Matozzo and co-authors suggested
that in the Manila clam, Tapes philippinarum, at least some of
the newly formed hemocytes originate from the division of precursor
cells called hemoblasts, which possess stem cell-like features
(Matozzo et al., 2008). Recently, hemocytes were proposed to
differentiate from a population of adult somatic cells that reside in
an irregularly folded structure in the gill of the adult oyster, Crassostrea
gigas