A Study of Sexual and Asexual Reproduction in an Hawaii Amphiscolops Sp. (Turbellaria, Acoela)

Abstract

The genus Amphiscolops is currently thought to contain seven species (Dorjes and Young, 1973): A. cinereus, A. langerhansi, A. australis, A. fuligineus, A. bermudensis, A. sargassi, and A. evelinae. There is some dispute over the characterization of the genus, but the controversy is of little relevance here. Descriptively the members of this genus are elongate (at least while in motion), contain numerous zooxanthellae, and may or may not have a statocyst. Classification usually requires the examina­tion of sections of the reproductive apparatus (Peebles, 1915 and Westblad, 1948), though this is not always the case (Hyman, 1939). The genus is geographically diverse, mem­bers being found off the coasts of Kenya (Dorjes and Young, 1973), Australia (Haswell, 1905), Brazil (Marcus, 1947), and Bermuda (Hyman, 1939), as well as in the Mediterranean (von Graff, 1905 and Peebles, 1915).