The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 04 (of 10)Warburton, Cecil
Science
The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 04 (of 10)
Warburton, Cecil
Animals
be in a position to claim that the hermaphrodite Cirripedes are similar
to the Isopoda Epicarida, and have probably also been derived from the
male sex. There is decided evidence pointing to this conclusion. In the
first place, the complemental males of at least one species of
_Scalpellum_, _S. peronii_, do show an incipient hermaphroditism[81] in
the presence of small ova in their generative glands, which, however,
never come to maturity.
The condition of the degenerate males in the Rhizocephala may also be
interpreted in the same manner. These never pass beyond the Cypris stage
of development, in which they resemble in detail the Cypris larvae of
the ordinary hermaphrodite individuals, and they are quite useless in
the propagation of their species.
It is more reasonable to suppose that these Cypris larvae, which fix on
the mantle-openings of adult parasites, are in reality identical with
the ordinary Cypris which infest crabs and develop into the
hermaphrodites, than that they represent a whole male sex doomed
beforehand to uselessness and degeneration. If we suppose that the
Cirripedes have passed through a state of protandric hermaphroditism
similar to that of the Isopoda Epicarida, it is plain that all the
larvae must have originally possessed the instinct of first fixing on
the adult parasites, and we may suppose that this instinct has been
retained in the Rhizocephala, but is now only actually fulfilled by a
certain proportion of the larvae, which, under existing circumstances,
are useless and fail to develop further; while the rest of the larvae,
not finding an adult parasite to fix upon, go straight on to infect
their hosts and develop into the adult hermaphrodites.
The same explanation would apply to the complemental males in
_Scalpellum_, etc., these individuals being also potential
hermaphrodites, which are arrested in development, though not so
completely as in the Rhizocephala, owing to the position they have taken
up.
This theory throws light on another dark feature of Cirripede
life-history, namely, the gregarious instinct. The associations of
Cirripedes are not formed by a number of Cypris larvae fixing together
on the same spot, but rather by the Cypris larvae seeking out adolescent
individuals of their own species and fixing on or near them. Now, if we
suppose that the Cirripedes have passed through a condition of
protandric hermaphroditism similar to that of the Isopoda Epicarida, it
is clear that a slight modification of the sexual instinct of the larvae
would lead to the gregarious habit, while its retention in some
individuals in its original form accounts for their finding their way to
the mantles of adult individuals and developing into the so-called
complemental males.
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