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1 August 2019 A Population Without Females: Males of Baseodiscus delineatus (Nemertea: Heteronemertea) Reproduce Asexually by Fragmentation
Jumpei Ikenaga, Natsumi Hookabe, Hisanori Kohtsuka, Manabu Yoshida, Hiroshi Kajihara
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Abstract

The valenciniid heteronemertean Baseodiscus delineatus (Delle Chiaje, 1825) was originally described from Naples, Italy, and shows a circumglobal distribution from tropical to temperate seas in both hemispheres. To investigate its reproductive biology, we performed intermittent year-round sampling from 2014 to 2018 in Misaki on the Pacific coast of Honshu, Japan. Of the 40 specimens obtained, 11 were males, while 29 were immature. No female specimen was confirmed during the sampling period. We additionally observed that B. delineatus is fissiparous. A male individual in captivity reproduced asexually by spontaneous posterior fragmentation, an ability that is described here for the first time among Valenciniidae. Autotomy occurred every 2–10 days, with each of the tail fragments having undergone anterior regeneration, which took about 24–36 days before completion of internal organs, such as ocelli, cerebral organs, brain, alimentary canal, rhynchocoel, and proboscis. A review of the literature suggests that the species was absent in the Misaki region 120 years ago. We assume a recent settlement of a male founder, which has putatively reproduced asexually to yield a clonal, unisexual population in Misaki.

© 2019 Zoological Society of Japan
Jumpei Ikenaga, Natsumi Hookabe, Hisanori Kohtsuka, Manabu Yoshida, and Hiroshi Kajihara "A Population Without Females: Males of Baseodiscus delineatus (Nemertea: Heteronemertea) Reproduce Asexually by Fragmentation," Zoological Science 36(4), 348-353, (1 August 2019). https://doi.org/10.2108/zs180203
Received: 21 December 2018; Accepted: 11 February 2019; Published: 1 August 2019
KEYWORDS
Anopla
asexual reproduction
fission
marine invertebrates
Pilidiophora
ribbon worms
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