes and is most distinct in the head, where it runs forward nearly to the extreme tip. Just above the notochord is situated the much smaller neural tube, best recognized by the row of black pigment spots which it bears. These pigment spots have been shown to be sensitive to light. Draw the whole mount, showing its structure. III. Cross-section: pharyngeal region. Examine the cross-section with the low power and identify the following: (a) the epidermis, the outer covering of the body composed of a single layer of columnar epithelial cells. (b) The dorsal median projection, the dorsal fin, containing an oval mass, the fin ray, which supports it. (c) The two ventrolateral projections, the metapleural folds. There are a number of smaller folds in the ventral wall between the two metapleural folds, (d) The myotomes, a series of circular masses filling the dorsal and lateral portions of the body wall, and separated from each other by connective tissue partitions. The myotomes are thick dorsally and thin out ventrally. Transverse muscles are present in the ventral body wall, just above the small folds of the epidermis, (e) The neural tube, a median dorsal mass, oval or trapezoidal in section, lying between the dorsal portions of the myotomes, below the fin ray. Observe that it contains a central canal, the neurocoel. Black spots in the neural tube are the pigment cups of simple eyes or lightperceiving organs. These are distributed along the anterior part of the neural tube of Amphioxus and are similar in structure to the eyes of planarians, consisting of a pigment cup filled with nerve cells. Experiment has shown that these optic cups are sensitive to light while the eyespot on the anterior end of the brain is insensitive to light. (f) The notochord, an oval mass, larger than the neural tube and directly ventral to it. (g) The atrium, the large cavity occupying the ventral half of the section, (h) The pharynx, the structure occupying the center of the atrium. It is elongated in some regions, heart shaped in others. It consists of separate pieces, the branchial bars, each inclosing in its outer extremity a stiff support, the branchial rod. The spaces between adjacent gill bars are the gill slits or pharyngeal clefts, by means of which the cavity of the pharynx communicates with the atrium. In the median dorsal line of the pharynx is a deep groove, the epibranchial groove; in the median ventral line, a broad slightly depressed structure, the hypobranchial groove, or endostyle. These grooves secrete mucus in which the minute food particles are caught, (i) The liver, an oval hollow structure present in some sections to the right of the pharynx. It is composed of tall epithelial cells, which probably produce a digestive secretion. (j) The gonads. In cross-sections of larger specimens these are found as masses, one on each side of and projecting into the atrium. Draw the crosssection.