Hepatic caecum found in certain crustaceans. In some insects, such as the grasshopper, several pairs of hepatic caeca secrete enzymes into the stomach where they assist in the digestive process. Hepatic caecum Hepatic caecum or hepatic cecum is a name used in describing various physiological structures in some crustaceans, insects and cephalochordates. "Hepatic" refers to the liver, and the hepatic caecum may perform some functions that are analogous to the functions of the liver in vertebrates. A digestive organ called the hepatic caecum is found in the cephalochordate amphioxus, or lancelet. The hepatic caecum of the amphioxus is a presumed homologue of
Organ of Zuckerkandl Organ of Zuckerkandl The organ of Zuckerkandl is a chromaffin body derived from neural crest located at the bifurcation of the aorta or at the origin of the inferior mesenteric artery. It can be the source of a paraganglioma. The term para-aortic body is also sometimes used to describe it, as it usually arises near the abdominal aorta, but this term can be the source of confusion, because the term "corpora paraaortica" is also used to describe the aortic body, which arises near the thoracic aorta. This diffuse group of neuroendocrine sympathetic fibres was first described by Emil Zuckerkandl, a