Invertebrates haemocytes

There have been many studies on the role of haemocytes in invertebrates, but their role in ingested material is not clear. Haemocytes are the molluscan analogue of the vertebrate macrophage. They are present in the haemolymph and appear to be able to migrate through epithelia, and they are found in the mantle fluid of bivalves and appear to be involved in the uptake of particulate matter. In a study of the clam Tridacna maxima that had been injected intramuscularly with a suspension of carbon particles, it was found that within 24 h the extracted haemocytes were laden with the particles. They had cleared the haemolymph of the particles within 48 h [76], In the tridacnidae some zooxanthellae are... 

Muttray AF, O Toole TF, Morrill W, Van Beneden RJ, Baldwin SA. An invertebrate mdm homolog interacts with p53 and is differentially ex ncssed together with p53 and ras in neoplastic Mytilus trossulus haemocytes. Comp Biochem Physiol Biochem Mol BioL 2010 156 298-306. 

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