Electrophoretic Evidence for Self-fertilization in Two Species of Spirorbid Polychaetes

Abstract

Electrophoretic evidence for self-fertilization in two species of spirorbid polychaetes by Richard Beckwitt, Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci., 81(2):61-68, 1982. The inheritance of electrophoretically detectable enzymatic variation was studied by means of laboratory culture of Pileolaria pseudomilitaris and Janua brasiliensis. These variants are inherited as simple Mendelian codominants in single-pair matings. A small percentage of progeny from single-pair matings of each species are produced by self-fertilization in these hermaphroditic worms. Isolated individuals of P. pseudomilitaris produced reduced numbers of progeny with genotypes that confirmed self-fertilization by the parent. Isolated individuals of J. brasiliensis did not reproduce in culture. The high degree of polymorphism at several loci suggests that self-fertilization is not a common occurrence in natural populations.