Larval cells of sponge Halisarca dujardini (Demospongiae, Halisarcida) . I. Separation of the cells and their aggregation properties
Mukhina, I.I.; Podgornaia, O.I.; Efremova, S.M.
Tsitologiia 46(6): 483-491
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-3771 PMID: 15341122 Document Number: 570272
The majority of Demospongia members have a parenchymula larva, whose inner cells are similar to definite sponge cells. There are some contradictory opinions about the structure of larva in the marine sponge Halisarca dujardini: some authors deny the presence of inner cells, while other investigators consider this larva as a real parenchymula. We defined the larval cell types by cell separation in the percoll gradient and analysed their morphology and behaviour. The results showed the existence of 6 cell types in the parenchymula larva of H. dujardini, including 2 types of external flagellated cells. Each cell category differs in its morphology and aggregation ability.