Morphology of the Gastric Mill of Nyctiphanes australis(Euphausiacea, Crustacea)

SEM observation revealed that the gastric mill of Nyctiphanes australis consists of paired cluster spines and paired lateral teeth, while the filter-press is absent. The morphology of the gastric mill was extremely constant; the numbers of both setiform processes of cluster spines and serrated spines of lateral teeth increased with increasing body length. The cluster spines of N. australis consisted of a single row of stout setiform processes but the lateral teeth comprised a large projection with small serrated spines. The cluster spines are symmetrical in setiform process distribution, however, the lateral teeth are asymmetrical in number of serrated spines.