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Abstract

The gross morphology of the albumen gland of the edible land snail Archachatina marginata ovum (Pfeiffer) was studied by measurement of the shell length of the snails and wet weight of albumen gland of specimens collected from wild. Additionally, the structure of the albumen gland was studied by light and electron microscopy. The gland is large during the breeding season and there is no correlation between its weigh and the shell length of the snail. The albumen gland is made up of tubules which consist of closely packed single layer of elongated columnar secretory cells arranged radially around a central lumen. The secretory cells have large nuclei, secretory granules and are densely packed with rough endoplasmic reticulum. The secretory cells of the albumen gland produce secretions which are massively stored in their cytoplasm. Two types of secretions were identified, small droplets and large globules. The large globule was so extensive that the diameter of the cell was greatly reduced. TEM shows that the secretory globules contain fine morular granules characteristic of glycogen in several cell types and probably β-glycogen.