A flame cell is a specialized excretory cell found in simple

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s, including flatworms ( Platyhelminthes),

rotifers The rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John Harris ...

and nemerteans; these are the simplest animals to have a dedicated

excretory system The excretory system is a passive biological system that removes excess, unnecessary materials from the body fluids of an organism, so as to help maintain internal chemical homeostasis and prevent damage to the body. The dual function of excret ...

. Flame cells function like a

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

, removing waste materials. Bundles of flame cells are called protonephridia. The flame cell has a nucleated cell body, with a "cup-shaped" projection, with

flagella A flagellum (; : flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores ( zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many pr ...

covering the inner surface of the cup. The beating of these flagella resemble a flame, giving the cell its name. The cup is attached to a tube cell, whose inner surface is also coated in

cilia The cilium (: cilia; ; in Medieval Latin and in anatomy, ''cilium'') is a short hair-like membrane protrusion from many types of eukaryotic cell. (Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea.) The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike proj ...

, which help to move liquid through the tube cell. The tube opens externally through a ''nephropore'', or, in the

trematoda Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as trematodes, and commonly as flukes. They are obligate internal parasites with a complex life cycle requiring at least two hosts. The intermediate host, in which asexual reproduction occurs, is a mol ...

, into an excretory bladder. The function of these cells is to regulate the

osmotic pressure Osmotic pressure is the minimum pressure which needs to be applied to a Solution (chemistry), solution to prevent the inward flow of its pure solvent across a semipermeable membrane. It is also defined as the measure of the tendency of a soluti ...

of the worm, and maintain its ionic balance. Microvilli in the tube cell may be used to reabsorb some ions. Molecules enter the tubule in tube cells through the gap between the flame cell and tube cell for excretion.

References

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External links

Animation of Excretion
Animal cells Secretory cells Urinary system

See also

References

External links