Figure 75: The pore and its organic constituents.
A: a pore in an inner chamber covered by an outer whorl, according to Leutenegger (1977), schematic, not to scale. B: Accumulation of mitochondria below a pore mouth in Bolivina sp., thus indicating the pores' main function: gas exchange. TEM micrograph of a section oblique to the surface ot the wall that exaggerates the thickness of the pore discs. The detachment of the outer lamella 2 (ouL 2) is an artifact of preparation. x 24,000. Courtesy S. Reber-Leutenegger. C: Resin cast of pores in the lateral chamber wall of Nummulites partschi de la Harpe with trabeculae. The carbonates of the shell are dissolved with HCl. SEM graph x 1,000. D: Outer pore mouths in the lateral suface of chamber wall of Assilina. Note the annular attachment of the interlamellar discs. SEM graph x 5,000. E: Inner pore mouths in the lateral chamber wall of Assilina shaped as eggholders (in order to keep the symbionts below their breathing chimneys). Note the annular suture of the pore plug. SEM graph x 5,000. C-E: from Hottinger, 1977. F: Perforation pattern on the dorsal surface of Challengerella persica (Recent, Persian Gulf): densely perforated porefields between imperforate ornamentation. SEM: oblique dorsal view of shell, x 30, and detail of porefield, x 500. G: Perforation pattern in Ammonia reyi Marie (Pliocene, Dar bel Hamri, Northern Morocco): densely perforated porefields between loosely perforated ornaments. SEM graphs of dorsal shell view (x 30) with detail (x 500). F-G: from Billman et alii, 1980.
Abbreviations: bD: basal (pore) disc; Cy: cytoplasm; iL: inner lamella; ilD: interlamellar disc; iol: interlamellar organic lining; ls: lacunar system (in the cytoplasm); M: mitochondria; ML: median layer separating inner from outer lamellas; OL: Organic lining (here difficult to separate from plasmalemma of host); ouL 1: primary outer lamella; ouL 2, 3: subsequent outer lamellas; P: pore; Pc: organic pore coat; Pl: plasmalemma; ppl: pore plug (note its porosity); Spl: (biomineralized) sieveplate; V: vacuole.