Abstract
Reproduction of meso- and bathypelagic chaetognaths, a major group of zooplankton and hermaphroditic animals, became clear after the microscopic examination of samples collected from the Pacific Subarctic Water. Species of the genus Eukrohnia carry their developing eggs in two marsupial sacs, one on each side, and the young are retained in these marsupia for at least some period after hatching. This is in line with a general trend for low fecundity, as care of the young increases. Almost all individuals are protandric, the testes maturing sooner than ovaries. These facts suggest that the reproduction of these species depends upon cross-fertilization.
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Communicated by M. Anraku, Hiroshima
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Terazaki, M., Miller, C.B. Reproduction of meso- and bathypelagic chaetognaths in the genus Eukrohnia . Mar. Biol. 71, 193–196 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394629
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394629