Anatomy of the larva of Amathia vidovici (Bryozoa: Ctenostomata) and phylogenetic significance of the vesiculariform larva.

Amathia vidovici (Vesiculariidae) has a lecithotrophic coronate larva. The apical disc of A. vidovici larvae is more complex than that of other vesiculariids and includes a new cell type, which may be glial-like in function. A massive nerve nodule consists only of neural processes; as no ganglia or other evidence of interneurons were found, sensory cells apparently innervate their effectors directly. Putative synaptic junctions within the nerve nodule indicate that both receptor and effector cells send processes to this neuropile. Some 44 intercoronal cells of three types, two of which are new, are interspersed among the approximately 40 coronal cells. Juxtapapillary bodies, a unique sensory complex previously known only from Bowerbankia gracilis larvae, also occur in A. vidovici. A large refractile body, which is of uncertain function and is positioned near the center of the larva, is described for the first time. A comparison of vesiculariid larvae that have been studied at the ultrastructural level reveals that larvae of Amathia vidovici and Bowerbankia gracilis are more similar to each other than either is to B. imbricata. Differences between the two Bowerbankia species, however, may reflect relative detail of their study and differences in interpretation rather than intergenic plasticity. Nevertheless. a distinctive suite of larval characteristics are shared by other members of the family Vesiculariidae, justifying a specific name-vesiculariform-for their larvae. A number of the defining characteristics of vesiculariform larvae also appear in the carnosan superfamily Victorelloidae. This finding is consistent with arguments based on adult characteristics that the Victorelloidea are ancestral to the Vesicularioidea. If this geneology is correct, one can predict that those vesiculariform traits which originated in the victorellids are plesiomorphic not only to the Family Vesiculariidae but to all sister taxa placed in the Vesicularioidea. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
(Copyright © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)