Abstract
Polysyncraton lacazei (Giard) (Ascidiacea: Didemnidae) displays short periods of non-feeding during the warm season in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (NE of Spain). These periods were analyzed from 1988 to 1990 by monitoring naturally occurring colonies and by morphological and histological observation of non-feeding colonies. During this phase the surface of the colonies is covered by a glassy pellicle and the siphonal apertures are sealed. The phenomenon consists of a reabsorption of the branchial portion of the zooids and a budding of new thoraces. This process does not fit into either the propagative or survival categories of budding proposed for ascidians, and is interpreted as a rejuvenative phenomenon which extends the life span of the zooids.
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Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe
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Turon, X. Periods of non-feeding in Polysyncraton lacazei (Ascidiacea: Didemnidae): a rejuvenative process?. Marine Biology 112, 647–655 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346183
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00346183