Convergent evolution of the sensory pits in and within flatworms.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Unlike most free-living platyhelminths, catenulids, the sister group to all remaining flatworms, do not have eyes. Instead, the most prominent sensory structures in their heads are statocysts or sensory pits. The latter, found in the family Stenostomidae, are concave depressions located laterally on the head that represent one of the taxonomically important traits of the family. In the past, the sensory pits of flatworms have been homologized with the cephalic organs of nemerteans, a clade that occupies a sister position to platyhelminths in some recent phylogenies. To test for this homology, we studied morphology and gene expression in the sensory pits of the catenulid Stenostomum brevipharyngium.

Results

We used confocal and electron microscopy to investigate th

SUBMITTER: Gasiorowski L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10664644 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature