Ceratal autotomy and regeneration in the aeolid nudibranch Phidiana crassicornis and the role of predators

Abstract. Ceratal autotomy by the aeolid nudibranch Phidinna crassicornis is common in the field and was induced in the laboratory by mechanical and predatory stimuli. The ceras detaches from the body wall along an autotomy plane located at its basal constriction. Cerata released copious amounts of mucus during autotomy and exhibited a prolonged writhing response that continued for several hours after detachment. Regeneration of cerata autotomized in the field and in the laboratory was documented. Four days after autotomy, regenerating cerata appeared as small protuberances. By day 24 the regenerates acquired their mature structural organisation and vivid colour. The cerata subsequently increased in length and diameter and were indistin‐guishable from surrounding cerata by 41 to 43 days after autotomy. Regeneration rates of cerata induced to autotomize in the laboratory and regeneration of cerata autotomized in the field were similar, averaging 0.08 and 0.067 mdday, respectively. The sequence of morphological events involved with regeneration following experimental and natural induction of autotomy was identical. The kelp crab Pugettia productn induced autotomy by holding cerata with its chelae. This crab also fed on autotomized cerata and consumed locomotory and ceratal mucus. Ceratal autotomy may be an important mechanism of escape from this predatory crustacean. Other potential predators including hermit crabs and tidepool sculpins did not elicit defensive behaviour in P. crussicornis. Nematocysts were present in the enidosacs and their role in defense was investigated. Fired nematocysts were observed in podia of the asteroid Crossaster papposus following ceratal contact but were not seen in the podia of Pycnopodia helianthoides in a similar trial. For P. crassicornis, the cnidosacs may function primarily as a storage device for safe sequestering of nematoeysts that could pose a threat to the digestive system. They did not play a major defensive role against the predators tested, but may be important in the field against other predators.     

Helpful habitant or pernicious passenger: interactions between an infaunal bivalve,an epifaunal hydroid and three potential predators

The importance of positive interspecific interactions within physically stressful habitats has received increased attention from community ecologists. The exposed sandy beach is an example of a physically rigorous environment where biological interactions have long been considered insignificant. We examined the interaction between the infaunal clam, Donax variabilis, and the hydroid, Lovenella gracilis, on exposed sandy beaches in North Carolina. Epibiotic occupation of Donax by hydroids has been repeatedly observed on ocean beaches but rarely investigated. By providing a stable substrate for attachment, the clam facilitates the persistence of the hydroid in the intertidal beach; however, benefits or costs experienced by the host as a result of this association are unknown. By exposing clams with and without hydroid colonies to multiple types of clam predators, we tested the effectiveness of the hydroid, which possesses stinging nematocysts, in defending its host. The hydroid defended the clam against one common predator, the Florida pompano ( Trachinotus carolinus). Against speckled crabs ( Arenaeus cribrarius) and ghost crabs ( Ocypode quadrata), however, the hydroid offered no protection for its host and instead facilitated predation. The epibiotic hydroid, which projects above the surface of the sand, allowed the crabs to more readily detect clams below the surface. In the field, we evaluated the effect of the hydroid on the tidally synchronized migrations and burrowing speed of the clam. The hydroid, which can form large colonies on the posterior end of the clam, had no effect on Donax burrowing speed, but did reduce the speed of transport of clams by wave swash. Depending on relative predation pressure, the occupation of D. variabilis by L. gracilis can alternately be characterized as beneficial or detrimental to the host.     

Endobacteria in the tentacles of selected cnidarian species and in the cerata of their nudibranch predators

This is the first genetic analysis comparing cultured endobacteria discovered in the tentacles of cnidarian species (Tubularia indivisa, Tubularia larynx, Corymorpha nutans, Sagartia elegans) with those found in the cerata tips of selected nudibranch species (Berghia caerulescens, Coryphella lineata, Coryphella gracilis, Janolus cristatus, Polycera faeroensis, Polycera quadrilineata, Doto coronata, Dendronotus frondosus). Shared pathogenic activities were found among other microorganisms in the Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis group (TTX), and the Vibrio splendidus group (haemolytic, septicaemic, necrotic activity). Specific autochthonous endobacteria of extremely low similarity to their next neighbours were detected in nudibranch cerata. These organisms are regarded as new and unknown endobacteria; among them were Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea (95%), Orientia tsutsugamushi (84%), Gracilimonas tropica (96%), Balneola alkaliphia (95%), Loktanella rosea (97%). SEM micrographs provide insight into endobacterial aggregates in cnidarian tentacles and nudibranch cerata. Since certain nudibranch predators prey on cnidarian species, it is assumed that cnidarian tentacle bacteria are directly transferred to nudibranch cerata. The pathogenic endobacteria may contribute to the chemical defence of both the nudibranch and cnidarian species investigated.     

Antisera to the sequence Arg-Phe-amide visualize neuronal centralization in hydroid polyps

Summary Antisera to the sequence Arg-Phe-amide (RF-amide) have a high affinity to the nervous system of fixed hydroid polyps. Whole-mount incubations of several Hydra species with RFamide antisera visualize the three-dimensional structure of an ectodermal nervous system in the hypostome, tentacles, gastric region and peduncle. In the hypostome of Hydra attenuata a ganglion-like structure occurs, consisting of numerous sensory cells located in a region around the mouth opening and a dense plexus of processes which project mostly radially towards the bases of the tentacles. In Hydra oligactis an ectodermal nerve ring was observed lying at the border of hypostome and tentacle bases. This nerve ring consists of a few large ganglion cells with thick processes forming a circle around the hypostome. This is the first direct demonstration of a nerve ring in a hydroid polyp.Incubation of Hydractinia echinata gastrozooids with RFamide antisera visualizes an extremly dense plexus of neuronal processes in body and head regions. A ring of sensory cells around the mouth opening is the first group of neurons to show RFamide immunoreactivity during the development of a primary polyp. In gonozooids the oocytes and spermatophores are covered with strongly immunoreactive neurons.All examples of whole-mount incubations with RF-amide antisera clearly show that hydroid polyps have by no means a diffuse nerve net, as is often believed, and that neuronal centralization and plexus formation are common in these animals. The examples also show that treatment of intact fixed animals with RFamide antisera is a useful technique to study the anatomy or development of a principal portion of the hydroid nervous system.     

Aeolid nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) of the family Glaucidae from New Zealand waters

Two new species of aeolid, a new genus being created for one of them, are described along with another two species, one Phidiana militaris (Alder & Hancock) (= Learchis militaris ) a new record for New Zealand, the other, Glaucus atlanticus , found only once before. Jason mirabilis gen. et sp. nov. is distinguished by a ventral tongue-like process with a ridged chitinous covering which replaces the radula (still present but vestigial) and by the greatly subdivided rhinophoral lamellae. Babaina caprinsulensis sp. nov. differs from its Californian relative in having papillate rhinophores. The New Zealand specimens of Phidiana militaris differ slightly in colouration from those described for elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific.
The Glaucidae is enlarged to include the Babainidae, Facelinidae and Favorinidae, the main familial characteristics being the simple oral glands, sharp radular tooth and pugnacious behaviour. Possible evolutionary trends within the family based on the arrangement of the cerata and penial structure are traced out. The Babaininae, pleuroproctic with a notal ridge and irregular disposition of the cerata, is considered the most primitive subfamily and the Hervellinae, with cerata in single rows, the most advanced. The many facelinid genera previously recognized are reduced to two, Antionetta Schmekel and Phidiana Gray.     

Mechanisms of growth and morphogenesis of hydroid polyps as revealed by time lapse microcinematography

By means of time lapse microcinematography, parameters of growth fluctuations in hydroid polyps Obelia and Dynamena were improved, the pulse pattern of morphogenetic processes was shown, the "antiphase" phenomenon was established in the growth fluctuations of adjacent rudiments of Dynamena. In the phase of rudiment stretching, the length of ectodermal epithelial-muscular cells reduces and their orientation changes, thus leading to the displacement of the whole cellular "column" in the distal direction. In the phase of rudiment partial shortening, endodermal cells loose and lengthen, their internal ends displace in the proximal direction and their external ends slide rapidly in the distal direction with respect to hydrotheca. Changes in the form of rudments arise as a direct mechanical result of periodical contractions of cells densely packed in the epithelial layer. On the basis of these data, morphogenetic processes in hydroid polyps related to the appearance and development of folds and to the rudiment flexures are analyzed.     

Hydroid epifaunal communities in Arctic coastal waters (Svalbard): effects of substrate characteristics

The knowledge of cryptic epifaunal groups in the Arctic is far from complete mostly due to logistic difficulties. Only recently, advances in sample collection using SCUBA diving techniques have enabled to explore delicate hydroid fauna from shallow waters. This study is the first attempt to examine the relationship between substrate property (such as size of rock, morphological characteristics of algal or bryozoan host) and hydroid community composition and diversity in the Arctic. Samples of substrates for hydroid attachment including rocks, algae, bryozoans and other hydrozoans were collected around the Svalbard. Examination revealed no substrate-specific species. The substrate property did not have a strong influence on hydroid community. Both species composition and richness were not related to colonized rock surface area and to morphological characteristic of algal host. Therefore, results indicate the opportunistic nature of hydroid fauna in terms of substrate preference. However, the presence or absence of hydroids depended on the surface area of rocky substrate. Hydroids were more often present on rocks of larger surface area. Erect hydroids and bryozoans were important attachment surface for stolonal hydroids.     

Light and electron microscopic cytochemistry of the epidermal mucoid cells ofAeolidia papillosa andCoryphella rufibranchialis (Mollusca,Nudibranchia)

Protoplasma - The epidermal mucoid cells in the cerata ofAeolidia papillosa andCoryphella rufibranchialis were cytochemically tested to determine the composition of their secretory products. The...     

Endobacterial morphotypes in nudibranch cerata tips: a SEM analysis

The SEM investigation of nudibranch cerata material exhibits endobacterial morphotypes found in 12 out of 13 species tested: Aeolidia papillosa, Berghia caerulescens, Coryphella brownii, Coryphella lineata, Coryphella verrucosa, Cuthona amoena, Facelina coronata, Flabellina pedata, Dendronotus frondosus, Doto coronata, Tritonia plebeia and Janolus cristatus. Endobacteria could not be detected inside Tritonia hombergi. Endobacterial morphology found inside nudibranch species was compared to bacterial morphotypes detected earlier in tentacles of cnidarian species. SEM micrographs show endobacterial analogy among nudibranch species, but also similarity to cnidarian endobacteria investigated earlier. Of course, morphological data of microbes do not allow their identification. However, since most of these nudibranch species prey on cnidaria, it cannot be excluded that many of the endobacteria detected inside nudibranch species may originate from their cnidarian prey. Our previous data describing genetic affiliation of endobacteria from nudibranchian and cnidarian species support this assumption. Dominant coccoid endobacteria mostly exhibit smooth surface and are tightly packed as aggregates and/or wrapped in envelopes. Such bacterial aggregate type has been described previously in tentacles of the cnidarian species Sagartia elegans. Similar coccoid bacteria, lacking envelopes were also found in other nudibranch species. A different type of coccoid bacteria, characterized by a rough surface, was detected inside cerata of the nudibranch species Berghia caerulescens, and surprisingly, inside tentacles of the cnidarian species Tubularia indivisa. In contrast to cnidarian endobacteria, rod-shaped microorganisms are largely absent in nudibranch cerata.     

OCTOCORALLIAN AND HYDROID FOSSILS FROM THE LOWER ORDOVICIAN OF WALES

Abstract:  Octocorallian and hydroid fossils are described from the Lower Ordovician (Arenig Series) of Wales. They include gorgoniids that are the earliest known fossils of this group: Petilavenula varifurcata gen. et sp. nov. and P. surculosa gen. et sp. nov. Pennalina crossi gen. et sp. nov. is probably also a gorgoniid but may be a hydroid. A new hydroid, Pontifennia gracilis gen. et sp. nov., is also described.     

A probable thecate hydroid from the upper cretaceous of southern England preserved by bioimmuration

An inferred thecate hydroid, moulded on the attachment scar of the bivalvePycnodonte vesiculare, is described from the Santonian Chalk of Kent. The living hydroid was evidently overgrown by theP. vesiculare shell and is preserved as a bioimmuration.Eisenackiella thanetensis gen. et sp. nov. is characterized by a hydrorhiza whose stolons bear hydrothecae alternately to the left and right, and a hydrocaulus consisting of several unbranched stems with alternating hydrothecae. The widely spaced stolonal hydrothecae have adnate proximal parts and erect distal parts. Assignment to an extant hydroid family is difficult: whereas the hydrorhiza resembles that of the Family Lafoeidae, the hydrocaulus is reminiscent of the Family Sertulariidae.     

The growth and degeneration of the hydroid Sertularia perpusilla,an obligate epiphyte of leaves of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica

The hydrorhizae of Sertularia perpusilla colonies that originate from stolon attachments initially grow up and down Posidonia leaves. After a short time the distal hydroid tissue degenerates concurrently with the downward growth of the proximal hydrorhiza onto younger sections of the leaves. Consequently the hydroids move down the leaves which grow upward from a basal meristem. In situ inversion of leaves had no effect on either the orientation or the rates of growth and degeneration. This indicates that orientation may be in response to age related features of leaf tissue rather than to light, gravity or water movement, the directions of which were reversed by inverting the leaves. However, orientation of growth of new hydroids from attached stolons is immediate, probably before the hydroid colony is long enough to be able to detect an age gradient. This paradox could be explained if initial orientation were based on the direction of gravity or light but subsequent growth were directed along the age gradient. For hydroids in the size range studied there was a relation between growth rate and number of hydranths. Thus growth rate may be limited by food rather than by there being only one growing tip of the hydrorhizae.     

拟柄突和平水母在中国的首次发现及其生活史观察

报道青岛海洋科技馆培养的和平水母属(软水母亚纲,和平水母科)一种我国的新纪录--拟柄突和平水母西 Eirene lacteoides Kubota and Horita,1992.首次提供该种水母水螅体的形态,并对各期水母体的特征进行描述,为编写水螅水母动物志提供参考.     

A new hydroid from the Upper Cretaceous of Mississippi

A new fossil hydroid is reported as an organic impression on a calcareous gastropod steinkern from the Prairie Bluff Chalk (Maastrichtian), Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. This is the first such hydroid reported from the Upper Cretaceous of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The fossil organism consists of anastomosing hydrorhizae forming a holdfast, a fascicled hydrocaulus, and elongated, crenulated and ribbed hydrothecae. The fossil is unlike other Mesozoic hydroids that have been reported from Europe and North America; it is described as Mesodendrium oktibbehaensis gen. et sp. nov. and tentiatively referred to an extant family, the Campanulariidae (Calyptoblastina). The complete preservation of the holdfast, hydrocaulus and hydrothecae suggests that this hydroid lived inside gastropod shells. In analogy with Recent symbiotic hydroids inhabiting mollusc shells, the new specimen described here possibly represents the oldest known example of a symbiotic relationship between hydroids and hermit crabs.     

Electron microscoic study on the regeneration of the cerata]

The regeneration of the cerata was studied in Aeolidiella soemmeringi (Leuckart, 1828) by light and electron microscopy. After amputation of the tips of the cerata the edges of the epidermis and of the hepatopancreas are drawn together by muscular contraction. The restitution of the cnidosac and of the hepatopancreas begins within groups of reserve cells, which are to be found in the hepatopancreas at each time. The restitution of the epidermis starts from undifferentiated replacement cells in the epidermis. Undifferentiated cells, which probably are fibroblasts and amoebocytes form a loose, spongy blastema. The amoebocytes become more and more loaded with phagocyte material and often show a pycnotic nucleus with very densely packed chromatin, while the fibroblasts predominantly form the fibrocytes of the mesenchym of the growing ceras. Thus it seems, that to a certain extent each tissue, i.e. ectoderm, entoderm and mesoderm, retains its individuality and is repaired from its own elements.     

Shiny spheres of placozoans (Trichoplax) function in anti-predator defense

Abstract. When individual placozoans, Trichoplax adhaerens , were fed to polyps of the hydroid Podocoryna carnea , the polyps became paralyzed in all 27 trials. In one instance the hydroid polyp died and in five instances a fragment of the placozoan survived. The time to recovery from paralysis varied with the relative size of the polyp and the placozoan. Placozoans were disassociated into separate cells and then reaggregated by centrifugation to produce pellets of tissue lacking the vesicles called shiny spheres, normally abundant in the upper epithelium. We fed pellets of two size classes to the hydroid polyps. When the placozoan pellet was smaller than the hydroid, paralysis was eliminated in nine of ten trials. When the placozoan pellet was comparable in size to the polyp, paralysis occurred but the recovery time was substantially reduced, compared with trials in which polyps were fed intact placozoans possessing shiny spheres. These results support a function of shiny spheres in anti-predator defense.     

Notes on Stauridiosarsia producta (Hydrozoa, Corynidae), a New Addition to the New England Marine Fauna1

The hydroid and medusa of Stauridiosarsia producta (Wright, 1858) are reported for the first time from the New England coast of North America. The laboratory reared hydroid exhibits variation encompassing the previously reported forms from England and Helgoland. Nematocysts of the hydroid are stenoteles of two sizes. Young medusae have nematocysts irregularly scattered over the exumbrella. These are lost after 5–7 days. The characteristic umbilical canal of the medusa becomes distinct about 24 hours after liberation. Development to sexual maturity requires about 30 days. In addition to the two sizes of stenoteles, the medusa also possesses desmonemes.     

PHYLLODESMIUM GUAMENSIS (NUDIBRANCHIA: AEOLIDOIDEA), A NEW SPECIES FROM GUAM(MICRONESIA)

A new species of Phyllodesmium (Aeolidoidea) from Guam (Micronesia)is described. Phyllodesmium guamensis n.sp. is characterizedby having two rows of denticles in the radular teeth, this beingdifferent from the previously described species of the genus.The shape of the teeth, however, is identical in all the speciesof the genus, and unique among aeolids. Furthermore, P. guamensispossesses a double row of cerata in the precardiac cluster andup to 10 post-cardiac ceratal rows. Also, P. guamensis showsa very dense accumulation of zooxanthellae in the ceratal digestivegland, which is ramified inside the cerata. This species feedson at least three species of the soft coral Sinularia: S. polydactyla,S. maxima and a third, undescribed species. The aeolid matchesthe colour of its prey and is cryptic on the soft coral surface. (Received 3 October 1996; accepted 28 April 1997)     

Studies on hydroid differentiation. 3. The replacement of hypostomal gland cells of Podocoryne carnea

Pulse labeling with tritiated thymidine has permitted the identification of a progenitor cell compartment at the base of the hypostomal glandular ridges of the marine hydroid Podocoryne carnea. This progenitor compartment produces cells which move out on the ridges differentiate as digestive gland cells, and are ejected into the gastro-vascular cavity. Spherous gland cells of the body appear not to be part of this circumscribed replacement system. There appears to be no proximal movement of gastrodermal cells in the body of this marine hydroid.