Figure 8 in Anatomy, shell morphology, and microstructure of the living fossil Pulvinites exempla (Hedley, 1914) (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Pulvinitidae)

Figure 8. Nacre in Pulvinites exempla (scanning electron microscopy; AMS C.129659, 45.2 mm). A, cross-section of shell showing the inner nacreous layer containing irregular pockets (arrows) (scale bar = 10 µm). B, magnified lateral view of nacreous tablets showing the intercrystalline organic matrix (white arrows) and the tuberculate surface (scale bar = 3 µm). C, rhomboid tablets of the outer surface of the nacreous layer (scale bar = 20 µm). Inset: a magnified single tablet showing the tuberculate surface (scale bar = 1 µm). D, magnified surface of a nacre tablet showing sinistral spiral growth (scale bar = 2.5 µm). (A) and (B) were prepared by polishing and etching sections of epoxy-embedded left valve; (C) and (D) were prepared by vertical mechanical fracture of a right valve.