Food availability drives plastic self-repair response in a basal metazoan- case study on the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz 1865.

ABSTRACT: Many marine invertebrates including ctenophores are capable of extensive body regeneration when injured. However, as for the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, there is a constant subportion of individuals not undergoing whole body regeneration but forming functionally stable half-animals instead. Yet, the driving factors of this phenomenon have not been addressed so far. This study sheds new light on how differences in food availability affect self-repair choice and regeneration success in cydippid larvae of M. leidyi. As expected, high food availability favored whole-body regeneration. However, under low food conditions half-animals became the preferential self-repair mode. Remarkably, both regenerating and half-animals showed very similar survival chances under respective food quant

SUBMITTER: Bading KT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5703731 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature