Hybrid pigment organelles in an invertebrate

Abstract

Observations of a number of vertebrate chromatophores have revealed the presence of more than one type of pigment organelles, suggesting that the different types are all derived from an equipotential organelle able to differentiate into any of the major pigment-containing organelles (Bagnara, 1972). Observations are presented concerning the occurrence of hybrid pigment inclusions, i.e., all kinds of intergrades between melanosomes, pterinosomes, and reflecting platelets in pigment cells of the daddy-long-legs. It therefore seems possible that pigment organelles in some invertebrates may also be derived from a common pluripotential primordial organelle.