First record of a-sexual reproduction by fission in Holothuria (lessonothuria) verrucosa (Selenka, 1867) from coastal waters of Karachi, Pakistan

Authors : Quratulan Ahmed, Qadeer Mohammad Ali, Nurzafirah Mazlan, Levent Bat

Pages : 29-36

Doi:10.30897/ijegeo.353267

View : 17 | Download : 8

Publication Date : 2018-04-04

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :An experiment of a-sexual reproduction by fission was conducted on sea cucumber, Holothuria insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Lessonothuria); verrucosa insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Selenka, 1867); for 98 days. Anterior fission was observed on Day 1 with the formation of fission on the body of the sea cucumber. Initial length of 14 cm and weight of 21 g was measured at Day 1 in an aquarium under laboratory condition. Complete fission was observed on Day 7 of experiment by formation of 2 specimens; A and P. Initial length and weight for A was 4.5 cm and 3.18 g, while P was 9.5 cm and 17.30 g respectively. Increased weight for specimen A was observed on Day 20 with the first observation of the formation of anal pore. Tentacles started to form on specimen P on Day 34. Complete formation of anus on specimen A was seen on the 98th day of experiment with final weight of 3.84 g and length of 4.6 cm. Large growth of tentacle was also seen on Day 98 of the experiment with a final weight of the specimen P as 17.56 g and length as 9.7 cm.
Keywords : Asexual reproduction, fission, Holothuria verrucosa