On a Hermaphrodite Specimen of Amphioxus with Notes on Experiments in Rearing Amphioxus

Abstract

A hermaphrodite specimen of Amphioxus has been taken at Plymouth having one gonadial pouch filled with ova and the remaining pouches filled with sperm. This specimen closely resembles a similar one taken by Goodrich at Naples. The liver and intestine of the Plymouth specimen are abnormal, but no parasites have been identified in the tissues to account for these abnormalities. It is, moreover, improbable that there is any normal sex-change in Amphioxus, since three independent investigators have found very small specimens of both sexes, therefore no satisfactory explanation can be given of the occurrence of hermaphroditism in the specimen. Amphioxus have been found to spawn in June, and larvae have beenobtained from the captive specimens.It is suggested that the club-shaped gland may secrete a substance for attaching the larva of Amphioxus to objects, and that this function may be correlated with the asymmetry shown in the early development of the Amphioxus .larva.