Matt WillemsenDec 12, 2023
Worm’s rear end develops its own head, wanders off to mate
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/12/bizarre-worm-can-detach-its-own-butt-and-make-it-swim-away/ #worm #reproduction #syllid #stolonization #bevis #butthead
Worm’s rear end develops its own head, wanders off to mate

The butt even grows its own eyes, antennae, and brain.

Ars Technica
Lukas VFN 🇪🇺Nov 22, 2023

This sea #worm's posterior swims away, and now #scientists know how https://phys.org/news/2023-11-sea-worm-posterior-scientists.html

Morphological, Histological and Gene-Expression Analyses on #Stolonization in the Japanese Green Syllid, Megasyllis nipponica (#Annelida, Syllidae) https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-3229453/v1

"the posterior body part with gonads of the syllid worm detaches from its original body. The detached part is full of #gametes...The #stolon swims around by itself and spawns when it meets the opposite sex."

#animals #worms

This sea worm's posterior swims away, and now scientists know how

A research team, led by Professor Toru Miura from the University of Tokyo, shows how the expression of developmental genes in the Japanese green syllid worms, Megasyllis nipponica, helps form their swimming reproductive unit called stolon. The work has been published in Scientific Reports.

Phys.org