Tube Formation in Pomatoceros triqueter L

Abstract

As a serpulid, Pomatoceros triqueter L. realises to the highest degree the adaptation to a sedentary life. The calcareous tube in which this annelid lives is characterised by a keel running along its upper surface. It is rather misleading to say that this tube is triangular in section. Figure 2 shows a newly formed calcareous rod; it is spur-shaped; the two rami of the spur might approach each other so nearly as to simulate an almost complete tube. The substratum in this species not only serves as a support, but completes the tube. This is in accordance with the fact that the tubes of Pomatoceros never extend freely off the support as happens with tubes of other serpulids–Protula, for instance. The aim of this paper is to record some observations on the way an adult Pomatoceros endeavours to build a new calcareous tube if it is artificially removed from its old one. I undertook this observation as original work at Roscoff, where a complete literature was not available. I discovered later that Harms, in the course of his research on regeneration in Hydroides pectinata, arrived at identical results. My paper cannot therefore pretend to more than a confirmation of previous results.