page_title: Sclerite
section_title: Invertebrates other than arthropods
hierarchical_section_title: Sclerite / Invertebrates other than arthropods
caption_attribution_description: English: Clamps in various genera of Protomicrocotylidae (Monogenea) Legend in published paper: Figure 3. Clamps in various genera of Protomicrocotylidae. Examples of clamps in various genera of Protomicrocotylidae. A, Bilaterocotyloides novaeguineae (Rohde, 1977) Lebedev, 1986 (USNPC 74800). B, Protomicrocotyle sp. (MNHN JNC1163A5). C, Neomicrocotyle sp. (MNHN JNC3242A4). Black: additional sclerite, characteristic of the “gastrocotylid” clamp. Bilaterocotyloides and Protomicrocotyle have clamps of the “gastrocotylid” type, Neomicrocotyle has clamps of the “microcotylid” type, and Lethacotyle has no clamp.
context_page_description: A sclerite is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instead it refers most commonly to the hardened parts of arthropod exoskeletons and the internal spicules of invertebrates such as certain sponges and soft corals. In paleontology, a scleritome is the complete set of sclerites of an organism, often all that is known from fossil invertebrates.
context_section_description: Wide ranges of sclerites of various kinds occur in various invertebrate phyla, including Polychaeta and Mollusca. Two taxa that routinely have the term applied however, are the soft corals and the Porifera. In both those groups certain of their structures contain mineralised spicules of silica or calcium carbonate that are of importance structurally and in defense.
  Many other invertebrates grow a few hard parts, largely mineralised, as statoliths and similar structures, but those are not generally referred to as sclerites. 
  Clamps, the main attachment structure of the parasitic Polyopisthocotylean monogenean flatworms, are composed of various sclerites and associated musculature, located on a posterior organ called the haptor. Clamps are specialized structures attached to the host fish, generally to its gill.
caption: Sclerites in clamps in Polyopisthocotylean monogeneans; various sclerites are in grey and black
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