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A Comparative Study of Metridium senile (L.) var. dianthus (Ellis) and a Dwarf Variety of this Species occurring in the River Mersey, with a discussion on the Systematic Position of the Genus Metridium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Ruth Rawlinson
Ruth Rawlinson
Affiliation:
Herdman Scholar and Forbes Exhibitioner in the Department of Zoology, Liverpool University.
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Extract

1. A special study has been made of a small Metridiuni-like anemone found at Dingle, Liverpool, in comparison with the typical form of Metridium senile (L.) var. dianthus (Ellis).

2. Penicilli, formerly believed to be absent from the acontia of typical M. senile, have been discovered in abundance in the young, but rarely in the adults. In young and sexually mature specimens of the Dingle anemone they are also abundant.

3. There is close agreement between the anatomy of the Dingle form and the typical M. senile.

4. A considerable amount of variation occurs in the Dingle anemone, as in M. senile var. dianthus and M. marginatum, Mime-Edwards.

5. The resemblances and differences between the Dingle form and M. senile indicate that the former is a dwarf variety of the latter.

6. The discovery of an abundance of penicilli in the acontia of young typical M. senile and mature specimens of the Dingle variety, in conjunction with the great amount of variation in the genus Metridium, suggests that a reconsideration of the systematic position of the genus is necessary and would justify either the restriction of the family Metridiidæ to the single genus Metridium, or else the fusion of the Metridiidæ with the Sagartiidæ. The sum of the evidence appears to lie in favour of placing the genus in a family by itself.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , May 1934 , pp. 901 - 919
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1934

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References

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