Species (common/scientific names): Icecream cone worm, trumpet worm / Pectinaria (= Cistenides) gouldii Discipline(s): Embryology, Reproduction

Pectinaria - Oocyte Maturation, Spawning and Early Egg Development

Kenyon S. Tweedell

The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, and the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.

Abstract:
The marine polychaete annelid Pectinaria gouldii (=Cistenides) is an ideal organism for the study of oocyte formation because stages of maturation occur in suspension in the coelomic fluid (as do sperm in the male). The process of spawning, germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), fertilization, pre- and post-nuclear changes, and the distribution of cytological organelles during cleavage are directly observable in the pale green, very transparent eggs. The adults are obtained readily and are easy to maintain in the laboratory. Studies on both in vivo and in vitro development are possible. Cell organelles of oocytes and embryos can be tagged by fluorescent dyes, stratified by centrifugation, or probed with radioactive molecular precursors. A neural maturation inducing factor for GVBD and natural spawning is extractable from adults.

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