Pilidium auriculatum morphotype.
Hubrechtella spp.
Larvae of the genus Hubrechtella exhibit the pilidium auriculatum morphotype (left). These larvae are characterized by narrow, side-burn like lappets. Their epidermal cell outlines are conspicuous with large cell nuclei. Wild-caught larvae have been reared in the lab and they develop very slowly. The juvenile develops around the larval gut and is off center from the anterior-posterior axis of the larval body.
The larva of Hubrechtella juliae collected 26 Nov 2012 and raised for over two months where larval episphere became enormous (lower right) but no juvenile developed. Scale bars 100µm.
Hubrechtella juliae
Sequence Data: 16S, COI
Observed in Coos Bay; Feb, Sep-Nov
Before we identified the larvae of H. juliae from a plankton sample taken in the Charleston marina, there was no record of a Hubrechtid nemertean species on the west coast of North America. We collect a few individuals of this species as larvae in the plankton each year, but we have yet to collect the adults in southern OR.
This larva was collected in Nov 2012 and raised in the lab until Feb 8, 2012 at which point a small juvenile developed. Scale bars 100µm.