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Copper as a Factor in the Onset of Ascidian Metamorphosis

Nature volume 202, pages 1024–1025 (1964)Cite this article

Abstract

PRECOCIOUS metamorphosis of certain species of ascidian larvæ can be initiated by increasing the copper content of sea-water1,2. Furthermore, Glaser and Anslow3 observed that various materials that cause an acceleration of the onset of ascidian metamorphosis have an unusually high copper content; they concluded that the copper content of sea-water is causally related to the onset of natural metamorphosis. While this theory has not been generally accepted4, it has never been experimentally disproved.

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Author notes

  1. J. R. WHITTAKER

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of California, Los Angeles, 24, Calif.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass.

    J. R. WHITTAKER

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  1. J. R. WHITTAKER
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WHITTAKER, J. Copper as a Factor in the Onset of Ascidian Metamorphosis. Nature 202, 1024–1025 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2021024a0

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