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On a Method of Rearing Larvae of Polyzoa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Extract

Colonies of Bowerbankia pustulosa, collected in July and August, 1911, in and near Plymouth Sound, contained a great many ovicells and produced numerous larvae, when kept in a flat glass trough and put under circulation during the night. The small yellowish larvae have a decidedly positive phototropism. They gather on the surface of the water on that side which is turned towards the light, from which position they sink to the bottom of the glass. Their movements slacken gradually in the course of a few hours, and at last are limited to revolving in a small circle until they fasten on the sides of the glass. Here they complete their metamorphosis, and in a few days the primary polypides are expanding their ciliated tentacles. The result was better when the just-hatched larvae were brought into a jar sterilised by hot water and filled with so-called outside water, i.e. water from beyond the Breakwater. This jar was fitted with a glass stand carrying a number of cover-glasses. When the larvae settled on these, it was easy to make total preparations of them without detaching them.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1912

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