Abstract
THE complete cycle of development from egg to egg for a pelagic species of chaetognath has not been achieved previously1 in the laboratory. Dallot2 maintained Sagitta setosa and Murikami3,4 S. crassa long enough to observe cyclic reproductive changes. Murikami reared larvae for several days as I did5 with S. hispida. Otherwise, the life span of most chaetognaths brought into the laboratory has been measured in hours6. Extended studies of live chaetognaths would be useful because these are among the commonest marine macroplanktonic carnivores and, as such, must play a major part in the trophodynamics of the sea. They have also frequently been used as “indicator species” for water masses7.
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References
Ghirardelli, E., Adv. Mar. Biol., 6, 364 (1968).
Dallot, S., Rapp. Comm. Intern. Mer. Medit., 19, 521 (1968).
Murikami, A., Bull. Naikai Reg. Fish. Res. Lab., 12, 4 (1959).
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Reeve, M. R., in Marine Food Chains (edit. by Steele, J. H.), 168 (Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1970).
Hyman, L. H., The Invertebrates, 5 (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1959).
Alvarino, A., Oceanog. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev., 3, 180 (1965).
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REEVE, M. Complete Cycle of Development of a Pelagic Chaetognath in Culture. Nature 227, 381 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/227381a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/227381a0
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